Ever since she left her hometown and started living in China, she promised herself that she would only return home if her mother asked her to. Unfortunately, even after five years had passed, there was still no call from her mother, but she decided to return this year.
The reason was also because of her mother, but the woman did not personally ask her to come back. On the contrary, it was the woman's condition that made her feel worried and decided to return.Her curious children innocently asked her about the decision, and they even tried to stay in China instead of following their mother. The reason was that they only knew China as their hometown, which was why they looked confused when their mother suddenly said that they were going home.The twins were reluctant, saying that they didn't want to leave their friends in the village, but Jessica said that they would only be returning to New York for a short time and that they would definitely return to ChiFrom the man Tammy hired, Jessica knew her mother's ward in the hospital, and that's why she didn't plan to go to the front desk to ask for that information. However, a security guard came to her and asked her the purpose of coming to the hospital, and she calmly said that she wanted to visit her mother. The security guard then asked her mother's name, and after she answered the question, the guard asked the girl at the front desk to check the name. The girl then said that there was indeed that patient at the hospital.The security guard no longer tried to stop Jessica, and the blonde immediately walked towards the elevator. She seemed familiar with the hospital, and that was because she often visited the hospital in the past. Yes, that was when her father was still there but was often hospitalized because of his illness, and Jessica felt déjà vu when she was back in the hospital.Jessica even felt her heart pounding against her ribcage when she was finally in the elevator that would
On the west side of the hospital building, quite close to the parking area, there was a playground for children and a small garden for adults to sit. Currently, the playground was quite busy with several children playing there, but the small garden next to it was quieter. There were several benches in the garden, and one of them was even empty. That was why Jessica and Noah were able to sit there. The weather today was quite good, and the breeze was gentle on their faces. It was Noah who invited her to speak there, but he still didn't say anything to break the uncomfortable silence between them. Instead, his eyes were glued to the children playing on the swings and slides there, and his ears were probably filled with the children's cheerful laughter. Jessica also didn't try to break the silence between them. Instead, she quietly looked at the man sitting next to her. In her eyes, Noah looked more mature with slight wrinkles on his face, and his brown ha
"They are growing well," Jessica answered in a slight whisper, without looking at her ex-husband.“Did they come to New York with you?” Noah asked again.“Mhm,” answered Jessica. “I don't plan to stay here long, but I also can't leave them in China. They are with Tammy now.”Once again, Jessica explained more than necessary, and she actually regretted how her mouth could easily say those words even though Noah's question was only simple.“So, you've been in China for the past five years?” Noah continued to ask.Jessica regretted it even more when Noah finally found out where she had been for the last five years. ‘I probably look like a loser who could only run away after making a huge mistake five years ago, right?’ She thought helplessly to herself.She still didn't look at the man sitting next to her, and that was why she didn't know what kind of expression the man was making right now. The man didn't continue questioning her e
"So, you accidentally met your ex-husband when you were going to see your mother in the hospital?" Surprised, Tammy immediately asked Jessica. Jessica had left the hospital, but she hadn't seen her mother's condition. Her feelings and mood became complicated after the unexpected encounter with her ex-husband, and she decided to go to Tammy's house and planned to visit the hospital again tomorrow. Tammy had given her her address, and she asked the taxi driver to take her there. It turned out that Matt bought a house in an elite residential area in one of the best neighborhoods in New York, and Jessica was amazed when she arrived there. After Tammy welcomed her warmly in her house, she could see her children playing with Tammy's son in the living room. Tammy's son just turned one, and his name was Kevin. As Jessica greeted the boy for a moment, she couldn't help but think that the boy looked like a copy of Matt. Even though he was still ver
This chapter contains flashbacks (this will explain the details of what happened at the end of chapter 180)....“We still have five minutes before the lunch break ends. Are you willing to give me the rest of the time? There are some things I want to ask you," not wanting to beat around the bush, Tammy immediately questioned Noah."What do you want to ask me?" Slightly furrowing his brows, Noah asked in confusion while looking at the short-haired woman sitting across from him.Tammy was sitting across from him, and she was also the one who started the conversation between them. Previously before she decided to come to the man's table, she could see how the man was talking to someone on his phone, but his expression was not clear in her eyes. The man looked serious, but at the same time, he also looked confused. That was the reason why she decided to approach him.When she finally got the chance to voice what was on her
This chapter contains flashbacks....Noah looked stunned at Tammy's question, and he didn't answer it immediately.As Tammy continued to look at him while waiting for his answer, she could see how his eyes were shaking slightly as if he was afraid of something. The subtle reaction confused her even more, and she wanted to hear an answer as quickly as possible.However, what she saw in the next second was how Noah once again looked at her before replying, “When I just met him once again after being separated for so many years, I still loved him, that's why I didn't hesitate to get back together with him."Tammy already heard an answer, and she silently underlined some parts of his answer. She then asked, “Just now you said you still loved him when you just met him again after being separated for so many years, right? Does that mean… you slowly lost your feelings for him after that day?”“…” Noah once again loo
"Are you telling the truth?""Of course!" Tammy immediately answered her friend's question. “I have no reason to lie to you about something like that, and he told me all that before you gave birth to the twins five years ago. We talked in the company cafeteria. I was the one who decided to approach him at that time after he finished talking on the phone with someone, and I also didn't expect him to tell me everything.”Tammy shrugged her shoulders indifferently, but Jessica ignored her nonchalant attitude because she was distracted by many things on her mind. But perhaps the biggest thing that bothered her was how Tammy had just told her that her husband actually loved her five years ago.Blankly, she leaned her back against the back of the sofa as she suddenly looked exhausted. Actually, her body was exhausted because she had just returned to New York from China. She had no time to rest, and now she was even more mentally exhausted because of the informat
When Jessica visited the hospital again the next morning, she still couldn't control her feelings. First, it was because of Tammy's story yesterday about how Noah actually had feelings for her years ago, and then she felt more complicated after hearing what her son and daughter said to her.She couldn't even deny that she felt unhappy after leaving the country where she was born and raised. At that time, she left everything behind and took nothing with her but her babies. She indeed felt empty when living in another country even if she never told anyone about her true feelings.She just didn't expect her children to notice that. 'My children are indeed more mature than children their age,' she thought to herself before arriving at the hospital reception desk.She told the woman at the desk that she was going to visit her mother, but this time, the woman standing behind the desk questioned her, “Actually, there is no record in our system of the patient havi
“Mom, are we really going to stay overnight at Grandma's house today?” Glancing in the rearview mirror to look into the back seat, Jessica could see how her son kept swinging his legs while asking the question. His cute movements only showed that the blonde boy was very excited to hear his mother's answer. But, this wasn't even the first time Shane had asked that question, and Jessica actually had answered the same question before. Thankfully, Jessica didn't get tired of hearing her son's excitement, and she smiled while shaking her head helplessly before answering, "We're going to have a sleepover at Grandma's house for real, but why are you so excited about that, Shane?" Jessica could keep glancing at the boy because she didn't need to focus on driving. But, the answer to her question came not from her son but from her daughter, "That's because Grandma promised us that she would tell us more stories about Grandpa, Mommy! We wonder if Grandpa is more like me or Shane!" "Of cou
“What is 'proposing,' Mommy? Why do you keep saying that word?” Impatiently, Shane continued to pull the side of Jessica's shirt while asking the question. It was indeed the little boy who responded to Jessica even though the question was directed at Noah. But, that didn't upset the woman, and instead, she looked satisfied as she smiled at the boy before answering, “You'll have to ask your favorite Daddy about that word, Shane. He would know more than me about that word.” Jessica did direct her answer to her son, but her eyes glanced at Noah when she said her last sentence. Noah looked cornered, he even tried to look away from the mother and son pair. The artificial light around the area reflected on the man's forehead after he took off the cat head, and it looked glistening with sweat, either because of his cat costume or because of his nervousness. Jessica didn't know the reason, but that didn't stop her from staring intently at the man while waiting for his answer. "Proposin
“So, where is your Daddy now? Did he run away after giving my son a stup—a funny task?” Gritting her teeth to suppress her annoyance, Jessica questioned her son, almost failing to restrain herself from uttering the word "stupid." However, it was not her son who responded. Instead, it was her daughter who suddenly tugged on her sleeve, causing her to turn towards the little girl. “Daddy didn't run away, Mom,” the little girl said, and Jessica thought she would continue to say something. That's why Jessica remained silent waiting for her daughter to explain what she had just said, but the little girl didn't say anything and just moved her little hands towards the pink backpack hanging on her back. Jessica didn't know what the girl was doing, but she could see how the girl unzipped her backpack before taking something out of it. To Jessica's surprise, the thing the girl had just taken out of her backpack was a camera. To be pr
In the end, Jessica decided to give Noah a second chance. Yes, a second chance to be closer to her children.The reason behind her decision was that her children really liked Noah since the first time they met at the mall ice cream shop when she accompanied Tammy to buy a birthday present for her husband. It could be said that the ice cream succeeded in buying the kids' love, and they really liked spending time with the person who bought them the ice cream.Actually, that was not a bad thing, but Jessica was quite annoyed by the stubbornness of her children who kept calling Noah "daddy." It was clearly Noah's fault for casually confirming that he was indeed the twins' father, and Jessica continued to curse the man in her heart from that day on.She didn't even realize that a week had passed since her mother left the hospital and started living again in Noah's old apartment. Due to her mother's pleading, she ended up staying in that apartment as well rather
“That… that's too cheesy! Aren't we going to buy food for my mother and children? We better leave now or they will eat us alive if they get too hungry," Jessica tried to change the topic of their conversation when she started to feel nervous because of what Noah had just said to her. She even averted her gaze to look at anything as long as it wasn't Noah's face, and that was why she didn't notice the hopeful expression on the man's face. "You just said that what I said was too cheesy, but you didn't say that you didn't believe what I said," Noah replied, ignoring the fact that Jessica was trying to change the topic of their conversation. Finally, Jessica could no longer avoid the man's face, and she once again looked at him with her pair of blue eyes. At this moment, she could finally see a glimmer of hope in the man's eyes. "To be honest, Tammy has told me everything related to you," Jessica finally said the truth.
“Why didn't you remarry after we divorced five years ago?” Jessica's voice was finally heard in the car. "Is it because you still can't get over Tyler?"Suddenly, Noah sneered before replying, “Do you think I love that man so much that I can't replace him with someone else? I don't know if this information is useful for you or not, but the truth is that I didn't really love him when we were together.""You didn't really love him but you still wanted to be with him even though it meant betraying our marriage," Jessica answered sarcastically, and Noah looked stunned by her answer.For a moment, Noah could only stare at the blonde without being able to utter a word with his mouth, but then he took a deep breath before saying, “I believe love and guilt are two different things, and I differentiated them clearly when I was still with him. I betrayed our marriage because of my feelings of guilt, not because of my love for him.”Jessica was the one who d
Jessica didn't know what to say after hearing Noah just say what was on his mind and heart, but for some reason, she felt familiar with the situation. The familiar feeling she felt in her heart made her anxious, her hands even moved to grip her jeans tightly as if asking for support from the blue fabric.“You probably think that my situation is similar to your children's situation, right?”Jessica felt her heart stop beating for a moment after hearing what Noah had just asked. It was actually impossible for her heart to stop beating while she was still alive, but she was truly surprised by the question. She finally understood why she felt anxious about Noah's story. That was because the story reminded her of her children.“I am the illegitimate child of that billionaire, and your children are the same even if their father is not a billionaire. They are very young now, but their lives are probably as full of drama as mine. Their lives will be full of lies a
After everything that happened to her five years ago, Jessica really didn't like surprises. Back then, many unexpected things happened to her, and none of them were pleasant surprises. That was why she felt traumatized by unexpected things, but today, she kept getting unexpected things since she came to the hospital to see her mother.First, a surprise came in the form of Noah, and second, it was in the form of the fact that her mother ended up living in Noah's old apartment. As if that wasn't enough, Noah then told her that he wanted to discuss a matter with her alone, and in the end, Jessica could only follow the man's lead.They were once again in Noah's car, and Jessica had fastened her seat belt. She prepared to look for something for her mother and her children's lunch, but she was puzzled because Noah did not start the car immediately.“Did you forget your wallet?” Confused, Jessica asked the man while looking at him.Her thinking was indee
In fact, Jessica had no plans at all to get into her ex-husband's car. Even her ex-husband's appearance at the hospital was not her plan at all, but in the end, she could only surrender and agree to get into the vehicle.Her mother first sat in the second row of seats with the twins, and she had no choice but to take the passenger seat next to the driver's seat. On the way to her mother's house, Noah, her mother, and the twins continued to chat happily about everything, but Jessica remained silent. None of those people seemed to notice her, and that was why she was lost in thought during the journey.She was actually drowned by the fact that she was passing through a route that she used to travel in the past. She didn't know her mother's new address, but she was sure that every street the car took was familiar to her eyes. It brought a feeling of nostalgia that both warmed and chilled her heart.At first, she ignored the familiarity she felt, assuming that