A Love Trap

Chapter 910 A Big Surprise.

"Okay."

Ashley was happy to see her children getting along really well.

Her heart felt full. Although Richard was not her biological son, he could not have been more dear to her than if he had actually come from her.

The three children talked in low voices. They were also clumped together, so no one at the table heard what they were talking about.

Ashley could only see them whispering to each other.

After dinner, the servants cleared the table as Ashley and the others settled on the sofa.

They were watching TV together when, suddenly, the whole villa was plunged into darkness.

"Ah!"

Some of the more timid house staff could not hold back their screams.

"Is the electricity off? "How could there be a power outage?

"How could there be a sudden blackout in the villa?" the servants whispered among themselves.

Ashley was also a little scared, but she calmed down at the thought of Andrew by her side.

Suddenly, she remembered, 'My children!

Where are my children right now?' Ashley started panicking.

"Richard, Dany, Fabio, where are you?" Ashley called out in a loud voice.

However, no one answered.

It was dark everywhere, so Ashley started feeling more and more terrified. She held Andrew's hand and asked, "Andy, where are the children? Do you know where they are?"

"It's okay. Don't worry! They're all inside the house. Take it easy," Andrew comforted her.

Suddenly, Ashley noticed a faint light and some noise from a short distance. She looked up and tried to focus.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!"

The faint light got closer and closer, and Ashley could now see it more clearly.

She heard the voices of her children singing the birthday song. The way they sang it was so lovely that it melted the hearts of anyone within hearing distance.

Stunned, Ashley could only gape at the children as they approached her.

Finally, they stopped in front of her and said aloud, "Happy Birthday, Mommy!" The three kids expressed their greetings in unison. Unconsciously, Ashley brought up a hand to cover her mouth and looked at them, emotions swimming in her eyes. She could not come to herself until sometime later.

"Mommy, blow the candles and make a wish!" Dany said excitedly as she walked up to Ashley, grabbing her sleeve.

"Yes, Mommy, make a wish!"

"Mommy, make a wish!"

Richard and Fabio also urged her.

"Okay! I'll make a wish!"

Ashley said, standing up. She looked at the lighted candles on the cake in front of her, closed her eyes to make her wish, and blew them out.

"Yeah!"

The three children cheered. At that moment, the light was turned back on.

It was like the blackout from before never happened.

However, the cake and candles in front of Ashley told her that it was all too real.

The sudden light in the room made Ashley squint.

When she opened her eyes, she saw her three children standing in front of her. Behind them stood Linda and the other servants who all said aloud to Ashley, "Happy birthday, my lady!" Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

These were the servants who were brought here by Chant back then.

Chant understood Andrew fairly well. He knew that Andrew would never employ any servants in his home.

After all, Andrew valued his solitude.

These servants had worked for Chant for a long time.

"Thank you!"

Ashley replied, her eyes shining.

Even so, she was still confused. Was today her birthday?

"Mommy! Did you forget that today is your birthday?" Fabio asked when he saw the puzzlement on Ashley's face.

"Mommy, you haven't celebrated your birthday for a long time. Now, we're celebrating it." Dany reminded her.

The kids were so good now. It was Ashley's birthday, and they found out about it when she mentioned once that she didn't have the time to celebrate it, back in M Country.

Back then, she was too busy with company affairs that she seldom celebrated her birthday. She had forgotten her own, but never the birthdays of Fabio and Richard.

No matter how busy she became, they celebrated those special days without fail.

Now, listening to their words, Ashley couldn't say anything else.

"Thank you, my babies. I love you all!" Ashley said to her three children.

It wasn't a lie. She had indeed forgotten her own birthday.

She had never celebrated it when she lived in M Country because of her busy schedule. She eventually forgot to celebrate it ever.

She never thought that her own kids would be the ones reminding her of it.

The warmth in her heart was about to overflow.

"Mommy, this is my present for you!"

Dany said with her round eyes blinking innocently as she took out a delicate box from her pocket.

"Oh, and there are gifts, too?" Ashley exclaimed as she looked at Dany in surprise.

Really, this was so unexpected.

Dany nodded enthusiastically. "Hmm, Mommy, do you like it?"

Dany looked up at her expectantly.

"As long as it's a present from you, Mommy loves it!"

How could Ashley not love it? It was a gift from Dany, after all.

"Can I open it?" Ashley asked.

At first, it seemed like Dany meant to nod, but then she thought about it again and shook her head vigorously. "No! Mommy, you should take a look at it when you're in your room."

"Got it!"

Ashley replied as she carefully placed the box beside her.

"Mommy, I also have a present for you," said Fabio.

"Mommy, happy birthday!" Richard handed the present he had prepared to Ashley.

Not to be outdone by her elder brother, Fabio offered his present to their mother at the same time.

"Thank you, my babies. I love them all, very much!"

Although she had yet to see the contents of the presents, Ashley was still happy.

"I don't have anything for you. Just take this,"

Chant said. Porter walked up to Ashley with a box in his hand.

Ashley just stared at the large box. She could not even hazard a guess as to what it was.

"You didn't have to, Grandpa," Ashley demurred.

"Who said so? This is for you. You are the daughter-in-law of the Lu family. As your grandfather, how can I not give you a gift?" Chant felt saddened by Ashley's refusal, but he kept looking at her with a straight face.

Ashley glanced at Andrew and saw him nod.

Ashley had no choice but to take the box from Porter.

"Open it and Let me know if you like it. If not, I'll have it exchanged for another one."

"No, that's okay, Grandpa. I like it very much," Ashley said as she opened the package. Nestled within the box was bracelet made up of clear green stones.

In her previous line of work, people used to gamble using a lot of precious stones, so she knew something about them. The stones in the bracelet looked to be of high quality, possibly emeralds.

Ashley took one look at the box and closed it.

"Grandpa, this is too expensive. I can't accept it."

"I insist. It was left by Andrew's grandmother. Now, it belongs to you,"

Chant said carefully.

If Chant had not explained the value of the said bracelet, Ashley would have completely declined it.

However, Chant said that it was an heirloom piece passed down from Andrew's grandmother, so how could she refuse?

Chant had given this bracelet to her, which meant that he had accepted her into the Lu family.

"Take it even if you don't want it. You know that I have no use for it,"

Chant said lightly.

"I don't know what to say, Grandpa. Thank you," Ashley said, left with no choice after hearing Chant's words.

If she refused one more time, he would be embarrassed.

"Mommy, cut the cake! We designed this cake ourselves. The three of us drew it together, and we asked the bakers to make it!" Fabio said, looking at Ashley with his chest puffed up with pride.

As expected, Ashley was immediately drawn to the cake after hearing what Fabio had said.

"Did you really design this cake?" she asked, amazed.

Fabio scratched the nape of his neck. "Um... actually, it was Dany who designed it," Fabio admitted.

Dany blushed so prettily.

She was a little shy about her work.

"Mommy," Dany whispered.

"Dany, did you design this cake?" Ashley asked again.

Dany nodded.

Ever since she was a toddler, Dany had always liked painting. Cayn had hired the best tutors to teach her how to draw and paint.

Dany's cake design was quite impressive.

Hearing this, Chant looked at Dany in surprise.

Then, a proud smile appeared on his face. His great granddaughter was an art prodigy!

Ashley raised her head to look at the cake. It was a three-layered cake with intricate swirls and other details. The more she looked at it, the more she felt that it was the most beautiful cake in the world, simply because it was her Dany who had designed it.

The top layer of the cake featured a picture of five people -- Dany, Fabio, Richard, Ashley, and Andrew.

The five figures stood together hand in hand, like a happy family.