Chapter 512 Eighteen.
A laugh escaped Christina at that. “All right, tidy up and prep for work.”
After entering the office, Christina took out a blank piece of paper. From that day onward, she had to start designing Madison’s dress for her engagement.
She would have to deal with Anya’s case after designing the dress.
Initially, Christina had designed the dress based on Madison’s preferred style of dressing, ready to face Madison picking a bone with her design.
To her surprise, Madison never appeared after the day she met her by the gates.
It was as if Madison had forgotten about the matter.
Since Madison seemed unbothered by the design, Christina dropped her reservations and started exploring other styles, hoping to make Madison the most eye-catching presence at her
engagement.
After all, a wedding is a major event for a woman. She was not going to let her feelings get in the way of the design and nor was she going to embarrass herself with a mediocre design.
For the following two weeks, Christina made three drafts of dresses in varying styles.
One was a traditional sleeveless gown, another was an off-shoulder fitting gown, and the third was a pale purple satin mermaid gown.
Every one of the gowns was capable of accentuating the best parts of Madison’s figure.
Soon, Christina brought those three design drawings to the Taggart residence where Madison was.
Madison was delighted to see those designs.
All women in the world like pretty clothes, and Madison was no exception.
Even though she despised Christina, she could not help but think about how Nathaniel was going to be stunned by her beauty in those gowns.
“Okay, these three will do,” Madison said as she pretended to force herself to accept the designs.
Christina was unbothered by her response, however, for she had mentally prepared herself to hear an onslaught of sarcastic comments from Madison.
It came as a surprise to Christina that there were none of that from Madison.
Right after Christina was done taking Madison’s measurements and was about to leave, Madison abruptly said. “By the way, you’re going to come to my engagement right?”
Christina lifted her head to look at Madison but did not answer immediately. After a few seconds of silence, she said, “Of course I’ll be there if you’re inviting me. Ms Taggart”
She agreed to it so easily
It was Madison’s turn to be taken aback. As she took in Christina’s smile, she narrowed her eyes in
irritation.
“All right, you can leave now.” As Madison spoke, her expression darkened.
Christina was already used to Madison’s mood swings, so she did not say anything about that and left.
Just then, a housekeeper holding a glass of water and a pill bottle walked past Christina.
Even though she was already a distance away from Madison, Christina still heard the housekeeper say to Madison. “Ms. Christina, it’s time for your medicine.”
Christina furrowed her brows at that.
Madison’s sick? Forget it. This isn’t my business.
After leaving the Taggart residence, Christina called the clothier that the studio was working with.
By the time she got the fabric she needed from the clothier, the sky had darkened, so she went straight back to Scenic Garden Manor.
When the car stopped by the gates, she looked into the house from the outside. It was dark inside.
A power outage?
That was the first thing Christina thought.”
The further she went inside, the more she sensed that something was off. There was no one in the house. Even if there was a power outage, the people inside should have lit candles.
“Raymond? Nathaniel? Lucas? Camila?” Christina called out. By this time, Camila and Lucas would have already been done with kindergarten. Similarly, Nathaniel would have informed her if he was working overtime.
Since Nathaniel did not tell her anything, he should have been home.
Yet, the house was empty. Christina’s heart was in her throat.
Turning on her phone torch, she scanned her surroundings and muttered under her breath, “Something can’t have happened, right?”
As she said that, she made to call Nathaniel.
Crack!
A sudden thunderous sound that rang out beside her ear startled Christina, making her hand shudder and drop the phone.
When she whipped her head toward the source of the noise, she saw a ball of flame in the dark. Then, the birthday song came.
“Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!”
Christina, whose heart was still racing, froze at the start. In the next second, she smiled.
Nathaniel emerged from the dark, pushing a cake cart. Beside the cart were Camila and Lucas.
“Happy birthday, Christina!”
“Happy birthday. Mommy!”
“Thank you!” When the dim lights of the house were switched on, Christina finally saw that Charlie, Julia, Sharon, and Rayne were behind Nathaniel too..
Are they here to celebrate my birthday with me?
“Mommy, hurry up and make a wish!” Camila reminded Christina when she realized that her mother was not moving.
Christina clapped her hands together and made a wish..
Once she blew out the candles, all the lights in the house returned.
Finally, Christina saw the pink balloons lining the house walls, couch, and stairs.
Evidently, they had taken much time in decorating the place.
Surrounded by people she loved and people who loved her back, Christina found herself tearing up.
“Did you plan all of these?” she asked, a little shy as she turned to look at Nathaniel with reddened eyes.
Why didn’t he tell me about this? There are so many people here! I nearly made a fool out of myself earlier. Moreover, most of my makeup has run after a tiring day!
“It was us!” Camila and Lucas quickly pointed out.
Surprised, Christina turned to the children. “You two?”
“Yes, yes! We wanted to give you a surprise, Mommy. Are you happy?” Camila was certain that her mother would be delighted, for she herself loved birthday celebrations.
Her words reminded Christina of how the trio had been sharing secrets in front of her one of the mornings.
So, they were discussing my birthday surprise.
Christina smiled, her heart melting. Crouching down, she pulled the children into her arms and said. “I’m overjoyed. Thank you, my darlings.”
She kissed Camila’s and Lucas’ foreheads.
Just then. Lucas thought of something. “Mommy, how old will you be after your birthday?”
Christina’s heart stopped melting as she began frowning instead. Can I not answer this question?
“Lucas, it’s not polite to ask a girl her age,” Camila quickly said. Taking a glance at her pretty mother, she added, “Mommy’s going to be eighteen after her birthday!”
The moment Camila’s words were out of her mouth, everyone burst into laughter.
Nathaniel appeared beside Christina and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He whispered, “You’ll always be eighteen to me, Christina.”
