Holden watched Sadie cradle Adele, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He could sense something was amiss from the way they were both behaving. He turned over what Adele had just said in his mind, fathoming what she could have meant.

Suddenly, he became aware that Adele was crying and calling him. He snapped out of his thoughts. He quickly took Adele to his arms and comforted her cries. Then, he turned to Sadie and said, “I’ll take her upstairs to wash up.”

Sadie didn’t dare to object.

With Adele snuggled in his arms, sniffling occasionally, Holden carried her upstairs to clean her up. While washing, he squatted down and asked gently, “Adele, how much cake did you eat just now?”

Adele kept her head down and remained silent, twiddling her tiny fingers. Holden tried again softly and gently.

Daddy came home, did Mommy give you a lot to eat? Is that why you didn’t

up, her expression passive as she played with the buttons on her shirt as if she had blocked out the

her to speak as gently as he could, but

the ways he could think of, Holden sighed in resignation and decided to stop. He gently wiped Adele’s face, washed his hands, and was about to help her dry hers when Adele suddenly mumbled,

caused Holden’s heart to skip a beat, prompting him to kneel before her and inquire, “Adele, what did you

inquiries, she refused to speak, merely extending

a trip to the study. He

wriggled free from Holden’s embrace and toddled to the desk to retrieve his phone. Her wide, expectant eyes

she proffered the device to

to resist that beseeching gaze. He crouched down, his fingers tenderly grazing Adele’s tousled hair,

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