When she arrived at the restaurant, Tatiana realized she had underestimated the luxury of the place.She walked up to the front desk, and after a brief inquiry, the staff called someone to escort her.As she approached the designated area, she noticed Tara seemed to have been waiting at the entrance. As soon as she spotted Tatiana, she beamed and rushed over, saying, "Ms. Tatiana, you finally made it! I've missed you so much!"Tatiana smiled back and replied, "Well, here I am! Where's your dad?""He's inside," Teresa said, her sharp eyes spotting her father waiting at the door. She quickly added, "He's just up ahead. Come on, let's go!"From a distance, Tatiana thought Tara's father looked somewhat familiar, but it wasn't until she got closer that she realized she had indeed seen him before, back in W Country. At that time, he seemed to be involved in something important, and since she was on a mission herself, she hadn't paid much attention.Tatiana was taken aback. She never exp
As she pulled out her phone to call the driver, it rang first. An unknown number?Tatiana had initially planned not to answer, but for some reason, she found herself picking up the call."Hello, who is this?"As soon as she answered, Tatiana regretted it, but she felt too awkward to hang up. She silently hoped it was just a wrong number.After her words hung in the air, there was amoment of silence on the other end. Just as Tatiana was about to lose patience and hang up, she heard a distant voice softly call her name."Loli."The world around her seemed to fade into silence, and Tatiana could hear her own heartbeat. It had been years since anyone had called her by that name. When was the last time someone said it?Tatiana tried to recall, but she couldn't remember. It felt like a lifetime ago.The voice on the other end was old, and as Tatiana remained silent, the elderly man spoke again, "Loli."Hearing that voice again, Tatiana snapped back to reality. This time, she recognized
"Tatiana!"Maxim jumped out of the car and ran through the rain to her, scooping her up in his arms. "Are you okay? Why didn't you go home?"It seemed like Tatiana was just coming back to reality. She let out a sarcastic laugh and replied softly, "Home? What home do I have left?""Why don’t you have a home? Where we live is home."Looking at the fragile Tatiana in his arms, Maxim felt as if his heart was being squeezed. He tightened his grip around her and said, "I’ll take you home right now."With that, Maxim carefully carried Tatiana back to the car, step by step.Back in the car, Tatiana squinted slightly, her head resting weakly on Maxim's shoulder. She had fallen asleep without even realizing it.In her slumber, Tatiana appeared even more fragile, as if she could ascend to another realm at any moment.Watching Tatiana like this, Maxim held her hands tightly, his eyes filled with concern that even Riley couldn't help but feel moved by.She had never imagined that Maxim cared s
Thinking this way, Tatiana looked at Maxim, smiled softly, and said, “Thank you. You should go get some rest now. I’m all set here. I’ll call Riley up to take care of me. You watched over me all night, so it’s best you take a break. Let’s put off any work-related matters until tomorrow.”Her words, filled with distance and politeness, made Maxim instantly understand Tatiana’s intentions.They were both adults, after all. If he couldn’t grasp such straightforward words, he wouldn’t truly be an adult.However, understanding was one thing; acting on it was another. Since they were already married, she would always be his wife. There was no room for anything else, regardless of the reasons behind their marriage. In the end, it all boiled down to love.But there was no need to voice any of this; it was enough for her to understand it in her heart. As Maxim left, he casually informed Riley, who was busy making porridge in the kitchen, that Tatiana had woken up.Riley immediately dropped
Hearing this, Camille felt a wave of happiness for her daughter. Looking at Anna's enthusiasm, she said, "Sweetheart, just focus on becoming a star. I’ll handle thingswith the dance club. Taking a few days off won’t be a problem; they won’t give you a hard time."Camile understood the dance club's rules and knew how much dancers dreaded missing practice. However, she also believed in her daughter’s talent. Even if Anna took a break, she would retain her dance fundamentals when she returned.With that thought in mind, Camille and Anna quickly packed her luggage. Since they had to go to the office tomorrow, Anna decided to go to bed early that night.While Anna drifted off into sweet dreams, on the other side of the apartment, Tatiana found herself unable to sleep. After spending the whole day resting in bed, she was wide awake at night. Having just recovered from an illness, she felt more restless than usual. What could she do when sleep eluded her?Tatiana had her own solutions.
Watching Tatiana concentrate so hard on what to do, Maxim shook his head with a smile. This side of her was so charming. If she could stay like this, it would be wonderful, but he knew that this version of Tatiana might only last for today."What's the rush? It's still early!"After saying that, Tatiana continued to ponder. Then, a memory from her childhood came to mind. She remembered seeing other kids sitting on the couch with their parents, watching TV together. She had always envied that, but for various reasons, she never got to enjoy that simple pleasure with her own family.With that thought, Tatiana turned to Maxim, smiled, and said, "I don't really want to play anything. How about we just go to the living room and watch a movie?""Going to the movies?" Maxim asked, surprised. "So, you’ve been standing here thinking for so long just to ask me to go watch a movie with you?""Is that a problem? I just like watching movies," Tatiana replied. In truth, she rarely watched f
After staying up late watching TV last night, Taitana successfully overslept again. Fortunately, her classes didn’t start until the afternoon, so it wasn’t a big deal.When Tatiana went downstairs for breakfast, she noticed that Maxim was missing and casually asked where he had gone.“Miss, he had to go to work. I saw him leave the garden quite early. He’s probably in a hurry to get to work to take better care of you these days,” Riley replied.After a moment's thought, Riley continued, “The last time we went looking for you, I could see the concern in his eyes. He seemed really upset when he couldn’t find you.”Tatiana remained silent as Riley spoke. She recalled the kiss they shared last night and couldn’t ignore Riley’s words. She had to face the truth—Maxim might actually have feelings for her. But how could she ever be with him?No matter how it looked, Maxim seemed like someone who lived in the sunlight, while she was different. She hadn’t been that person for a long time.
With that, the agent decided to pull out his phone to call Tatiana. He added, "Maybe Tatiana knows what to do about this. She wrote the lyrics and choreographed the dance, so she musthave some insight into what’s going on.”At first, Jayden didn’t quite grasp the situation, but once he did, he quickly stepped forward to snatch the phone from his agent's hands."What are you doing? We need to tell Tatiana about this right away so she can help us resolve it. If we wait until it blows up, it won't be good for your reputation. You absolutely can't afford any trouble right now."Recently, the higher-ups at the company had decided to push Jayden toward acareer in the film industry, making this a crucial time for him. They had clearly stated that he needed to stay out of trouble during this period, so when this incident occurred, his agent panicked and wanted to call Tatiana to sort it out."Let’s not tell Tatiana about this just yet," Jayden said, feeling an odd reluctance to involve Tati
As she walked toward the body, Tatiana replied, "Exactly. This time, the person he's imitating just happens to be a cannibal."As she spoke, Tatiana looked at the corpse on the autopsy table. The body was almost unrecognizable; aside from the flesh that had been cut away, she could hardly see what the person's face looked like."Have we figured out who this person is? Did someone come to report it today?" she asked."It's an elderly man who discovered it while passing by that alley. We're still investigating who this woman is, but we should have results by this afternoon at the latest," Vance said, moving closer to Tatiana."Can you tell who the imitator is yet?" he asked."There are many famous cannibals in the world. I'm still looking into it," Tatiana replied.Using a specialized tool, Tatiana flipped the body over and examined it closely. "Dismembered, raped, and partially eaten," she noted grimly.She looked at Vance and murmured, "Many of these twisted cannibals operate this wa
Asking herself this question wouldn’t yield any answers. After half an hour of lost thoughts, she couldn’t fight off the sleepiness any longer and slowly drifted off.The next day, Tatiana still had her mind on last night. She intentionally stayed in bed late before finally heading to the living room, thinking that by now, Maxim must have already retreated to his study to focus on his work.However, to her surprise, as soon as she stepped out, she found Maxim sitting in the living room. She was taken aback. "What are you doing in the living room? Shouldn't you be working in the study at this hour?"Perhaps Tatiana's tone was too filled with surprise and confusion, as Maxim glancedat her and kindly reminded her, "Did you forget that my work on that project is already done?"Hearing this, Tatiana finally remembered that Maxim had indeed completed his work earlier. She slapped her forehead, cursing herself inwardly for her poor memory. How could she forget something like that?Althou
Feeling the sting, Tatiana finally snapped back to reality. She rubbed her forehead and looked at Maxim, saying, “Why did you flick me?” “Who told you to zone out? Do you remember what I just said to you?” Maxim didn’t need to guess that she hadn’t been paying attention, so he reluctantly repeated himself. To his surprise, Tatiana replied, “I was talking to you, but you didn’t hear me. You were busy chopping vegetables, and I was worried you’d cut yourself, so I didn’t want to distract you. I just wanted to help, but I didn’t realize the water was hot and ended up burning myself.” After saying that, she felt like she had only added to Maxim’s troubles. With a pout, she said, “Fine, I’ll just leave you to it. Take your time.” With that, Tatum waved her little hand and walked away. Watching her retreating figure, Maxim couldn’t help but feel helpless. He lowered his head and continued chopping vegetables, but the love in his eyes and the smile at the corners of his mouth
While Tatiana was absorbed in the movie, she didn’t notice that Maxim, who had previously worn a serious expression, broke into a smile the moment he felt her lean closer. The film was a classic, and as it wrapped up, Tatiana finished the last of the fruit on the platter. The softness of the couch made Tatiana reluctant to move, so she just stayed seated. "Are you not getting up? Do you plan to skip dinner tonight?" Maxim asked, looking at the person still lounging on the couch with irritation. "Um..." Tatiana's originally cool tone took on a sweet, childlike quality due to her lazy demeanor, and Maxim found himself surrendering. With no other choice, Maxim said, "Alright, if you want to keep sitting, then go ahead. Do you need any fruit?" "Yes, please." Handing the fruit platter to Maxim, Tatiana looked up and smiled at him. After Tatiana finished a small plate of fruit, Maxim insisted on taking her to the supermarket. The two of them pushed a shopping cart together.
While Tatiana was absorbed in the movie, she didn’t notice that Maxim, who had previously worn a serious expression, broke into a smile the moment he felt her lean closer.The film was a classic, and as it wrapped up, Tatiana finished the last of the fruit on the platter.The softness of the couch made Tatiana reluctant to move, so she just stayed seated."Are you not getting up? Do you plan to skip dinner tonight?" Maxim asked, looking at the person still lounging on the couch with irritation."Um..." Tatiana's originally cool tone took on a sweet, childlike quality due to her lazy demeanor, and Maxim found himself surrendering.With no other choice, Maxim said, "Alright, if you want to keep sitting, then go ahead. Do you need any fruit?""Yes, please." Handing the fruit platter to Maxim, Tatiana looked up and smiled at him.After Tatiana finished a small plate of fruit, Maxim insisted on taking her to the supermarket.The two of them pushed a shopping cart together. Looking at the
"I have a high tolerance for you, but I also hope you won't keep showcasing your limited intelligence in front of me. It only makes me look down on you more, and it’s utterly pointless."With that, Tatiana turned on her heel and walked away, not bothering to glance back at Delany. There was really nothing more to say to someone like her.As Tatiana walked down the street, she initially planned to head home. However, she remembered Tara and realized she hadn’t seen her in the hospital earlier. She took out her phone and sent Tara a message. It didn’t take long for Tara to reply, confirming that she was back at school and not in class. Tatiana decided she would go visit her. Tara was happy to hear that.Putting her phone away, Tatiana hailed a taxi and headed over.Meanwhile, Tara had just finished her meal and put down her empty plate. She left the cafeteria, planning to wait in a small garden behind the school for the hot pot delivery to arrive.Just before Tatiana arrived, Tara s
Vance was taken aback by Tatiana's words. The Tatiana he knew always seemed aloof, quiet, and regal, but hearing her comfort Emily made him realize she wasn't the person he had imagined.Tatiana, however, was too focused on the girl in front of her to notice Vance's daze. As Emily began to lower her guard, Tatiana smiled warmly."What's your name?" she asked kindly.Emily looked at Tatiana's face, shyly smiled,and replied, "I'm Emily, just an ordinary sophomore here. I know the girl who saved me; her name is Tara. She just came to our school not long ago. Funny enough, we're from the same city. I went to high school there too, but I ended up here for college after the entrance exams."Emily had initially thought Tara had always studied in that city, not realizing she had moved there for college. But she felt there was no need to explain that. Instead, she asked, "So, your parents don’t know about what happened? I haven’t seen them come to check on you."When the topic of parents cam
As Tatiana read about his background, she learned that he had a very reclusive and troubled adolescence, suffering from various illnesses and often being abused by his mother. Even after marrying and having children, he was plagued by depression, which eventually led him to commit his first murder.From there, the list of victims continued to grow. As Tatiana read through the details of how the killer had murdered these individuals, she looked down at the case file in her hands. She was now certain that this murderer was mimicking Luca's methods—specifically, the pattern of rape andmurder.However, Luca had truly developed a mental illness due to his sickness. As Tatiana looked at the photos related to the case, she couldn't determine if this murderer was indeed him. It seemed like a highly skilled impersonator; so far, there had been no details discovered about the actual person involved—everything pointed to Andre. At this rate, it felt utterly useless.Putting down the case in
As she pondered this, Tatiana thought about what it would mean if she chose to help them. She would be working alongside Vance. However, it was clear that the higher-ups wanted Delany to stick with Mason too. Tatiana didn’t like the idea of having someone she didn’t get along with hovering around her. With that thought in mind, she decided to call someone on her phone, hoping to have Delany reassigned to another location for a while. It wouldn’t hurt to make that change.Once she settled her thoughts, Tatiana finally focused on the heavy case file in her hands.The next day, Tatiana called Vance to let him know she would be stopping by in the afternoon. The reason for the afternoon visit was simple: she had a meeting with Maxim in the morning to sign contracts with a company. It seemed everything was progressing smoothly.However, when she saw John walk in, her brows furrowed in confusion. She couldn't understand why he was here at this time.Maxim was clearly a bit surprised,