“Uncle, you’re so cool!”
The compliment from the strange little boy left Regis stunned for three seconds. He quickly looked around and saw no one but himself and the boy.
“Are you talking to me?” Regis asked flatly, sounding unsure.
It was an unusual question for Regis to ask. He didn’t expect anyone to praise him out of the blue for no reason.
The boy, Rayden Lysander, nodded enthusiastically and said, “You’re the coolest person I’ve ever met, Uncle.”
Regis’s lips curled into a faint smile—so faint it could barely be called a smile, but it was unlike the usual Regis Lorenzo.
“Were you spying on me?” Regis asked.
“I wasn’t spying. I just happened to see,” Rayden replied.
Regis smiled again at the boy’s innocent answer and said, “That’s still spying, kid. Spying isn’t cool. Understand?”
Rayden seemed to ponder, then gave a small nod.
<"Dad?"Regis raised an eyebrow. He smirked cynically, almost unable to believe such a statement could come from a six-year-old.Regis took a deep breath to calm his anger. He never expected a seemingly innocent child to have an ulterior motive."Is it common now for scams to use children as tools?" Regis thought.He felt he had wasted his precious time listening to the child's useless chatter, but there was a deep curiosity about the boy's motives.Regis suspected that the boy's irresponsible parents had taught him bad things, using him to target easy victims. Unfortunately, the boy had picked the wrong target."Where are your parents, kid? I want to see what kind of parents have taught you to scam like this?" Regis snapped.His words unintentionally hurt Rayden's pure heart. Immediately, Rayden retorted, "Uncle, I'm not scamming, and no one taught me! Don't speak badly about my mom!"The boy's cheerful face disappeared. Seeing the disappointment in those small hazel eyes, Regis felt
Amora's eyebrows furrowed. She glared at the tall man, who hadn't taken his eyes off her.‘What does he mean by meeting again? Who is he?’ She wondered, feeling highly suspicious.She had seen her son talking to a man from a distance earlier. However, she hadn't seen his face clearly and, after reaching her son, she forgot about the man's presence. She was too busy scolding her son.‘Could he be a scammer or a kidnapper?’ She thought, scrutinizing the man's appearance. 'But do scammers dress this well to avoid suspicion?'Even without asking, Amora could tell the man's suit was custom-made and extremely expensive. Her salary for two months wouldn't be enough to buy it.Despite his elite appearance, the man still seemed suspicious to Amora. Especially since he acted as if they had known each other before. For the past seven years, she has had no interactions with the elite.
"Gran, I'm home."Rayden stepped into the house with a gloomy face. A middle-aged woman, busy cleaning, was startled by Rayden's early return. School wasn't supposed to be over for another hour."Ray, why are you home so early?" asked the middle-aged woman, Emma Adams.She was Rayden's caretaker and Amora's neighbor, living in the same complex.Rayden was always picked up and dropped off by Emma. His early return was surprising Emma. "Oh my, Ray, what happened to your face?"Emma hurried over to Rayden, whom she considered her grandson. She immediately dropped the mop she was holding and cupped his face, which was covered in bruises."Who hit you, Ray?" Emma asked, extremely worried. Her heart ached to see the injuries on Rayden's face.She then looked at Amora, who had just entered the house after parking her motorcycle in the yard. Amora was carrying several items in her hands."Mrs. Adams," greeted Amora, her face just as worn out as Rayden's. She looked even more exhausted."Amor
"Ray, I'm coming in."Amora knocked on her son's bedroom door, then turned the doorknob and opened it.Rayden was sitting curled up on his bed, his face buried between his knees.Amora sighed softly. She walked over to him, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently patted the top of his head."Ray, does your wound still hurt?"Slowly, Rayden lifted his face and gave a small smile.But Amora could see that he was forcing himself to smile. She knew the bruise on his face still hurt."I'm sorry I dragged you into my past, Ray," Amora said softly, her voice filled with sorrow.Rayden shook his head. "It doesn't hurt, Mom. I'm just sleepy," he lied again.Amora smiled faintly. She cupped his face in her hands and said, "You can lean on me and cry, Ray. I'll always be here for you."Rayden's eyes had been welling up with tears, but he tried to stay strong so his mother wouldn't worry. He was in pain, not just in his
“Sir, here’s the enlarged image from the screen capture.”Mark handed his phone to Regis through the open passenger window. His boss was waiting in the car for the results of his task.Mark stood by the car door, waiting for his boss’s response until Regis finally said, “Get in. Don’t I have a meeting scheduled today?”Mark nodded and quickly got into the back seat next to Regis.Regis’s personal driver, Albert Parker, started the car after receiving a nod from Mark.Mark glanced at his young master, who was intently looking at the screen of his device. Without waiting for an order, he began explaining his findings.“From the CCTV footage, this woman left in a hurry. She seemed to be scared of something.”Regis’s lips curled slightly at his assistant’s explanation. Mark had just re
"Sorry for asking you to come on such short notice, Amora. I don't have much time. My flight leaves in an hour."Hearing Biana Curtiz’s explanation, Amora smiled slightly. “It’s okay, Bia. I’m free tonight anyway. Mrs. Houston said I don’t need to work the night shift.”Biana Curtiz was Amora’s coworker at WW Mart. She had asked Amora to come to Baymoon Restaurant, where she was interning as a server.Amora had planned to make up for the morning shift she missed, but Della Houston, the manager, told her to come in tomorrow instead, as a morning shift employee had taken leave.Amora hoped to earn extra money from the night shift to pay her rent. She thought she’d be going home empty-handed tonight.But while heading home, Biana called her, asking if she could cover her shift at the restaurant.Biana wanted to see
"Welcome, Mrs. Lysander."Alvin Jones greeted one of his newly arrived guests at the entrance of Baymoon Restaurant. He hurriedly approached the middle-aged guest with his professional demeanor as a restaurant manager.However, Amora was still shocked in her place. How could she not be? She never expected to meet the person she despised the most after leaving the Lysander family residence!The woman addressed as Mrs. Lysander by the manager was Julia Brown, her aunt!Amora couldn't forget how her aunt had treated her when she was expelled by her grandfather seven years ago. The words filled with scorn and harsh sarcasm uttered by Julia still echoed clearly in her mind."Don't blame anyone, Amora. But blame yourself for being foolish, and blame your mother for bringing you into this world. Now not only is your blood tainted, but your body is too. You and your mother are truly disg
"Sorry, I'm late. My car had some trouble," said a young woman as she entered the VIP room."Finally, you're here, Chelsea. We have been waiting for you," replied Julia, standing up to welcome her.The young woman, stylish in a mini dress showing off a bit of her smooth thigh and a fur coat draped around her neck, approached Julia and greeted her with cheek kisses."Did your car break down?" Julia asked worriedly."Yes, Aunt. The engine died suddenly, so I had to take care of it," Chelsea replied, glancing at Mrs. Lorenzo, who had been watching her.Julia realized she hadn't introduced them yet. "Mrs. Lorenzo, this is the girl I wanted to introduce to you. Her name is Chelsea Harrison," she said to the woman beside her.Yes, the young woman she referred to as a 'distant relative' was Chelsea Harrison, who was also Amora's college friend!Amora couldn't believe they had this kind of relationship because Chelsea had never mentioned it. And Julia Brown never seemed to communicate with Ch