Lucy lowered her head to look at her phone. She had sent him a message before coming here.Naomi waited with her for a while and said, “Why don't we go for a walk first? We'll meet up with him when he arrives.”Lucy thought for a while and said, “Alright then.”She then sent a message to Francisco.Both of them went to the shopping mall before heading to a restaurant. Lucy was starving, and she began complaining after taking her seat, “He really has stood us up. He should've told us instead if he doesn't want to come. He shouldn't have said yes to us and not show up later.”As she flipped through the menu, she continued angrily. “All good-looking guys are liars!”Naomi chuckled. “It’s okay. I think we can have a lot of fun as well if it’s only us two.”“You’re right. There are so many good-looking guys in the world. If this one is unreliable, we can always look for another one,” Lucy said. It seemed to Naomi that she was not angry anymore, and she gave her a sheepish grin.Lucy
Naomi paused for a split second, turned her head, and looked at Francisco, who just so happened to be glancing at her too. She then refuted Lucy immediately. “Nonsense. Where are the similarities? Both our colors look very different, okay?”“Both of you have bright-colored clothing on, while mine is dark-colored.” Lucy grabbed the hem of the front of her black down jacket and covered her chest and abdomen.Before Naomi could say anything, Francisco laughed. “It’s just a coincidence.”After the meal, Lucy proposed that the three of them could go to the movies. And when they got to the movie theater, she skimmed through the several movies that were listed on the screen and decided to watch a horror movie. “Let’s watch this today and make it a challenge. What do you guys think?”When more than two people were watching a horror movie, the atmosphere in the theater would become much more interesting than that of a romance movie. Especially when one was frightened, she could jump into th
Naomi was astounded for a bit and grabbed the pack of tissues from him. “Thank you.”He stared at the heavy rain. “I don’t think the rain will cease so soon.”Naomi lowered her gaze and pursed her lips.In fact, she hoped that the rain would go on for longer.At that moment, Francisco’s cell phone rang. He took a glimpse at the caller ID and walked away to answer it.Naomi turned her head and stared at his figure. For some reason, she felt like she was on a date. However, as soon as Naomi thought of the word “date”, her cheeks blushed inexplicably, and she covered them instantly.‘Why have my thoughts become so bizarre lately!?’However, what she did not know was that Francisco looked back at her at this moment and happened to witness the scene where she was covering her cheeks in panic. The sight of an innocent girl being in love was truly a feast to his eyes.Apart from this, Lucy’s actions had all been so obvious, so how could Francisco not realize it?He lowered his gaze,
Francisco frowned and said nothing.‘I agreed to show up to the meal arranged by that woman named Lucy only because she said that they wished to extend their gratitude through a meal. It’d be rather rude if I were to say no to such a warm invitation.‘To this day, all of Lucy’s actions have been very deliberate. It’s obvious that she’s trying to make a couple out of Naomi and me. I’m not really sure if it’s Naomi’s intention or if she arrived at such a decision without Naomi’s authorization.’After his incident with Maizie, Francisco had been very wary toward all women.‘Nobody can guarantee that I won’t run into another Maizie.’At the hospital…Mrs. Hannigan was sitting beside the hospital bed and feeding Nathaniel congee. Because Nathaniel had just undergone a craniotomy and was still recovering, all he could do was basically lying on the bed, and he would need someone to raise the head of the bed if he wanted to get up.Tanner came in through the door at this time.Nathanie
A thorn seemed to have punctured Tanner’s chest, and he felt as if he could no longer breathe. He was silent for a moment and then stood up shakily. “Then take me back.”The pub manager came over and said, “Miss, please send Mr. Hannigan home. He’s drunk too much. We’ll get into trouble if something happens to him after he leaves the premises.”Pearl did not utter a single word. Pearl saw the coat he draped on the couch, picked it up, and followed him out when they were leaving the pub.Pearl was about to cover him with his coat back in the car when Tanner grabbed her wrist abruptly and called her out drunkenly but looked as if he was completely sober. “Pearl.”Pearl froze. She remembered suddenly that Tanner used to call her that in front of her parents a year ago. She smiled, but there was not even a hint of hilarity in her eyes. “Are you still playing your part? But the play has ended.”He did not speak another word.Pearl drove him back to the apartment building. She knew tha
Tanner put on his clothes and walked out of the room. Someone was making breakfast in the kitchen, and a pleasant scent wafted out into the living area.He walked over in a hurry, but what he saw was not the person that he had in mind, and his expression stiffened slightly.Sandy placed the fried egg on the plate, turned around to look at him, and smiled. “Have you woken up?”Tanner frowned. “Sandy... It’s you... Why are you here?”Sandy brought the breakfast to the table without any trace of emotion on her face. “Have you forgotten what happened last night?”‘What happened last night...‘Of course, I haven’t forgotten about that, but I clearly remember that the woman I came back with was Pearl. So how did she become Sandy after last night?’“Tan,” Sandy called his name and turned to look at him. “I waited for you all the time. I waited for you for one whole day, and you didn’t even come back to me.”Tanner’s lips were pursed into a single line.“I know. You can’t touch me now
Tanner stood next to the bed and looked at his father. “What about the child?”Nathaniel was quiet for a few minutes, but his expression didn’t change. “I can accept the child but not the mother.”Tanner seemed to know that was what his father would say, but before this, he would debate about it with his father, but now…Had Pearl influenced him or the ‘accidental’ child? He was in chaos. After he left the hospital, Tanner drove to La Pearla. The employees all knew about him and Pearl. On top of the scene at the wedding, the news was everywhere, and the people started chattering when he showed up.“Didn’t Mr. Tanner run away with that woman and left his to-be wife?”“Tsk! What’s the point of coming to see Ms. Santiago now that the wedding is over? Such an *sshole.”“What *sshole? I think Mr. Hannigan is the victim here. Other than Mr. Hannigan, who would be willing to marry her? I heard that he already had a girlfriend before he was forced to marry her, but the Hannigans wouldn
“Leave then.” Pearl looked up. “I’m not like your Sandy. I won’t lower myself to make you happy.”Tanner grabbed her by her chin. “You keep bringing her up. Are you jealous?” He inched forward. “Jealous that she’s cleaner than you or that she’s pregnant with my child?”Pearl had heard all the negative things about her, but these words hurt her more than any of them. Even if she didn’t care, they still hurt. She was finally numb to them, but Tanner was the one who kept walking all over her numb heart.Her eyes were dead and hollow, as if there was no soul behind them. She was quiet.Tanner noticed something and pressed his palm to his cheek. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean that.”He hugged her and gave her a little squeeze. “Let’s start all over again.”Pearl melted in his arms, but her eyes looked away, and she smirked. “Don’t you love Sandy? How could you start all over again with me?”Tanner frowned and didn’t answer.Pearl removed herself from his hug. “A dirty woman like me wi