Chapter 3

“Mint, what are you doing out here?” Claire crouched down, rubbed her son’s fluffy hair, and asked gently.

The moment she saw her adorable little boy, all the grievances and fatigue she had endured that day vanished.

“Mommy, why is your face red?” Mint placed his small, chubby hand against Claire’s left cheek and asked with wide, puzzled eyes.

Claire pretended nothing had happened and patiently explained, “It’s because it’s so cold today. The cold made my face red.”

Mint kissed Claire’s cheek and said in his sweet, childish voice, “Mommy, let me warm it up for you. I missed you so much today, so I asked Mr. Reed to bring me to pick you up.”

Only then did Claire look up and see Daniel Reed standing nearby with a smile.

Daniel was the grandson of Helen Reed, Claire’s elderly neighbor.

Helen was sentimental and could not bear to part with the belongings and memories in her old home, so she refused to move into a new house with her son and grandson. She stayed behind and lived there alone.

Not long after Claire moved in, Helen happened to break her leg.

She had not told her family, but moving around alone was difficult, so Claire noticed her situation and kindly took care of her for some time.

After Mint was born, Helen often came over to help. Whenever Claire worked overtime, Helen looked after Mint. She also regularly brought over food she cooked.

Daniel visited Helen whenever he had time.

Over time, he became familiar with Claire and Mint as well.

Mint, in particular, seemed to enjoy playing with Daniel.

“I knew you’d be arriving around this time, so I brought Mint out to wait for you.”

The convenience store was near the neighborhood where they lived and stood along Claire’s usual route home.

Claire stood up and gave Daniel a polite smile. “Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Reed.”

“It was no trouble. I came to visit my grandmother anyway, and I happened to find Mint there.”

Daniel smiled sheepishly, trying to hide the uncontrollable blush spreading across his face.

The light suddenly made the swelling and redness on Claire’s cheek clear to him, and his smile immediately faded. “Your face…”

“It’s nothing.” Claire lowered her head, showing no intention of explaining.

“Mommy, Mr. Reed picked me up from school today!”

Mint hopped around excitedly, looking delighted.

When Mint first started preschool, Claire often could not pick him up because of overtime.

Helen eventually could not bear to watch her struggle and volunteered to take over, saying she had nothing else to do anyway.

Claire felt bad about it, so she transferred money to Helen every month to show her appreciation.

Helen knew Claire well and understood that she would feel guilty otherwise, so she accepted the money. That was why she now handled most of Mint’s trips to and from school.

“Mr. Reed.”

Claire thought it over for a long time before deciding to make herself clear to Daniel. “You’re so busy with work. You don’t have to pick up Mint every day.”

This was not the first time it happened that month.

Claire was not oblivious.

She knew how Daniel felt about her, but she had no interest in romance right now.

“Claire, I just wanted to…” Daniel hesitated.

“Mr. Reed.” Claire looked at him seriously, her distant expression making her rejection unmistakable.

Daniel understood. His feelings had come at the wrong time after all. “I understand.”

Claire gave him a polite, courteous smile before hurrying over to take Mint’s hand.

“Let’s go home, sweetheart!”

The tall and tiny figures walked happily beneath the streetlights, making their way home.

At the Sterling family estate, Nora Sterling had just stepped through the door when the smile on her face froze.

“Eustace!”

Nora immediately lowered her head guiltily, afraid to meet his sharp gaze.

She had never expected her second brother, who rarely came home, to suddenly appear at the family estate, especially on the night she returned late after a date.

Nora had always been inexplicably afraid of her taciturn brother.

Besides, he seemed to dislike Tyler Hayes.

She did not know whether he had seen her and Tyler clinging to each other outside.

At the thought, her heart began to pound, and her fingers twisted together unconsciously.

“Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?”

His few words carried an invisible pressure that filled the room.

“I went… out… with… some… friends…” Eustace only had to give Nora a single look to make her stumble over her words.

It was a painfully obvious lie.

“When did you learn to lie?”

Eustace lightly tossed the file in his hand onto the coffee table.

His voice remained cold as he added briefly, “Nora, Tyler isn’t right for you.”

Nora glanced at the file on the coffee table and suddenly realized that Eustace knew about everything all along. She felt like a clown, and her anger burst through her restraint.

“You investigated him?” It was the first time Nora had ever spoken to Eustace with such defiance.

His sister’s accusatory tone and stubborn expression made Eustace’s anger rise as well.

He pointed at the file on the table, his emotions beginning to slip out of control.

“Nora, when are you going to start using your head? Don’t you know that Tyler approached you with ulterior motives?

“He wants your status as the Sterling heiress. He wants your money. He’s been deceiving you all along!”

“Eustace! What right did you have to investigate him?”

Nora had completely abandoned the manners and composure she usually maintained.

She widened her eyes and shouted in a fit of rage, “Do you want me to listen to you and find someone from our own social class? Then what about you?

“If you were so good at making the right choice, how did you let a woman manipulate you so completely back then?”

The moment the words left her mouth, the room fell silent.

Eustace’s gaze sharpened, and a gloomy darkness rose in his eyes. Every word Nora had spoken pierced his heart with the precision of a sharp blade.

The dim yellow light suddenly became painfully bright, forcing him to close his eyes for a moment.

Precious, fragmented memories began piecing themselves together once again.

“Happy birthday, Eustace!”

Ever since the incident with his older brother, Eustace had refused to celebrate his birthday.

But that day, Riverdale’s gorgeous sunset had dyed the entire sky pink.

The moment a rainbow appeared over the river, Eustace heard Claire’s radiant birthday wish.

She pointed at the rainbow and whispered beside his ear, “Look. That must be your brother’s birthday present to you.”

The summer breeze brushed against his face, stirring a strange restlessness in his heart.

Perhaps it was from that day onward that Claire’s bright smile slowly wore down the innate rationality Eustace had always possessed.

He had even learned to lie, pretending he couldn’t speak a word of the foreign language just so he could spend one more day with Claire.

But what happened in the end? The sincerity he gave her had been trampled into pieces.

Nora clearly saw the silent figure before her, wrapped in an unspeakable loneliness. His back and shoulders were rigid, while a gloom she could not understand filled his eyes.

She immediately looked away, afraid that one more glance would make her surrender.

“Nora…”

After a long silence, Eustace finally heard his own hoarse voice.

It sounded heavy, as though it had rolled around in his throat several times before emerging.

“Eustace, you left me to fend for myself back then. You don’t need to worry about me now!”

Nora refused to listen any further. She turned away and said coldly, “I’m going to my room to rest.”

Her words were like a stone dropped into a calm lake, stirring Eustace’s emotions just as they had begun to settle. A loud ringing filled his ears.

“I’m sorry, Eustace. Everything I did to you back then was a lie…”

The corner of Eustace’s lips curved into a bitter smile. She was right. What right did he have to lecture Nora?