"Okay, I'll wait for your updates then," Nicole replied."I'll take care of those men in San Joto," Max declared, determined and resolute.Nicole nodded in agreement before turning to Patricia. "You should get some rest. Let Max and Charlie deal with them for now.""Got it." Patricia nodded in response.Nicole then turned around, looked Jared in the eye, and smiled. "Let's go.""Sure," he softly replied, after which he walked her out of the office.Max and the others followed suit. Charlie was the first to exit the building, while Max and Patricia followed Jared and Nicole into the elevator."Patricia, go home and get some sleep. Take care of your injury. You don't have to come to work tomorrow," Nicole said."I really am fine. I can work as usual tomorrow." Patricia shook her head, refusing to take a break.Her minor injury was not a big deal, and considering the uncertainty surrounding this entire situation, Nicole might not be out of the woods. After all, those men had targ
Having said that, Patricia turned around and began walking away.Although her injury was not severe, she still wanted to take a good rest and wake up early the next day. She needed to be extra vigilant and alert during work tomorrow.As she was about to leave, Ellar reached out and grabbed her.However, he had made the mistake of seizing her by the arm which had been injured, causing Patricia to grimace and cry out, "Ow!"She winced as her bad arm was in tremendous pain, and pulled away from Ellar's grasp.Realizing that he had caused her pain, he immediately released her with a remorseful look on his face. "Sorry for hurting you. Are you okay? Should we go to the hospital?""Never mind." Patricia said, dumbfounded and speechless.Going to the hospital would be totally unnecessary. It was just a brief moment of pain, not something severe enough to warrant a visit to the ward."I'll take you home." Ellar pulled her into his car.He was still worried sick for her, as she had ref
However, precautions were necessary and they still had to be on guard for the foreseeable future.Jared gently held Nicole's hand and looked at her with a tender and comforting gaze. In return, she smiled as a sense of happiness rippled from within her heart.Upon arriving at the Riddle residence, they saw that Tia had also just brought Nolan and Lana home."Mommy! Daddy!""Hello, Mr. Johnston and Nicole," Tia greeted.The kids ran up to Nicole and Jared, with Tia following them from behind.Nicole patted their heads affectionately as she smiled. "You're back.""Mommy, tomorrow is the parent-child event. Will you and Daddy be there?" Lana tilted her head and asked with a hint of anticipation in her voice."Of course we'll be there." Nicole smiled and promised.Indeed, she could not bear the idea of disappointing her two little cuties."Yay!" Lana cheered, and waved her little hands in excitement.Nicole held Nolan and Lana's hands with a smile and brought them into the house
"Stanley, what are you doing?" Gloria asked when she saw Stanley texting someone with his head lowered.'Why is Stanley so absentminded? First, he was busy daydreaming and now he's looking at his phone. Is something bothering him?' Gloria wondered."Mom, I need to go out for a while. There's something I need to take care of," Stanley said as he got up.He could only help Cherry out as he had promised to do so from the very beginning. Therefore, he could not go back on his word."What's going on with him?" Daniel asked, puzzled by his son's behavior as well."Who knows. He's acting strange, that's for sure." Gloria sighed in defeat."Dad, Mom? Stanley can handle his own issues," Nicole comforted them, not wanting them to worry about him.She believed that Stanley must have felt something very different, which in turn made him uneasy. All she could do now was hope that he could figure his feelings out. Only then would things return to normal.After Stanley had left, he immediatel
"Come on, guys. It's still too early," Nicole said helplessly.There was little point in them rushing to preschool this early. Even if they did, the teachers would likely not be there yet."It's not early. By the time we get there, our classmates will have been there already." Lana argued, feeling rather impatient.Nicole smiled and patted Lana's head gently. "It's really too early. Let's have breakfast first. And then, we'll go to school, okay?""Okay," Nolan and Lana agreed, and reached for the remote to turn the TV on.They wanted to watch something for a while to pass the time.At first, there was some news about current political affairs, but as the children could not understand anything about the subject, they switched to the entertainment channel. All of a sudden, Stanley's figure appeared, on the screen, and right before their eyes."It's Uncle Stanley!" the two kids shouted in surprise as they stared at the screen.The voice of the anchor then emanated from the TV, "Ye
"Mom, let's have breakfast," Nicole suggested to divert Gloria's attention when she saw how conflicted Stanley was."Grandma, we're joining the parent-child event." Nolan and Lana added, eager to finish their breakfast and make a run for school.Understanding what Nicole's intention was, Gloria looked at Stanley and agreed, "Okay, let's have breakfast first."After the family were all seated in the dining room, they had breakfast, though with a lingering sense of awkwardness in the air. Gloria was also feeling antsy, prompting Daniel to pat her on the hand to comfort her while signaling to her to maintain her silence until their children had all left.All Gloria could do at that point was put up with it. She shot a glance at Stanley before lowering her head to eat what was left of her meal.After Nolan and Lana had scraped their plates clean, they pulled Nicole and Jared along and walked them to the front door with great enthusiasm."Grandpa, Grandma, we're going to school!" they
After a while, the car stopped, indicating that they had already arrived at the entrance of the preschool."You're here." Lawrence's voice greeted, surprising both Nicole and the rest of her family."Godpa!" Nolan and Lana exclaimed in surprise, though they did not run up to him as they had done before."Why are you here?" Nicole asked, finding it weird that Lawrence had shown up.Lawrence shrugged. "I really wanted to participate in the kids' events, so I wanted to give it a try, even though I didn't receive any invitation cards from the school.""There are no invitation cards for this activity, as it's only for the parents of the students here," Nicole explained, as a sense of awkwardness loomed over her.She had not sent him an invitation, for there never was one to begin with."I know, so I came here to ask you about this. A godfather should qualify, right?" Lawrence confidently asked.To Lawrence, being a godfather was pretty much the closest thing to being a parent, and s
"Mummy! Daddy!" All of the kids cheered, and gave the flowers they had to their parents.All of the other children had two flowers each, with the exception of Nolan and Lana, who had three flowers instead. After they had gifted the flowers to Jared and Nicole, they each gave Lawrence one, shocking him."Thank you, Godpa," Nolan and Lana said, and hugged him,Lawrence had a conflicted look on his face as he embraced the two little ones.He gently patted the kids on their backs and thanked them, "I'm the one who should be thanking you."As the performance continued, Lawrence sat there absentminded and lost in thought."Leo?" Nicole called out upon noticing how unusual he looked."I'll get going first. I've got a few things to settle. Do inform the kids about my departure," Lawrence requested, and hurried out of the venue.Safe to say, Lawrence's sudden departure left a strange feeling in Nicole's stomach. 'Lawrence seemed to have some kind of motive for coming here today. He wasn