CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 155 - 137: Stop Messing Around and Make Dinner

"Go to sleep if you’re tired!"

Naomi Shaw gave him a kiss, then bent down to lift Joy onto the bed as well. "Joy, you should sleep too. Mommy will stay with you both!"

Joy nodded, obediently set aside the sheet music in her hands, and slipped under the covers next to Dylan. Naomi Shaw climbed into bed too, lying down beside Joy. She reached out, gently pulling both children into an embrace and softly patting them. Dylan murmured drowsily, "Mommy, I’m so happy!"

Naomi Shaw’s eyes stung, and she nearly started to cry. Of course, she understood why Dylan had suddenly said he was so happy. To any child, happiness was simply having their mom and dad by their side.

Children fall asleep quickly since their minds aren’t cluttered with worries. Before long, Joy was also sound asleep. Naomi Shaw lay on her side, watching them. She reached out, tracing the features of each of their little faces. ’Nothing is more important than my children’s safety and happiness.’

Lost in these thoughts, she drifted into a sweet sleep herself. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Julian Donovan gently pushed the door open and stepped inside. He leaned against the doorframe, his eyes filled with tenderness as he watched the heartwarming scene of her cradling the two sleeping children. He walked over, bent down, and lightly kissed all three of them. He had always thought phrases like ’I wish time could stop right here’ were melodramatic, but in this instant, it was his heart’s truest prayer.

His lips lingered on her cheek for a moment before moving to her slightly parted lips, where he pressed a soft kiss. Only then did he straighten up and pull the blanket over the three of them before quietly slipping out and closing the door.

Naomi Shaw didn’t wake up until evening. She had been so exhausted from packing all afternoon and evening the day before that she’d slept straight through. When she awoke, Dylan and Joy were gone. Startled, she threw off the covers and rushed out of the room, only to find Dylan and Joy playing in the living room.

When he saw her, Dylan smiled. "Mommy, you’re awake?"

Joy looked up at her too. Naomi let out a long sigh of relief and walked over to sit beside them. "Why didn’t you wake Mommy up when you woke up?"

"We wanted to let Mommy sleep a little longer!"

Dylan explained earnestly. Naomi Shaw glanced around the room and asked, "Where’s your dad?"

’I fell asleep while putting the children to bed and just left him out there,’ she thought. ’I wonder if his stomach feels better after taking his medicine.’

Dylan shook his head, then picked up a piece of paper from nearby and handed it to her. "I don’t know. He was already gone when we woke up. This is the note he left on the coffee table." Naomi Shaw took it and read it. It was his handwriting, neat with the characteristic precision of someone in the medical field. "I had to leave for something. I have a social engagement tonight, so just let Dylan sleep at your place. I’ll pick him and Joy up for school tomorrow morning... and give you a ride to work!"

’I had no idea he could be so relentlessly persistent,’ she thought. She had already made her decision: she wouldn’t choose either him or Sean Donovan. She was giving up Sean Donovan because she didn’t love him. She was giving up Julian because she loved him too much.

She glanced at his last sentence one more time, then looked at the two children staring at her with wide, expectant eyes. A sudden sense of resignation washed over her. ’Am I really never going to escape him in this lifetime?’

She put the note away and went to the kitchen to wash some fruit for the children before starting on dinner. His phone rang while she was simmering soup. After a moment’s hesitation, she answered. His gentle voice came through the line. "Awake?"

Julian Donovan had left after getting a call from one of his men. The man reported that he’d found a few leads on Sean Donovan’s whereabouts. Since Naomi and the children were still sleeping, he hadn’t woken her, leaving a note instead.

"Mm-hmm..."

Naomi hummed in response. He fell silent. They had only just seen each other, so there wasn’t much to say. The sound of the bubbling soup filled the silence on her end of the line. Finally, she asked, "Did you need something?"

"Not really..."

The truth was, he’d suddenly missed her during a lull in his business dinner and had called just to hear her voice. "If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up," she said. "We’re about to eat."

"Okay..."

The call disconnected. She called the children to the table for dinner, while Julian let the warmth fade from his eyes, wiped the smile from his face, and resumed his business engagement.

「The next morning」

True to his word, Julian Donovan was waiting downstairs from her apartment building. When Naomi Shaw came out with the two children, he was already there, wearing a gray overcoat and a brown plaid scarf that highlighted his cool, dashing aura. What she didn’t know, of course, was that Julian had spent half an hour in his walk-in closet that morning just to pick out that outfit.

Julian Donovan had never in his life fussed over what to wear. With his physique, which he meticulously maintained through fitness, he could pull off any look with natural flair. Even the most ordinary styles or the cheapest garments looked exceptional on him.

But now, just because he was going to see her, he was a nervous wreck, completely unsure of what to wear. If the color was too dark, he worried it would seem oppressive. Too light, and she might think he was flighty. Too flashy, and she might think he was a womanizer. Too conservative, and she might think he was dull.

After getting ready, he’d holed himself up in his walk-in closet, rummaging through practically his entire wardrobe. Realizing he was about to be late, he’d finally, reluctantly, settled on this outfit, paired it with the scarf, and rushed out without even having time for breakfast.

The ground was still a little slippery from the previous day’s snow. Julian walked up to her and reached to take Joy from her arms, but she took a step back in refusal. "I can take Joy to preschool myself. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from here!"

Joy’s preschool was only a few minutes’ walk from her apartment, and the hospital where she worked was just as close. She had no need for a car service at all, which was precisely why she had chosen to live here in the first place.