The next day...
Chairman Lancaster’s hearty laughter echoed through the residence’s barn area as he watched the twins run around with his chickens.
"Hahaha!" he shook his head. "Look how adorable they are. I was worried they would be terrified of the chickens, but look how they’re chasing them! My other grandchildren would never let their children near the barn."
Lola, seated just beside him, smiled subtly. Last night, she received a phone call that the chairman had fainted and been rushed to the hospital. But the chairman was stubborn and insisted on going ho. Hence, the head butler had reached out to her.
"Grandpa," she called, waiting for his attention. "Butler Nit is worried about you."
The chairman wore a subtle smile. "I know. He’s the one who called you, isn’t he? I told him not to bother you, but when you get older, people barely listen to you."
She pursed her lips while the chairman let out a shallow breath.
"Grandpa, that is not it. Butler Nit’s intentions are only for you, I’m sure of it."
"Lola, child." He reached out and squeezed her hand lightly. "I know you’re worried about , but this old man is better off at ho. Here, I can do what I can with the ti the heavens have left ."
He slowly turned toward the children and animals. "Now that you have children, you understand that you’d rather be ho than spend your days locked in a room. I would have died sooner in the hospital, and all those dicines... they’d just prolong it."
"Grandpa, they’ll take care of you," she said, but the chairman waved her off.
"One nurse around the residence is enough." He nodded at Lola reassuringly. "She can look after here."
Helplessness flickered in her eyes, knowing there was nothing she could do to change his mind. It wasn’t that she was hopeful—she knew the chairman was stubborn—but she ca anyway, just in case. Clearly, nothing and no one could sway him.
"So, these are the children you were talking about, huh?" he said, changing the subject and chuckling as he saw the chickens chasing the children. Earlier, it had been the opposite. "What adorable children they are. I could watch them the whole day."
Lola smacked her lips as she chuckled, watching the twins.
"I rember when you were just like them," he mused, imagining Lola as a child. "You ran around on your grandfather’s farm, played with the chickens and every other animal... and when one got sick and passed, you cried so much no one knew what to do."
Her brows rose slightly before a subtle smile appeared on her face. She kept her focus on the children, gently rocking her head.
I think... I did have that mory. I almost forgot there were good mories too.
With everything she had gone through, her mind had been filled with bad mories. The good ones were buried sowhere deep.
"Your mother back then was so worried," the chairman chuckled. "She didn’t know how to make you feel better."
"She’s like that," Lola whispered, rembering Loren. "She was truly a great woman."
Another mont of silence fell over them as they reminisced about the good parts of the past. The chairman rembered his ti with his best friend—Lola’s grandfather—while Lola thought of her mother.
Before Loren fell ill, she had been a hands-on mother. Even with work and helping with the family business while Lawrence handled things, she never forgot to give her daughter ti.
In my first life, I didn’t even know she was going through so much. All I knew was that my mother was the best.
But in this second life, Lola understood the struggles her mother had faced. Behind the sweetness and love, Loren had been battling a crumbling marriage.
"I want to be just like her," Lola whispered, still watching Chacha and Second. "I want to be a good mother like her."
The chairman glanced at her and smiled. "If your mother were alive, I’m sure she’d want you to be better than her."
"How can I be better when she’s the best?"
"Loren would probably say otherwise," the chairman let out a low chuckle, averting his eyes. "When I visited your mother the last ti, she..."
He paused, recalling his last visit before Loren passed. She had expressed regret, lanting how horrible she felt—not just as a mother, but as a person. He rembered her exact words:
[I feel sorry for Lola. She will hate , won’t she?]
Even when he reassured her that Lola would never hate her, Loren smiled weakly, deep regret flickering in her eyes. Before he left, she had said:
[Uncle, please look after her. It’s the least I can do for her.]
Hence, the chairman had looked after Lola until she moved out of the Young Residence and refused any help from him.
"Loren worried about you until the end," he continued, sparing Lola the exact words. "And if she’s seeing you now, I’m certain she would feel relieved that you are happy."
He didn’t need to ask if Lola was happy, he could tell.
Lola pressed her lips together, smiling. "I am, Grandpa."
Their smiles stretched wider before they turned toward the twins. The children were already approaching, carrying chickens in their arms. But before they reached them, the chairman quietly spoke:
"Derek and lissa’s engagent party will happen this weekend," he said, turning slowly to her, his voice tinged with guilt. "You were on the guest list."
The chairman reached for her hand again, tapping it gently. When he looked her in the eye, he nodded reassuringly.
"Do not go," he breathed. "You don’t have to go, Lola."
A soft smile crept across her face as she held his hand. Lola nodded in understanding, appreciating his intentions. Asking her not to attend the engagent that was supposed to be hers was the least he could do for her.
"I will not go."
*
*
*
"Sure. I’ll go."
Lola smiled beautifully at Jasmine and lissa, whom she had t for coffee hours after her visit with Chairman Lancaster.
"How could I miss lissa’s engagent, right?"
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