Chapter 3
Malani walked over and happened to see the video of Danielle wiping Robin's mouth. She snatched the phone and pouted.
Jayson frowned, a hint of irritation showing on his face. The maid hurriedly grabbed the phone back and slipped out.
"Who's that kid, Dad?" Malani asked.
Jayson scooped her up, steering the conversation away. "Doesn't matter who it is, Mommy loves you best, Malani."
That seemed to settle Malani down a little.
She thought that girl looked awkward and ugly, not cute. She tried to comfort herself that Danielle just wiped the girl's mouth, and it was no big deal.
She told herself that Danielle helped her get dressed, cooked for her, and cleaned up her room so that she could convince herself that Danielle had always loved her best.
Malani grinned, shook it off, and skipped away to play the piano.
"Is Mom coming back soon?" Malani asked. "My teacher just taught me a new piece. I want to play it for her when she gets home."
Jayson stayed silent for a moment, swallowing his frustration before finally replying, "Mom's got some things to handle. She'll be back in a few days."
Malani just quietly nodded.
She thought she would just play it for Fallon first. Danielle didn't really get music anyway. So, she would show Danielle next time.
Danielle Brooks's POV
We rushed to the hospital. The doctor suspected Robin had gotten food poisoning. We checked what she had eaten. It looked like the culprit was some potatoes that had turned green.
Arian looked stunned for a moment, and then forced a faint, bitter smile. "It's all my fault."
When we got back to the hospital room, Robin was already awake.
Her big, round eyes darted away, and she buried herself under the covers, looking guilty. "I'm... sorry."
Whenever Arian had a livestream, he'd always make some of the food he was selling for Robin to eat, and she'd help him prep the ingredients.
Arian walked over, gently ruffled her hair, and let out a sigh of relief. "As long as you're okay, that's all that matters."
Her feelings just spilled out all at once. Robin started shaking and sobbing, little whimpers escaping her throat as she cried, "The potatoes turned green, but I didn't want to waste them, so I had to eat them."
The pain in her body and the guilt in her heart left this little girl, barely seven, not knowing what to do. She didn't get a lot of things, but she knew what love felt like.
I couldn't help but think of Malani and how she always turned her nose up at anything she didn't like.
"Potatoes come from the ground. They're dirty and ugly. I wouldn't even touch them," Malani used to say.
I felt grateful for how thoughtful Robin was, and my heart ached seeing how she never complained about food. I sighed softly, pulled her close, and gently rubbed her back to comfort her.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Robin. But your life is the most important thing. Remember, you matter more than anything," I said gently.
Robin snuggled in my arms for a long time before finally falling asleep.
I glanced around at the IVs and medication, feeling a complicated mix of emotions.
Because Robin was so mature for her age, she never voiced her own needs. She even held back her natural childishness, never complaining or acting out.
We quietly closed the door and stepped out.
We exchanged glances, both falling into a moment of wordless silence.
*****
It wasn't until evening that Jayson texted again, and as usual, it was all about Malani.
I rememberd the day I found out about his affair, there was no dramatic fight as I'd imagined. He openly admitted it and said he was just tired of our relationship.
"I don't love you anymore. You can file for divorce," he said. Even talking about divorce, he was so composed.
So, when he started acting out of character now, I cut him off without hesitation.
I replied, [You can handle most things yourself. After all, Malani has a father. So, is there anything else?]
He kept typing and deleting for ages. Finally, Jayson sent: [Will you come back for your birthday?]
Thinking of the deal I made with Malani, I just texted back: [Okay.]
Arian's livestreams were doing pretty well, but it was tough to really scale things up. While he was out in the yard treating the roses, he brought it up casually.
I didn't say anything, just pulled up the livestream again to watch.
Judging by the numbers, it shouldn't have been that bad. But then I caught Robin's face as she ate, and honestly, it didn't look like she was enjoying it at all.
If anything, it looked like she was forcing herself to eat something she really didn't like.
After I finally tasted Arian's cooking, I totally got why Robin kept coming over to my yard.
Arian scratched his head, looking awkward as he held the plate. "Is it really that... Eww, gross," he muttered and spat out the food.
Honestly, even in the underworld of terrible cooks, this was rare.
Seeing Robin still trying to force it down, I stopped her and said, "Hey, let me handle the cooking from now on."
She was still growing and needed real food, not this stuff.
After I made the food taste better, the livestream numbers went up a bit. Maybe I was just imagining it, but Robin seemed to be putting on a little weight.
As things got busier, I started helping out with the livestreams too. Now and then, comments would pop up on the screen.
[Hey, handsome, looks like you've got a crush. But your products are actually pretty good, so I'm not unfollowing.]
[Yeah, I'm totally shipping you two. Just a little accidental hand touch, and your ears turn red. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were just couple vloggers.]
With all those shipping comments popping up, I started worrying it might make things awkward for Arian. So, I said I had stuff to take care of and stopped appearing on camera.
Arian just nodded and didn't ask any questions.
Even with everything going on, Robin still loved hanging out at my place. Whether I was fertilizing, watering, or pulling weeds, she'd always be right there, watching everything I did.
Catching her gaze again, I asked, "Hey, wanna learn how to grow flowers?"