Troy’s P.O.V"The woman isn’t your wife, is she?" Grace looked at me with a suspicious gaze.I shook my head."Good to know she isn’t," Grace smiled widely.‘Sarah is not my wife now. But someday she will be. She will give birth to my children. We will have many children, and our palace will be even more crowded.’ I smiled to myself, imagining it."Let’s go to my bungalow for a bit. Mom will be very happy to see you." I turned back to the red-haired woman.Grace took my hand and pulled me outside.It might be okay to stop by Grace’s bungalow for a moment. It wasn’t too far from here."Joyce, tell Sarah that I’m going to Grace’s bungalow for a bit!""Sure, Mr. Peterson."After leaving a message with Joyce, Grace and I walked to her bungalow. Grace held my arm tightly. My Aunt Lucy’s stepdaughter had always been affectionate toward me. Aunt Lucy was my mom’s younger sister, who married Grace’s father when this girl was still in junior high."Where have you been? Why didn’t you
Troy’s P.O.V "Come on, Prince. You have lunch there!" Sarah had emerged from the room looking quite different. Unintentionally, I stared at her without blinking.This time, Sarah was wearing a long-sleeved blouse and jeans."Here, take Prince," Sarah extended her hand to me."Let Prince stay with me for now. See, he calms down right away in my arms. You should have lunch with Gillian first!" I persuaded her."Really?""Really, beautiful mom. Eat well so my champion here won’t lack milk," I encouraged her while taking Prince to the porch."Gillian, come eat first!" I heard Sarah calling her daughter."Okay, Mom!"I felt sorry for Sarah and Gillian. Because they waited for me too long, they had their lunch late.Prince began to fall asleep in my arms. I kissed the chubby baby’s cheek affectionately. ‘You will be my pride, Prince. I will teach you how to be a real, responsible man. I will make Albert proud of you!’"Why are you smiling to yourself?" Suddenly, Sarah was alrea
"You look different today," Troy said, smiling as he glanced at me while I loaded pasta on his plate."Different how?" I asked, pretending not to understand and indifferent. But my heart was racing faster. Hopefully, he didn’t hear it. Troy looked me up and down."You look fresher, like a teenage girl," he complimented.Oh God, Troy was still staring at me without blinking."Yeah, right. Just because a teenage girl shows up, you start imagining things. Now you think I look like a teenage girl."Troy raised an eyebrow."What do you mean? I'm not imagining things. You really do look different today."I didn’t respond further. I shouldn’t have spoken like that to Troy. He might think I was jealous.‘Oh no! Maybe I am jealous.’"Do you want juice or water?" I asked after placing the plate with food in front of him."Water is fine!" he replied, still looking at me.Troy smiled and began enjoying his meal."The one who came yesterday is my cousin. Grace is the daughter of Aunt Lu
"Let’s walk. The bungalow is close by," Troy explained.We walked side by side along the street between various bungalows with different architectural styles."Uh... Don’t you want to hold my hand?" Troy leaned closer to me. Occasionally, our arms and shoulders brushed against each other as we walked.I only smiled, not answering Troy’s question."Seriously, don’t you want to hold hands?" he repeated, reaching for my fingers."Which bungalow is it?" I tried to shift the topic, pulling away and pretending to scratch my head, though it wasn’t itchy."It’s the one with all the lights on," Troy pointed to a bungalow about twenty meters away. Three luxury cars were parked in front."Troy, won’t they have strange thoughts about us later?" I asked, feeling uneasy."Let them think about what they want. It’s not a problem," he replied calmly.I sighed deeply. Sometimes I didn’t understand what this man was thinking. What exactly did Troy see me as?"Troy! I told you Troy would come, M
"Joyce, has Prince woken up?" I asked when the middle-aged woman opened the door for us."No, miss. He’s sleeping very soundly.""Thank you, Joyce." The woman smiled and nodded, then walked away, leaving the two of us in the living room.I was about to walk to the bedroom, but Troy’s strong hand grabbed my arm."Don’t go, keep me company here!"I stopped walking and sat beside Troy.Tonight was very cold and quiet. Faintly, I could hear music and karaoke from one of the nearby bungalows. I hugged myself because of the cold.Troy sighed deeply several times. He looked at me intently."What’s wrong?" I asked."I’m sorry about earlier. I was wrong to ignore you." Troy spoke seriously, his gaze never leaving my face.I exhaled slowly."Yeah, next time don’t invite me if you want to gather with your family," I said softly.Troy shook his head."No. I don’t mind bringing you. I’m just sorry about Grace’s behavior. She’s always like that.""I’m fine. I have no right to be angry.
"Joyce, where's Troy? Is he awake?" "Mr. Peterson is still sleeping, Mrs. Batterman!"I heard Joyce talking to someone. She mentioned Mrs. Batterman. Could Lucy be here?I had just finished bathing Prince and came out, pushing his stroller."Good morning, Aunt Lucy!""Morning... Oh, whose baby is this?" She seemed surprised to see me and Prince."This is my son. Please, have a seat. Do you want to meet Troy? I think he’s still asleep in his room," I replied."Where is Troy sleeping?" She immediately walked past me. Well, this bungalow did belong to their family."In that room." I pointed to a room that was further back and smaller than the one I was staying in."Why isn't Troy sleeping in the master bedroom? Why is he in the guest room instead? And you’re comfortably sleeping in the master bedroom. What’s Troy thinking?" Aunt Lucy suddenly stopped in front of the room I was staying in.I felt uneasy hearing her irritated tone."S-sorry. I was just following what Troy said."
"Don't you feel sorry for Grace? She really hoped you would join her at the tennis court." Lucy's shrill voice could still be heard trying to persuade Troy."Sorry, I can't. I already promised to take Sarah and her kids out this afternoon."I didn't expect Troy to answer like that. I was sure his aunt would soon get even more upset and angry."You prefer to go out with that single mother of two instead of being with Grace? Are you stupid or what, Troy? I can't believe you're letting yourself be ordered around to babysit!""Sorry, what did you just say? That I'm stupid?" Troy's voice sounded cold and firm."T-that's not what I meant, but... how about you come over to our bungalow for a bit? We can talk there!" her tone began to soften. She was no longer as insistent as before."Sorry, I already said I can't. Your hearing is still good, right? Or is it your memory that's having issues?"I giggled hearing Troy's recent remark. I guarantee that after this, his aunt's voice would no
"Isn't that Troy Peterson, the actor?""He hasn't been in the spotlight for a while, and suddenly, he has a kid."I heard the restaurant patrons talking while walking around the tea plantation."There was a rumor he was close to a widow. Maybe it's that beautiful widow.""No wonder Troy is interested. The widow is as beautiful as a young girl.""No matter how beautiful she is, she’s still a widow. It's such a shame for someone so handsome to end up with one!""Yeah, Troy should be with another celebrity or a famous model. Instead, he’s with a widow who already has two kids."Why were they speaking so openly about this near us? My ears felt like they were burning. I held Gillian's hand and quickened our pace along the path in the tea plantation toward the pavilion."What's wrong?" Troy, still carrying Prince, suddenly caught up with me and grabbed my hand."Let go," I snapped, shaking off his strong hand, which surprised him.Troy sighed loudly behind me. He didn't call out to