Tangled in His Obsession

Chapter 417

Prior to this, Seraphina had believed that Valerio’s emotional state had stabilized when it came to dealing with Gloria.

Even if his silence was due to Gloria, he had, after all, been able to face her afterwards. Even when Leandro took him back to Reynolds Vista Retreat, he didn’t show excessive restlessness. But what Seraphina didn’t expect was that an unexpected encounter with Gloria today would cause such him almost a panic attack.

Seraphina thought that probably Valerio had developed an excessive dependence on her after her constant presence.

Because before he turned six, Valerio had never enjoyed the feeling of relying on someone so much. After Seraphina appeared, especially after knowing that she was his biological mother, he unhesitatingly placed all his trust in her, probably to make up for the lack of security he had felt before he was six.

This dependence allowed him to completely relax himself, forget his previous defensiveness and fear, and fully revert to the mindset of a child.

Because of this, the sudden encounter with Gloria would bring up his past fears again, causing such a big impact.

He had become accustomed to a safe and comfortable environment. Suddenly returning to his former state of mind, it was inevitably a bit overwhelming. But the more it was like this, the more Seraphina felt heartache.

In the past, it was her who owed this child too much, leading to his current condition and mindset. From now on, she would never allow anyone to hurt him even a little bit.

Although Valerio was scared, the presence of Seraphina still successfully comforted him,

Herested his head on Seraphina’s shoulder, and after a bout of sobbing, gradually calmed down.

He slowly raised his head, looking at Seraphina with teary eyes, and reached out to wipe her tears away.

Seraphina was on the verge of tears, but eventually just smiled lightly, saying, “Mommy’s fine. Are you still scared?”

Valerio gently shook his head.

Seraphina said gently, “With Mommy here, Grandma won’t dare to scold you. Mommy won’t let Grandma scold you, okay?”

Valerio nodded and rested his head on Seraphina’s shoulder again.

After a while, Seraphina carried Valerio out of the bathroom. When they returned to the previous dining table, Gloria and her friend were nowhere to be seen.

Valerio was motionless on her shoulder. Seraphina knew that he wouldn’t be able to eat anything if he stayed here, so she quickly paid the bill and took Valerio back to Reynolds Manor.

Back home, looking at the piles of shopping bags being unloaded from the car by the driver, the nanny couldn’t help but laugh, “The mother and son must have had a great time shopping, they bought so many things…”

Raising her head, the nanny noticed that Seraphina seemed a bit off, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Seraphina, carrying Valerio, walked in without answering the question, but instead said, “Could you make Valerio some food? He didn’t eat well tonight, I’m afraid he’ll be hungry later.”

The nanny nodded immediately, “Alright, I’ll get right on it.”

Seraphina then put Valerio down, looking at him sitting quietly on the couch, she reached out and stroked his head, “Is there anything else you want to eat?”

Valerio obediently shook his head.

Seraphina smiled, “Okay, then Mommy will eat some snack with you later.”

After saying this, Seraphina stood up, ready to go to the bathroom to get a hot towel for Valerio. But as soon as she stood up, Valerio immediately grabbed her sleeve, looking fearful that she would leave.

Seraphina paused, and the next moment, picked up Valerio and headed to the bathroom together.

That night, Valerio clung tightly to Seraphina, unwilling to leave her for even a moment.

Seraphina watched him finishing his food, then quickly took him upstairs to bathe and sleep.

Normally, Valerio had a fixed sleep time and would fall asleep quickly once he was in bed. But that night, he kept tossing and turning in Seraphina’s arms, showing no signs of sleepiness.

Seraphina patted his back, gently humming a song.

After a while, Valerio finally fell asleep, but his little hand still clung to Seraphina’s nightgown.

Compared to Valerio, Seraphina found it even harder to fall asleep. She lay quietly, watching Valerio’s restless sleeping face, until she heard the faint sound of a car outside

Seraphina picked up her phone to check the time.

It was already half past one in the morning, and Leandro had just returned. Seraphina didn’t move, just lying in bed listening. Soon, Leandro came upstairs, his footsteps stopping outside the door of their room.

Then, the door was pushed open.

With the light from the hallway pouring in, Leandro slowly walked into the room and sat down by the bed.

Seraphina abruptly turned her head to look at him.

Leandro glanced at her, his gaze quickly falling on Valerio.

He reached out to touch Valerio’s forehead, finding the temperature normal before gently stroking Valerio’s face, whispering, “Did he get scared today?”

Upon hearing this, Seraphina knew why he had come home so late.

It was probably not just Valerio who was frightened today, but also Gloria, so he had gone to Reynolds Vista Retreat.

Seraphina responded with a low “Hmm” without saying anything else.

Leandro was silent for a moment, then reached out to cover the hand that Seraphina had placed on Valerio. But Seraphina immediately pulled her hand back. Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

Leandro paused, then asked in a low voice, “Are you blaming me?”

It took a moment before Seraphina replied, “I know I can’t blame you. You’ve been good to Valerio, you’ve done all that you could-that’s what my rational side tells me.

“Uh-huh.” Leandro listened, quiet for a while before he asked again, “And what about emotionally?”

Seraphina clenched her teeth, slowly saying, “Valerio was traumatized, and he had turned into today’s state because you didn’t protect him well enough.”

So, she did blame him after all. That’s probably the raw and selfish side of human nature-

When Valerio was only his, Leandro’s, son, Seraphina thought he was a pretty good father. At least from his perspective, he had done his best.

But when Valerio became their son, Seraphina felt like he hadn’t done enough. Even if he could have done just a little bit more, perhaps Valerio could have avoided his current mute state.

Much later, Leandro once again gently took Seraphina’s hand and brought it to his lips, “I’m sorry,” he said.