My Second Marriage with the Mafia Kingpin-Chapter 77: Seedlings

The next day, while Ashley was enjoying her breakfast with Lucian and Primo, she couldn’t help but glance at Lucian every now and then.

"Weird," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head as she focused on her food.

A second later, she whipped her head in his direction. He was still reading the newspaper while sipping his coffee.

Primo, who was seated across from her, couldn’t help but sigh.

[What’s wrong?]

Ashley pursed her lips, stared at the boy for a moment, and then smiled. "Nothing."

She just felt like Lucian was watching her every move.

When she woke up that morning, Lucian had already finished his routine. But even from the moment she saw him until now, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been observing her closely.

"Am I being paranoid?" she wondered, shrugging as she continued eating.

Meanwhile, Lucian slid his gaze back to her, observing her quietly. Her intuition wasn’t wrong. If anything, he had been watching her very closely. How could he not, when she had been crying in her sleep last night?

And now, she was back to her usual self.

He leaned back slightly, narrowing his eyes.

Should I tell her? he wondered, only to arch a brow when he noticed Primo looking at him curiously.

Mirroring his earlier question to Ashley, the boy signed, [What’s wrong?]

Lucian cleared his throat and shook his head before raising a finger to his lips. When he lowered it, Ashley looked up at the two of them.

"What? What?" she asked, darting her eyes between father and son. "Are we talking about something?"

"Did you reply to the invitation?" Lucian asked, smoothly changing the topic.

"Oh." Ashley tilted her head, her mouth parting slightly. "I haven’t, but I will today. It’s still next week, so I have time. Besides, I’m planning on bringing some samples."

A smile spread across her face as she turned to Primo. "Do you want to go?"

[Where?]

Primo blinked innocently.

"I was invited to this charity event by my business partner," she said proudly. "Do you want to come?"

She perked up and turned to Lucian. "Can we take him?"

Lucian pondered for a moment before glancing at Primo. "It’s up to him."

That meant he didn’t mind. If anything, it would be the first time the three of them went out together.

Ashley propped her arms on the edge of the table, looking at Primo expectantly. The boy thought about it carefully, hesitating before signing,

[I need to prepare for school.]

Since Primo had been spending most of his time in the small plantation Ashley was building, he hadn’t been studying much. But school would soon start, and he was preparing for his first real school experience. All these years, he had been homeschooled. He didn’t want to mess it up.

"Right..." she nodded, her mouth forming a small o. "It’s about that time, huh?"

Her gaze softened as she looked at the boy, her lips pressing into a thin line as she recalled what little she knew from her previous life.

Lucian had decided to send Primo to school in hopes that he would build connections with children his age—and maybe even start speaking. But that decision had caused problems before.

Ashley furrowed her brows as she studied Primo.

"Huh? Why do you look like you don’t mind going to school?" she blurted out, making both father and son frown slightly. She realized her slip a second later. "I mean—uh, ahem! It’s your first time going to a normal school. Are you excited?"

In her previous life, Primo had hated the idea, which led to tension between him and Lucian. But despite his protests, Lucian never changed his mind.

In the end, Primo became a regular at the guidance office for bad behavior, and Lucian was always called in.

But now... it didn’t seem like Primo was against it anymore.

Was she wrong?

Unbeknownst to her, Primo didn’t originally like the idea either. But lately, he had been in a better mood, and he thought it might not be so bad after all.

[Not really.]

Ashley smiled as she cupped her cheeks. "Should I enroll too?"

The father and son: "..."

Nolan, who had just arrived to refill their drinks: "..."

"Kidding!" she laughed, making everyone else sigh in relief.

Even Primo let out a small sigh, half-expecting her to actually ask Lucian to make it happen. He already had enough worries about this big change—he didn’t need her hovering over him too.

"Then it’s just him and me!" she declared, turning to Lucian. "Lucian, you promised!"

"Mhm," he hummed, watching her smile brightly.

He stared a little longer than necessary before his stiff shoulders relaxed, reassured that she was fine. That she would always be fine—as long as she was in Dominion.

But while the family eased into this new routine of light conversation instead of silent meals, Betty and the head contractor stood in the plantation with troubled expressions.

"What happened here?" Betty wondered, squatting in front of the seedlings they had transplanted. "How did they die?"

The head contractor examined the withered seedlings before scanning the rest. Several had died, withered almost overnight.

"I’ll ask my team what went wrong," he said, waiting for Betty to look at him. "But you should inform Madam first. Don’t worry, Betty. Not all seedlings survive. Some wither—that’s why we plant in batches."

Betty pursed her lips and nodded. "I hope so..." she murmured, her gaze lingering on the fragile plants.

*

*

*

Moments later, after Ashley finished breakfast, Betty approached her immediately to report the issue.

When they arrived at the plantation, Ashley glanced at the trays of seedlings and furrowed her brows.

"The head contractor said he’ll consult the gardeners later—once they clock in," Betty explained, clearly worried.

Ashley turned to her and smiled reassuringly.

"It’s okay," she said gently, giving Betty’s shoulder a light squeeze. "Betty, it’s not the end of the world. Not all of them will survive—that’s why we’re planting in batches."

Just as the head contractor had said, Ashley reassured her so she wouldn’t spiral.

For a while, Betty calmed down...

Until a few days later... when more seedlings—this time, nearly half of them—withered just like that.