Secretly Married for 4 Years, He Regrets to Tears After the Divorce

Chapter 261: Chapter 261: Not Even a Love Rival

In the small bedroom, sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting warm patches of light on the bedding.

Wren Sutton lay on her side on the bed, which was covered with a fresh new sheet, gently patting her two children.

Perhaps it was the refreshing mountain air, or maybe the strange sense of peace from returning to the place where she grew up, but her eyelids grew heavy as drowsiness washed over her.

"Go to sleep. I’ll watch the kids." Adrian Lancaster sat in the old wicker chair by the bed, his voice soft, as if afraid to disturb the tranquility.

Wren mumbled a drowsy, "Mhm."

A few seconds later, she forced her eyes open a crack to look at him.

"Grandma’s house has several bedrooms. You should go get some rest too if you’re tired."

"I’m not tired." A hint of a smile bloomed in Adrian’s eyes. "You just focus on getting some sleep."

"We forgot to bring the bed rail this time. I’ll stay here and watch the kids to make sure the two little ones don’t fall off."

"Alright."

Wren didn’t argue further, letting sleep envelop her. Her breathing became even and deep.

Adrian quietly watched his sleeping wife and children on the bed, his gaze slowly sweeping across the room, which was filled with traces of bygone days.

After a moment, he leaned forward and gently tucked a stray wisp of hair from Wren’s cheek behind her ear.

Wren was sound asleep and didn’t notice.

Adrian pulled his hand back and leaned into the wicker chair again, but his gaze lingered on her for a long time.

Time flowed by in silence.

Owen and Nina slept for about an hour before slowly waking up, whimpering to be held.

Adrian cooed softly to them, changed their diapers, and gave them some water.

Wren woke up as well and glanced at the time.

"Let’s get ready and go over to Granny Foster’s next door."

Adrian was in the middle of preparing formula for the two children.

"Let’s go over after the kids have their milk."

"Okay."

Wren sat up and picked up her daughter, taking the bottle Adrian handed her. She focused on feeding her daughter.

Adrian took charge of feeding their son.

「Half an hour later.」

The afterglow of the setting sun stretched the shadows of the houses long. Wren carried her daughter and Adrian carried their son as the family of four walked toward Granny Foster’s house next door.

The gate to Granny Foster’s yard was open, and smoke from the kitchen chimney drifted out, mingling with the aroma of cooking food.

Just as they entered the yard, they heard Mrs. Sutton say, "Dinner’s ready. I’ll give Wren a call."

The words had barely left her mouth when Mr. Sutton spotted his daughter and son-in-law arriving with the children through the window. He immediately chuckled, "No need to call. They’re here."

Hearing this, everyone in the house looked over.

Mrs. Sutton peeked her head out of the kitchen, her face blooming into a wide smile.

Granny Foster put down what she was doing and greeted them warmly.

A young man with pleasant features, healthy, wheat-colored skin, and a clean, casual jacket was helping set the table with bowls and chopsticks.

He looked up at the sound of their arrival. When his eyes landed on Wren, they instantly lit up, and he blurted out, "Wren!"

A surprised expression appeared on Wren’s face. "Finn Foster, when did you get back?"

"I just got back from the city. I only walked in the door a moment ago."

"We got back around noon."

Finn Foster nodded, delighted. Then, his gaze fell upon Adrian Lancaster standing beside Wren, and the adorable pair of twins.

He had just heard from his grandmother that this man was Wren’s husband, and the twins were her children.

The smile on Finn’s face faltered as a complex wave of emotions washed over him.

In his daze, there was a faint, bittersweet tang left over from his youth, like a yellowed page pulled from the depths of memory, damp with the passage of time.

He remembered when he was very young, he once followed his grandmother next door to Grandpa Morrison’s house to play.

Having been old neighbors for many years, the two families were especially close. They were always visiting each other. Though not related by blood, they were closer than family.

The sun was perfect that day, shining through the old-fashioned wooden lattice windows and casting a warm glow on the cement floor.

His grandmother had held Wren’s maternal grandmother’s hand and said, half-jokingly, half-seriously, "In the future, if my little Finn is lucky enough to marry your girl Wren, our two families will be joined by marriage, and nothing will ever separate us."

He was little back then, tilting his head up, clueless. He didn’t fully understand what "marry" meant; he just saw that all the adults were smiling kindly.

When he got home, he tugged on his grandmother’s sleeve and asked.

His grandmother beamed, pulling him into her arms, and explained it to him in the simplest of terms.

"A man only truly has his own little family after he gets married, just like your grandpa and me, your mom and dad, and Grandpa Morrison and Wren’s grandma next door. It’s all fate. When a man comes of age, he should marry, and when a woman comes of age, she should be wed."

As she spoke, his grandmother patted his head and asked him, "Little Finn, do you want to marry Wren?"

Finn remembered nodding emphatically without a moment’s hesitation, his voice childish yet clear. "Yes!"

"Wren is so nice to me. Every time I go to her house, she stuffs my hands with lots of delicious candies and cookies. She even taught me to recite Tang poems, write, and draw."

In Finn’s young heart, that unreserved closeness and gentleness was the best thing in the whole world.

Hearing this, his grandmother’s smile grew even wider, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smoothing out.

"Well then, you’ll have to grow up quickly, grow up tall and strong, and earn lots and lots of money in the future, so you can marry your Wren in grand style."

"Mhm!" Finn nodded forcefully, a naive yet solemn seed planted in his heart.

’I’m going to earn a lot of money and give it all to Wren to spend...’

"Finn, what are you spacing out for? The food’s ready. Hurry up and help carry the dishes."

Granny Foster’s cheerful urging from the kitchen doorway abruptly cut off that distant, hazy memory.

Finn snapped back to the present, forcefully suppressing the untimely surge of nostalgia, melancholy, and faint bitterness welling up inside him.

He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, a perfectly measured smile was back on his face, so natural it was as if his momentary lapse had never happened.

Finn looked up, about to turn toward the kitchen, when his gaze unexpectedly crashed right into a pair of dark, profound eyes.

Adrian Lancaster was standing not far away, holding Owen. His posture was as straight as a pine tree, and amidst this homey, bustling environment, he exuded a distinguished and noble air that set him apart.

The expression on his face was gentle and polite, but it couldn’t hide the innate composure and powerful aura of someone long accustomed to a position of authority.

His gaze was calm, yet it seemed to possess the power to see right through a person.

The two men’s eyes met in the air for a brief instant.

Adrian was exceptionally perceptive. The very first moment Finn looked at Wren, he had detected something more than just the fondness between childhood neighbors in his gaze—a faint, almost imperceptible trace of other feelings.

The emotion was very subtle, carefully hidden by its owner. Perhaps even Finn himself wasn’t fully aware of it, or rather, was unwilling to be.

But Adrian understood.

However, understanding was all it was.

He felt no sense of crisis or panic because of it. Not even the slightest ripple was stirred in his heart.

’In Adrian’s eyes, Finn, this boy-next-door who still carried a bit of youthful recklessness and sincerity, might have once had a sweet, childhood-sweetheart sort of crush.

But now, he didn’t even qualify as a rival.

Wren is my wife, the mother of my two children, an inseparable part of my life. What we have is a deep bond built over countless days and nights.

How could a hazy fondness lingering in the shadows of past memories possibly shake this ironclad present?

And on what grounds could he ever dream of stealing the woman who already belonged to me, Adrian Lancaster?’

Adrian’s eyes were deep and emotionless. He met Finn’s gaze for a fleeting moment, gave a slight nod as a greeting, and then coolly looked away.

He wrapped an arm intimately around Wren’s waist, protectively guiding her inside.

"Honey, watch your step."