It was 7:00 pm when Lucille, Jonathan, and Bethany arrived at Sparrow Residence. It was actually Lucille's first time there; she'd only heard about it before today. Now that she was seeing it in person, she saw how beautiful and grandiose it was.The butler, Herbert Baker, was already waiting at the entrance with the rest of the household staff. Lucille was taken aback when she saw them. Wasn't this a little too much?Jonathan followed her closely after getting out of the car. With her around, he could keep his emotions steady. He was still shocked by the welcoming entourage, though. There were way too many household staff.Herbert had seen photos of Lucille ages ago, so he recognized her immediately. Her unique bearing of regality and iciness also made her stand out. It was hard for anyone to ignore her.He stepped forward and said respectfully yet amicably, "Welcome home, Mrs. Layton."The household staff behind him repeated in unison, "Welcome home, Mrs. Layton!"Lucille was
Yet, when Lucille went to the window, she didn't see anything outside. She frowned. Had she been hallucinating? Why did she feel like she'd heard a beast's roar?She was about to turn away and return to bed when the bedroom door creaked open. She instantly noticed it and whipped around. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the huge tiger that had suddenly appeared in the room.His fur was snow-white—there wasn't a single strand that was different or out of place.Lucille stiffened. Why was there a tiger in the manor?Only a thin sheet of glass stood between her and the tiger. The tiger bared his teeth at Lucille and growled fiercely as if she'd intruded on his territory. His eyes were filled with hostility as he looked at her.Lucille didn't move. She watched the tiger for a while before mouthing, "Let's have a nice chat, Mr. Tiger."She was infinitely grateful to Roger Gill, who'd forced her to learn animal taming from him for a month. If not for that, she wouldn't be able
Lucille woke up at 8:00 am. The first thing she did was grab her phone. Finally, there was a message from Spencer, telling her to call him once she was awake.She gave him a video call without even thinking—it turned out that she wanted so badly to see him. Yesterday, she'd finally understood what people meant when they said absence made the heart grow fonder. She'd realized that Spencer's absence in her life scared her.Spencer answered after a few rings, but he changed the call to a regular one instead of a video call."Hi, honey!" Lucille's tone was sweet and gentle, and her voice was a little raspy because she'd just woken up. She had no idea how alluring and seductive she sounded."Are you seducing me with your voice so early in the morning?" Spencer asked.Lucille was taken aback, and her face burned. What was he even talking about? When had she seduced him? She'd spoken normally, hadn't she?"Why didn't you accept my video call?" she asked, switching the subject. Still,
At 11:30 am, Lucille received a call from Spencer. After a few sentences, she realized that he sounded a little weird. "Did you catch a cold? Why do you sound a little hoarse?"Spencer had just woken up and had a low fever because of his injury. So, his voice sounded different. He said, "I'm fine. I just talked a bit too much during a meeting."Afraid that she would worry, he added, "Don't you worry about me. I'm as healthy as can be—nothing will affect your future quality of life."Mack happened to enter the room just then. He'd brought Spencer a glass of water. His lips twitched when he heard the latter's words. He had to applaud Spencer for being able to act like he was fine just so Lucille wouldn't realize he was injured.Marvonia and Whiteloop City were in different timezones—it was 3:30 am for them, and Spencer had gotten up to call Lucille without getting any proper rest.For some reason, Lucille's mind went down the gutter when she heard Spencer's words. She couldn't hel
"Is the Layton family behind this assassination attempt?" Zachary narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp. He looked like the boss of a gang.Spencer had just gotten his dressing changed. His lips were pale, and his deep voice was even hoarser than usual. "Maybe."Maybe? Zachary, Ethan, and Lucas were a little surprised. What was that supposed to mean?"We found the guy, but nothing actually points to him being the mastermind. Everyone and anyone that we can link anything to are only scapegoats," Spencer explained.Ethan snickered. "Not bad. This fellow's pretty good at hiding."Then, Zachary said, "Wait, you shouldn't have gotten injured with your skills."He rubbed his jaw. "Unless… you allowed it to happen. The accident from before didn't work out, so you're using this as a way to lure him out?"Spencer didn't say anything this time, but that was enough of an answer."Then, you had Mack and the others inform your family about this—you told them to report that you were seriously in
"Lulu, I'll be making a stop at Summeria in a few days for an event. I want to see you," a woman said.When Lucille heard the woman's voice on the other end of the line, her expression turned into a mixture of tenderness and affection, which was a rare sight.She said, "Sure. How have you been lately? Have you felt any discomfort anywhere? Remember to stop for a break whenever you get tired, okay? Ask Sandra to rearrange your schedule so it isn't too packed."It wasn't every day that one got to see Lucille being so long-winded. She was like a concerned mother nagging her children.But Jessica Larson, the woman on the other end of the line, was evidently used to it. "Alright, alright. Don't worry about me, Lulu. I'm perfect!"They chatted for a while longer until Jessica was called away by her assistant. After hanging up, Lucille made another call.It was soon answered. "Hey, Ten. What's up?"Lucille didn't beat around the bush. "How's Jessica been lately?""She just had a medic
Lucille had showered and gotten into bed by 9:00 pm. Only then did she realize something—she didn't recall Spencer mentioning where his business trip had taken him.Just then, her phone vibrated on her belly, where she'd placed it. She picked it up and read the text.Spencer: "Honey, I'm still busy with a meeting. I'll probably stay up until late tonight, so you don't have to wait up. Get some rest, okay?"Lucille: "Okay. By the way, are you on a local business trip, or have you gone abroad?"Spencer: "Abroad. Now, be good and go to bed."Lucille read his reply. Since he hadn't mentioned a specific place, she decided against pressing for more information. Also, since he was abroad, that meant there had to be a time difference. She texted, "Okay. You do your thing."Then, she sent him an emoji with a heart. He replied with another. Lucille was still concerned when she slowly drifted off to sleep.…All the way in Marvonia, Spencer's fever was still burning strong due to his wo
Lucille woke up at 8:00 am. She hadn't had a good night's sleep—she vaguely recalled dreaming throughout the night but couldn't remember what it had been about.She washed up and changed before heading downstairs for breakfast. Jonathan was already waiting for her there.She and Bailey would be heading to West Yodran that afternoon so they could celebrate Eunice's birthday with her on the dot. She'd considered taking Jonathan along, but she was worried he wouldn't be used to it and would be bored. After all, it would only be the three of them.Eunice had mentioned in their group chat last night that she'd settled on a bar for her birthday celebration. Hence, Lucille had immediately shoved all thoughts of taking Jonathan along out of her mind.After breakfast, she spoke to Jonathan. "I won't be back tonight. I'm going somewhere to celebrate a friend's birthday. I wanted to take you along, but that place isn't suitable for you. Besides, it'll only be us women. So I'm going to have