Sabrina's heart sank at his words but she managed to maintain calm on the outside. She avoided looking directly at Sebastian but instead turned to look outside the window. Her expression was indifferent, almost as though she was trapped in her own world and nothing outside that world would interest or affect her. She was likely to remain the same even if there was a knife against her throat.
Sebastian had always liked that expression on her and how she sat upright. He reached out an arm to hold her gently from behind her back, Sabrina did not object to it and leaned over towards him like a clingy little kitten. He might have only reminded her not to bother herself with what happened to Emma, but she had read through the texts and understood that his friendship with the Poole Family was simply far too valuable for a woman Sebastian brought home to question anything related to them. There could also be a possibility that he deliberately stayed with the Poole Family in the Kidon City for the past few days precisely because he knew Emma was planning to humiliate her? 1
‘What a pathetic existence I am,’ she thought, and did not utter another word for the rest of the ride. She
couldn't even remember what Aino had said to her most of the time.
Aino noticed that her mother was distracted and
thought that Sabrina was simply tired. With both of her hands, she massaged Sabrina's legs, saying to Sebastian, "Daddy, when I grow up, let's spoil Mommy rotten together! Look at how tired she is!"
Sebastian did not reply immediately as he thought,' Aren't you supposed to be spoiling both me and your mother when you grow up?"
Seeing that Sebastian was rendered speechless, Aino continued, "What's wrong? You don't want to? If you don't want to spoil my mommy, then I am going to find her a boyfriend who is better-looking than you. There are plenty of handsome guys who are willing to spoil her, anyways. Hmph!"
Kingston chuckled from the driver's seat. He had realized for some time that the little princess would side with her mother no matter what. Even when Sabrina had forgotten about her and went to hug only her father a few days ago, the little princess was still supportive of Sabrina.
'Oh my!' he thought, 'Daughters really are angels. No wonder Master Sebastian insisted on finding his daughter no matter what it took. Haha! Besides, it seems like Master Sebastian isn't exactly bothered by that.'
Kingston drove slightly faster as he thought back to how Sebastian's mood had much improved ever since they had recovered Mrs. Ford and the little princess, which in turn caused ground-breaking changes to Kingston's working environment. Back in the days, most of what he heard Sebastian saying was, "Get rid o f them if you need to! Just keep clean!", or "You will receive five percent of the total profit, sign the contract if you accept it. No? Then it's four percent! Keep rejecting it and I'm going to lower it all the way down to two percent!". 1
Day after day, Kingston drove him to and from work and not once had he seen Sebastian smile. Kingston was concerned for a period of time that his Master's face would simply freeze at the vicious expression he often found on him, but Sebastian had changed. Though he still wouldn't show his emotion, one simply cannot conceal the signs of their microexpression. Kingston could distinctly see the way Sebastian's expression darkened slightly, followed by resignation and a hint of smugness.
Indeed, Sebastian was trying his best to suppress his smugness and purposefully forced an indifferent expression before saying to Aino, "Feel free to do that, but that still depends on whether those good-looking uncles have the nerves to take your mother out for a date!"
His tone was casual, yet still boundlessly domineering, which sounded like a declaration of the power dynamic between Sabrina and Sebastian to her.
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