LOGIN[Maria]
I had underestimated chopping.
Not underestimated exactly. I just hadn’t known my very first class would already be this advanced.
There were several cutting techniques with names like brunoise, julienne, and batonnet. But this time we were practicing dice cuts.
&ld
[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
[Hannah]Somehow, the anime turned out to be so good that Hannah ended up binge-watching nonstop with Kevin until episode six.She sat on the couch with one leg tucked beneath her, sipping from a can of soda she had helped herself to from Kevin’s refrigerator.The dryer had finished a long time ago, but she found herself strangely comfortable staying there. She was still wearing Kevin’s sweater along with the slacks she had worn to work that day.The ending song for episode six played. Kevin pressed pause and turned toward her.“You’re not sleepy?”Hannah checked her phone. It was 11:24 PM.
[Hannah]“Oh no, Hannah...” Liz winced, covering her mouth.“Sorry, sorry. It wasn’t on purpose.” Kevin quickly grabbed some napkins and held them out to Hannah.But Hannah didn’t take them.Her brain froze for a moment as she looked down at her white blouse stained with coffee.Her house was only ten minutes away, but walking around in a dirty, wet, sticky blouse would be both embarrassing and uncomfortable.Trying to clean it in the bakery restroom wasn’t really an option either. She knew they didn’t have proper soap for washing clothes. And she didn’t want to walk around
[Hannah]Hannah held out her hand.“Deal?”“It’s ridiculous,” Kevin said with a sigh, but eventually gave in. “But okay. Deal.”He immediately went back to what he had been doing, putting his headphones back on and resuming the anime on his phone, as if giving Hannah no opportunity to interact with him.They got off at the bus stop in front of Briarwood Prep, the stop that was supposed to be closest to Kevin’s house.Kevin didn’t ask many questions. He simply followed behind Hannah as she led the way to the place with the supposedly great food.Eventually, they arrived at a bakery.
[Maria]“Mr. Ed, would you like to have lunch with me?”I thought I should treat him as a thank-you.And also keep
[Maria]I had just finished soaking in my private bathtub, a brief moment of relaxation before starting my day. The scent of aromatherapy candles spread through the bathroom, filling the air with the soothing fragrance
[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







