Chapter 575

"Jealous?" Susan shot Caleb a confused look.

Susan seemed totally clueless. Caleb shook his head, "I spent the whole afternoon with my ex-wife. You should be at least a little jealous."

Caleb thought, 'She doesn't feel anything at all. She doesn't care about me enough.'

"You and Grace?" Susan didn't see any reason to be jealous, "You can't stand her, why should I be jealous?"

"She's still a woman, you know."

"Yeah." Susan replied nonchalantly, not really engaging.

"Hey, are you that confident in me?"

"Shouldn't I be? Trusting you is a good thing."

"Sounds nice, but if I'm with another woman, you're really not worried? What if it wasn't Grace, but someone else..."

"I can't stop you from interacting with women. There are women everywhere, at work, in life. It's normal."

"You're just making excuses. If you can accept me being around other women, then I can accept you being around men, right? No way, I'd always care if you were with other guys."

Susan raised an eyebrow, "Mr. Eilish, don't you think you're being childish?"

"What's childish about it? When a guy loves a girl, it's normal to feel this way."

"But we're adults. A healthy relationship is built on trust. So I won't be jealous if you're around other women, and I hope you give me the same space and respect."

"You're just using trust as an excuse to hang out with other men." Caleb snorted, "With so many guys around you, I'd be crazy not to be jealous."

"By your logic, given your status, there are even more women around you. They flock to you like bees to honey. Shouldn't I be more worried?"

"Exactly, you should be worried, you should be jealous for me. That shows you care."

Susan shook her head, "If I were paranoid all the time, you'd be annoyed."

"No, I'd be happy."

"You say that now, but if I really were like that, you'd be sick of me. Alright, isn't mutual trust the foundation of love? Let's not argue over such trivial stuff, or we'll end up fighting for real."

Caleb thought about it and agreed.

"Look at you, in your thirties and still acting like a kid, needing others to be jealous to prove they care. Don't you find it funny?"

"It shows I love you deeply." Caleb hugged Susan's waist, kissing her neck and acting all cute, "You're the only one who sees this side of me. To everyone else, I'm just the cold Mr. Eilish. I'm only ever this relaxed with you, isn't that nice?"

"Alright, you can act cute within reason, okay?" Susan knew that men, like women, need to be pampered. Sometimes men like to act cute even more than women, like the one in front of her. "Stop hanging on me, it's time to eat. Go wash your hands."

"Okay. Can I 'eat' you after dinner?" Caleb pecked her lips.

"Aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache?"

"No way, I can never get enough of you."

Dinner was surprisingly chill.

Candy's face was all smiles, her dimples deep and sweet. She offered food to Susan, "Susan, try this."

Then she served Oliver, "Oliver, have some of this."

"Candy, you're awesome. You get a big piece of steak as a reward," Oliver said.

"You guys just feed each other, pretend I'm not here," Caleb grumbled.

"Okay."

So the three kept passing food around, totally ignoring Caleb.

"Hey, are you really pretending I'm not here?" Caleb protested.

"Didn't you say so? We're just following orders," Susan said, trying not to laugh.

She thought he could last three minutes, but he didn't even make it one.

"Alright, alright, Daddy, have some crab," Candy offered him some.

"You're the best, my daughter."

"Are you saying I'm not considerate?" Susan huffed.

"No, no, my darling is the most considerate."

"Susan, thanks for being so good to me. My mommy specifically asked me to thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Susan, next time, can my mommy come over for dinner too?" Candy asked cautiously.

The table went silent for a moment.

Susan looked at Caleb.

"Candy..." Caleb was about to refuse.

"Sure, let her come next time," Susan said.

Oliver immediately frowned, "But she..." He remembered how Grace had bullied Susan before, and he didn't want to see her.

"Oliver." Susan gave him a look, signaling him to stop.

"Candy, next time let your mommy come over for dinner, okay? It's good to get together sometimes."

Candy's eyes lit up with joy, "Thank you, Susan, you're so nice, I love you so much."

"Eat more," Susan said with a smile.

After dinner, in the room, Caleb said, "You shouldn't have agreed to Candy's request."

"What should I have said? 'I hate your mommy, she's not allowed to come'?"

"You don't have to be so direct, but something like that."

"Kids are super sensitive. They can pick up on what you mean even if you say it indirectly. Candy was so happy today, I didn't want to ruin it for her."

"But you shouldn't have to suffer just to keep her happy. I hate Grace, but she's Candy's mom. I can't avoid seeing her, but you can. I don't want her causing you any trouble."

"I don't want to either, but I don't want Candy to be disappointed more. Candy's custody is with you, which means it's with both of us. I can't avoid interacting with Grace in the future. Since it's inevitable, I might as well embrace it from the start. It'll make Candy happier."

Caleb sighed, "I'm sorry, because of me, you've had to put up with so much. Even though you don't want to, you still consider my feelings."

"That's how it should be between a couple, supporting and tolerating each other, accepting everything about each other. Maybe Grace has changed?"

"She better have. If she tries any tricks, I'll erase her from existence!"