Lahat ng Kabanata ng Once a Doormat, Now Untouchable: Kabanata 821 - Kabanata 830

The next morning, the sky finally cleared.Raymond arrived at Seraph Villa right on time. He had been massaging Florence's legs, but the moment he saw Diana come downstairs, he rose to his feet. "Diana, let's go. I already gave Julian a heads-up.""Mm." Diana's hair was pinned back as neatly as ever, and her entire bearing was cool and composed."Off you go, off you go." Florence knew they had business to handle. "Tell Vee to take good care of herself and call me the moment she goes into labor.""Don't worry. Even if you hadn't said anything, Diana and I would have reminded her ourselves."Raymond smiled, then followed Diana out the door.When they reached the car, Diana glanced at him. "What exactly did you tell Julian?""Just that you needed to see him about something." Raymond walked around the front of the car and opened the passenger door for her. "Don't worry. I didn't tell him what it was about. But that guy is sharp. He's probably already guessed most of it."Diana aske

Dinner was warm and relaxed from start to finish.Afterward, Sydney moved to arrange some fruit and tea, but Agatha stopped her. "That's enough. Just sit. Polly and the others have it handled."Sydney sighed. "I was only going to give them directions.""Even giving directions takes it out of you." Agatha gave her a mild look, then turned to Diana. "Diana, Ray, sit a while longer. I'll go check on those potted flowers in the back garden."Her intention was obvious. She wanted to give the young people some room to talk.Raymond and Diana both agreed. Before Agatha had gone far, Raymond spoke without much hesitation. "By the way, now that Leon's statement is out, have some of the partnerships picked back up?"Diana knew exactly what he was asking. "Mm. A few companies that had put things on hold reached out to him again yesterday afternoon."Entrepreneurs naturally chased profit. There was nothing more to say about it."He's probably feeling pretty pleased with himself right now,"

After dinner, Diana and Raymond finally rose to leave.Sydney stood under the veranda and watched their taillights disappear around the corner before wrapping both hands around Julian's arm. "I want a nice hot bath.""Let's go." Julian squeezed her fingers, which felt a little cold, and they headed upstairs together.…By the time Sydney emerged from the bathroom, Julian was already waiting on the sofa with the hair dryer beside him.He waved her over when he saw her. "Come here."Sydney walked over and settled cross-legged on the cushion in front of him, as she had done countless times before, with her back to him. His long fingers slipped through her damp hair, and the warm air against her scalp left her completely relaxed.His movements had grown practiced by now, though his fingertips occasionally brushed the curve of her ear and sent a faint shiver through her.A few minutes later, Julian switched off the dryer, tested the ends of her hair between his fingertips to make su

The next morning, Sydney did not have to go to the clinic, but her body clock woke her at the usual time anyway. She washed up and headed downstairs for breakfast.As she sat spooning up her congee, Agatha settled beside her and dropped a shrimp into her bowl, chattering all the while. "Eat more. You've been getting hungry so quickly lately."Polly is stewing some chicken soup for you too, so you'll have something ready the moment you're hungry again.""Okay." Sydney was half amused and half exasperated. She had not even finished this meal, yet the old woman had already planned her next one.Julian sat across from her, leisurely scrolling through emails on his tablet. Every so often, he glanced up to make sure she was actually eating properly.He had just returned his attention to the screen when his phone buzzed.Julian checked the caller ID and, without bothering to keep the call private, put it straight on speaker. "Charlotte."Charlotte's voice came through the speaker, cris

Call Nina and arrange a time? Who was Nina? She was the sharpest blade at Diana's side, the iron-faced secretary who had turned away countless hangers-on for her over the years.Telling him to go through Nina for a time slot meant, plainly enough, that Diana could not be bothered to deal with him herself.Leon's fingers tightened around his phone, and his expression darkened by degrees.Before things between him and Diana had come to this, whenever he wanted to see her, he would go straight to Seraph Villa or call her private line. No matter how busy she was, she had always made time for him.Now she had handed him off to a secretary, as though he were nothing more than another name on her calendar, waiting to be slotted in.He suppressed every trace of emotion and glanced at Liam in the passenger seat, his mind still perfectly clear. "Look into something for me. That private doctor who treated my mother-in-law's leg. Find out whether she's had any contact with Julian recently."