Eleanor frowned and called out to her daughter, "Evelyn, it''s time for us to head home."
"Dad forgot this time, but I''ll make it up to Mom next time,"n said, scooping Evelyn into his arms as he walked to the trunk. He opened it to reveal a pink box of building blocks.
"Wow!" Evelyn gasped, eyes wide with delight. "I love this present!"
Seeing his daughter''s excitement,n''s expression softened. He''d spent hours onlinest night searching for just the right one.
He handed her the gift box, and Evelyn clutched it, tugging at his sleeve. "Daddy,e upstairs and have dinner with us!"
"Evelyn, honey, your dad has things to take care of tonight. Let''s not keep him, okay?" Eleanor said gently.
"Alright," Evelyn nodded, letting go of his hand with surprising maturity.
He straightened, ncing at the bouquet Eleanor was holding with a conflicted look before turning to leave.
Momentster, the sound ofn''s car engine echoed through the parking lot and quickly faded as he drove away.
Eleanor took Evelyn by the hand and led her home. As they walked in, Joslyn noticed the gift in Evelyn''s arms and did a double-take. "Oh! Evelyn, who gave you that?"
"My dad did," Evelyn replied.
Joslyn shot Eleanor a look, pointing to an identical gift box sitting on the sofa. "Ma''am, Mr. Vaughn delivered that himself just about ten minutes ago."
"Huh? It''s exactly the same as the one from my dad! Now I have two presents!" Evelyn squealed, running over to the sofa, absolutely thrilled by the double surprise.
Eleanor stood frozen for a moment, surprised that Xavier had also gotten a gift for their daughter. Meanwhile, she''d been so busy today she hadn''t managed to get anything for anyone.
She made a mental note: Christmas was officially tomorrow. She''d have to make it up to Xavier and Vivian with gifts of her own.
After dinner, Eleanor settled onto the sofa, scrolling through her favorite bloggers on her phone. As she swiped, a short video notification popped up from the media.
She frowned, spotting Vanessa''stest post. The video''s voiceover chattered excitedly, "Oh my gosh! Did you all get Christmas gifts? Well, let''s check out what everyone else got! Some people are just too lucky-it turns out our piano goddess received an exclusive Tiffiny bracelet! Can you guess which big-shot CEO is behind such generosity? I think we all know who I''m talking about. Honestly, isn''t he just spoiling her rotten?"
The words rushed by, barely finished when Evelyn came running over. "Mom, I can''t figure this part out. Can you help me?"
"Of course," Eleanor said, turning off her phone and getting up to help her daughter with the building blocks.
The next morning, Eleanor picked out a gift and asked Ellington to have someone buy it for her. She also decided to return the favor with a present for Xavier.
She chose a sleek fountain pen for him—practical, elegant, and just right.
By ten o''clock, the gifts were delivered to Xavier''s office. He was in a meeting at the time. When he returned, his assistant greeted him, "Mr. Vaughn, Miss Sutton sent over two gifts this morning."
Xavier looked surprised, ncing over at the sofa. He strode over and saw that one box was a children''s gift for Vivian. Then his eyesnded on a Montnc fountain pen-Eleanor''s present to him.
He picked up the pen and couldn''t stop a genuine smile from spreading across his face.
His assistant stared in astonishment. It had been a long time since Mr. Vaughn had looked this pleased. Clearly, Miss Sutton''s gift had made his day.
Xavier took out his phone and messaged Eleanor, "Got your gift. Thank you."
"No need to thank me—it was my pleasure," she replied.
"I''ll put this pen to good use."
"Wishing you all the best."
Xavier held his phone, smiling once more.