Hope Hart finished dinner and saw her spirits greatly lifted, which finally eased Alia Garcia’s worried mind.
But at the sa ti, she felt a sense of inexplicable loss and reluctance.
—Since her child had recovered from the illness, it was ti for her to leave.
Just then, her phone rang.
Seeing it was a call from Shaw, she didn’t dare to hang up; after all, Noah was still sick, and she couldn’t stop worrying.
So, she went to the balcony to answer the call quietly.
"Hello..."
"Sis, you’re not at ho? Where did you go?"
"I had to step out for sothing, what’s up? Is Noah feeling uncomfortable again?"
"No, he’s had his dinner and his dicine, and he’s asleep now."
Alia felt both relieved and guilty, "That’s good."
"Sis, did you go out to deal with that online ss? I just noticed, all the posts and the re-shares have disappeared, even those big influencer accounts have been suspended!"
Shaw spoke with surprise and admiration, "Who did you find to handle this? They’re incredible!"
Alia knew who deserved the "credit" and forced a bitter smile on her face, but it was too much to explain in a few words over the phone, so she simply brushed it off.
"Don’t worry about it, as long as it’s handled. I’m still out, so take good care of the boys, and contact on WhatsApp if anything cos up, gotta hang up now!"
Hope had already picked out a storybook and was waiting. As Alia turned around, the little girl started clamoring for her to tell a story, and mother and daughter enjoyed their ti together harmoniously.
Christopher Hart stayed in his study, his emotions a complex turmoil.
His phone rang, and he saw it was a call from a friend, lazily answering, "What’s the matter so late?"
Benny Palr said, "I’ve been traveling hard on a business trip, can’t I co back to my hotel and complain to you?"
"Did the project get settled?"
"Of course! Otherwise, what was the point of this trip?"
Young Master Palr chuckled smugly, then his curiosity got the better of him, "Lucas King says there’s a woman at your place tonight, and it’s not Lily Garcia—what’s that supposed to an?"
President Hart frowned, "It seems he’s decided he doesn’t want this month’s bonus."
"Ts, ts, all you care about is throwing your weight around!"
Though he joked, Benny cared a lot about his friend.
"You said last ti you suspected Alia Garcia wasn’t dead, so—did you bring soone ho tonight to check? Did you get any evidence?"
Young Master Palr had a knack for asking the most provocative questions.
Seeing no response from the other end, he imdiately realized, "Huh, now I see why you’re acting like you’ve swallowed gunpowder, you hit a wall, didn’t you?"
Christopher’s mind was indeed full of doubts, which he couldn’t figure out. Since his friend was digging for gossip, he decided to lay out his suspicions to hear his opinion.
After hearing everything, Benny was also sowhat confused, "This is too strange. Although I’m a staunch atheist, I can’t help but wonder... could there really be sothing to this past-life reincarnation?"
"If that’s the case, you were definitely a pig in your past life." Both dumb and stupid.
"..." Benny was annoyed, "Then you must have been a dog, biting anyone you saw!"
After trading insults back and forth, they got back on topic.
"Since it’s difficult to collect evidence from hair, why not try other ways? You were childhood sweethearts and shared a bed for three years, didn’t you notice any distinctive marks on her body?"
Benny’s reminder suddenly triggered a mory in Christopher!
How could he forget? There was a mole on the left side of that woman’s chest!
In the past, while being intimate, he had this sowhat perverse fondness for kissing that mole...
At that thought, an unexplained heat surged through his body, and images long sealed in the depths of his mory flooded his mind as though released from their bonds.
"Christopher? You..."
"Beep beep beep—"
Benny, seeing that he wasn’t responding, called out to him again. But before he could speak, the line was suddenly cut off.
Christopher hung up the phone and stood up, striding with long legs, and pushed open the door of the study to leave.
Arriving outside his daughter’s bedroom, he was just about to push the door open when it swung open unexpectedly.
Both startled, he looked at the woman’s beautiful and radiant face and couldn’t keep his gaze from uncontrollably sliding down to her left chest area.
However, that glance snapped him back to reality.
Damn!
What was he thinking?
Was he going to be a hooligan and strip her clothes off outright?
If he found evidence, that would be one thing, but what if he didn’t?
Alia had put Hope to sleep, noticing it was getting late, she was ready to say goodbye to Christopher, but upon opening the door, there he was, right at the doorstep.
However...
His gaze and expression were quite strange?
And his line of sight—
"Mr. Hart, what’s the matter?" Alia asked with a hint of indignation, frowning.
Christopher snapped out of it, imdiately averting his eyes, his expression returning to normal, "Nothing, I ca to check on Hope."
"Oh, she’s already asleep." She turned slightly so he could clearly see the little girl asleep on the bed.
But Christopher, looking at his daughter peacefully asleep, furrowed his brows.
—Silly girl, don’t you want your mommy anymore? Asleep so early.
"Mr. Hart, it seems your beloved Hope is much better now, and she’s asleep, I should go."
"It’s late." The man glanced at his watch, without a second thought, "Why don’t you stay? If Hope gets a fever again in the middle of the night and starts calling for mommy, am I supposed to go looking for you?"
Alia looked at him strangely.
Casually inviting a strange woman to stay over wasn’t characteristic of the Christopher Hart she rembered.
"Don’t overthink it, I’m purely considering my daughter’s interests," he said, running a hand over his nose, avoiding her gaze.
It looked straightforward, but Alia could tell from his action that he was feeling guilty and hiding sothing.
Ever since they were children, whenever he was saying one thing but thinking another, he would unconsciously touch his nose and avoid eye contact.
So, he wanted her to stay, and it wasn’t just about Hope.
"Mr. Hart, don’t get the wrong idea, I’m not your daughter’s mother. It’s already beyond propriety that I ca here. If I stayed overnight, it would be even more inappropriate, and if your fiancée found out, I wouldn’t be able to clear my na even if I jumped into the Yellow River."
"Right, what you’re saying makes sense, then go ahead," he said, stepping aside.
So easy?
Alia felt it strange, just as she was about to step over the threshold, she heard him say unhurriedly, "But the driver has already gone off-duty, and Lucas King left a long ti ago."
"..." She stopped in her tracks and looked back at the man.
He raised an eyebrow, adding, "I have to take care of Hope, so I can’t give you a ride," aning she would have to find her own way if she wanted to leave.
Alia glared at him, fuming.
She was brought here forcefully, and now that he had used her, this was his attitude?
"Could you lend a car, Mr. Hart?"
She rembered that Imperial Garden Villa’s garage housed seven or eight luxury cars, and there were probably even more now after four years.
"Sorry, I’m not stingy, but Lucas King took my car."
"!!!" Alia was shocked, unable to believe him.
"You only have one car?"
"Not exactly, but it just so happens the other one was sent for maintenance."
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