"Delia Abigail, come at me if you're angry. Don't be angry with Amelia."
I didn't know when Irvin had appeared by my side.
He was cold all over and without a word, he embraced Amelia.
It was a scene of a hero saving a damsel in distress, a pitiful sight that I was quite familiar with.
In the past, Irvin used to protect me like that.
But now, he didn't say a word and left with Amelia right in front of me.
He didn't even look back once.
For several days, Irvin didn't come back.
Instead, I received a call from Michael.
He was six years old now, and since he was a month old, he had never stayed by my side. Irvin rarely let him have contact with me; whenever something came up, it was always Amelia who was called to handle it.
Irvin was right—Amelia was more like his mother than I was.
"Michael, why are you calling me?"
I asked, feeling a bit nervous since it had been so long since I heard his voice.
"Bad woman, where did you take Aunt Amelia?"
His childish cries came through the phone, and I felt as if I had been plunged into an ice pit.
He hadn't contacted me in a month, and now he was calling to question where Amelia had gone.
I tried to suppress my sorrow and comfort him, but he just kept crying.
I had no choice but to hang up and rush to the McDowell family's mansion.
When I arrived, I found a scene of a happy family.
Amelia was sitting in the spot that should have belonged to me, holding Michael and taking care of him tenderly. He was wiping away his tears, cradling a little orange cat in his arms, clearly enamored with it.
And Irvin was bending over to serve dishes, revealing a smile I hadn't seen in a long time.
Suddenly, I didn't feel like walking in. They looked like a real family, while I felt like an outsider.
"Mrs. McDowell?"
It was the housekeeper who spotted me, and instantly, all eyes turned towards me.
Mrs. Amy McDowell rolled her eyes, while Irvin and Amelia looked awkward.
I forced a casual smile, trying to appear unfazed. "Looks like I came at a bad time."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Suddenly, Michael, who was in Amelia's arms, pouted and shouted as he ran towards me.
In his haste, he knocked over a cup of coffee on the table, and the little cat let out a yelp and scurried away, accidentally crashing right into me.
"You're a bad woman. Go away!"
Michael rushed in front of me, pushing me away repeatedly.