From Ashes of Scandal to His Embrace (Laurinda) novel Chapter 241

Laurinda glanced over at Adolphus and shot Jasper a quick, playful eyebrow raise.

“That’s probably what it means to have real skills,” she said with a soft laugh. “Anyway, Apex isn’t far from Cabinda. Try to get some rest. We’ll be there in about an hour.”

She closed her eyes. The exhaustion hit her all at once. Ever since what happened to Bonnie, she hadn’t slept well. Even with Adolphus next to her at night, her sleep was restless and light. Now, with the hum of the plane, her eyelids started to feel heavy.

***

When the plane touched down at Cabinda Airport, Adolphus took Laurinda’s hand and led her out of the terminal. Jasper trailed behind them, pushing a luggage cart that was almost as big as he was.

Garry spotted them and had to rub his eyes, convinced he might be seeing things. Was that really Adolphus, strolling out like some kind of family man? The whole scene looked straight out of a picture book. He never thought he’d see the day.

Adolphus noticed Garry’s reaction as he walked over. He narrowed his eyes, just a little. “Is something wrong with your eyes? Can you still drive?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I just thought I was hallucinating. When you walked out, I could’ve sworn you were a family of three. Never thought I’d see you like this, man.”

Garry was the chatty type. Adolphus barely noticed his teasing anymore. He just raised an eyebrow in response. “Let’s get the bags in the car. It’s freezing.”

“On it.”

Garry took the cart from Jasper and, without missing a beat, scooped the boy up and set him in the car. Under his breath, he muttered about how heartless it was to make a kid push all that luggage.

Once the suitcases were packed away, Garry climbed into the driver’s seat. The others were already settled inside.

“Adolphus, am I dropping you at The Lane Estate or are we heading to Lunaria Lakeside?”

“Lunaria Lakeside. Does my mom know I’m back?”

Garry heard all this and couldn’t help but smirk, trying not to laugh at how confidently Adolphus talked about the Lane family’s heads.

“Alright then,” Laurinda said, “I’ll go pay my respects after I finish my errands tomorrow. Since they already know I’m here, it’d feel wrong not to.”

Adolphus was surprised. He’d expected Laurinda to be resistant, but she was taking the initiative.

“I’ll bring Jasper back tomorrow, and I’ll get a gift ready.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let you handle it.”

Laurinda glanced back at Jasper, already curled up and sleeping in the back seat. In her heart, she whispered, Stay strong, little one. Grow up happy.

When they got to Adolphus’s place at Lunaria Lakeside, a spacious two-story penthouse, neither Laurinda nor Jasper paid much attention to the fancy surroundings. They just followed Adolphus’s directions to their rooms, took quick showers, and went straight to bed.