Ch. 1471..1480

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1471-"Bryan, where are you?! You better come out now, or you're going to get it!" said Corinne.

A chill immediately ran up Bryan's spine. He could tell from Corinne's tone alone that she was angry.

Out of instinct, he stepped back into the cubicle, locked the door, and huddled in fear. He was very well aware that Corinne was going to give him a beating if she found him then.

Jeremy frowned when he saw who he thought was his son shot back into the cubicle as though he had seen a ghost. 'What the hell is that kid doing now?' he

wondered with narrowed eyes.

At that moment, Corinne's voice came floating inside the restroom again.

"Excuse me, but is anyone inside?" she asked.

Jeremy turned and saw no one was at the door. 'She must've thought it'd be rude to peek her head in since this is a men's restroom, so she stayed outside.' Jeremy thought the woman's voice sounded familiar, but he was more concerned about his son's odd behavior. Thus, he paid no mind to her.

Please say something if there's someone inside! I'll take it as no one's inside if there's no reply within ten seconds. After that, I'm going in to look for my son!"

shouted Corinne from the other side of the door again after she received no response.

Jeremy rarely came in contact with the outside world after he lost his memory.

Moreover, he was not interested in anything that did not concern him, so he simply stayed quiet.

"I'm going in now!" said Corinne after 10 seconds. After that, she walked into the men's restroom and saw a man in a wheelchair with his back to her.

There was a urinal in front of the man. Thinking that the man was about to take a leak, she instinctively looked away.

"Sorry. I thought there was no one inside since no one responded when I asked.

Don't worry, I'm not going to look at you. I only came in to look for my son."

Jeremy frowned with annoyance. He did not even bother to turn around and look at the woman who barged into the men's restroom.

Corinne kept her eyes away from the man in the wheelchair and started knocking on the cubicles one by one.

Finally, she found one that was locked.

"Excuse me, but is anyone inside?" she asked.

Silence.

Corinne narrowed her eyes. "You're inside, aren't you, Bryan?"

Silence, still.

"Bryan, you come out this instant! I can see your feet. Stop hiding and open this door right now! Otherwise, I'm going to kick the door down!"

After a few seconds of silence, the cubicle door finally opened, and out walked a guilty-looking Bryan.

As much as Corinne was relieved to have found her son, she was also very angry. "You naughty child! Didn't I tell you not to run off by yourself yesterday?

Why did you do it again today? Ooh, you're definitely going to get it once we're home! Follow me back to the booth now!"

Corinne thought she should not stay for long since it was a men's restroom after all. She quickly picked up her son and strode out of the place while careful to avoid looking at the man in the wheelchair.

At first, Jeremy did not pay attention to the aggressive woman until she knocked on the cubicle door where he thought Benjamin was in. He looked on as the woman picked up a little boy, and after taking a closer look, he was sure that the little boy was Benjamin.

He did not have the time to wonder how Benjamin got back into that cubicle as he thought it was more important to stop his son from getting kidnapped by a random woman.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1472-“Stop!" shouted Jeremy sternly as Corinne walked out of the restroom with his son in her arms.

Corinne must not have heard him as she kept walking without once turning around.

Jeremy used all of his strength to chase after them in his wheelchair, even though it physically hurt him to do that. All of a sudden, another cubicle door suddenly opened, and a little boy called out to him, "Daddy…’ Jeremy froze in his spot and turned to look at him. His eyes instantly became as wide as saucers when he saw the little boy standing there.

'What… What's going on? How is this possible?' he thought.

Bryan peeked his head out of the cubicle and sighed with relief when he saw Corinne was already gone. Now that the danger had passed, he thought it should be safe for him to call Jeremy.

'But who did Mommy take away just now?' he wondered.

Jeremy looked at the little boy in the cubicle, then at the boy whom Corinne carried away.

'There must be an explanation…' he thought with narrowed eyes.

Corinne happened to bump into Edmund, who was panting and puffing, when she walked out of the men's restroom with 'Bryan' in her arms.

Edmund was under strict orders from Lucas to protect Corinne at all costs.

However, he lost sight of her as soon as she walked out of the private booth. He had been running around the second floor frantically looking for her until then.

He immediately sighed with relief when he saw Corinne had already found ' Bryan'. Otherwise, he did not know what he could do to ever make it up to Lucas and Corinne.

‘Miss Corinne, where did you find Mister Bryan?’ he asked.

Corinne gestured to the men's restroom with her chin. "In there."

Edmund was stunned. "What? How could that be? Mister Joey and I looked through every cubicle before, and he wasn't in any of them!” Corinne looked down at 'Bryan'. "He probably went back inside after going off somewhere. Hmph! I'm going to teach him a lesson after we're back home.

Come on, let's go back to the private booth now."

After that, she strode quickly back to their private booth. Since she had found 'Bryan', all she could think about was the auction. She wondered whether she had missed the bidding for the piece of land in Serenity Bay.

'Yes, Miss Corinne," replied Edmund before following her back.

Lucas' frown instantly disappeared when he saw Corinne walking in with ' Bryan' in her arms.

"Thank god you found him! Where did he run off to?" he asked.

"He was hiding in the men's restroom."

Lucas frowned. "You went inside the men's restroom to look for him?"

Corinne put 'Bryan' down and shrugged. "What else could I do?"

A flood of anger washed over Lucas. In his eyes, Corinne was a pure angel that could not be sullied. How could she go into somewhere as dirty as the men's restroom? He was worried that she might have seen something that would corrupt her!

At that thought, Lucas turned to Edmund and scolded him angrily, "Didn't I tell you to follow her? Why did you let her go in? Just what the hell were you doing?"

Edmund dropped his head in shame. "Sorry, Mister Lucas. This is all my fault. I failed to follow Miss Corinne since she was so quick. It was only after she went in that I found them…"

"Hmph! What's the point of keeping you around, then?

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1473-Corinne stared at Edmund sympathetically.

"That's enough, Mister Lucas," she said, jumping in to defend the poor man.

She then turned to Edmund and said, "Why don't you go out first, Edmund?"

Edmund bowed to her gratefully. "Yes, Miss Corinne."

Lucas became even more upset and jealous when he heard her call Edmund without using the word 'Mister'.

'How can she be so casual with Edmund when I don't get to have that privilege?' he thought seethingly. 'Hmph! Oh well.* 2

Not wanting Corinne to think he was ill-tempered, Lucas decided to let the whole thing slide. He waved 'Bryan' over, saying, "Come here, Bryan."

'Bryan' became a little sad at being scolded by Corinne. At first, he was hesitant to go over to Lucas, but he somehow felt like he was familiar, so he walked over to him docilely.

Lucas picked him up lovingly. "What's the matter? Did you get scolded by your Mommy?"

'Bryan' nodded with a pout.

Lucas patted him gently on the head. "That's because she's worried about you.

You shouldn't run off by yourself next time, understood? She's going to be worried about you again if you do."

Corinne looked angrily at 'Bryan'. "Next time? I'm not going to look for him next time. He can go wherever he wants!"

It pained 'Bryan' to hear Corinne say that to him. He did not run off for the sake of running off. It was because he saw his father and wanted to see if he had been worried about him for not going home last night.

However, he became even more upset at the thought of not being able to see Corinne again. One day, he would have to go back to live with his own mother and father.

Finally, he could not hold back his tears anymore, and he started to bawl his eyes out.

Lucas felt really sorry for his nephew. He wiped the little boy's tears and said, "Don't cry. Your mother only said what she said out of anger. I'm sure she's going to look for you if you go missing again. What you did today really made her mad, so don't do it again, okay?"

'Bryan' was not crying because he feared Corinne would not want him anymore but because he knew he was not her son. He would have to leave her eventually.

Not only that, but he would never get to see her again, too. After Sophia finished her business there, he and Jeremy would go back to Molomia with her. They would never come back to New Capital City again.

In other words, he would not see or be hugged by Corinne again as long as he lived. Instead, he would have to live with Sophia, whom neither he nor Jeremy liked.

Even though Sophia told Benjamin she was his Mommy, he never felt that way about her. She felt more like a stranger to him, but the same could not be said about Corinne. For some reason, he found Corinne as familiar as his father and would always want her to hug him. 1 'Could it be that the kind lady is actually my real Mommy? But… Daddy has never met her before, so how could she give birth to me?’ he thought. He told himself it was impossible for Corinne to be his Mommy and that he was being delusional.

Corinne's heart softened when she saw the boy crying nonstop. "Stop crying. A big boy like you shouldn't cry so much. Come here. You're dirtying your uncle's clothes with your tears and snot."

'Bryan' looked at the wet spot created by him on Lucas' suit sheepishly. "It's okay. I don't mind," said Lucas with a doting smile.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1474-Corinne did not really like how Lucas was spoiling her kids.

"Mister Lucas, leave him aside for a moment. Has the bidding for the piece of land in Serenity Bay started?"

Lucas turned to her. "I’ve already got it for you."

Relief immediately flooded Corinne when she heard that. "What was the final price?"

Lucas held up one finger.

Corinne narrowed her eyes. "One billion dollars?"

Lucas nodded. "The other patron from the opposite booth kept bidding against me, so that's why it ended up being one billion dollars. But don't worry, I can give you the money if it's out of your budget."

The amount was indeed way, way over Corinne’s budget.

It was not that Holden Group could not come up with that kind of money, but even if the location of the land was amazing, the size of it still could not justify the price of one billion dollars.

Overall, the value-to-cost price was pretty unreasonable.

All the patrons who were at the auction were wealthy people, but even so, they were not the type who would willingly let other people rip them off.

'Who would be that stupid enough to buy that piece of land at a price far beyond the market price?' wondered Corinne.

She smiled at Lucas and said, "Thank you, Mister Lucas, but I have the money.

Though, I can't help but feel something's off about the whole thing. Let me go check who the other patron in the opposite booth is."

Lucas was well aware there was something off too, but he promised Corinne he would get the land for her, so he did not stop bidding even when the price skyrocketed to an unreasonable amount.

He was willing to pay any amount to make Corinne happy.

However, Corinne was not willing to be ripped off, and neither was she willing to let Lucas do that.

Thus, she gently asked Joey to stay there and look after the twins before going out.

Lucas frowned and called out to her.

Even though she heard him, she did not stop walking. Instead, she opened the door and went out.

Lucas wanted to chase after her, but reason told him he should stay to look after the three kids. What if one of them went missing again?

Thus, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly.

Corinne strode over to the private booth opposite hers.

Miss Corinne, where are you going?" Edmund asked when he saw her coming out.

Corinne put up her hand. "Don't follow me. I'm just going to the opposite booth to take a look."

Worried about letting her go alone, Edmund decided to follow her from quite a distance away. He knew she would not be too happy if he followed her too closely.

Corinne knocked on the door once she arrived at the other private booth.

"Come in," said a woman from inside a few seconds later.

The woman's voice sounded familiar to Corinne. 'Looks like my hunch is right,' she thought with a raised eyebrow.

She pushed open the door and saw Sophia inside, sipping disinterestedly on her coffee alone.

Sophia still had not noticed it was Corinne who came in. She thought it was the waitress bringing in some snacks for her. That was why she told her to come in without a second thought.

Corinne stood at the doorway, looking at Sophia with a cold smile on her face.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1475-It was just as Corinne expected-Sophia had been bidding against Lucas to artificially inflate the price!

The piece of land in Serenity Bay belonged to Sophia's father, so she pretended to be a patron to raise the price and bring in more profit for her family.

What she did was a big no-no in the world of auction.

’You can leave after putting the snacks there,’ ordered Sophia. She continued to sip her coffee without looking up as she thought it was a waitress who had come in.

It was not until she did not receive a response that she thought something was not right. Her eyes became as wide as saucers the moment she looked up.

’Corinne?! What are you doing here?"

Sophia's first reaction was shock and disgust, but those emotions were quickly replaced by guilt.

Fearing Corinne would bump into Benjamin and Jeremy, Sophia quickly looked behind Corinne to check if they were coming back.

"Miss Sophia, don't you think what you did was extremely despicable?" asked Corinne with a mocking smile.

Sophia frowned at being called despicable. "What did I do? Corinne, even if you're tired of being a spinster, it still doesn't give you the right to come barging in here to insult me."

Corinne stepped into the booth and closed the door softly.

’Your family owns that piece of land in Serenity Bay, no?" she asked.

Sophia's eyes darkened. "Why are you asking that? What does that have to do with you?"

"It has everything to do with me because I was the one who bid one billion dollars for it just now!"

Sophia was stunned. "Oh, so it was you. What's the matter? Are you here to pick a fight because you can't cough up the money? Corinne, you shouldn't have bidded so high if you can't afford to pay. Don't tell me you want to back out now 'cause that's illegal!"

Corinne scoffed. "What about you? Do you think it's legal for you to bid on the piece of land that belongs to your father so you can artificially increase the price?"

Tsk! Do you have any proof that that piece of land in Serenity Bay belongs to my father? If you don't, please get out of here now. Otherwise, I'm going to call security.’ Sophia was feeling very guilty at that moment. It was not because she did something illegal but because she was worried that Corinne would bump into Jeremy and Benjamin.

She would be in deep trouble if that were to happen!

Corinne frowned. "While it's true I don't have any proof right now, I'm not going to let you rip me off. Let's go talk to the person in charge after the auction is finished to see whether your bid counts!’ Sophia could hear the faint sound of a wheelchair rolling coming from outside.

Panicking, she shouted, "Get out of here this instant! This is a private booth, and you have no right to be in here!"

Corinne only went there to see if her hunch was correct. She had no plans to argue with Sophia, so she threw the other woman a glance and walked out of the booth.

TH deal with her after the auction is finished,' she thought.

Jeremy was just bringing Benjamin' back after Corinne left. They would have bumped into each other if Corinne had left a little later.

However, Corinne took the other way to go back to her private booth while Jeremy came back from the other direction. In the end, they missed each other again.

Even though Corinne did not see him, Benjamin did see her walking out angrily from Sophia's private booth.

He narrowed his eyes. For some reason, he could not take his eyes off her.

Moreover, he felt a tightness in his chest as though his heartstrings were being pulled.

The real Bryan had also seen Corinne coming out of the private booth, but the only thing he could do was blink guiltily.

'Why did Mommy come out of that private booth? Did she go there to catch me?

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1476-Jeremy only looked away from Corinne after she went back inside her private booth. He looked down at the boy who looked exactly like his son, and when he saw the fear in the boy's face, he thought, 'He seems like he's really scared of being found by that woman.' He put his hand on Bryan's head and said, "Come now. Let's go inside.” Bryan snapped out of his trance and went inside the private booth with Jeremy.

Sophia could not help but worry that Jeremy had seen Corinne since it was not that long ago that Corinne left.

"Zachary, what took you and Benjamin so long?*' she asked with an unnatural smile on her face.

In contrast to her, Jeremy's expression remained impassive.

"Benjamin was experiencing some minor diarrhea, so I waited for him to be done. By the way, who was that?" he asked naturally as though they were just having a casual conversation.

Beats me. She was just some random woman who thought this was her private booth," replied Sophia as naturally as she could while staring at Jeremy's reaction. 1 'So he did see Corinne after all… But judging from his reaction, he doesn't seem like he remembers who she is,' she thought. 1 "I see," came Jeremy's simple reply. It was as if he was not curious about anything at all.

Still worried, Sophia probed him by asking, "Are you asking because you think she's pretty? Did she see you too?"

'No. I only saw her back as she walked out of here, to be honest. Is she pretty?

How pretty?" replied Jeremy disinterestedly.

Sophia felt better after she saw no signs of Jeremy having recognized Corinne.

'Corinne must've taken the other way round, so she didn't see Jeremy after all. If not, knowing her, she would've stopped him to ask him whether he was Jeremy,' she thought.

The more she thought about it, the more she shuddered at how close her lies could have been exposed.

'I need to settle all my business affairs as quickly as possible to prevent the same thing from happening again,' she told herself. 'I can't let Corinne see Jeremy… But what am I going to do when the auction finishes and she insists on talking about the bid with the person in charge?' Sophia decided to promptly leave. Smiling, she said, "Zachary, since Dad is happy with the price the piece of land sold for, there's nothing else for US to do here anymore. Let's head back."

Jeremy simply nodded expressionlessly at her suggestion.

Sophia walked over and picked up the boy standing beside Jeremy. "Let's go, Benjamin. We're going back to the hotel now."

To her surprise, 'Benjamin' pushed her away. He did not like her one bit, so he did not want to be carried by her. "I don't want you to carry me! I can walk by myself!"

'What's the matter with this kid? When did he become so temperamental?' thought Sophia with a frown. 'One second, he's running out to apologize to me, and the next he won't let me touch him? Ugh, forget it. Now's not the time to think about all this. We need to leave before Corinne sees us!' "Okay, Benjamin. You can walk by yourself. Mommy will wheel Daddy out, then."

Sophia walked over to Jeremy and wheeled him out of the room.

Jeremy's expression remained impassive. As always, he let Sophia wheel him out without saying anything.

"You're not my Mommy," muttered Bryan under his breath.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1477-However, Sophia did not hear Bryan this time.

Corinne sat in her private booth with a frown. She looked like she was lost in thought.

Seeing this, Lucas asked her gently, "Are you okay? Did you find out who the patron in the opposite booth was?"

Corinne nodded. "It's Sophia."

Lucas was stunned. He looked worriedly at Corinne as he finally realized why Sophia bidded against him.

"It's so despicable for Adam Group to employ this kind of tactic," he said with a scoff.

Corinne scoffed as well. "It's not only despicable but greedy too! By doing so, they've raised the price to ten times its fair value!"

Lucas agreed to what Corinne said. His eyes darkened. "Don't worry. I'll explain what happened to the person in charge later. You have my word that I'll get that piece of land at a fair market price for you."

Corinne did not have any proof that Adam was Sophia's father since the old Adam had wiped out all of his past when he took up his new name.

Even so, she had faith Lucas would be able to dig up some proof.

The auction ended 40 minutes later.

Corinne wanted to go with Lucas to talk to the person in charge, but he would not let her. He reasoned that it would take some time to explain the whole thing, and that meant only Edmund would be left to take care of the three kids if Corinne followed him.

Lucas knew Edmund could not babysit three kids on his own since he was inexperienced in that matter. The fact that Edmund lost 'Bryan' when he took him to the restroom with Joey already proved that. It would be disastrous if something irreversible were to happen to one of the kids while in his care.

Thus, Corinne decided to stay back to look after the kids.

Lucas asked her to bring the kids to the car to wait for him, so that was exactly what she did.

20 minutes later, Lucas went to find them at the parking lot.

"How did it go? Did the auction house believe your story?” asked Corinne immediately after Lucas got in the car.

Lucas turned to her. "I've already explained everything to the person in charge, but because Sophia left, we can't confront her. The auction house said they'll look into the matter and give US an answer soon. As for that piece of land, it's definitely ours. All that's left is that the price remains to be discussed."

Corinne nodded. "Okay. Let's just wait for the auction house's update, then."

Lucas looked worriedly at Corinne. "Did you see anyone else when you went to look for Sophia?"

Corinne was a little taken aback by his question. "No. She was the only person in the booth when I was there."

After a brief silence, Lucas replied, "Okay." After that, he turned back around and ordered the driver, "Drop Corinne back to the Holdens' mansion first."

"Yes, Mister Lucas!"

Corinne thought it was odd for Lucas to ask her such a question, so she asked him, "Mister Lucas, why did you ask me if I saw anyone else in Sophia's booth?

Was there supposed to be someone else? Like her father?"

Lucas shook his head. "It's nothing. I only asked because I was curious to know whether she came alone or with her father."

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1478-However, Sophia did not hear Bryan this time.

Corinne sat in her private booth with a frown. She looked like she was lost in thought.

Seeing this, Lucas asked her gently, "Are you okay? Did you find out who the patron in the opposite booth was?"

Corinne nodded. "It's Sophia."

Lucas was stunned. He looked worriedly at Corinne as he finally realized why Sophia bidded against him.

"It's so despicable for Adam Group to employ this kind of tactic," he said with a scoff.

Corinne scoffed as well. "It's not only despicable but greedy too! By doing so, they've raised the price to ten times its fair value!"

Lucas agreed to what Corinne said. His eyes darkened. "Don't worry. I'll explain what happened to the person in charge later. You have my word that I'll get that piece of land at a fair market price for you."

Corinne did not have any proof that Adam was Sophia's father since the old Adam had wiped out all of his past when he took up his new name.

Even so, she had faith Lucas would be able to dig up some proof.

The auction ended 40 minutes later.

Corinne wanted to go with Lucas to talk to the person in charge, but he would not let her. He reasoned that it would take some time to explain the whole thing, and that meant only Edmund would be left to take care of the three kids if Corinne followed him.

Lucas knew Edmund could not babysit three kids on his own since he was inexperienced in that matter. The fact that Edmund lost 'Bryan' when he took him to the restroom with Joey already proved that. It would be disastrous if something irreversible were to happen to one of the kids while in his care.

Thus, Corinne decided to stay back to look after the kids.

Lucas asked her to bring the kids to the car to wait for him, so that was exactly what she did.

20 minutes later, Lucas went to find them at the parking lot.

"How did it go? Did the auction house believe your story?” asked Corinne immediately after Lucas got in the car.

Lucas turned to her. "I've already explained everything to the person in charge, but because Sophia left, we can't confront her. The auction house said they'll look into the matter and give US an answer soon. As for that piece of land, it's definitely ours. All that's left is that the price remains to be discussed."

Corinne nodded. "Okay. Let's just wait for the auction house's update, then."

Lucas looked worriedly at Corinne. "Did you see anyone else when you went to look for Sophia?"

Corinne was a little taken aback by his question. "No. She was the only person in the booth when I was there."

After a brief silence, Lucas replied, "Okay." After that, he turned back around and ordered the driver, "Drop Corinne back to the Holdens' mansion first."

"Yes, Mister Lucas!"

Corinne thought it was odd for Lucas to ask her such a question, so she asked him, "Mister Lucas, why did you ask me if I saw anyone else in Sophia's booth?

Was there supposed to be someone else? Like her father?"

Lucas shook his head. "It's nothing. I only asked because I was curious to know whether she came alone or with her father."

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1479-"Oh. Well, Sophia was the only person when I went into her booth," replied Corinne.

"That's good. It'll be easier to settle the matter if her father isn't here," said Lucas.

Corinne observed Lucas quietly. Somehow, she could not help but feel something was not right.

Lucas knew Corinne was looking at him. He did have something on his mind, but he was not ready to reveal it to her yet. Thus, he turned to look out of the window to avoid her gaze since he could not control his expression well.

When he went to talk to the person in charge, the person showed him the surveillance footage to confirm his story.

On the screen, Lucas saw that Sophia had come with a man and a boy. Even though the man was in a wheelchair, he was sure that it was Jeremy.

Lucas could not really get a good look at the boy since the surveillance footage only managed to capture the top of his head due to his height. Based on his height, he looked to be the same age as Bryan and Christine.

Lucas did not dare tell Corinne about what he saw as he worried she would do something rash out of impulse. In the end, he decided to look into the matter before considering whether to involve Corinne.

When they arrived at the Holdens' mansion, Corinne and the kids went inside after waving goodbye to Lucas.

Lucas' smiling face immediately darkened after he made sure Corinne and the kids had gone in safely.

"Find out where Sophia is staying, and bring me there right away," he ordered Edmund.

The order stunned Edmund, so it took him a few seconds to reply," Understood, Mister Lucas."

'Mister Lucas sure is acting weird today. Why, though?' wondered Edmund.' Is he going to make Sophia suffer for deceiving Miss Corinne?' Corinne collapsed onto the sofa as soon as she entered the living room with the kids. She was so tired that she did not want to move anymore.

Even though most of her time at the auction house was spent sitting on the chair, taking care of the three kids had taken a lot out of her. Moreover, she spent quite some time running frantically around the auction house's second floor to look for the missing 'Bryan'.

Thus, she was mentally and physically exhausted as well.

Francine came out to welcome them home. She lifted Christine and talked to her before she turned to Corinne, who seemed lost in thought. "Corinne, are you okay?" asked Francine. "Did the auction not go well?"

Corinne snapped out of her thoughts. "I saw Sophia. The land that we wanted to buy belongs to her father, Adam. She was there to artificially increase the price.

In the end, we only managed to get the land at a price ten times more than the market price.

The Day I Kissed An Older Man Chapter 1480-Seeing that 'Bryan' was not in his best mood, Corinne squatted to his eye level and asked patiently, "Yes? Go on." "You said that…you were going to teach me a lesson when we're home… and I'm so scared," stammered 'Bryan' pitifully.

Corinne was stunned for a moment before she burst out in laughter.

'Bryan' did not understand why Corinne was laughing, so he simply blinked at her in confusion. Even so, he could not help but think Corinne looked even more beautiful when she laughed.

Corinne picked up 'Bryan' and hugged him to her chest. "Silly boy. I only said that out of anger. Did you really think I'd bear to do anything to you?"

It was only then 'Bryan' relaxed. He rested his head quietly on Corinne's shoulder. He really thought Corinne was going to beat him for running off.

'Bryan' rubbed his cheek against Corinne's skin while saying, "Mommy, I wish to stay by your side forever. I don't ever want to leave you."

Sadly, he knew he would have to go back to Jeremy.

Corinne could not help but think it was strange for her son to say that.

Smiling, she stroked his head and said, "Silly boy. Of course you can stay with Mommy forever! But, you might not want to once you grow up and have a family of your own."

'Bryan' raised up his head and looked seriously at her. "I'm never going to get married! I don't want to get married!"

Corinne chuckled at his innocence. "Are you sure about that? What if one day you meet a girl you like? You wouldn't even want to hang out with me then."

'Bryan' pouted and shook his head rapidly. "No. That's never going to happen!"

He still had no real understanding of what it meant to grow up and have a family of his own.

Francine walked over and tapped his nose gently. "You're definitely going to grow up to be a mommy's boy."

Bryan' did not understand what it meant to be a mommy’s boy either, so he simply raised his head and looked at her in puzzlement.

"Don't ever run off again like today. I'm not going to look for you if it happens next time, you hear?" warned Corinne sternly.

'Bryan' pouted and nodded with a complicated expression on his face. ’ Yes, Mommy…"

He felt conflicted, knowing he would be running back to his father next time.

Corinne passed him to Francine for her to carry. After that, she stroked his head and said, "Go have dinner with your aunt now."

"Okay, Mommy."

With 'Bryan' in her arms, Francine turned and called out to the other kids. ” Joey, hold Christine's hand and come with me. We're all going to have dinner!"

"Okay, Aunt Francine!" said Joey. He then grabbed Christine's hand, and the two of them followed Francine from behind.

Corinne felt herself relaxing as she watched Francine and the kids sit at the dining table. She decided to go back to her room to rest.

As much as she loved her kids, she had to admit they could be quite a handful sometimes. Thus, she thought she should enjoy some time alone while Francine looked after the kids.

Meanwhile, Lucas had checked into the presidential suite at the hotel where Sophia was staying. He was sitting on the sofa and listening grimly to Edmund's reporting.

"Mister Lucas, Sophia is staying in the presidential suite opposite yours.

However, the hotel receptionist was unwilling to tell US anything other than that, citing the client's confidentiality. I asked the cleaner in charge of this floor, and she said a family of three is staying inside that suite."

'A family of three?' thought Lucas