Luke would never call if there was nothing. Queenie signaled Leia, who was sitting beside her, to be quiet. She told her not to speak. Then, she answered the call. “Luke, what’s the matter?”Leia, who was sitting beside her, was already feeling uneasy. She got even more restless when she heard Luke's name. Why was this man calling at this time?!Could it be that he had already found out she had sneaked back here… Leia was listening to the call while comforting herself at the same time. She had found an agency to help her. The agency’s people had been forging her traces to show that she was still in New York. Hence, Luke should not have noticed anything amiss. He was so busy. How could he keep an eye on her?While Leia was comforting herself, Qunnie was worried too.On the other end of the phone, Luke said, “Mother, Tommy told me he’s missing his grandmother. I’m planning to bring the kids over for dinner with you and Father. Is that alright?”Queenie glanced at Leia when she
Luca listened to the kids complaining about how Luke had forgotten his promise and brought her there instead. She was a little embarrassed. After all, it was not like she traveled with Luke to have fun with him.“You can still go there. Your whole family can go there during the holidays,” said Luca.Tommy asked, “Can you travel with us when the time comes, Ms. Luca?” Luca did not expect the child to take the initiative to invite her. She was startled for a moment. She glanced at the kids and said, “Let’s talk about this later.”“I want to go with Ms. Luca, and I want to go with Sis too. It’d be much more interesting compared to traveling with Daddy,” Tommy said while blinking his eyes.Luke was given the cold shoulder, but he did not say anything. He continued to drive as if the person his child was embarrassing was not him. Luca was speechless. She did not expect the kids to embarrass him in front of him.Rainie said, "Daddy is busy with work every day. He would even bring
Even though Leia had locked herself in her room, she might not be able to stay completely silent. Moreover, Tommy was a curious child. If he realized that something was amiss, he would tell Luke about it. When Queenie thought about that, she smiled gently to mask the unease in her heart. "The playroom was sterilized earlier this morning, and the smell of disinfectant is still quite strong. I don't think you should go in there. What do you want to play? I'll go and get it for you." Tommy shook his head when he heard that. "It's okay, Grandma. I'll watch cartoons instead." "Alright. I'll turn the TV on for you." Queenie breathed a sigh of relief. The child was well-behaved. Luke looked at her, then at the stairs. He guessed that Leia was hiding upstairs. Otherwise, Queenie would not stop Tommy from going up. Luca also knew what was going on, and she did not say anything, including the fact that she had been to the Norman household earlier in the day. Queenie turned on the
The sky was darkening. Luca looked at the time and saw that it was half-past six. She could smell the fragrance of the food wafting out of the kitchen. The maid was almost done cooking dinner. However, the sky… Tommy noticed that Luca was looking out of the window. He leaned over and asked curiously, "What are you looking at, Ms. Luca?" "It looks like it's going to rain." The sky was much darker than it should be at that hour. A storm should be coming. "Oh, it really does look like it's going to rain. I'll go and take the laundry in." Queenie glanced out of the window and immediately stood up. "Let me help you, Mrs. Norman." Luca also wanted to go upstairs. On the second floor, Luca glanced at the room to their left. That was Jack's study. The door was ajar. Luke and Jack were inside talking about something. Luca tried to tune in to the conversation. The two men were talking about antiques. After that, she went to the balcony to help Queenie take the laundry in. The
The maid would stay the night in the Norman residence when it was inconvenient to go home. Queenie looked at the rain outside the window and said, "It's not very convenient for you to go home. You should stay." "Yes. The weather service has also issued a yellow alert earlier," the maid said. "It's that serious?" Queenie did not expect that. She looked at Luke and said, "You shouldn't leave just yet, Luke. It's not safe to drive home when it's raining so heavily." "Alright," Luke said. He did not expect that Queenie would ask him to stay. The rain was not going to stop any time soon. How long would Leia be able to hide? He knew that she was not a patient person… After dessert, Luca sat on the couch and watched the news. The yellow alert had been escalated to an orange alert. She looked out of the window and saw that the rain did not lessen. The storm was much more severe than any summer storm. "It's orange now," Queenie said. She was also watching the news. Jack stood
At eleven o'clock, Luca sat on the sofa bed in the playroom. From the variety of toys found inside, Luca could tell that Jack and Queenie adored the children a lot. She considered herself lucky to have such gentle and caring parents who would share their love unconditionally with her children. Queenie knocked on the door. Luca lifted her head, stood up, and said, "Mrs. Norman." "May I come in?" Queenie asked while standing at the door. "Of course," Luca said. Queenie came into the room with a set of clothes in hand. She put it on the sofa bed and said, "I didn't find any new clothes in Bea's room, so I went through my clothes, and I found this silk gown that I had tailor-made when I was young. I haven't worn it before, so why don't you wear it to sleep tonight?" Not only was Luca a guest, but she had helped the Normans so many times. Queenie did not want to ask her to wear Bianca's old clothes, so she searched through her own wardrobe and found the silk gown that she had no
"She's not 'that woman,' she's Luca. If you're not comfortable calling her Luca, you can call her Dr. Craw," Queenie said, frowning because of Leia's lack of manners. Leia did not notice the change in Queenie's expression. She continued, "Didn't she come over during the day? Why is she here for dinner? Did she come over to steal the things from our house?" Queenie was becoming irritated by what Leia said. Steal their things? Luca was not like that. That was what she thought in her mind, but she did not say that. Seeing her mother not saying anything, Leia hugged Queenie's hand and said eagerly, "Don't blame me for being concerned, Mom. Sometimes, you have to assume the worst when dealing with outsiders like her. Dad's a very successful politician, and our home has many precious items. Also, you only have two daughters…" Queenie pulled her hand away and said, "Alright. The macaroni's almost done. Go and wash your hands. You should go to bed after you eat." Leia could tell
Jack shook his head and said, "No, that can't be. Luca isn't like that." After all his years as a politician, he was a good judge of character. He did not believe that Luca was someone who would befriend the three children just to get close to Luke. Moreover, she did not seem intimate with Luke. "You're not thinking about this carefully enough…" After so many years married, Queenie knew what Jack was thinking without him saying it. "Do you think that Luca and Luke are innocent just because they're not physically intimate with each other? There are some things that adults can hide but children can't, Jack. Look at our three grandchildren. They don't show any resistance toward Luca at all. It means that they're very familiar with Luca. I know what your worries are. Even though there's nothing between Luca and Luke now, who can tell what will happen in the future? Bea is still overseas, and I think we should keep an eye on Luke for her…" "Well, I still trust Luca. Even if I don'