LOGIN[Cecilia]
After the party ended, Cecilia hurried back to her hotel room. She couldn't stand another minute of small talk with the guests while her mind was consumed by something else entirely.
She changed clothes, packed her belongings, and instructed her assistant to take everything back to her house.
As for Cecilia, she ha
[Hannah]Hannah’s brain felt like it was short-circuiting.Last night’s events flashed through her mind like a flashback. Kevin spraying coffee all over her blouse. About her going to Kevin’s house to clean it but ending up watching anime with him—wait, what was the last episode last night?No.That wasn't important.The important thing was figuring out an explanation for why she'd answered Kevin's phone this morning.Kevin walked out of his bedroom, scratching his head.His sleepy eyes landed on Hannah sitting on the sofa, but he showed no reaction whatsoever. He simply continued to the refrigerator and poured
[Maria]Damian’s father had just finished changing and came to join us. He chose to sit next to his wife.“Have you eaten yet?” she asked her husband softly."Yes. With a client.""Monteverde?""Yes.""We should've eaten together." Damian's mother pouted again.His father didn't respond.Then her face suddenly brightened. She said with a sweet and cute voice, "How about a dinner date tonight? It's Saturday night, after all.""Okay. If that's what you want."
[Maria]Damian's mother gestured for Damian to come closer. He leaned toward her, and she covered her mouth with one hand before whispering something into his ear.Something that, for whatever reason, I wasn't allowed to hear even though we were sitting at the same dining table.I didn't know what they were talking about. And I didn't really care if they were saying something bad about me.I'd always thought that sort of thing was normal, especially in the world of conglomerates where people constantly stepped on each other to get ahead.Still, if they did it here, it made me a little uncomfortable. As if being excluded was simply something I should be used to.I pretended to foc
[Maria]“Mom! Don’t just ask her that out of the blue.” Damian called out. “You’re making Maria uncomfortable.”“What’s wrong with that? Damian, you’re our only child. Of course you need to give us a grandchild to continue the family line.”“I know, but—"“As a husband, you have to try hard too. Drink some supplements. Don’t overwork. Eat healthy food. Do some exercise.”I didn’t expect this lunch to turn into a conversation like this.“Yeah, but we’ve only been married a few months. We need to—” Damian searched for the right words, “date first. We didn’t date before getting married. We need more time to enjoy our time together as a couple.”
[Maria]I hadn’t visited Damian’s parents’ house in a long time. I didn’t meet them very often either. His family wasn’t like typical conglomerate families that frequently appear at parties and events.In their circle, they were very selective about which events to attend, except for those related to the RQL Group, since Damian’s father was still serving as CEO there.They were on a different level from other conglomerate families. They didn’t need recognition and didn’t need to build connections.People like that had their own aura, and meeting them made me feel slightly intimidated.After all, I’m just the illegitimate daughter of the Wang family.
[Maria]“You’re right. I should have said thank you,” I said while reaching for his arm.Right now, all I could think about was that I needed to calm him down and reassure him first.Besides, Damian was right. Thinking about it, I hadn’t really thanked him since he got injured. For some reason, I don’t know why that sentence never really occurred to me.Maybe it’s because “thank you” is something I say when I get what I want, and clearly, his injury wasn’t something I wanted at all.“About my hand, I’ll tell you someday, not now,” I said softly. “But you really don’t need to worry about it. It’s a completely different situation. I just
[Maria]Damian barely took his eyes off his phone throughout dinner. Every now and then he typed something, or stepped out briefly to make a call. It wasn’t like him to do that after coming home from work.And whenever he came back, he would explain himself even if I didn’t ask.“Just work stuff.”
[Hannah]“You’re still coming in today?” Hannah was surprised to see Emma show up at the office. “Weren’t you already
[Maria]“You mocking me?”That was what he said to me while still taking the money I offered.How strange. How cou
[Maria]I was startled by a loud thud coming from inside the room. My tears stopped instantly from the shock.I could only stand there dumbfounded, staring at that rickety wooden door that looked like it could collapse at any moment.“Maria,” Auntie Imani called softly. She placed her index finger







