The Wife You Buried Is Back from Hell novel Chapter 1037

Danielle had just gotten home from work and was hanging her coat on the rack by the door when she heard the patter of cheerful footsteps.

“Mommy!” Niki bounded into her arms, her small face alight with excitement. “Look at my new clothes!” She pulled back from Danielle and did a little twirl, showing off her purchases from earlier that day.

“They’re beautiful,” Danielle said, smiling as she ruffled her daughter’s soft hair. The simple touch seemed to melt away the day’s exhaustion. “Did you buy them all by yourself?”

Niki’s smile faded slightly, and her eyes darted away as she lowered her gaze. “Um… Raffy and I went to buy them together.” Having said it, she looked down, scuffing her toe against the floor. Her little face was a picture of hesitation.

She’d been agonizing over this for days. Her mother never seemed to bring up Raffy. That one time they’d run into him at the park, her mom had only offered a polite, distant nod. Niki knew Raffy was Millie Fletcher’s son, and she’d overheard whispers about Miss Fletcher and her father. She was afraid her mom disliked Raffy and would be furious to learn that they had been playing together—and that he had paid for her new clothes.

Danielle saw it all. A child’s emotions were written plainly on their face, and the poorly hidden anxiety didn’t escape her. She took Niki’s hand, led her to the sofa, and sat down. “Niki, is something on your mind?” she asked gently. “You can tell me.”

Niki bit her lip and was silent for a long moment. She glanced up at Danielle, and seeing the warmth and patience in her mother’s eyes, she finally found the courage to speak. “Mommy… I lost my allowance.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “I went to the mall with Raffy today and I found clothes I wanted to buy, but my money was gone. Raffy paid for me.” She paused, her voice dropping even lower. “I know I shouldn’t have let him pay. I was going to save up my allowance to pay him back, but I don’t have enough… and I was scared to tell you. I thought you’d be angry.”

Danielle’s brow furrowed slightly. She wasn’t angry that Raffy had paid, but she was concerned about her daughter developing a habit of letting others spend money on her. But looking at Niki’s tense, flushed face, her heart softened.

She stood, went into the bedroom, and returned with a few bills from her wallet. She handed them to Niki. “Pay Raffy back tomorrow, and make sure you thank him properly,” she said. “And if something like this ever happens again, you call me first. You can’t just trouble other people, understand?”

Niki took the money, clutching it tightly in her hand as she looked up at Danielle, her eyes wide with surprise. “Mommy, you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” Danielle smiled, pulling her into a hug and gently patting her back. “You just accidentally lost your money. It’s not like you were trying to cause trouble for anyone. Why would I be angry about that?”

“But… but Raffy is Miss Fletcher’s son,” Niki mumbled into Danielle’s shoulder. “I thought you didn’t like him, so I was afraid to tell you we were playing together.”

That evening, after Niki’s bath, Danielle watched with a smile as her daughter bounced on the bed in her new dress. The next morning, Niki went off to school with her backpack on and the money from Danielle clutched in her hand. Before she left, she called out, “Mommy, I’ll definitely pay Raffy back today and say thank you!”

Danielle waved with a smile. “Be careful on your way.”

-

Meanwhile, in the project team’s office at NextCore, Danielle was in the middle of a handover.

She looked at Lorie, who sat across from her. “The API parameters for the third module were adjusted last week,” she stated clearly. “You’ll need to ensure compatibility when integrating with Cole’s system. I’ve saved the test logs on the shared drive; the file is marked ‘Urgent.’”

Lorie, sitting in her office chair, tapped her fingers idly on the desk, her gaze sweeping over the document with a hint of impatience. “I know all this. You don’t need to spell it out in such detail.”