Tara nodded, wanting to speak but choked up with tears. Tatiana comforted her for a bit longer before preparing to leave.Once back home, she noticed Maximwasn’t there. She had no idea where he had gone, but Tatiana didn’t dwell on it. Her head was pounding. It had hurt while she was at Roman's house, and after comforting Tara, she felt like she might have to endure it even longer if she didn’t get home.With that thought, Tatiana pressed her aching head as she returned to her bedroom and pulled out her laptop to video call Wilfred."What’s wrong?" Wilfred, who had been in a good mood, immediately tensed when he saw the pain on Tatiana's face. "Tatiana? What happened?""What’s going on?" Tatiana forced herself to sit in front of the computer, struggling to speak through the pain. "I had a headache for a bit yesterday, and today it’s hurting again. This never used to happen."Wilfred looked at Tatiana and said thoughtfully, "When this condition flares up, it usually comes with a se
She chuckled softly and spoke first, "Don't mention your suspicions about Roman having someone behind him to anyone else. If they don't believe you, that's fine. But if you really think there's more to this, then..."Tatiana paused for a moment before continuing, "I need you to do me a favor. Just a simple favor.""What kind of favor?" Vance asked."Help me find out where Roman's relatives are. From start to finish, I haven't seen any of his family. Are they all gone, or is there something else going on? Just look into it, and you'll find out."After Tatiana finished speaking, there was a moment of silence on the other end. Finally, Vance replied, "You're right. I can look into it.”After confirming the arrangements, Tatiana ended the call with Vance.The next morning, Tatiana boarded a plane with Maxim to head back home.Meanwhile, Adrian and Conrad watched as the two took off. Once they were out of sight, Adrian turned to Conrad and said, “Alright, now that they’re gone, it’s time
"Be careful, it's hot," he warned as he handed her the cup."Drink that and then get some rest. You've been really tired lately. Don’t think about anything else right now—just go to bed. We can deal with everything tomorrow. Or if you feel like it, you can take a day off school and rest at home," Maxim added.As Tatiana slowly sipped her water, she considered his words and replied, "Let's see how I feel. If I wake up tomorrow and don’t feel too tired, I might still go to school. I’ve already taken enough time off, and the principal even called me about it."Maxim naturally respected Tatiana. Since she had said so, he could only nod in agreement.After finishing her water, Tatiana took her luggage and headed back to her room to rest.Once in the bedroom, Tatiana suddenly remembered that this wasn't her previous place; there was only this one room for her to rest in. The guest rooms hadn’t been prepared, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to let Maxim sleep in one of them. So, it seemed t
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a warm glow throughout the room. The rays woke Tatiana, and as she opened her eyes, she saw the entire room bathed in sunlight. Realizing it was getting late, she decided not to go back to sleep. After a quick wash-up, she headed downstairs for breakfast.“Miss!” As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Tatiana spotted Riley walking toward her. “Where have you been? I missed you so much!”Patting Riley's head, Tatiana smiled and replied, “I had a few extra things to take care of this time, so that’s why I came back a bit late.”"What’s going on? You’ve been gone for so long," Riley said, her eyes filled with concern. She couldn't imagine what could have kept her friend occupied for such a long time."It's a bit of a complicated situation. I might need your help to investigate some things later," Tatiana replied casually as she walked toward the dining room. "How have things been while I was away? Did anything happen?""Things
He hadn’t spoken to her during the game, and now, even when she tried to engage him, he was unresponsive. He seemed to be in a bad mood, but she had no idea why.Thinking about it, Tatiana tentatively asked, "Maxim, are you feeling down?"Looking up at Tatiana, Maxim finally spoke, "How clueless can you be to just realize this now? The fog?""I was just..." Tatiana started to explain, but then she caught on. She stared at Maxim, silence stretching between them for a moment. "How did you know?”"Don't you remember Conrad?" Maxim fixed his gaze on Tatiana, putting his best piece into play."Conrad?" Tatiana frowned, trying to recall. Then it clicked. "Did he tell you?""Not exactly. He told Adrian, and then Adrian told me."Hearing Maxim say this, Tatiana felt a bit helpless. There really wasn't anything secretive about it; she had just been in a rush to confirm Conrad's identity and hadn't mentioned it to Maxim. Afterward, it didn't seem necessary to bring it up. But now it was cle
"How much later? What if I'm not around when the time comes?" Her grandfather frowned and continued, "Besides, it's better to do it while you're young; recovery will be quicker that way.""Grandpa, it's really too early for that! Wehave so many things to do, and we don't have time to take care of a child," Tatiana said, feeling anxious. Her grandfather had brought this up before, and she and Maxim weren't even a real couple—how could they have a baby?Noticing Tatiana's growing concern, Maxim, who had been quietly observing, chimed in, "Yeah, Grandpa, I've been really busy with work lately and haven't had the time to think about having kids. Let's talk about it later. Plus, your health is great; you’ll be around to see us when we’re ready."As he said this, Julian glanced at Tatiana,urging her to chime in. "Right, Grandpa, just like Maxim said."Seeing that both of them had made up their minds, the old man sighed and said, "Alright, alright, you young folks can make your own decision
After he nodded, she continued to leisurely eat her breakfast.Maxim had already finished his meal, so he sat on the sofa, working on his laptop while waiting for Tatiana.Once she finished eating, he watched her head upstairs to change. He thought it would take a while, but she surprised him by coming back down in just a few minutes."Are you not wearing any makeup today?”he asked.The difference between Tatiana with makeup and without wasn't that significant; with makeup, she looked a bit more mature, while without it, she resembled a typical high school girl."I'm too lazy to bother," Tatiana replied as she descended the stairs. In reality, she had a slight headache, which put her in a bad mood, so she just didn't feel like putting on any makeup.When Tatiana arrived at school, it was still early, so she decided to visit the principal's office to ask about the details of her new role. Upon learning that this job would likely take up a lot of her time and prevent her from going ho
Tatiana was somewhat surprised by the mention of Anna. She hadn't heard the principal say anything about it, but she recalled that Anna had been on a phone call earlier. It seemed she had something going on, so it made sense that she wasn't here.Next, Tatiana spoke with the student council, briefly outlining her schedule and letting them know they could come to her with any questions later.As she watched them practice, she realized that the time was too short for her to make any judgments about their performance. In the end, she simply encouraged them to practice more. When it was finally time for class to start, Tatiana dismissed everyone.Once the last student left the classroom, Tatiana decided to head back for a bit.On her way back, Maxim was still at work, so she went upstairs to grab a few changes of clothes. With her small suitcase in tow, she walked toward the exit."Miss, where are you headed?" Riley asked, running over as soon as she saw Tatiana had returned. She noti
Meanwhile, Maxim was unaware of what was happening on that side. After hanging up the phone, he answered Tatiana's earlier question, "We won’t go bankrupt. You’ll just have to support me again.”Such shameless words slipped from his lips, causing Tatiana to roll her eyes at him as she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth.Seeing that Maxim had already booked the time for their meeting, Tatiana finished her fruit in the study and decided to leave.After a quick wash-up in her bedroom, Tatiana was about to settle down for the night when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and saw it was Tara. She got up to answer the call."Hello? Tara? Why are you calling so late? Is something wrong?"There was a brief silence on the other end before Tara spoke, "Ms. Tatiana, I don't want to study here anymore.""Why not?" Tatiana asked, her voice calm as she stood up."I just can't focus here anymore." Tara sounded a bit upset, her voice hoarse. "I didn't tell the teachers because I didn't w
When she woke up again, she checked her phone and saw that it was already past six o'clock. She got up slowly, planning to grab some dinner and wait for Maxim to come home.Just as she was happily thinking about this, she went downstairs and saw Maxim sitting on the couch, looking at his phone. Surprised to see him home so early, Tatiana wondered, "Isn't his usual work day until seven? Why is he back so soon?"Perhaps it was the intensity of Tatiana's gaze that made Maxim look up from his phone and turn his attention to her."Why are you back so early today? I was planning to wait in the living room after dinner to surprise you," Tatiana said with a sigh, realizing her plan had backfired."Did you sort things out at school?" Maxim asked as Tatiana walked closer. "I've already asked the kitchen to prepare dinner, so let's eat first."Tatiana nodded and followed him to the dining room.After they finished their meal, Tatiana suddenly remembered something and asked, "Did anyone call yo
Tatiana, caught off guard, rolled her eyes at Maxim. "Since when did you become so clingy? I just wanted to go downstairs to watch some TV. The books in your study aren’t exactly my cup of tea.”With that, Tatiana side stepped Maxim and headed down the stairs.Maxim stood there for a moment, motionless. After a few seconds, he seemed to snap back to reality and let out a helpless chuckle, perhaps acknowledging Tatiana's earlier teasing.That night, Maxim's phone didn’t ring, and Tatiana spent a quiet evening at home. The next morning, she got into Maxim's car for the ride to school.As she walked from the car to her classroom, Tatiana reflected on how she had actually slept better last night than she usually did in her apartment.Just as Tatiana was in a good mood, Anna approached her head-on, instantly dampening her spirits. Anna looked furious, and it was clear something was wrong.Before Tatiana could fully grasp the situation, Anna stood right in front of her and said, “Did you t
The realization that his grandfather's death might not have been due to natural causes but could have been something more sinister made his blood boil. He felt a surge of anger rising within him, struggling to keep his emotions in check."Calm down. Don't let your emotions take control of you; otherwise, it will be hard to think clearly," Tatiana said, walking beside Maxim without even glancing at him."I know. I'll calm down and personally catch the one who hurt Grandpa," Maxim replied, his voice steady yet cold."Rowena Farrel?" A young-looking nurse tilted her head, thinking for a moment before looking at Maxim and saying, "When I got here, she was already here.""Since she's been here for so long, have you ever seen her child come to visit her?""Child?" The nurse seemed puzzled, but more hesitant. She glanced at Tatiana and said, "It seems she doesn't have any children... I've been working here for a few years, and in that time, I've never seen her child come to see her. We wer
The only reason she was needed before was that the principal didn’t fully trust Anna, so he had asked her to help keep an eye on things. But from what she had seen lately, the students were doing fine; it was Anna who seemed to be the one with issues."The students are fine, but the principal is still uneasy about Anna being in charge. I spoke to him a few days ago, and I believe they’ll soon select someone else for the role. Once that happens, I won’t have to worry about it anymore."After saying this, Tatiana noticed his expression seemed a bit off, so she smiled and asked, "What’s wrong? Are you missing me, Maxim?""Yes," Maxim stood up straight, looking at her with a serious expression."..." Maxim's sudden seriousness caught her off guard. After a moment of silence, she felt her cheeks begin to flush under his intense gaze.She quickly sidestepped Maxim, planning to walk past him, but as she reached his side, he suddenly pulled her into his embrace."I really missed you, so c
Looking at the people in the photo, Tatiana thought for a moment and asked, "But why would Roman lie? Where are these people now? What about his father? Where did he go?"Vance replied, “Roman likely lied because he was threatened by those people behind him. As for his father, I investigated his hometown and found out that when Roman was very young, his father left due to a gambling addiction. However, I later discovered a name in Roman's bank transfer records: Colton. After looking into it, I confirmed that Colton is Roman’s father. This means Roman has been in contact with his father as he grew up and has even been sending him money.”"Sending money? How old was Roman when his father left?" Tatiana asked, holding the photo.Vance thought for a moment and said, "Back then, Roman's sister had just started to walk, and Roman was probably around five years old. Colton was hardly ever home before he left them. So when Colton finally left, Romandidn’t seem to feel anything at all.""That
Just as Tatiana suspected, Vance replied, "We're all interconnected here; it's the same in every city. I came over to look into that murder case regarding Roman.”As he spoke, Vance hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I mentioned to you before that this case has some strange elements. I've been investigating it myself and discovered a few things, but I'm havingtrouble piecing it all together. I was wondering if you had some time to discuss my recent findings.""I do have some time, but I need to head to the police station to look into that earlier case. I can't stay long," Tatiana said, surprised that Vance was still digging into this matter.Hearing there was hope, Mason Smith immediately said, "Are you looking to see the case of that car accident? If you tell me, I can take you in to check it out. It’ll be quicker that way; otherwise, going alone might be a hassle."He was right; not everyone knew Tatiana, and if she wanted to look into the case, it would be quite troublesom
Some of the older employees were using her lack of management skills against her, suggesting that after all this time, she hadn’t brought any real benefits to the company. Their words hinted that they wanted her gone. So, Tatiana was right; she did need a partnership to silence those who were dissatisfied with her.But there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Sierra didn’t say whether she truly needed help; instead, she countered, "What do you want in return for helping me? I can't offer you anything.""What you can give is simple," Tatiana said. "You need to get rid of your husband, someone you clearly dislike. Everyone knows you don't like Jalen, and he’s become even more reckless since your parents passed away. If you don't want him around, then let him go. Take over his company to solidify your position in yours."Tatiana's words completely shook Sierrq's resolve. Whether it was her dislike for Jalen and the desire to kick him to the curb, or the temptation to use his company to so
Sierra was very particular about her reputation. As long as no one knew about Jalen’s reckless behavior, she didn’t mind, but this time, Anna was a lady of the Gold family. If Sierra found out about this incident, Jalen wouldn’t be enjoying himself for long.Tatiana found Sierra’s number and contemplated calling, but it was late. After a moment’s thought, she decided to send a message instead.After clearly stating her intentions, she expressed her desire to meet Sierra. Seeing the message marked as sent on her phone, Tatiana smiled and set her phone down, feeling good as she headed to the bathroom to freshen up before bed.The next morning, Tatiana woke up and immediately realized she was running late. There was no time for a proper routine, so she quickly got ready and managed to clock in just in time.Familiar with the routine, she headed to the student council to check on the students’ practice. As soon as she entered, the boy who had spoken to her earlier approached her. "Teac