Chapter 532 Subtle Rejection

Ashley was shocked by Elain's remark. Although she knew that Elain might be having a hard time without her mother, she didn't expect that this was what Elain was going through.

All this time, she had assumed that the people who accompanied Elain should be the nannies hired by Edmund. Maybe Edmund hired a lot of nannies because he was afraid that Elain would get bored being all by herself inside the house.

But Elain didn't like to be with them. That was why she was so excited every single time she saw Ellie.

Although Edmund did everything he could to be a good father to Elain, it still couldn't compensate for the fact that she didn't have a mother. As a child coming from a single-parent household, it was difficult for her to become completely happy. Whenever Edmund picked her up from school, she would look enviously around at all the other kids who had both a mother and a father.

Since Ashley grew up as an orphan, she knew a lot about these kinds of things. It was easy for her to understand exactly what Elain was going through.

Meanwhile, Edmund felt a bit embarrassed when he heard what Elain had said.

He didn't expect that Elain wouldn't want to go back home, not to mention that this was what she truly felt.

After all, no one really paid much attention to the words of a child.

Edmund glanced at Ellie. As he expected, Ellie looked at Elain with concern as she rubbed her head softly.

"You still have me. Don't worry, Elain. Whenever you miss me, you can come over and we'll play together, okay?" Ellie comforted her.

Elain gave a serious nod, her little brows furrowing slightly. Just as Ashley was about to commend Elain for being so mature and sensible, Elain suddenly smiled and looked at Ellie with her big, innocent eyes.

"Ellie, can you act as my mother?" Elain's question caught everyone off guard. It was as if a loud clap of thunder banged across the sky. "At school, all the other children get picked up by their moms and dads. I only have a daddy.

All my classmates like to point out that I don't have a mother.

Ellie, ' Ashley thought to herself. She knew better than to say her thoughts out loud to avoid a very awkward conversation.

It seemed that Ellie only considered Edmund as her friend and did not have any special feelings for him.

Straightening up, Edmund looked at Ellie with a gentle expression on his face. But, if anyone looked closely enough, they would see that there was still a pained look in his eyes.

"Ellie, please. This is unnecessary. Elain is a little child. I'm sorry if she spoke a lot of unreasonable things," Edmund said as he smiled at Ellie apologetically.

Smiling back, Ellie replied, "It's fine. I'm very fond of Elain."

Then, she turned back to Elain, "Elain, if you have time, you can come over as much as you like."

Soon after, Edmund went over to Elain and patted her head, "Alright now. Say goodbye to your sisters. Your sisters need to go to bed, and so do you. Let's go head home."

With a pout, Elain reluctantly held her father's hand.

Edmund lifted her daughter up, waved his hand, giving a single nod at Ashley and Ellie's direction. Elain also waved her small, stubby hands and called out, "Bye Ashley and Ellie. I'll visit you next time!"

Ashley and Ellie smiled back. "Okay! We'll see you then!" Ellie replied.

Once Edmund and Elain closed the door behind them, Ashley sighed with relief and flopped down on the sofa.