MasukTime slipped by before anyone realized how late it had gotten.Miranda looked at Felix and said, “You should head back and get some rest.”“Mommy, I still want to play with Daddy.” Mia held on to Felix’s hand and refused to let him go.Felix crouched down in front of her.“Then how about Daddy takes you upstairs?”“Will you tell me a dinosaur story for a little while?” Mia immediately asked.Felix looked up at Miranda.After all, her bedroom was still her private space. Without her permission, he knew he shouldn’t stay there too long.“Take Mia to my room and read her the story there,” Miranda said. “I still have a little work to do.”She wasn’t refusing. She was trying to give Mia some of what she wanted too.Lately, Mia had asked several times for Felix to read her a bedtime story, but Miranda had turned her down each time.Tonight, she would let her have this one.“Yay! Daddy, let’s go!” Mia grabbed Felix’s hand and pulled him upstairs.Mrs. Young tidied up a little, th
Miranda paused slightly.She had always kept her distance from the media.“I got it,” she said.Just then, she caught the bitter smell of herbs drifting from the kitchen. She turned to look, then glanced back at Felix.“Did you ask Mrs. Young to prepare the herbal tonic for you?”Felix smiled.“Yeah. I wanted to try it.”Miranda walked into the kitchen and took a look. She lifted the lid, smelled it, then returned to the living room.“It smells really bitter,” she said.She had never liked herbal tonics.“Bitter means it’s working,” Felix said, looking completely unfazed.Before long, Mia came rushing down the stairs in a cute bunny-print pajama set, her freshly dried hair bouncing as she threw herself into Felix’s arms like a little cannonball.“Daddy, I’m all clean and I smell good!”Felix laughed and caught her, then leaned down to smell the top of her head.“Mm. Very good.”Watching them, Miranda suddenly thought of how adorable Mia had been when she was just over a
Sophie gave her a mischievous smile.“Who knows? Maybe after a few drinks at the party, you and Felix can go home and work on that hormonal balance.”“Sophie!”Miranda’s face flushed again from her teasing.After lunch, Miranda returned to the lab.That afternoon, she took Adrian to Zion’s lab for a research exchange. They stayed busy until eight that night before Miranda finally drove home.She had already told Mrs. Young not to make dinner for her. She had eaten at the lab cafeteria.Felix had also called earlier to tell her he was taking Mia to the Gibson estate for dinner and would be home later.As soon as Miranda got home, Mrs. Young said, “Mr. Gibson took Mia to the Gibson estate.”“Mm. I know,” Miranda replied, then went upstairs.Mrs. Young stood there for a moment, wondering if she should take the night off and come back early the next morning.Around nine, there was movement from the garage. Gigi immediately wagged her tail and ran over to greet them.When Mrs. Y
The next morning, Miranda handed Mia over to Felix and went straight to the lab.At noon, Sophie happened to be running errands nearby, so the two of them met up for lunch.After some girl talk, Sophie started complaining that her child had recently been sick. After several nights of staying up, her sleep schedule was completely wrecked.“Having a kid really takes everything out of you,” Sophie complained.Miranda understood that feeling all too well.Motherhood had a way of stretching even a single day apart into something unbearably long. One small sign of illness was enough to set every nerve on edge.“It’ll get better when they’re a little older,” Miranda comforted her.Sophie propped her chin on her hand and looked up at her.“I’m about to make a doctor’s appointment. My cycle has been all over the place lately. Staying up late has completely thrown it off.”At that, Miranda added, “I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately too. Mine is a week late, but I’m not planning to
Miranda pushed the door open and saw Mia treating Felix’s bed like a trampoline, bouncing up and down on it.Felix was leaning against the foot of the bed with an iPad in his hand, a fond, indulgent smile on his face.“Mia, come down. It’s late,” Miranda said helplessly as she walked in.“Mommy, Daddy’s bed is so big. Can we all sleep in Daddy’s room tonight?” Mia asked, her little face flushed from jumping.Miranda choked for a second, then reached out to her.“Come here. Mommy will carry you.”Felix set down the iPad and picked Mia up first.“All right. Mommy’s right. It’s time for bed. You have school tomorrow.”Mia pouted a little.“Okay.”Felix sat her down and helped her put on her slippers.“Daddy will walk you back.”Mia nodded and walked ahead holding Felix’s hand.Miranda gathered her hair to one side and followed behind them.Felix walked them all the way back to Miranda’s bedroom.Mia climbed obediently into bed and picked up a picture book to look at.Seein
Miranda felt a little awkward.“Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Chairman Lowe and his family aren’t exactly close friends of mine.”“I want you to come with me,” Felix said, looking at her with serious expectation in his eyes. “Going alone would be boring.”Over the past three years, they had attended a few events together, but Miranda had always ignored him at those functions. So now, he found himself looking forward to appearing with her in public again.Just then, Miranda’s phone rang.She glanced at the screen. It was Coco calling.For some reason, Miranda suddenly had a feeling that this call had something to do with the invitation.She answered.“Hello, Coco.”“Miranda, I just picked up a package for you from the front desk. There’s an envelope inside. It looks like an invitation. Do you want me to bring it over?”“Open it and take a look for me,” Miranda said.After Coco opened it, she told her it was indeed an invitation to Chairman Lowe’s fiftieth wedding anniversar
Hayden called out sharply, “Get up here!”The housekeeper hurried upstairs. “Yes, sir.”“Tell me the truth. Who else came here last night?” Hayden demanded, his face darkening.The housekeeper had no choice but to answer honestly. “Ms. Yates came by. She stayed in your room for about two hours be
It wasn’t until Hayden leaned down to kiss her that Sera truly panicked. But he was far too drunk to recognize anyone but the woman he loved. Once he had convinced himself she was that person, he wasn’t going to let go easily.She didn’t know how much time passed.Eventually, his breathing grew he
James’s earlier comment echoed in Fiona’s mind again.“If Miranda had taken the exam, she would’ve gotten a perfect score.”The words stabbed at her like a needle.“James, the documents are printed,” Fiona said as she stepped inside.“Leave them in the conference room. We’ll need them shortly,”
Mike was like Miranda. A man with goals, with direction, and with a heavy responsibility resting on his shoulders.Downstairs, Felix stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows. His phone was ringing, but he didn’t answer.His family was calling him to dinner.He lifted his eyes toward the ceiling,







