From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 361: Chapter 361

Max's words left Dominick frozen in place. Kayla had said something similar to him before, but hearing it from Max hit him straight to the core.
Max was pleased with Dominick's reaction and continued admiring the paintings on the wall. "But Paisy is different from you."
Finally, he found Serena's painting. The drawing showed a big princess holding hands with a little princess, and underneath, in clumsy handwriting, were the words: [Me and Mommy. Rena loves Mommy the most.]
Feeling content, Max took out his phone, snapped a picture of the painting, and then turned back to Dominick. "Paisy saw through me from the start and rejected me outright."
In Montera, when they ran into each other at the hotel restaurant, he had provoked Dominick into a confrontation, almost making him lose his temper. Or maybe, even earlier, Paisley had already seen through his intentions.
But on that day, she had made her rejection clear. That one word—"brother"—was Paisley's answer. Maybe, for the rest of his life, he could only ever be her brother.
"But I have to admit, even after she rejected me, I never gave up on liking her." Max put his phone away, ready to leave. "However, you still underestimate me. I'm not so low as to use children to win over Paisy and drive a wedge between you."
He looked at Dominick seriously. "I care about Rena and Sonny because they are Paisy's children and my adoptive father's grandchildren. They call me 'uncle,' and that makes me responsible for them. In that regard, I am far better than Ms. Prescott ever was."
Grayson stood at the kindergarten entrance, waiting, his heart filled with a faint hope. He hoped his dad would change his mind and let him stay with his mom and sister, or at least let him go back to his mom's villa with his uncle.
As he was thinking about it, he saw his dad and uncle walking out together. His uncle was smiling, but his dad's face was dark. That tiny spark of hope in Grayson's heart was slowly extinguished.
"Dad, Uncle," he called out softly, unable to hide the disappointment on his face.
Dominick noticed his son's expression, and then turned and saw Max pressing his lips together, trying to hold back a smile.
He truly wished he could punch this scheming man in the face. But looking at Grayson's dejected expression, Dominick sighed lightly, "Go on, you can go with your uncle."
Grayson's head shot up, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Really?"
"Really." Dominick gave him a small smile and pinched his cheek.
"Then can I stay at Mom's place tonight?" Grayson asked eagerly.
"As long as your mom agrees, you can." Dominick had no objections to Grayson spending time with Paisley. In fact, he hoped they could rebuild their relationship.
He just didn't like Max, that was all. But he had already been a terrible husband in the past—at the very least, he didn't want to be a terrible father now.
"Oh, yeah!" With Dominick's approval, Grayson jumped up excitedly. "Uncle, hurry and ask Mom if I can stay!"
In the end, Grayson got his wish and stayed at the kindergarten to join Serena's fun sports event. Even though he didn't participate in any of the games, he was still happy just being part of the cheerleading squad.
Jasper never ended up attending the sports event. After the Vanderbilt, Beaumont, and Godard families left, they quietly slipped away as well.
Paisley and Serena only participated in a few of the small events they had signed up for. Their scores weren't high, but they had a lot of fun. The most important thing was that they participated together as mother and daughter.
Serena was also very happy and didn't feel the slightest bit discouraged about being at the bottom of the rankings. As long as her mom was there and could accompany her in the competition, she was completely satisfied.
Besides, the kids were suddenly very warm towards her. Even the boys who had previously bullied her alongside Jasper came up and apologized.
Elara even took the initiative to befriend her. Of course, it wasn't just Elara—other kids also wanted to be friends with her. In an instant, she had gained so many new friends. She was so happy.
Serena's excitement lasted even after the sports event ended and they returned to the villa. During dinner, she was still talking excitedly. "Grandpa, Maria, Uncle, I made so many new friends today!"
"Oh really? Wow, Rena is amazing," Maria smiled and put a piece of meat on Serena's plate. Just as she was about to eat, she suddenly remembered that there was another child at the table.
So, she placed a piece of pork rib on Grayson's plate. "Sonny, have some ribs. I roasted them all afternoon."
Maria didn't mean to favor one child over another—it was just that she wasn't used to having Grayson around yet. Like Paisley, she was trying to accept this child.
Fortunately, Grayson never acted like a spoiled rich kid in front of Maria, unlike how he did in the Vanderbilt family. So, for now, Maria was fairly accepting of him.
"Thank you, Maria." Grayson took a bite of the rib. It wasn't as refined as the top-tier dishes made by the chefs back home, but somehow, he liked it even more. He didn't know why.
Seeing him finish the rib in just two bites, Maria cheerfully placed another piece on his plate.
"Rena, since you have so many friends now, who's your best friend?" Tyson asked with a smile.
Serena answered almost instantly. "Ivan."
A boy's name. Immediately, both Grandpa and Uncle's faces darkened. Even Grayson, who had been chewing his rib, stopped and stared at Serena without blinking.
But Serena was still immersed in the joy of having so many friends and didn't notice the change in their expressions. Paisley, however, saw everything clearly and found the situation both amusing and exasperating.
"And Elara," Serena added.
When she was being bullied by Jasper and the other boys, it was Ivan who had stepped in to help her.
And then there was Elara. Although Elara had also initially pointed out that she didn't have a dad, she never insulted her mom. Later, Elara even helped testify to the teacher that Jasper had bullied her. So now, she had two best friends, Ivan and Elera.
The three males present—one young, one middle-aged, and one older—visibly relaxed when they realized Serena's best friends included a girl as well.
"Rena, you should play with Elara more often. You two can play with dolls together. I'll buy you dolls, okay?" Grayson coaxed her.
Serena didn't think too much about it and nodded enthusiastically. "Okay!"
The dining table was soon filled with laughter and joy. After dinner, Grayson and Serena went off to play together. Maria went back to her own tasks.
Paisley and Max stayed with Tyson in the living room, eating fruit and drinking tea.
"By the way, Aunt Josie and Zim's divorce case is already in progress," Max said.
In prison, Zim stubbornly refused to get a divorce. Perhaps he knew that as long as he remained Josie's husband, he still had a sliver of a chance to turn things around in the future.
Since the usual divorce process wasn't an option, they had no choice but to go to court.
"Josie is very firm about this divorce. I hired the best lawyer in Montera for her. Zim has committed serious offenses, so the court is likely to rule in her favor. It's just a matter of time." Tyson was relieved—his love-struck sister had finally come to her senses.
After discussing Josie, Tyson brought up another matter. If nothing unexpected happened, Logan would retire from the military next month.
The military still had great trust in Logan and hadn't let Edmond and Zim's scandals affect him. So, Logan would be retiring with honors from the military.
After talking about Logan, Tyson also briefly mentioned Jolin and Joshua.
Knowing that everyone was doing well, Paisley felt at ease.
After saying so much, it wasn't until the very end that Tyson brought up Anna again. "And your grandma—"