Chapter 6

When the door was gently pushed open, Christian instinctively reached out to turn off the lights. The room was instantly shrouded in darkness.

As Christian untied his robe, he said, "It's getting a bit late. Let's get started right away. I have something to do afterward."

When the door opened, light from the hallway filtered in, illuminating the figure at the doorway in a vague silhouette. Hearing Christian's words, Jane's body stiffened. She didn't dare walk further inside and quietly reminded him, "Mr. Lane, it's me."

Christian was stunned for a moment. After realizing what had happened, he reached out to turn on the lights. Looking at Jane, his voice was full of confusion as he asked, "Hasn't she come back yet?"

Jane was covered in sweat. She nodded and said, "No."

The atmosphere in the room immediately grew heavy.

Jane knew that Christian was unhappy. She felt helpless and could only try to comfort him by saying, "Mrs. Lane usually comes back very early. Last month, she arrived home before 6:00 pm. She didn't come back today, so I guess she must have been delayed by something."

Christian understood Jane's intention. He didn't say much more. He simply said, "I see."

Jane was about to remind Christian to rest early, but unexpectedly, in the next moment, Christian quickly sat upright in bed.

She swallowed her words. Five minutes later, Christian got dressed and left Elmwood Estate. Jane saw him off downstairs, vaguely feeling like she had forgotten something.

It wasn't until Christian's car disappeared from view that Jane remembered what Talia had asked her to tell him about the item in the study. He had just driven out of Elmwood Estate when he received a call from Nancy.

"What's wrong?" Under the dim light, Christian's expression was gentle, without a trace of sharpness.

Nancy's voice came softly from the phone. "Chris, I have a very important recital tomorrow, but Yvonne's kindergarten has an opening day parent-child activity tomorrow. I'm afraid..."

Without finishing her sentence, Christian already understood what she wanted to express. "I understand. I'll have Talia attend instead."

Hearing this, Nancy breathed a sigh of relief. "I've already discussed it with Yvonne. You just need to pass the message to Ms. Stewart."

Christian said, "Alright. You can focus on your recital."

After hanging up, Christian pulled over to the side of the road. Looking through his call history, he couldn't find Talia's familiar number for a long time. Only then did he suddenly realize that she hadn't taken the initiative to call him for quite a while.

During the years when Talia was a full-time mother to Yvonne, she would call every day to ask if he would be returning home for dinner. He didn't often return, and when he did, it was only to spend time with Yvonne.

After he brought up the plan to have a second child, she would occasionally ask if he was coming back, but he didn't answer any of her calls. Sometimes he would hang up, and other times he would let it ring until it ended on its own.

Whenever he wanted to contact Talia, he could always easily find her contact information. But now, after scrolling through several pages on his phone, he still couldn't find her number.

After scrolling for what felt like forever, he finally found her number, but the contact record was already three months old. Had it really been that long since their last contact?

Christian couldn't even remember whether he had answered the last call Talia made to him. Without thinking too much about it, he dialed her number. However, an automated voice indicated that the call could not be connected at the moment.

Christian had never encountered such a situation. He was momentarily stunned but tried calling again patiently. The result was the same.

He called four or five times in a row but still couldn't get through, so he chose to give up. He considered reaching out to her through social media, but realized that he didn't have her added on any platforms.

Finally, he could only send Talia a text message. "Yvonne has an opening day parent-child activity tomorrow. She wants you to accompany her. It's at 2:00 pm, Sunshine Kindergarten."

After the text was sent successfully, Christian drove away. He thought that Talia must be busy, which was why she didn't answer his calls. He figured that when she saw the text, she would surely go to the activity with Yvonne.

Thinking of this, Christian felt reassured.

…

Meanwhile, it was also 9:00 pm in a small town. After Talia finished her last shift at the town elementary school for the day, she clocked out.

She lived in the teachers' dormitory. Exhausted from the day, she went straight to bed after washing up. Her phone, which was on silent mode, was set aside. She didn't check it and went to sleep.

The next morning, Talia was awakened by the ringing of her phone. She groggily grabbed her phone and discovered that it wasn't her alarm, but a calendar reminder that tomorrow was her father-in-law, Joseph Lane's, birthday.

In previous years on this day, she would get up early to go to the morning market for groceries, then return home to start cooking various elaborate dishes. She would spend the entire day busy, all for the Lane family's dinner party with guests.

But things were different now. She wouldn't be that foolish this year. After dismissing the calendar reminder, Talia went back to sleep for a while.

That day was Friday, and she got off work at 2:00 pm. In the past, she had only kept Joseph's birthday in mind and had overlooked that her biological father's birthday was also on that same day.

But not this year. She planned to rush back that night and make a sumptuous dinner for her dad and family tomorrow. As for Christian's text from last night, it had been buried under various notification messages.

She arrived at the Stewart residence at 6:00 pm on the dot, just in time for dinner. When Talia entered the living room, she saw the whole family there—her parents, brother, sister-in-law, and niece.

Maeve Stewart was startled when someone suddenly walked in while she was working on a puzzle. But when she looked closely, she realized that it was her aunt, whom she hadn't seen in a long time.

Maeve quickly put down the puzzle and ran to Talia, hugging her legs. "Aunt Talia, you're back!"

Talia crouched and hugged Maeve tightly, kissing her cheek and saying, "Yeah."

With that simple "yeah", her heart instantly ached, and her eyes reddened.

Maeve hugged Talia's neck, kissed her back, and shouted loudly toward the kitchen, "Dad, Mom, Aunt Talia is back!"

Hearing this, Talia's brother, Garrett Stewart, and his wife, Paige Webb, emerged from the kitchen. Seeing that it was Talia, the joy in Garrett's eyes vanished in an instant. Paige noticed his stern expression, nudged him, and smiled at Talia.

"It's good that you're back. Dinner will be ready soon."

Maeve stood in front of Paige, linking their hands and saying, "Mom, Aunt Talia loves honey-glazed ham the most. The last time I wanted some, you said that we had to wait until Aunt Talia came back. Now that she's back, can I..."

Paige gently tapped Maeve's nose bridge affectionately. "You little glutton. Fine. I'll make some for you."

Maeve jumped up happily, clapping her hands, her two pigtails swaying back and forth. Garrett didn't even glance at Talia. He simply scolded Maeve coldly. "Don't get too excited. People leave again."

Talia had a wonderful family. Her parents, brother, and sister-in-law all treated her well. But she had poured all her energy and love into the Lane family, making endless sacrifices without complaint or regret.

Yet none of those sacrifices could touch the Lane family's hearts, and they only ended up hurting the Stewart family. She was too ashamed to return to the Stewart residence that night, but upon reflection, she realized that this family bond was genuine.

Her brother and father acted tough but were softhearted. Her mother had spent countless nights crying over her. Her sister-in-law was gentle and understanding, and her niece was absolutely adorable.

Talia realized that she should cherish the people who actually cared about her. She thought that it was time to let go of those who treated her coldly.