The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 356: Stay with me

The following day.

The first thing Theodore noticed when he got downstairs was Lucy’s overnight bag. She had her handbag when she returned downstairs.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Taking my things to my car." She said like it meant nothing.

He thought back to her stay and tried to remember anything he did or said that offended her. As if reading his mind, she smiled. "Nothing’s wrong. I just need to go back to my place so I can get back to work. Natalie and Elena will go crazy otherwise."

He rubbed his chin. "But you can work from wherever you want, right? You’re the boss."

She smiled with a shrug.

He knew what was going on—he could read her like a book. She was trying not to overstay her welcome, mostly because they had been spending so much time together. She was afraid she would be too attached to him and Rosaly to want to leave.

At the thought of Rosaly, he had the urge to throw her in as an excuse. He could tell her their adorable granddaughter would be sad to see her leave, but that wouldn’t be a permanent solution. Rosaly wouldn’t stay long before her parents returned to pick her up.

"Well, it’s such a shame. Rosaly was looking forward to going to the amusement park with us today."

She turned to face him with a shocked expression. "Since when did we make such plans? We had a spa day yesterday."

It was the only reason why Rosaly was still asleep even though it was 8am. Although it always took insane effort to wake her up on school days, the girl was always super charged on weekend mornings and would be up at 6am, looking for companions to play with.

However, they had spent the whole of the afternoon before at the spa and salon, after which they went shopping and by the time they returned, she was so tired she fell asleep before Lucy had the chance to pick up a book for her bedtime story.

Theodore caught sight of Des and called the puppy over so he would buy himself time to make his excuse make sense.

"She asked me to take her a long time ago. I told her we could go today and she’s especially happy about it thinking you’re coming along."

Lucy felt a little guilty. "Well, we can go to the amusement park first."

"Great!" He cleared his throat when she raised a brow at his excitement. "I mean, Rosaly will be overjoyed."

While she took her overnight bag to her car in preparation to leave after their amusement park trip, he went to Zaria’s old room where Rosaly was currently sleeping.

She had just woken up and was sitting on the bed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her fist, looking like she was making major life decisions as she waited for her foggy mind to clear up.

He picked her right up and kissed her cheek.

"Grandpa Theo?" she blinked in confusion, giddy from the sudden affection.

"We’re going to the amusement park." He announced, much to her excitement. She squealed and jumped on the bed.

He waited for her to calm down before he lowered his voice and said, "I need your help with something. Can you help me?"

She nodded and blinked up at him innocently, making his heart melt.

"Oh, you’re so cute. No wonder Zaria loved you instantly." She was the best thing about Desmond. He whispered in her ear about the favor he wanted and when she understood her mission, she nodded in excitement.

"I hope this goes well." He thought.

_____

He let Lucy drive to the amusement park to buy himself some time. When she noticed how much time he had spent on his phone, she made a joke about him missing his girlfriend too much, and he simply laughed it off. She raised a brow. Usually, Theodore would quickly defend himself and make it his mission to prove to her that he was not in a relationship—not that it was any of her business.

She took a peek at Rosaly through the back view mirror. These two were up to something.

Being a Saturday, the amusement park was crowded with people and they had to wait on a long queue before they had the chance to get in. Theodore had never been so grateful for such a delay before.

His phone chimed just as they paid for their tickets and he took a peek. He could finally relax and have actual fun.

Rosaly wanted to ride the carousel and once the ride was over, she wanted to go another round.

Lucy chuckled. "Carousels were Zaria’s favorites too."

"You remember that?" he was surprised.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. Did you think I simply forgot everything about our past?"

"Do you also remember..." he stopped himself from asking about something that might put a damper on the mood. The ride started and he used it as an excuse to drop the subject.

When the ride ended, he realized he only had one hour. That was way too long. He admonished himself for planning it too far ahead but he had expected an insane traffic jam coming here. While the rest of the hour was going to wreck his nerves, the wait would be worth it.

So he asked Rosaly, "do you want to take a ride on that huge wheel?"

....

After another half hour of fun, he asked Lucy to drop him and Rosaly off at a lake house.

"Are you visiting someone?" She asked when they got to the place.

"Not exactly. I bought this house recently. Would you like a tour?" He asked, hoping she would say yes. It would be of no use if she dropped them off and left without getting out of the car.

"Okay."

He led her into the house with Rosaly preceding him to check everything out. The manor overlooked the lake and was the calmest place he could ever think of.

"When I retire, I want to come live here with the one I love." He glanced at her. She was still gushing at the living room. If she understood what he meant, she didn’t let on.

He cleared his throat to get Rosaly’s attention and winked to give her the signal. She ran out of the room and returned with a tiny remote control, which she placed in his hands.

"Wait till you see the view of the lake." He said, his voice a little shaky now.

Lucy followed them out through the backdoor and to the bridge.

"What are those?" she asked about what she thought looked like a series of lamps floating in the lake.

Out of the blue, ’How long will I love you’ started playing and Lucy looked down to see Rosaly holding a mini portable speaker. Her jaw was still on the floor when the sound was muffled by a helicopter flying overhead.

"Look up." Theodore smiled, and she did.

A flier was attached to the helicopter with a huge message that read, [Stay with me, Luci.]

Nearby, a man who must have been Theodore’s neighbor yelled, "Maybe she will stay with you when you learn to spell Lucy correctly!"

They burst into laughter.

When she looked up at him, he pushed the button on his small remote control, illuminating the lamps on the lake.

Her eyes widened when she realized they spelled out a message too. [I love you, Luci.]