MasukAfter thanking the officers, Louis checked the time—it was already half past nine.“Let’s head home. The temperature’s dropping; I don’t want anyone catching a cold.”Marcus stood still, muttering under his breath, “But Loraine’s favorite singer hasn’t even gone on yet…”Louis turned sharply toward
“He said he was thirsty, so I went to buy him a drink. I clearly told him not to move and when I got back, he was gone!”Loraine’s face went pale with worry. “Let’s look for him right now! I saw security guards and some police officers earlier. We can ask them for help!”The three of them forgot all
Mason, the quieter and more composed one, simply listened to the music, occasionally nodding along to the rhythm.The youngest, Manuel, was too short to see the stage at all, swallowed up by the crowd and left with nothing but the thundering music pounding in his ears.Before long, he got restless.
“Marcus, every time you sneak out, you use the same excuse,” Manuel said, crossing his arms. “Can’t you at least come up with something new?”Marcus froze. Loraine quickly jumped in with a smile. “Manuel, we really do have something serious to take care of this time. It’s boring stuff. You’d have w
“Raine, look, your fingers need to lift here, then drop cleanly. Watch my hand when I play.”In the Walker family’s grand music room, young Mason was patiently teaching Loraine how to play the piano.Sunlight streamed through the tall windows, half spilling over the glossy surface of the hundred-tho
Grace tried to lift her head, but she was too weak to manage even that small movement.A nurse quickly stepped forward and raised the head of the bed so that Grace only needed to lower her gaze to see the tiny baby in Laura’s arms.“A daughter… girls are so sweet,” Grace murmured, the words faint bu
Every time they apologized before, it was just lip service—just enough to placate her and get something out of her.But this time, she could tell Peter truly meant it.“We were all fooled by Ruby. From the story about you being kidnapped, to the rumors you had HIV, or that you’d had a child with som
Worried that Adora wouldn’t be able to sleep if he didn’t return, Louis hesitated for a moment before turning to leave in silence.Jasmine stood at the window for a long time, staring into the ICU. Only when her body gave out from exhaustion did she finally hunch over and turn around.To her surpri
She ate quietly, her mind still turning over ways to help her best friend, completely unfazed by anything to do with Linda.But Linda had no appetite at all.She’d truly believed that bringing Rachel into this would earn her some grace. That Louis, out of respect, would at least let her stay and si
All the money in the world would never undo the past.…Adora woke up to find it was already nine.She picked up her phone and saw a note stuck on the screen.He wrote that he had to step out for something but would be back by noon to have lunch with her.Thinking he was caught up at the hospital ag







