Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 32: Father and Daughter’s Heart-to-Heart Talk
A few minutes later, Iris Kensington walked over, clutching her stomach and holding a handful of tissues. "Class monitor, I need to go to the bathroom."
"Okay." Sean Hayes could see she wasn’t faking it, so he adjusted his glasses and nodded.
"Ellie, are you okay?" Holly Winslow asked, looking at her with concern.
Iris Kensington waved a dismissive hand and then ran out of the classroom.
About ten minutes later, she came out of the bathroom. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Wyatt Winslow and Julian Carlton under the horizontal bar. At first, she thought she was seeing things, so she took a second look, and then a third.
It was definitely Wyatt Winslow and Julian Carlton.
Jarton Second High had an unspoken rule: parents were never called in for good news, only for bad.
To put it bluntly, a parent being called to school was never a good thing!
She hurried back to the classroom, slipped past Sean Hayes’s desk, and interrupted Holly Winslow and Xavier Jennings as they were going over a problem. "Holly, Uncle Winslow is here! He’s talking with Old Calder."
Holly Winslow froze for a moment, her mind also going to Jarton Second High’s rule: parents were never called in for good news, only for bad.
’But I haven’t gotten into any trouble recently.’
After thinking for a moment, she could only come up with one possibility: Wyatt Winslow was here to check on her academic progress.
Reassured, she went back to explaining the problem to Xavier Jennings.
When Julian Carlton led Wyatt Winslow to the classroom, he happened to catch the two students in the middle of their "puppy love."
He cleared his throat, trying his best to act natural. "Xavier Jennings, go back to your seat. Holly Winslow, could you step outside for a moment?"
Holly Winslow looked toward the classroom door. Wyatt Winslow was dressed in a black athleisure set. His medium-length black hair fell naturally, making him look more approachable than when he usually slicked it back.
She quickly put down her pen and ran out of the classroom, flashing a wide, toothy grin. "Dad."
"Mm."
The words Wyatt Winslow had been carefully preparing died in his throat. Faced with this version of Holly, he felt even more at a loss than before.
But he much preferred the Holly of today.
He could finally have a calm conversation with her.
Wyatt Winslow led Holly Winslow off campus and to a milk tea shop she loved. At this hour, the shop was empty except for them.
Wyatt Winslow pushed the paper menu across the table to her. "What would you like?"
"Dad, how did you know I like the milk tea here?" Holly Winslow asked with a knowing grin.
There were other milk tea shops in the area, but Wyatt Winslow had led her straight into this one.
’I refuse to believe that’s a coincidence.’
She ordered her usual—a milk tea with half sugar—and two more with regular sugar to go.
His gaze fell on her radiant smile, and Wyatt Winslow pressed his lips together. ’It isn’t her fault,’ he thought. ’The blame is on me for not caring for her enough.’
’Finding out about my own daughter’s favorite milk tea from someone else...’
"If you like it, drink as much as you want."
"You’re the best, Dad. The best in the whole world." Holly Winslow was determined to say all the things to Wyatt Winslow that she hadn’t in her previous life.
Wyatt Winslow habitually met her sweet talk with silence.
Holly Winslow was used to it, so she didn’t mind. She pulled out a couple of tissues to wipe the table and asked casually, "Dad, what did Mr. Carlton tell you?"
"That you’re dating someone."
Wyatt Winslow’s voice wasn’t loud, but it felt like a bomb had gone off in Holly Winslow’s head.
After a moment of shock, Holly Winslow was speechless. "..."
A second later, she choked on her own saliva. "COUGH..."
’Julian Carlton said I’m dating someone?’
’Did he find out that Mortimer Quincy isn’t my cousin?’
She looked at Wyatt Winslow, her heart pounding with guilt. His expression was completely normal, as if he had known all along.
Wyatt Winslow’s hands were clasped in his lap, a subtle sign of his nervousness, but they were hidden by the table, out of Holly Winslow’s sight.
He said, "Holly, you’re still young. Your life is just beginning, and the person you meet now might not be the right one for you."
"I was your age once. I’ve been there. It’s perfectly normal to develop feelings for a male classmate."
"But at your age, you don’t understand what the future holds. A relationship isn’t just about how you feel about each other; it’s about facing life’s challenges together."
He paused for a moment. "Holly, I can’t provide for you forever. There’s a path in life you’ll have to walk on your own. You need to learn to be outstanding in your own right, to secure your own future."
"I know you blame me for the divorce with your mom. I blame myself, too, for not being able to give you a whole family."
"That’s why I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did, Holly."
This was the first time he had ever tried to have a real heart-to-heart with Holly Winslow. Mr. Carlton had shown him the essay she had written for her Language Arts monthly exam.
The topic was "My Father."
There was a line in the essay: "My father is a silent man, but his love for me is deep and ever-present."
He realized that Holly Winslow had understood him all along; it was he who had lacked the patience to guide her properly.
Holly Winslow lowered her head, her eyes welling with tears. Her voice was thick with emotion. "Dad, I don’t blame you. I’m just so glad that you still want me."
’If Wyatt Winslow had given up on me in my past life, just like Yvonne Lewis did, my life would have been a complete disaster.’
Wyatt Winslow stared at her, stunned for a moment. A wave of guilt washed over him. He said in a firm, heavy voice, "You are my child. I will never abandon you."
The moment he spoke those words, tears streamed uncontrollably down Holly Winslow’s face.
’If only I could have heard Wyatt Winslow say that in my past life,’ she thought. ’Would we have been so estranged for all those years?’
She blamed herself. Blamed herself for never once trying to understand Wyatt Winslow.
It had been a long time since he had seen her cry. Wyatt Winslow’s hands clenched. He wanted to comfort her but had no idea how.
Just then, their milk tea arrived.
He unwrapped a straw, poked it into her cup, and pushed it toward her. "Go on, drink up. We can get another if one’s not enough."
Holly Winslow was, after all, an adult in her twenties on the inside. She quickly got her emotions under control. After wiping away her tears, she wrapped her hands around the milk tea, its pleasant warmth seeping into her heart.
She looked at Wyatt Winslow. "Dad, I love you."
Wyatt Winslow fell silent. ’Holly, Dad loves you, too.’
They both lapsed into silence.
Holly Winslow took a few sips of her milk tea before saying earnestly, "Dad, I won’t let this affect my studies."
She couldn’t possibly tell Wyatt Winslow about her and Mortimer Quincy’s absurd rebirth.
Wyatt Winslow met her clear gaze and fell silent once more. After a minute or two, he finally relented with a quiet, "Okay."
Holly Winslow breathed a sigh of relief. But a second later, Wyatt Winslow spoke again, his tone a little awkward. "You’re older now, so you should understand certain things... You have to respect yourself."
As someone with the experience of a past life, Holly Winslow knew exactly what "certain things" he was referring to.
"..."
...
By the time she returned to school, first period was already underway. It was Julian Carlton’s physics class.
"Permission to enter," Holly Winslow said, raising her hand while using her other to hide the two cups of milk tea behind her back.
Julian Carlton glanced at her and noticed her eyes were a little red. He deliberately softened his tone. "Come in."
For the rest of the class, he intentionally paid closer attention to Holly Winslow. She was still listening attentively and taking notes, which set his mind at ease somewhat.
After class, he called Holly Winslow out onto the balcony. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xavier Jennings and Beau Sullivan loitering behind them, pretending to be looking around casually.
He snapped at them in a low voice, "What are you two loitering for? Get back to the classroom and do your homework. If I check later and find you haven’t done it, I’ll have you copy the third Chapter of the textbook, word for word, three times."
Only when the two had gone back inside did he turn his attention back to Holly Winslow. "Are you mad at me?" he asked kindly.
Holly Winslow shook her head. She had been a homeroom teacher in her past life, so she understood his well-meaning intentions.
’I’m just a little surprised,’ she thought, ’how did Julian Carlton find out about me and Mortimer Quincy?’
"I’m only doing this for your and Xavier Jennings’s own good," he said. "I’ve seen how hard you’ve both been working lately, and I’m very pleased."
"I hope you two will keep up the good work. After the college entrance exams, you’ll have all the time in the world to date. At that point, neither I nor your families will interfere," Julian Carlton said earnestly.
