Willow thanked Julian sweetly. "Thank you, Daddy.""You're welcome," Julian replied, his voice softening noticeably.Willow took a sip of her soup. She then raised her head and asked Julia as she looked at him, "Daddy, when will the chef be back?""Next week," he replied."Tomorrow is Saturday…" Willow calculated in her head. "We already have plans for that day.""Then Sunday!" yelled Willow. She then eagerly suggested, "Let's cook at home."She really wanted to experience what life was like for an ordinary family of three. Julian looked at me. It was as if he was worried that I might refuse.I didn't mind it at all. "That's fine with me."Julian seemed relieved and gently pinched Willow's cheek. "Then we'll do as you say."…Zach hadn't eaten ever since he returned. His stomach growled. He was very hungry. As such, he opened the fridge to see if there was any food. The fridge was completely empty.Zach rubbed his little stomach and opened the freezer. It was filled with
Upon being asked this question, Shayne replied, "Well that's because…"He wanted to say that she was out preparing a surprise for him, but before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly realized something was off.Luna always told him that she needed to take it easy because she was pregnant or else it would affect the fetus.However, shopping was hard as well, right? That meant in Luna's eyes, a little exertion while going out for fun was fine. But if it involved taking care of Zach then it wasn't.Seeing Shayne pause and not finish his sentence, Zach asked curiously, "Daddy, what's wrong with Mama Luna?""Nothing is wrong," Shayne replied.Zach was his only son, so he naturally wanted to prioritize him. "When we go back today, I'll talk to Mama Luna and make sure she comes to pick you up tomorrow, no matter how busy she is. Does that sound good?"Zach nodded with satisfaction. "Yeah!" He then murmured softly, "I want all my classmates to see how Mama Luna treats me even bet
"Do you understand?"Willow giggled happily. She then wrapped her arms around my neck and planted a big kiss on my cheek. "You're the best!"I hugged her tightly. "You're great too."Willow immediately wriggled out of my embrace. She grabbed my hand and started pulling me up the stairs. "Come on, Mom! I can't wait to take my bath!"…There was a bathtub in Willow's room. She wanted to soak in the tub today, so I kept an eye on the water temperature as I filled it.Meanwhile, Willow pulled out her bath companions—a little yellow rubber duck and some other plastic animals. She then tossed them all into the tub.After that, she picked out her pajamas.Once she was done with all of that, tiny beads of sweat had formed on her forehead. However, her eyes sparkled with excitement.The water was ready. Willow climbed into the bathtub and lay in the water obediently. She poked her head over the tub to look at me.It was odd. I hadn't put as much effort into her as I did in Zach, yet s
Shayne couldn't tell that Luna cared about Zach.Luna instantly became alert. Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Shayne. "Are you blaming me?"Shayne was unexpectedly patient. "No."She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he truly wasn't accusing her of anything. But Shayne continued, "However…"Luna instantly tensed up."You don't seem to care about Zach at all," he continued calmly.Luna quickly explained herself. "I don't know why, but my pregnancy symptoms are especially severe. As soon as you two left, I got so tired I was about to fall asleep."Shayne continued looking down at her. "But we're back now, and you still didn't even ask how he's doing."It was only then that Luna realized she had made a grave mistake. Although she had managed to force Aralyn away and successfully take her place, Zach was still very important to Shayne.She shouldn't have neglected Zach right from the start. She needed to treat Zach better, at least in front of Shayne.Sh
After we sat down, the waiter came over with a menu to take our order.Willow handed me the menu. I pointed to each item, explaining the different types of sausages available.She nodded in response and replied, "Delicious."Once I was done explaining, I asked, "What kind of sausages would you like to eat?"Willow blinked. "I want to try all of them."I handed the menu to Julian to let him decide.Julian, who doted on Willow, immediately told the waiter, "One of each, please."The waiter responded warmly, "Alright."Once the waiter left, Willow snuggled into my arms and started chatting away. "Mom, did you know that I heard my classmates say that Zach's been having a rough time over the past two days? His new Mom didn't even want to pick him up after school. She made him wait outside the school past nine…" Children were straightforward and said whatever they wanted. She continued muttering softly, "Say, why do you think he's so dumb? He had such a wonderful mother, yet h
Zach stood in place, stunned. However, he instinctively asked, "Why?"Luna used to take him everywhere with her. What changed?"Because you were bad." Luna sneered.She was an adult, so dealing with a child was a piece of cake.She looked down at him and said, "You got sick, and I wasn't feeling well enough to stay with you in the hospital. But you had a problem with that. You tattled to your Dad and made him hate me."Her tone then turned malicious. "So, I naturally will give you a bad time. Understand?"Zach nodded. "Then I'll change. No matter what happens, I won't tell Dad, okay?"He hoped she would treat him better."Too late." Luna finished packing her things and walked out the door with her son.Zach wanted to follow along, but Luna shoved him hard and he fell to the floor. The door was then shut.He was the only person left in the house.He looked at the door. He liked Luna so much that he even drove his previous mom out of the house for her. So, how could Luna tre
Although Julian wasn't my husband, and Willow wasn't my biological daughter, being with them helped me gradually understand what a healthy parent-child relationship looked like.…Today, Willow wanted to enjoy time together as a family of three. She specifically didn't let the driver follow us.Julian drove while I sat in the back with Willow. She leaned affectionately against me as her fingers constantly played with my clothes.On the other hand, I gently patted her shoulder while I quietly thought about how I could request for her to speak with people other than Julian and me.After hesitating for a long time, I cautiously asked, "Willow, can I ask you to help me with something?"When Willow heard this, she sat up immediately. Her eyes shone brightly as she looked at me and asked, "What is it?"She seemed very eager to help me.I slowed my speech. "It's just… Could you try talking to other people?"Willow straightened her posture. Her little face was serious.I didn't inter
Zach couldn't figure it out.He only vaguely felt that everything seemed to have changed ever since his parents divorced.Zach returned to his room, sad. He took out his tablet and opened Facebook. The moment he logged in, he saw that Luna had just posted something.Curious, he clicked on it.It was a photo of Luna holding Mason. They were both smiling brightly, clearly having a great time at the amusement park.Zach was so sad that he started to cry. He was about to screenshot the post and send it to his dad, but the photo suddenly disappeared the next moment.…There were a lot of children at the amusement park. In the past, Julian was busy with work, so he rarely had the time to take Willow out to play. As such, the moment Willow saw all the attractions at the park, her eyes lit up. She held my hand and pranced around to take everything in.Eventually, she chose a small play area. She turned to Julian and said, "Daddy, I want to play here!"As Julian paid at the back, I a
As soon as he finished speaking, the server brought over a large bowl of broth fondue and placed it on the table. "Enjoy your meal," he said with a smile."Thank you!" I picked up a piece of the beef. The crunchy and tender texture was simply irresistible.I ate several big bites in a row, only to notice that Julian still hadn't started eating. Curious, I asked, "Are you not going to eat?""Of course I am," Julian said, picking up his cutlery.…Shayne returned to his office, thinking about the things Aralyn had said. It dawned on him that he had indeed made far too many mistakes.Ever since he'd married Aralyn, he had taken her for granted because she was too sensible and understanding. He hadn't even noticed how much she had suffered.At this moment, Shayne was desperate to divorce Luna and make amends to Aralyn.Resolute, he called Luna."Yes? Miss me?" Luna's sweet voice came through the phone."I'm sorry." After saying those words, Shayne felt a sense of relief.Why was
"So, you think I should pay for every meal Julian and I have together?" I countered.The people around us started whispering, all saying that Amber was being shameless.Amber was so furious that she nearly lost her composure. "That's not the point! The point is my son refuses to support us because of you!"Standing up, Julian took out the bank transaction statements he had specifically asked Mark to print earlier. "Why don't you tell everyone how much you spend each month?"Amber had always gotten away with this kind of behavior before, so she never expected Julian to fight back this time.She froze on the spot.Julian unfolded the statements. To make sure everyone could see, he even handed out a few copies to the crowd.The onlookers opened the papers. The monthly expenses amounted to over five million. Then, they looked back at Amber, thinking she was being unreasonable.They thought she was being ungrateful by making a scene here when she received that much money; she hadn't
Mark didn't even think before replying, "Well, the company has a rule—if you complete three days' work in one day, the remaining two days are vacation."I found it a bit hard to believe. "Does such a great company really exist?"Mark teased with a smile, "Well, you've seen one now. The average price for these peripheral products is ten dollars, and your royalty margin is still 15%. The company just decided to spend a large sum of money to boost traffic."If all goes as planned, the sales of these peripheral products should break records day by day. We're worried that when the demand surges, production might not keep up."So, we're planning to stock up in advance to avoid running out of inventory when the comic goes viral. You just sit back and wait for the royalty money to roll in."When I heard that, I couldn't help but anticipate it. "Thank you.""You're welcome."With that, he left, not daring to glance at Julian.Julian followed him. "Help me print out the bank transfer rec
"If you had even a shred of sense and thought about everything you did to me, you couldn't possibly think I still have the slightest attachment to you."Shayne slammed the table and stood up. "Is this about me making you sleep with Rowan?"I leaned back on the couch and looked up at him. "Is that the only thing?"Shayne acted as if he couldn't hear me. "But I don't care about it anymore!""Heh." I realized I shouldn't have come to talk to him at all.Seeing me get up, Shayne hurriedly ran in front of me. "Aralyn…"I ignored him and walked straight past. Glancing back at his dejected figure, I calmly said, "I've always been thankful that I chose to leave you."…Back in the office, Julian, who had been focused on work, set his tasks aside and approached me. "Are you okay?"I nodded. "I'm fine. I just don't know what got into him. He suddenly said he regrets the divorce as if it would make any difference had he refused back then."I didn't bother to hide the disdain in my eyes.
"Strictly speaking, she's not an employee of Hughes Group," Mark said in a friendly manner.Shayne frowned. Seeing that this approach wasn't working, he simply stated his reason for coming, "I want to see her."Mark smiled politely. "You can call her and ask if she's willing to meet you."Mr. Pearce, I'm just an employee. Please don't make things difficult for me."Shayne stared at Mark. "She blocked me.""Then I'm sorry. I can't help you," Mark uttered in a professional tone.Shayne tried to bypass Mark to go find Aralyn, but Mark stepped forward to block him.Just then, the office door opened.…I stood at the door, looking at Shayne.Shayne looked at me. "Aralyn.""Don't say my name as if we're close," I said coldly, staring at him in disdain. "We're nothing more than strangers."For once, Shayne's expression showed sadness.But I didn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy. Instead, I found him pretentious and turned my gaze away.Mark stepped up to me and whispered, "D
Julian then noticed that, in addition to the commonly seen merchandise on the market, the applicants had also created some everyday products that hadn't been made into merchandise before. "Very professional," he commented, quite satisfied."Yes. Now that we've hired people for both the merchandise and comic departments, if all goes smoothly, we'll be able to produce the rest of the merchandise within the next couple of days. I think the comic's followers aren't growing fast enough."So, I'm suggesting the finance department allocate more funds to the promotions team. After all, early-stage promotion mainly relies on spending money," Mark voiced his opinions.Julian, who never lacked money, replied, "Approved."It was because of Aralyn that Mark learned just how many ways there were to make money in the comic industry.And the prospects looked so promising."There are very few applicants for the translation department, which handles international promotions, but I'll keep an eye
In the office, I started working seriously.…Julian walked out of the office and went to a secluded corner, dialing Amber's number."Yes? What's the matter?" Amber asked."Didn't I tell you not to contact Aralyn unless there was a reason? Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson. Do I really have to cut off all of the family's living expenses?"Each word from Julian was colder than the last."I'm your mother! I'm not happy with Aralyn as my daughter-in-law. Can't I say something about it?" Amber asked sharply, sounding as if she were perfectly justified.But Julian wasn't buying it at all. "No, you can't."Amber was almost choked speechless by Julian's words, but she knew Julian meant what he said."You don't even have the right to cut off our living expenses. Don't forget that we're the ones who handed the company to you. You're enjoying the results of our hard work, and yet you don't want to support us? How do you think that's fair?"Julian sneered, "Mom, I guess y
Willow lifted her chin. "It's a secret."Lilia and Gabriel immediately clapped. "You're amazing, Willow. You're able to keep a secret at such a young age."Willow smiled shyly.After exercising and taking a bath, the whole family sat at the dining table for breakfast.Now that Willow could talk to her grandparents, she couldn't wait to tell them everything as she talked non-stop. "Grandpa, Grandma, the chef we hired makes really delicious food. You can ask him to make anything, and he'll make it for you. Don't be shy!"Lilia still felt as if she was dreaming. Just yesterday, they had only suggested something to Willow, and she had already improved now."Alright," said Gabriel.Lilia suddenly thought of something and quickly said, "To celebrate you finally being able to chat with us, why don't we take you out to have some fun after school?""I think I can't," Willow uttered immediately. Lilia looked at Willow in confusion. "Why not?""I have to go home and train with my coa
Willow lay in bed, with Lilia sitting beside her.Willow's eyes shimmered. "Grandpa, Grandma, are you still sad now?"Afraid she hadn't expressed herself clearly enough, she quickly added, "Mom's been gone for so many years...""We're still a bit sad. But it's getting better now that it has been so long," Lilia replied emotionally.Willow looked a little downcast. "I feel the same. Mom was so kind and gentle to me. I really loved her, so I could never understand why she left me."And her father as well. The two people she loved deeply left her suddenly.Just thinking about it made Willow so upset that tears welled up."It's okay, Willow. You have a new mom now," Gabriel said, not wanting Willow to cry.Though Willow still felt sad, her emotions started to improve after she heard Gabriel's words. "Yes, this mom also treats me really well."…In the morning, Willow woke up and found her grandparents gone.She panicked so much that she didn't even change her clothes as she slip