“How did you know I was working late tonight?” asked Luna as she munched on the food Theo had brought for her.Theo chuckled. “What if I told you I’d been waiting for you outside since 5pm?”Luna almost choked on her food. “Really?”“Of course not, silly.” Theo leaned against the chair and stretched. “When I was at your friend’s place this morning, I asked for her number, too. I called her just now, and she told me you weren’t home yet, so I guessed that you were probably still working.”Luna felt relieved upon hearing Theo’s explanation. Otherwise, she did not know how to react if Theo had indeed waited for her for more than three hours.She stuffed the rest of the food into her mouth as quickly as she could. “Let’s go.”Theo chuckled again and helped her clean up the food containers. “Let’s go. The landlord is waiting for us.”Luna nodded and followed him out of the office. Joshua had been watching everything from his position in a dark corner of the office with none of them k
He still remembered what Luna had told him in the past. ‘If we have kids, I’ll teach them to be true to themselves. They should act courteous in public, but when they’re at home, they can do whatever they want.’It was apparent that Alice had forgotten her promise. It seemed that six years truly could change a person, so much so that Joshua could not recognize her anymore.He sighed and led Alice into the house. “Daddy!”“Welcome home, Daddy! We know you’ve had a long day at work!” As soon as they set foot in the house, they came face-to-face with Neil and Nellie. The two children stood to either side of the door and bowed at Joshua, smiling.Joshua immediately scowled at this sight. He took a closer look at his two children standing before him. Nellie’s face was red and tearful, while Neil’s face was etched with impatience. It was obvious that the two children had been forced to do this against their will.Joshua let go of Alice and shot her a cold glance. “Is this the so-cal
As soon as Alice started crying, Joshua could not help but feel sorry for her. He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “No, please don’t think that. I’m just…really busy with work lately.”He lifted his head to wipe away the tears from under her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m home now.”With her head down, a triumphant glint flashed across Alice’s eyes. She nodded meekly and said, “That’s okay. If you’re busy, you should do work. All I needed to know is that you don’t hate the kids or me, that’s all.”Joshua gently patted her back to comfort her. “How could I hate you?” He let go of Alice and bent down to hoist Nellie into his arms. “Come on, let’s eat.”“Okay!” Alice replied. She watched as Joshua headed to the dining room with Nellie in his arms before she turned around to glower at Neil. “You recorded me? You’re not so stupid after all.”Neil grinned at her. “Well, I learned from the best, though you managed to outsmart us in the end. I guess I underestimated you.” With that, he turne
Neil rolled his eyes and leaned against the couch lazily. Joshua sighed. “It’s all Luna’s fault. She’s spoiled you.”“This has nothing to do with Mommy. Fine, I’ll sit properly.” Neil could not stand hearing anyone talk bad about his mother, so he immediately sat up. “Alright. What did you want to talk to me about?”“Alice is your mother.” Joshua gave Neil a solemn look. “She’s carried you and Nellie in her womb for ten months and even suffered a car accident during her pregnancy. Life hasn’t been easy on her. I know you both have spent a lot of time with Luna and that she raised you, but it doesn’t mean you can act disrespectfully toward Alice. She’s your birth mother. Both of you are smart kids, so I’m sure you understand why she wasn’t there for you, but now that she’s back, you have to treat her with the respect she deserves.”Neil rolled his eyes. Of course, they would respect their mother, but Alice was not their birth mother—Luna was!“Answer me,” insisted Joshua coldly when
Neil glanced at Joshua with a puzzled look. “I thought you told us not to contact her.”Joshua sneered. “Since when do you even listen to me? Do you think I never noticed the new signal-jamming device you placed in the house?”Neil immediately lowered his head in shame. When Luna got released from jail, Joshua had ordered them not to contact her and even warned them that he would be able to track their cellular signals to detect if they talked to her behind his back. Neil had no choice but to ask Nigel for help and installed a signal jammer within the house. Whenever the device was switched on, the signal they used to contact their mother could not be detected. However, Neil never expected that Joshua would discover the device.“Okay, so… Shall I call her?” said Neil meekly, somewhat ashamed that his plan had been exposed. He turned around and tried to slip out of the room. “Stop.” Joshua stopped him sternly before he could leave. “You can call her right here.”Neil pulled a
Alice placed the cup on the table and wrapped her arms around Joshua’s shoulders. She gently let out a soft exhale next to his ear. “I thought you said you don’t have work to do tonight?”Joshua’s brows furrowed. This interaction was normal for every couple, but somehow, her behavior annoyed and even repulsed him. Perhaps it was because they had been apart for too long, or perhaps something had changed. Joshua contemplated for a moment before finally removing her arms from his shoulder. Alice gaped at him in shock. Joshua did not seem to notice this and instead picked up the cup and took a sip. After a few more drinks, he regained his composure. “Alice, you should go to bed now. I wanted to finish up some work…”Alice frowned and shot him an exasperated look. “Joshua, do you think your work is more important than me? Ever since I returned, you’ve never even spent any quality time with me! I thought we used to be very close. Why did you change?”Joshua immediately frowned. He squ
As soon as he turned around, Joshua caught a glimpse of the bloodstain on the sheets where Alice laid down moments ago.Joshua let out a sigh of relief and left a note on the bed. With that, he left the bedroom. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Alice discovered that she was on her period. She was so frustrated that she felt like hitting her head against the wall.She could not believe the impeccable timing. She had planned to seduce Joshua so that she could officially become his wife, but her sudden menstruation ruined her plans.Alice cleaned herself up and rummaged around the medicine cabinet until she found her birth control pill. She swallowed the pill in one gulp. She was willing to do whatever it took to get Joshua to sleep with her! Alice came out of the bathroom with a smile, but Joshua was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a bowl of steaming hot soup on the nightstand, along with a pack of tampons.A maid was busy changing the bedsheets. When she saw Alice emerge from
“Nothing much.” Anne pursed her lips. “As you know, our hospital has the best plastic surgery department in all of Banyan City. Recently, a lot of people have come by to ask if any of us had seen Hailey. They think she might’ve stopped by our hospital.”She continued, “Anyway, I heard that this Hailey girl has been obsessed with plastic surgery ever since her fiancé dumped her. Their marriage was apparently arranged, but he didn’t want to marry her.”Luna calmly stuffed a forkful of food into her mouth. “This fiancé of hers is none other than Joshua Lynch.”Anne’s jaw dropped. “Does that mean…the one who stole her fiancé was…”“It was me.” Luna gave Anne a smile. “Surprising, isn’t it?”Anne still gaped at her. “Surprising, indeed.”Luna finished her food and set down her cutlery. She got up, grabbed her coat, and said to Anne while she put it on, “Like me, Ms. Walter is just another poor girl who fell head over heels for the wrong person. She and I both sacrificed too much for t