Elara and Zara spent half a day at the orphanage, and when they left in the afternoon, the children were both longing and reluctant to see them go.
The car drove far away, yet Elara could still see Mrs. Langley with the children, watching them leave.
She felt a bit sad, "I wish I had a lot of money."
With a lot of money, she could adopt more children.
The children at the orphanage have a hard life. Without anyone supporting them, even attending school becos a problem.
Zara comforted her, "At least we have already worked hard to change the original life trajectory of many children. We’ve done our best. This world is a ss, doing what you can is enough."
Elara nodded. She understood the reasoning.
When they turned at a street corner, she inadvertently saw a familiar Porsche, instinctively sitting up straight, just in ti to see the car window roll down, revealing Cece’s gentle profile.
This Porsche used to be driven by Mason. He let Cece drive it before they divorced.
Why would Cece co here?
The car had already passed, and Elara glanced at it, furrowing her brow as a sense of foreboding flashed through her mind. She imdiately said to Zara, "Zara, let’s go back to the orphanage."
Zara asked in surprise, "We’ve already driven over two mountains, going back now? Did you forget sothing?"
"I saw Cece, heading in the direction of the orphanage," Elara said worriedly. "She always targets inexplicably, I’m afraid she’ll cause trouble at the orphanage."
Actually, she didn’t know what Cece would do at the orphanage since Cece was already pregnant. It’s unlikely she’d compete for an adopted child, and besides, now that there’s a biological child, the Jacobs Family would never accept an adopted child.
But she just felt uneasy and had to check. Better to be overly cautious than to find Cece with ulterior motives later.
Upon hearing this, Zara imdiately turned around without another word.
They quickly reached the orphanage, and Mrs. Langley saw them return unexpectedly, asking in surprise, "Why have you co back?"
Elara asked, "Mrs. Langley, did anyone co by just now?"
Mrs. Langley shook her head, "You know our orphanage is both remote and out of the way. Besides you, who else would co?"
Finally, Elara felt at ease. It seed Cece wasn’t heading to the orphanage; seeing her was just a coincidence.
Mrs. Langley worriedly asked, "Hale, did sothing happen?"
Elara quickly smiled and said, "Nothing, just asking casually."
Mrs. Langley wouldn’t believe such an excuse. Asking casually, would they really return from afar? But since Elara didn’t want to say, she didn’t probe further.
Soon after Elara and Zara drove away, a Porsche parked on the other side of the road, and Cece lowered the car window, instructing the person in the back seat, "Go ask which clinic that girl is at."
"Yes."
A man dressed in black got out of the car and headed toward the orphanage gate.
By the ti Elara returned ho, it was already eight in the evening. As the car turned into the apartnt building’s front yard, Elara saw Zion Fitzwilliam.
He wore a light grey casual outfit, his tall fra making ordinary clothes exceptionally eye-catching. He stood there, holding a cigarette, its scarlet glow visible in the darkness.
Zara couldn’t help but sigh, "Damn, he’s so handso."
Too A.
So tempting.
He glanced at Elara and sighed.
This guy is wasting such a treasure.
I wonder if she likes this type. If not, once everything’s over, let have him.
Heh heh.
Elara hadn’t noticed Zara’s aningful gaze. She herself was lost in Zion Fitzwilliam’s charms.
Imagine the scene, under dim lights, a tall and handso man stands there, with no one else around. He occasionally takes a puff of his cigarette, his cool and aloof deanor palpable—
Elara was now facing just such a scene.
She quietly swallowed, admiring soone’s beauty has nothing to do with emotions, Zion Fitzwilliam was indecently attractive, it wasn’t that she lacked self-restraint.
Elara got out of the car, and Zion Fitzwilliam looked over, slightly curving his lips. This smile, like a spring breeze dispersing the cold snow, imdiately dissolved the chill around him, warming and softening him. He asked, "Back already?"
Elara responded with a "Hmm," sowhat surprised, "You weren’t waiting for , were you?"
Zion Fitzwilliam maintained his composure, looking at her, "No, I just ca downstairs to take a phone call."
Stood there for more than an hour, by coincidence.
Not waiting for her, really.
Elara replied with an "Oh," nodding her head, Zion Fitzwilliam added, "You haven’t eaten yet, right? I saved you so food, hurry upstairs."
Pause, then turned to look at Zara in the car, nodding in greeting, "Would Mr. Dalton like to join us?"
Zara felt a chill climb from his tailbone directly up to his neck, quickly waving his hand, "No, no, my parents are waiting for to have dinner at ho!"
Elara was surprised, "You’ve reconciled with your parents?"
Zara almost bit his tongue, replying vaguely, "Not yet, but occasionally I do go ho for als."
Elara was quite shocked, she didn’t know Zara had a falling out with their family in this way. He hadn’t ntioned it before.
If that’s the case, how did he end up broke?
Obviously Zara couldn’t explain this problem either, fearing Elara might press for details. He quickly said, "Well, I’ll be going now!"
Zion Fitzwilliam smiled and nodded, "Okay."
Elara waved at him too, "Drive safe."
Zara hit the accelerator, the car drove far before he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, mumbling, "That aura is too strong, just a glance made break out in a cold sweat."
He then felt relieved, happily thinking, "Thankfully I’m clever, found an excuse to leave. Otherwise, the big guy might show his colors."
Kidding, that face of the big guy, he almost has "don’t bother us" written on it, there’s no way he’s stupid enough to approach rashly.
Sigh, how miserable, a whole day of fussing and still with an empty stomach.
Zara drove while contemplating what to eat.
Spicy hot pot? Or Lanzhou noodles? Perhaps splurge, go to a restaurant and order a spicy blood dish, that’d be tasty.
Elara and Zion Fitzwilliam went upstairs and saw the four dishes and soup on the table, surprised, asking, "Did you make all these?"
Although Zion Fitzwilliam occasionally cooked, it was just simple, casual als. It was the first ti Elara saw him make such an elaborate spread.
Zion Fitzwilliam smiled, "Try it and see how it tastes."
Elara gave him a thumbs-up, "You’re quite the hidden talent."
She sat down, picked up the chopsticks, ate a piece, and praised repeatedly, "The taste is pretty good too."
Zion Fitzwilliam hurriedly pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down, "If you think it’s good, why don’t we eat dinner at ho from now on?"
"Hmm?" Elara didn’t react imdiately, and after a few seconds, she said, "Are you saying we should have dinner together from now on?"
Zion Fitzwilliam coughed, a bit unnatural, "I think, since making money is difficult now, in this competitive society, it’s better to save so money. Cooking for yourself saves a lot, and cooking together saves even more."
Elara laughed, "Alright, then I’ll cook on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and you on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with weekends off."
Zion Fitzwilliam looked at her with gentle eyes, her smiling face made him smile slowly too, "Then it’s settled."
Even Grandma said he hadn’t made any progress in hundreds of years, but it seed to be going quite well.
Over the next few days, Elara worked hard while waiting for news from the welfare ho.
Unexpectedly, before hearing from them, sothing happened at ho.
Yvette Somrs called urgently, "Elara, co over tonight."
Elara asked, "What happened?"
She had just visited her dad on Saturday, and now it hadn’t even been two days.
Yvette Somrs paused for a mont and then said, "Aidan got into so trouble, co back and I’ll tell you, you must co back tonight, okay?"
Elara agreed, and then she hung up.
Jean Dunn was browsing social news, looked up, and said to Elara, "Looks like Director Jenkins still has a chance to co back."
Elara paused, "Ivy Jenkins? Wasn’t she arrested?"
Involved in huge amounts of embezzlent and bribery, the office had previously estimated at least twenty years.
Jean Dunn ca closer and whispered, "I heard Secretary Chase took on most of the charges for her. She doesn’t have much of a problem; she’ll be out in two years at most."
Elara was quite surprised, "Secretary Chase is so kind-hearted?"
Jean Dunn shrugged, "Who knows what terms they have between them."
Elara didn’t dwell on it much, and after work, she returned to her father’s place.
Upon entering, she saw her father sitting on the sofa, frowning, and Yvette Somrs beside him, also under a cloud of low pressure, while Aidan Somrs was lounging at the dining table playing gas. On closer inspection, he seed distracted, refreshing repeatedly, seemingly focused elsewhere.
To Elara’s surprise, opposite Aidan Somrs, sat a little girl quietly. The girl was very pretty, around seven or eight years old, with two little pigtails, fair skin, delicate features, wearing a light yellow dress.
Aidan Somrs occasionally stole a glance at her, his eyes full of smiles, who knows what he found amusing.
The sound of Elara closing the door alerted the people inside. Big Joe saw her, paused, then turned to Yvette Somrs and spoke discontentedly, "Did you call Elara over?"
Yvette Somrs felt a little guilty, muttering, "So what if I called her over? With such a big issue, she’s part of the family too; she should be involved."
"You’re simply unreasonable!" Big Joe scolded angrily, "Elara is so busy with work, she’s already spent a lot of effort on us, why drag her into this?"
Yvette Somrs was displeased upon hearing that, stood up ready to retort furiously, when Elara quickly spoke, "Dad, it’s alright, I’m free after work anyway, just about ti to co and check on you."
Then she looked at Yvette Somrs and asked, "Auntie Yvette, what exactly happened?"
Yvette Somrs glared at Aidan, saying, "Ask that troublemaker!"
Elara turned to Aidan Somrs, frowned, "Aidan, did you get into trouble at school again?"
Aidan Somrs imdiately put down his phone, dissatisfied, "What do you an I got into trouble again? This ti it’s not who’s causing trouble; it’s others who have a problem with !"
Yvette Somrs felt infuriated hearing this, grabbed the broom and threw it at him, "Who’s causing you trouble? If you didn’t ddle, would you have gotten into such a ss? How dare you say!"
Elara quickly went over to stop her, "Auntie Yvette, don’t rush, let’s talk properly, what exactly happened?"
Yvette Somrs glared at Aidan, "You explain to your sister yourself!"
Aidan Somrs was a bit unwilling, Yvette Somrs glared at him, "I’m telling you, the only one who can help you now is your sister, so explain properly to her and let her give you a suggestion!"
Aidan Somrs glanced at Elara, a bit self-conscious, pursed his lips, and after a while, he said, "I’ve been targeted at school."
As he narrated, Elara finally understood what happened.
Turned out, today at noon when school was dismissed, Aidan Somrs saw a group of hoodlums outside the school bullying a little girl. They were pulling her to go, and the little girl cried and begged. Aidan Somrs stepped in and scolded those people away.
Since he was quite well-known at school, most bullies wouldn’t dare confront him, so there was no further trouble, and Aidan Somrs let the little girl go.
Unexpectedly, in the afternoon, he saw another group of people bullying that little girl. Several boys aged seventeen or eighteen were pulling at her clothes; naturally, he couldn’t stand it and went up to fight them. But these people were from outside the school, who gave him no respect, although Aidan Somrs used his undefeated skills from school fights to scare them off.
This ti he didn’t just let the girl go but asked about the situation. Upon inquiry, he found out the little girl was a student from their high school’s affiliated elentary school, these past few days she hadn’t known why but there were people bullying her daily, they even wanted to abduct her.
Today this group ca with a car, if it weren’t for Aidan Somrs intervening, the girl would’ve been taken away.
Aidan Somrs didn’t feel safe having her go back alone, so he brought her ho.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he brought her ho, he started receiving multiple threatening ssages and calls telling him not to ddle in other people’s business, or he’d be forced out of school.
After hearing the whole story, Elara felt her impression of her stepbrother change. Her past image of Aidan Somrs was an instigator always causing trouble at school, yet here he was being courageous.
She looked at Aidan Somrs, asked, "What do you think?"
Aidan Somrs awkwardly avoided her gaze, said, "Her family got into trouble; she’s all alone now. If I let her go, it’d be pushing her to a dead end."
The implication was he still wanted to help this girl.
Beside them, Yvette Somrs imdiately bristled again, Elara quickly said, "Auntie Yvette, don’t rush."
She walked to the little girl, crouched down, asked, "Little sister, what’s your na?"
The young girl had big eyes open, looked at her sowhat uneasily, sensing this older sister had the power to decide her fate.
She quietly answered, "My na is Zoe Chase."
Zoe Chase? Elara frowned a bit, felt she had heard the na sowhere.
But couldn’t recall imdiately.
She asked again, "Did your family encounter so trouble?"
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