Disapprovingly, Summer insisted, "I'll give you guys a ride then."The trio was silent on the way there. Summer was focused on the wheel while Mark was resting his eyes. The girl just wore a small smile on her face, and Summer could not tell what was on her mind. The director of the university was standing by the gates, waiting for their arrival. When he saw the noble Mr. Valentine getting off a Volkswagen Golf, he choked and coughed. Mark had not asked for her to come along, but Summer had already taken it upon herself and followed behind him. She decided that she would act more shamelessly, as she thought, 'The more thick-skinned I am, the better.' The university they arrived at was the most prestigious one in Santabaca. The director was giving them a tour while introducing the school to them.The girl had stayed back in the school to start her classes, and at last, the two of them were alone again. Summer turned her head slightly and glanced towards the man who was in the pa
The driver had driven to the kindergarten in the end. The black Bentley drove steadily on the road with the two of them sitting at the back. She was not used to the quiet atmosphere, and she shifted in her seat. It felt uneasy and awkward for her. His gaze swept past her and saw her small movements. He arched a brow at her and looked deep in thought, 'She looks so much better looking all stiff and awkward now.' ‘Maybe I've been too nice to her in the past, spoilt her even to the point that she had acted so recklessly and was so stubborn. Maybe what she needs is some punishment.' Charlotte ran into his arms as though a puppy off its leash. She squeezed into his arms and said, "Daddy, Daddy, I missed you so much! So very very much!" Mark lifted his hands and pulled her close. He asked, "Have you eaten?" "Yep! I had some pasta and sausages! I had two big plates of ‘em!" she exclaimed and gave a thumbs up. Just when Summer had wanted to speak, Mark's phone rang. He answered i
The girl had worn a beautiful smile on her lips, and to Summer, it was even more blinding than before. The girl looked happy. Carrying Charlotte over to her arms, the girl gave her a piece of candy and said, "Why don't you come along with me and your daddy? I will get you a lot of fun things to play with.""Mummy, can I go with Daddy please?" Charlotte asked. Her words had implied that she was not tempted by the fun events, instead, she had just wanted to spend time with her father. Charlotte did not have a bad impression of the girl as she thought, 'She doesn't feel like a bad person nor is she unfriendly.'"Sure." Summer caressed Charlotte's face that was lit with excitement. Since she decided to be thick-skinned, she was going all out. She took a deep breath and said, "I'll come along as well." A troubled expression plastered on the girl's face. Mark shifted his gaze to Summer, and his gaze fell upon her. Moving his lips, he said, "I don't think it's appropriate for you to com
She froze and thought, 'Was he trying to condemn her for disturbing them?' "I'm sorry." Her eyes looked somewhat glum. She placed the ice cream on the table. The girl happily took it, and she smiled with her eyes curving into crescents. She thanked Summer, "Thank you so much, Summer. Why did you trouble her to purposely get this for me, Mark? I could've gotten it myself tomorrow."Mark's thin lips curved into a small smile. He still felt cold despite the smile.‘So it was for her, not Charlotte...' Summer thought."May I know which room is Charlotte in?" Summer asked politely with a hinge of reservedness. "In my room," he replied with his brows arched. "Thank you." After she shut the door, she had her back against the door and slid down. She felt her tears well up, and she tightened her fists on her sides. Only after a while did she carefully carry Charlotte up who was sleeping on the bed. If what he had said in the afternoon was not impactful enough for her to give up, t
Summer was perplexed as she asked, "You know Patrick too? He was my colleague in school. We were both English teachers for the same class, but he had left only after 2 days of work.""He was my schoolmate back when I was studying at Athana. He had hurried back to Athana because his father had suddenly passed away, and his mother had fallen ill. The reason why he came here in the first place was because of a woman." "For Raine, right?" "Yeah."Summer nodded. She had not expected Patrick to be one who was spoony, but he left a good impression on Summer even though they had only met about six times.After dinner, Kolby and Daisy went into the room while Summer and Makayla stayed in the living room. Fruits were prepared for them. "Why did you come over? Did you need something?" Summer asked politely in a friendly tone. She had no reason to be hostile with Makayla after all. "Do you hate me, Summer?""Of course not. I don't have a reason to." Makayla smiled and replied, "I ju
Ignoring him, she had only walked two steps forward, when her arm was suddenly grabbed from behind, and the force caused her to be slammed against the wall.He was pushing himself up against her, pressing her so hard that Summer’s back started to hurt. She pushed him off and said, “I have promised as you asked of me, what else do you want?”“Oh, what else do I want? I want to choke you…” He gritted his teeth, breathing hot air into her face. “So this is how you admit your faults, eh?”“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t know what you mean.” She was confused.“It’s always your way or the highway. I merely punished you for one second, and this is your reaction. What else would I expect from you?”Suddenly, a light flashed through Summer’s mind, and she understood what he meant.“My way or the highway? Me? You want it when you want it, and then push it away when you don’t want it. You came to me every day for the last two days, and now you’ve lost your patience afte
He narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, then raised his hand and gave her a few sharp, loud slaps on the hip before he told her everything about the girl.“Where did you go that day with Charlotte?” She still could not forget his hurtful words at that time.“Makayla paid a visit to her parents’ grave, and I took Charlotte to see the sights nearby.”“So, you were deliberately saying such hurtful words to me?”Mark nodded slightly. If he was going to teach her a lesson, he had to teach her a good one. Only when she felt the pain thoroughly would she remember him in her heart.“You’re good at acting, really, and you should go on.” She sneered back.“Acting also requires cooperation. How long do you think it would have lasted with someone as impatient as you?”“What about her? You let her live here? Also, I never knew many people out there call you brother, do tell me.”He pinched her chin. “She is an orphan, and I treat her like a sister. She calls me brother because she respect
Summer shook her head and said, “No, I realized that it’s not good for women to be too easy after this experience. Maybe someday you’ll really like that woman, and you’ll let her move into this apartment, and I’ll end up like this. I want to have my own life and aspirations.”“I told you, she’s only a sister to me. Her brother has leukemia and some time ago he was in a coma, she couldn’t handle it alone so I let her move in here…”“Well, I see. I also find that you no longer care and consider my feelings as before. You care less and less about me. I honestly don’t even know what kind of feelings you have for me right now. You’d never say anything like that to me before, or ask me to drive up here to pick up Charlotte and get her clothes. I think you’ve changed…”Mark looked like he had a dark cloud over his head, heavy and dark. The acting was too real. Wasn’t he shooting himself in the foot?What the hell was this? He obviously wanted to punish her, but why was he the one to suffe