Se connecter[Hannah]"Why do you always fall asleep at my place?"Hannah slowly opened her eyes, and Kevin's voice was the first thing she heard. She let out a wide yawn, then realized Kevin was looking at her and quickly turned her face away while covering her mouth shyly."What's with that act?" Kevin snorted before sitting down beside her. He was holding a carton of UHT milk and casually sipping it by himself.Hannah stared at him intently, even though her eyelids still weren't fully open."What? You want some too?" He held it out to her. "Go ahead and finish it.""It'll be an indirect kiss."Besides, Han
[Maria]Auntie Imani broke down in tears as she told me everything she knew. Her eyes were swollen as she continued to sob. Jamal brought her a box of tissues. I wasn't sure whether he'd heard our conversation or not.I could only stare blankly, trying to process everything she'd told me.Stories I'd never known before.I wiped the tears streaming down my cheeks and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Of course, my mind didn't settle that easily. Too many thoughts were swirling inside my head.I had always believed that, in some way, my father really did love my mother. From Auntie Imani's story, it seemed like that was true. It's just that my father loved her in the wrong way. What he did wa
[Imani Flashback]If I could turn back time, I would still do the same thing. Keep all of this a secret from Lily.I know it wasn't fair to her, but I just wanted to see her happy a little longer. Even if that happiness was built on a lie.I tried to keep her away from Richard's influence. I often invited her to spend time with our friends from our vocational cooking class. Just enough to give her a world outside of Richard, who kept leaving her behind to live with his new family.Lily stopped feeling so lonely in her apartment. She had us as we waited together for the birth of her first child. We searched for baby names together, accompanied her to doctor's appointments, bought baby supplies, and did all the things she should have been doing w
[Imani Flashback]"How far along are you?""Twenty weeks," Lily replied with a bright smile."You only have a few months left. He's going to marry you, right?""Richard said he would, but he needs time to convince his family."My heart immediately sank when I heard those words. So far, all Richard had given her were promises."Lily, this is exactly what I was afraid of. What if his family says no?""I don't really need his family's approval. All I need is Richard by my side."But the idea of Richard leaving his family to be with Lily sounded like nothing more than a pipe dream. If Richard had truly been serious about Lily, he should have married her from the start instead of getting her pregnant and hiding her away in an apartment.He should have introduced Lily to his parents from the very beginning and asked for their blessing. But Richard came from a wealthy family. They would never willingly accept an orphan with no known family background.I kept all of those thoughts to myself b
[Imani Flashback]I regret how busy I was preparing to leave Maple that I couldn't truly look after Lily. All I knew was that Richard kept visiting Maple. He often spent time with Lily while she helped the younger children with their homework, read them storybooks, or even taught them how to play basketball.It all became increasingly suspicious, so I couldn’t take it anymore and finally told one of the Maple staff members closest to me that I’d noticed something strange about Richard’s behavior toward Lily. Instead of asking for more details or taking my words seriously, she immediately scolded me."Richard isn't that kind of person. Don't say such ridiculous things. He's a polite young man from a respectable family."
[Imani Flashback]I met Lily when I was already 18 years old at Maple House, a group home for children who had been abandoned, separated from their parents, or orphaned. She was only 14 or 15 at the time.Lily had no parents. They had died in an accident, and she had no relatives who could take her in.Me? I was a little luckier. I still had parents. It was just that my father had a terrible temper. My mother left him because, people said, she could no longer endure his beatings. Eventually, my father was sent to prison, and, well, I had no choice but to stay at Maple House.I was actually preparing to leave the place. I was the oldest kid at Maple. Even though they allowed me to stay until I turned 21, I felt old enough to live on my own. I had a part-time job, so I had enough money to do that.But the moment I saw Lily, I felt I needed to stay at Maple a little longer to protect her.On Lily's first day at Maple, she almost took her own life. She wanted to be with her parents. She w
[Maria]“I guess since everything’s clear now, I’ll head home. I need to rest after the trip.”“Sure.&r
[Cecilia]The house had been noisy since early morning. There were the clatter of cooks preparing dishes, gardeners arranging orchids by the entrance, and maids who usually cleaned the house in silence. They were always busy when important days like this rolled around.The Wang family were used to a
[Maria]Damian wasn’t here when I woke up this morning. The curtains in my room were still closed even though it was already 10 a.m. There were no sounds of a vacuum cleaner or footsteps in the hallway. The maid probably hadn’t come up to the second floor yet.I splashed water on my face at the sink
[Hannah]The same bakery, the same scent of butter, yet today it felt so much better than before.Why was that? Because today was her last day working there.No, Hannah was not even working. Why would she, when her boss refused to pay the remainder of her salary just because Hannah resigned in the m







