Lydia braced herself, fully expecting the sting of a slap. But the pain never came. She opened her eyes to see Mr. Perez shaking his head with a heavy sigh.Mrs. Perez, standing beside him, tried to console him. "What’s the point of being so angry? What’s done is done. Right now, we need to figure out how to fix this. This is Quincy’s fault!"She then turned to Lydia and added, "We should call him over right now."Mr. Perez shot Lydia a stern glance, clearly holding back his frustration before finally speaking in a controlled but firm tone. "You’ve heard your mother. If you have any sense of responsibility, you won’t keep defending him. He’s a man. Let him handle his own problems."Lydia sat in silence for a moment before pulling out her phone to send Quincy a message, asking him to come over. It didn’t take long before Quincy arrived, rushing in from work. The moment he saw Lydia sitting quietly in the living room, he moved toward her, but Mr. Perez’s piercing glare stopped him
When Quincy dropped to his knees, the room fell silent. It was a rare and powerful gesture that showed just how deeply he cared. Few men would humble themselves like that, but in that moment, Quincy left no doubt about his love for Lydia. His commitment had never wavered.Lydia, overwhelmed with emotion, couldn’t stop crying. Seeing her tears, Mr. and Mrs. Perez finally softened. Unable to bear seeing her so upset, they reluctantly relented, allowing Quincy to take her home.On the way back, the tension between them was palpable. Though they were together, something invisible stood between them, making everything feel awkward. Lydia’s mind wandered back to what Quincy had said earlier. “You mentioned that someone took advantage of the situation,” she said, breaking the silence. “Do you know who it was?”Both of them had long suspected that someone was behind the rumors, but they hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly who.Quincy, in the middle of taking off his jacket, froze for a
Quincy mentioned there was trouble at work, so naturally, Lydia asked a few questions. But he didn’t want to say much, leaving her no choice but to let it go. “Alright, just come home soon,” she finally said.After they hung up, there was a knock at the door, followed by the concerned voice of the housekeeper. “Ma’am, I’ve made some chicken soup. Would you like some?” Lydia opened the door and let her in to set the soup on the table. The housekeeper was about to leave, but she hesitated, as if she had something on her mind.“What is it, Mrs. Clinton?” Lydia asked.Mrs. Clinton hesitated for a moment before replying, “A man called earlier. When I asked who he was, he hung up right away.”“Maybe he dialed the wrong number?”“That’s what I thought too. But he called several times,” she said, looking at Lydia with uncertainty. “I thought he might be trying to reach someone.”Lydia’s eyes flickered with unease. Quincy hadn’t come home yet, and aside from Mrs. Clinton, she was th
As Lydia’s gaze swept over the room, her smile faltered when her eyes landed on someone unexpected. Eugene had just reached the reception desk with a group of people, but suddenly stopped, his piercing gaze locking onto hers.Her heart began to race, and she quickly looked away.“Miss Lydia, are you okay?” someone beside her asked, noticing the sudden change in her expression.She forced a weak smile and shook her head. “I’m fine, let’s keep moving.”But on the way back, she couldn’t shake the unsettling image of Eugene from her mind. It played on a loop, dragging her into a spiral of growing unease. Lately, Eugene seemed to haunt her like a living nightmare. Why had he shown up today? After everything he had already done to her, what more did he want?These unanswered questions piled up, fueling an uncontrollable sense of frustration. Without realizing it, Lydia started walking faster, her emotions getting the best of her.“Miss Lydia, please slow down.” someone called after
Nearly fifteen minutes had passed when Eugene finally emerged. His expression hadn’t changed. He was calm and unreadable, just as it had been when he went in. There was no hint of whether the deal had gone through or not. Everyone around was left speculating."I bet it didn’t go through. You know how Mr. Quincy is. He’s easygoing most of the time, but once he sets his mind on something, he doesn’t let go.""Who knows? Maybe it worked out after all.""Ha! Care to place a bet on it?"With no official word from Quincy, the employees could only guess. But Lydia had a different approach. She could just ask.When she entered the office, there was an unopened file on Quincy’s desk, next to a pen that seemed freshly used. Her heart skipped a beat.Had the rumors been true? Did he really agree to work with Eugene?Lydia, feeling a surge of anxiety, took a deep breath and decided to ask directly. There was no point in dwelling on assumptions when she could face the truth head-on. “Quinc
On the other end of the phone, Mrs. Perez continued her tirade. Lydia, who had been leaning into his embrace, suddenly went limp, sliding toward the floor in defeat. Quincy could no longer listen. “That’s enough, Mom. I’m hanging up now.”Without waiting for her reply, he quickly ended the call and pulled Lydia back to her feet.“Lydia, don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know the full story, and she certainly doesn’t know you.”“But she’s your mother, Quincy,” Lydia whispered, her eyes filled with uncertainty. “Can you really go against her?”Quincy was silent for a moment, his eyes steady as they met hers. Then, his voice came, low but firm. “I can.”Lydia froze. It was an answer she hadn’t expected.Quincy drew her back into his arms, pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone get in the way of us. Right now, the most important thing to me is you and our baby.”His gaze softened as it drifted to her still-flat belly, his deep eyes filled with te
Mrs. Perez shot a sharp look at her husband, clearly annoyed, and jabbed him with her elbow. "Really? You’re acting like you’ve never seen whiskey before. Didn’t one of your old classmates send you a bottle just last year?" She wanted to imply that the liquor wasn't anything special and to stop behaving as though he had been bought off. Mr. Perez paused for a moment, then corrected her seriously, "This is aged, top-tier whiskey. It's different."Mrs. Perez’s face darkened, but after seeing his reaction, he finally clammed up, though somewhat reluctantly.After this brief exchange, Mrs. Perez couldn’t exactly demand that Lydia take her gifts back. She coughed lightly, trying to regain her composure. “Well, we’ll accept these, but only because he doesn’t have many hobbies besides this,” she said, casting Lydia a pointed glance, her lips curling into a faint, sarcastic smile. “You really did your homework.”Lydia’s expression stiffened, feeling the sting of her kindness being tw
"Miss Lydia, why aren’t you going in?" Lydia jumped, startled by the voice of her colleague, Layla, who had appeared behind her. Forcing a smile, she said, "It's nothing… Oh, actually, can you hand this in for me? Something just came up." She handed the documents to Layla and, before she could respond, Lydia hurried away.Feeling overwhelmed, Lydia rushed out of the building, her emotions tangled and heavy. She wandered aimlessly down the busy street, unsure of where to go. The steady flow of cars and rushing business professionals only deepened her sense of disconnection. Nowhere felt right, and the world seemed to spin around her without a place for her to belong. Lost in thought, she felt utterly out of place.Just then, her phone rang.Without thinking, she answered, and to her surprise, it was Mrs. Perez."Miss Lydia, do you have a moment?" Mrs. Perez's voice was calm, almost too casual. "If you're free, I'd like to meet you somewhere."......Fifteen minutes later,