After speaking, Calla resolutely got out of the car and quickly strode toward the tall building ahead. Pierre watched her departing figure as she disappeared into the building. Then, he slammed his fist hard against the steering wheel, causing the horn to emit a sharp sound. The car quickly sped into the lane, disappearing like a flash of lightning.That day, Calla was late regardless. She sat at her desk, distracted and absent-minded, her thoughts unsettled by Pierre's actions. Emotionally, Calla knew that she only felt gratitude and admiration for Pierre. It was not the kind of romantic feelings that made one's heart race. However, what concerned her most were the issues Pierre mentioned that Clover would face in the future.After thinking it over, Calla knew that it was pointless for her to feel troubled. She couldn't accept Pierre's proposal, as she didn't want to repay kindness with emotion. Instead, she decided to focus on doing her best to support Clover and create a bet
"What's this?" Pierre frowned as he watched Calla hand him the leather envelope.Calla replied with a smile, "This is the ten thousand dollars you lent me last time. I've saved up enough to return it to you."Pierre's expression quickly darkened at those words. His tone became somewhat harsh as he asked, "What's the meaning of this?"Calla looked at Pierre innocently and replied, "Nothing, really. I've just saved up the money and am returning what I owe you."She found Pierre's reaction a little baffling. It was just a matter of paying back a debt—why would he be unhappy about it?Visibly upset, Pierre took the envelope from Calla with an expression that revealed his hurt. "Calla, do you think I'm the kind of person who takes advantage of others?"Calla was puzzled. "What do you mean? Why would I ever think that?""When I lent you the money, I had no other intentions or conditions attached. The suggestion I made to you a few days ago… it was from the heart. If you won't agree to
In the afternoon, after selecting and paying for two boxes of goods, Calla's phone rang urgently.She pulled out her phone and saw that it was Fiona calling, likely to ask when she would be back.Calla swiftly answered the call. "Fiona, I'll be heading back soon—"Fiona cut her off urgently. "Ms. Sherman, Clover has a high fever. It's almost 100.4°F! Something's not right. I'm worried that she might have a seizure!" Calla instantly panicked. "How could she suddenly have a high fever?" she blurted out. "She seemed fine when I left. 100.4 °F is way too high; she could definitely get a seizure. You need to take her to the hospital right away!""I-I've never been to the hospital before. I don't know what to do!" Fiona's voice was trembling. She was nearly in tears.Even though Fiona was young, she was uneducated. Coming from the countryside to work as a nanny, she had never been to a hospital in the city.Calla felt even more anxious at those words."Ms. Sherman, when will you be
After hanging up, Calla felt relieved. For the first time, she realized how much she depended on Pierre. He had unknowingly become her emotional support.Without wasting time, Calla grabbed the two boxes of goods and hurried to catch the bus. Since the area was remote, she couldn't hail a cab even though she wanted to.Dressed in a puffer coat, wool gloves, and a knit hat, she squeezed onto the bus and headed toward the city.By the time Calla arrived at the hospital, it was already evening, with the winter sun setting early. The hospital, however, was still brightly lit.As she rushed into the hospital room, she saw Clover lying in bed, receiving an IV drip. Calla immediately rushed to her side."Clover?" Calla's expression was filled with worry as she watched Clover sleep. She gently touched Clover's face. Noticing that her fever had subsided, Calla felt a sense of relief.Standing by the bedside, Pierre noticed Calla's anxious and guilty demeanor. He reassured her, "Clover's
As he spoke, Pierre glanced out the window and took a deep breath.Calla could see that although he was speaking with ease, he still appeared somewhat uncomfortable. This made her realize that her actions had indeed hurt his feelings and pride. She regretted her actions deeply. While returning the money was the right thing to do, perhaps she did it at the wrong time.Pierre then said, "I'll go get Clover's bottle and diapers. I'll bring some daily necessities for you too. You'll probably be staying here for a few days.""Thank you." Calla nodded.Pierre turned on his heel and left the ward. After closing the door, he took another deep breath before heading out.Fiona soon returned with the food. Calla was hungry, having spent the whole day rushing about. Seeing that Clover was better, she felt more at ease, so she started to eat heartily.Meanwhile, Fiona continued to chatter away. "Ms. Sherman, Mr. Garland really cares about Clover. A few minutes after you called, he brought u
Pierre turned around when he heard Calla's voice. Seeing her serious expression, he frowned in confusion.Calla stared at Pierre, her right hand clenched into a fist. At that moment, she gathered her courage, though her legs trembled slightly. She knew that she was closing one chapter of her life by making this decision. Both she and Clover would be stepping into a new one.Pierre looked at Calla for a moment, then said, "Let's talk inside.""Okay." Calla nodded.Pierre then turned and used his key to unlock the door to his apartment. Once inside, Calla followed him in and closed the door behind her.Calla slowly walked up to Pierre. Meeting his gaze, she said, "Pierre, I accept your suggestion."Pierre's forehead creased in confusion. "What… do you mean?"Calla bit her lip, hesitating as she asked, "Have you changed your mind? If you have, just forget I said anything."She started to turn away, but Pierre quickly grabbed her wrist.Feeling the firm grip, Calla looked up to
Calla's exhilarated laughter eventually filled the room.Pierre held Calla and spun around the living room for several minutes. When they were both dizzy and breathless, he finally stopped. He gently set her down on the couch, where they both slumped, panting and disoriented.As Calla leaned back against the couch, she felt like the entire room was still spinning. A smile spread across her face as she savored the thrill of the moment. She had never been so wild and carefree before. This light-headedness felt oddly invigorating.Still catching his breath, Pierre supported himself on the couch with one hand and gazed deeply at Calla with a profound look in his eyes.Noticing his intense gaze, Calla asked softly, "What are you looking at?"Pierre suddenly reached out, cupping her chin in his hand. His eyes seemed to drink in her features as he remarked, "You're beautiful."Taken aback by the compliment, Calla remarked, "You could have complimented me about anything else. How can I c
Just as Calla was facing everything with a determined attitude, all of Pierre's aggressive actions suddenly came to a halt. After a long pause with no further movement from him, Calla opened her tightly shut eyes and saw a face beaming with a radiant smile.At that moment, Calla looked back at him with puzzled eyes. Though she thought it strange, she found it awkward to ask why he had stopped.The next moment, Pierre gently stroked her smooth face with his finger and said earnestly, "I know you're not ready yet. I won't force you to do something you don't want. This is how it is now and will be in the future."Hearing this, Calla stared at Pierre with wide eyes. She couldn't pinpoint the feelings stirring within her. However, she certainly felt moved and grateful, along with some other indescribable emotions. She knew a thing or two about men. It was rare for a man to restrain himself under such circumstances. Perhaps Pierre had sensed her hesitation, uncertainty, and the tens
Seeing Pierre's expression, Calla realized that a few words wouldn't dispel his suspicions. She reached into her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out the knife.Pierre's eyes widened as he noticed the gleaming knife Calla was pulling out of her bag. He furrowed his brows in concern. "What are you—"Calla explained, "Mercer told me that Casper is my son, that he wasn't stillborn as I was told. I didn't believe him at first, but I was afraid he might be telling the truth, so I went to his house to see him."But I was afraid he might have ulterior motives toward me. As a woman, I'm naturally no match for him. In a moment of desperation, I had to grab this knife from the kitchen for protection. If he dared to do anything to me, I wouldn't have hesitated to use it on him."Her expression was intense, reflecting her genuine fear and resolve.Pierre looked deeply at Calla, then gently touched her cheek. He took the knife from her hand and placed it on a nearby table.Calla then rushed into
Suddenly feeling Mercer's hand on her shoulder, Calla instinctively recoiled. She swatted away his hand and shouted, "Don't touch me, Mercer!"The harm he had caused her was too profound. Even though she now understood his desperate reasons, she still felt immense aversion toward him."Fine, I won't touch you." Mercer retracted his hands and left them suspended in the air."Don't think you can use Casper to threaten me, Mercer. I will never be manipulated by you!" Calla shouted at him.Mercer's expression turned pained at her words. He took a step back, and his eyes filled with profound anguish. "Do you really see me as someone who would use my own son as a bargaining chip?""Yes," Calla replied sternly.Mercer's body swayed slightly, then he turned away in dejection. "If that's the case, then you should leave."Seeing his forlorn figure, Calla felt a pang of sadness, but she couldn't bring herself to trust him again. She turned and walked out of the house.She stumbled out of
At this moment, Mercer clenched his fists. Even with his resolute nature, his eyes seemed misty."This is where I feel most sorry toward you and Clover. Clover is my daughter too. Of course, I wanted her to come into this world healthy. But I couldn't let Casper disappear from this world either."His condition worsened so severely at that time. I was afraid he wouldn't make it to your due date, so I had to take drastic measures..." Mercer struck his fist hard against the wall.Seeing the despondent and remorseful Mercer before her, Calla felt a twinge of compassion, but she still couldn't accept all his explanations.Glancing at the reports in front of her, Calla placed her hand on her cheek. She could feel her fingers trembling.Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "You kept searching for me in Greendale to get me pregnant so you could use the baby's umbilical cord blood to save Casper?"From the timeline Mercer had explained, Casper's condition must have been severe by then.Cal
Mercer smiled bitterly. "I knew that you wouldn't believe me, so I prepared a copy of Casper's medical reports. You can take a look." He pulled out several thick envelopes and set them on the coffee table. Calla frowned upon seeing those envelopes which were all an inch thick. She opened one of them and flipped through the documents inside, frowning as she read. The envelope held reports of Casper's hospitalization in both the city and state hospitals, spanning two years, starting from when Casper was a year old. They were records of Casper's illness and his recovery process.Calla couldn't help thinking about his adorable, chubby face, and she felt her heart clench. She wondered how Casper had managed to triumph over his illness after two years. She couldn't even fathom how painful and difficult the process must have been.Suddenly, Calla noticed something in Casper's surgery reports—a note about how a newborn baby's umbilical cord blood was miraculously compatible with Casper.
"My heart is already in pieces because of you. So what if I hit, cursed, or even stabbed you now? What's the point of doing all that? I beg this of you, Mercer, please let me live my life quietly and stop bothering me!"Stop making up all these ridiculous justifications too. I'm tired—exhausted! I don't want to deal with you anymore," Calla sobbed, tears running down her face.She knew that she shouldn't have cried in front of him. It wasn't just a sign of her weakness, it might also fuel his assumption that she still cared for him. However, she couldn't control it. Whenever she thought of the suffering she'd gone through in the past couple of years, tears ran uncontrollably down her face."I want nothing more than for you to let me tell you the truth in its entirety. I want you and Casper to not miss out on the chance to reconnect as mother and son. "I promise that I'll respect your choice once I'm done telling you everything, and I won't bother you again in the future!" Mercer l
Calla's eyes widened as she remembered everything that had happened in the past. She stumbled over her words as she said, "B-But we were going to get married after we were back on good terms with each other, and I'd already met Casper at that point. Why didn't you tell me about him back then?"Mercer looked at Calla meaningfully. "Do you remember when I told you, on the day we were about to get our marriage certificate, that I had a big surprise for you?"Calla thought about it, then nodded. He had indeed said that he'd prepared a big gift for her. Could the gift have been Casper?Facing Calla's doubtful look, Mercer nodded. "Yes. I wanted to tell you after we received our marriage certificates, but I didn't expect something else to happen on that day."Calla sneered. "'Something else' is a nice way of putting it. You didn't go to get the marriage certificates done with me, because you chose to hold a press conference with Sophie instead, announcing your marriage with her."When
Mercer's face fell. He sat on an armchair before asking Calla, "Do you dislike me that much? Are you not even willing to stay by my side for one minute?""I don't dislike you—I hate you. Also, one minute is too long—I can't even bear to stay by your side for one second!" Calla replied without hesitation.As memories—filled with love and resentment alike—flashed in Calla's mind, she felt an intense hatred for Mercer. If not for Casper, she would never have stepped inside this place again, much less take a seat across Mercer to have a conversation.Calla's words hurt Mercer. He sat there for a while with his head lowered before lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag.Calla couldn't help coughing when the acrid smell of smoke entered her nose. Realizing that he'd made her cough, Mercer quickly stubbed the cigarette in his ashtray. Calla didn't want to waste any more time with him. She asked impatiently, "Why did you have me come here? Who is the woman you had Casper with?"
Calla finished getting ready, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked over to Clover. She gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then turned to Fiona. "Fiona, I'm going out to meet a friend.""Okay," Fiona replied with a smile, then continued feeding Clover some water.Calla left the apartment and was about to press the elevator button when Pierre emerged from the opposite door."Hey, aren't you supposed to be off work today? Where are you going this early?" Pierre asked, noticing Calla was heading out."Oh, I'm meeting Alicia. She's going back to work tomorrow, so we're hanging out later," Calla replied hastily, avoiding eye contact with Pierre. She had never been good at lying."She's going to be your bridesmaid. It's only right to express our gratitude," Pierre said with a smile, walking into the elevator with Calla."Where are you meeting her? I can give you a ride," Pierre offered."We're meeting at the department store. It's not on your way, so you should get going. I'
Calla was initially certain that Mercer's goal was to use Casper to ruin her marriage with Pierre.But as the night wore on, Calla's doubts grew. She couldn't shake the feeling that maybe—just maybe—Mercer was telling the truth. Perhaps Casper was indeed her child, the one she had given birth to all those years ago.She couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. What if her child had not died? What if he was still alive and well?As the first light of dawn crept into the room, Calla made a decision. She would go see Mercer, no matter what his motives were. She had to get to the bottom of it.Calla gazed at Clover, who was still fast asleep. She gently stroked her daughter's cheek. "Clover, don't you think it would be wonderful to have an older brother to share your toys and adventures with?Clover's chubby face didn't move. Calla's eyes lingered on her for a moment before she spoke again. "I have to get to the bottom of this no matter what the outcome is. I have to find out if Casp