Ch. 1681..1690

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1681-The sound of a phone ringing brought Maxwell back to the present. He looked at Sunny, who goofily blushed and smiled at his phone.

"Who's texting you?" he asked.

Sunny snapped out of his thoughts and stood up. "Ahem! I'm going out for a while to call a friend, Dad. I'll come back later to tell you more about Corinne."

After that, he did not even wait for Maxwell's response before striding out of the room with his phone in his hand.

Maxwell had his fair share of such experience, and he knew it was a woman.

'Even Sunny has a girlfriend, yet Lucas is still living his life like a monk. That boy is already thirty years old, and I've never ever seen him with a woman before…

Maybe it's because of what happened to me and his mom that he doesn't believe in love,'thought Maxwell with a sigh.

Sunny left the ward, asked the bodyguard at the door to keep a close eye on Maxwell, and walked to a quiet place to make a phone call.

It was Xante who texted, asking how his father was doing. Sunny was, of course, elated to receive her text as it meant she missed and cared about him.

Xante picked up his call very quickly. Hello?" "Xante! I miss you so much!"

chirped Sunny.

Xante wanted to ask if his father was alright, but she immediately fell silent when she heard that. Based on his demeanor, Maxwell was probably doing well.

Not getting a response from her, Sunny said again, "Say something, Xante!"

Xante adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses. "What do you want me to say?"

Sunny chuckled and said, "Say you miss me, too."

Xante scoffed. "Glad to know your father is okay. You should spend as much time with you as possible."

She was about to hang up the phone when Sunny stopped her. "Wait, Xante!

Don't hang up yet!"

Xante paused. "You have something else to say?"

Sunny desperately wanted to see her but knew he could not leave the hospital.

Thus, after thinking about it, he said, "Xante, I'm injured. Can you come to the hospital to visit me?"

Xante frowned. "You're injured? How?" "I hurt my arm. It really hurts…" said Sunny pitifully.

"How did you hurt your arm?" "Well… You know my dad tried to take his life yesterday, right? I accidentally got cut when I tried to save him…" "Which hospital are you at?" "Central Hospital." "Okay, wait for me there."

Sunny still wanted to say something, but Xante had ended the call.

'Man, she sure hung up in a hurry. Is she that much in a rush to see me? That means she really cares about me, right?' thought Sunny.

He was more used to being ignored by Xante, so that was certainly a pleasant surprise. As happy as he was that she was going to visit him, he still needed to prepare himself, otherwise, Xante would surely get angry if she found out he was lying.

Thus, Sunny quickly rushed to the nurse station and begged the nurse to bandage his arm. He even borrowed some merbromin to apply to the bandage to make it look more believable.

'Xante will definitely feel sorry for me if she sees how hurt I am! Hahaha!' thought Sunny.

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1682-Xante arrived at Central Hospital 20 minutes later. She got out of the car and ran quickly to the elevator in the underground parking lot.

Unexpectedly, she met an acquaintance as soon as she entered the elevator.

It was none other than Sophia, the bane of Corinne's existence.

Sophia had just had her face done at the beauty salon, and she smelled so strongly of beauty products that the whole elevator was filled with her smell!

Sophia was looking down at her phone when Xante got in the elevator, so she did not notice her. Moreover, she was going from the basement floor to the first

floor, so she got out of the elevator very quickly.

Xante followed Sophia out of the elevator and saw how she walked toward the most quiet corridor. She thought it was strange that Sophia would appear in the hospital but decided to not think too much about it since she came alone. Thus, she got back into the elevator and headed upstairs to find Sunny.

At that moment, Sunny received a message from Xante asking for his ward number. After he replied to her, he looked up at Maxwell, who looked much better.

"Dad, could you do me a favor?” he asked.

Maxwell could tell Sunny really needed his help, so he nodded. "Of course.

What is it?"

Sunny shyly rubbed the back of his head and said, "If you feel better, please sit on the sofa for a while. Lend me the hospital bed."

Maxwell was speechless. 'Is he really my son?' Maxwell had finished his IV drip, so it was safe for him to leave the bed. Plus, Sunny had asked, so it was not like he could turn him down, could he?

Moreover, he knew Sunny was meeting an important person, so he might as well grant him the favor.

"Okay. I'll go sit over there for a while so you can use the hospital bed."

After that, he slowly got down from the bed.

Sunny also knew his request was a tad excessive, and Lucas would beat him if he knew. However, he would not feel at ease if he checked in another ward and left Maxwell all alone in his ward, so this was the only choice.

He reached over to help his father out of the bed and onto the sofa. Then, he ran back to the hospital bed, took off his shoes, and laid down. He covered himself with the blanket and put on a pitiful expression as if he were in excruciating pain.

Xante opened the door and walked in not long after Sunny laid down. She looked like she was in a rush.

She walked hurriedly to the bed and adjusted her slightly crooked gold- rimmed glasses. She looked down at Sunny and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Sunny groaned and said, "Xante.-.you're here!"

Xante frowned slightly when she heard the pain in his voice. "Why do you sound so weak? Let me see where you’re injured."

Pouting, Sunny raised his arm, rolled up his sleeves, and showed her the wound. "Here…"

Xante frowned when she saw blood oozing out from the bandage. "Didn't the doctor already treat the wound? Why is your blood still coming out of it?

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1683-Sunny made his voice sound hoarse when he said, "I don't know. Maybe the wound opened up again when I moved my arm to call you."

Xante frowned and looked at him sternly. "You idiot. You should've used your good arm to call me instead!"

Sunny pouted pitifully. "I was in a hurry to call you, so I didn't think too much about it…” "Haha-ahem, ahem!’ The sound from the sofa caught Xante's attention. When she looked up, she found a middle-aged man sitting on the sofa.

Maxwell could not fight back his laughter. He did not expect Sunny would put on such a show in front of a woman. It was a pity that Sunny was not an actor, or he would have won the 'Best Actor' award.

Xante roughly guessed who the middle-aged man was by how similar he looked to Sunny.

"You must be Mister Maxwell. Forgive me for not noticing you,” said Xante, slightly flustered.

Maxwell waved nonchalantly. "It's okay, don't mind me. You two can continue chatting."

Xante did not know what to say.

Sunny did not seem to care that his father was watching the whole thing. He reached out to hold Xante's hand and said, "Xante, my arm hurts so much. Can you please help me massage it? I'm sure that'll help ease the pain a little."

Xante snapped back to the present and looked at Sunny as if he was stupid.

"You want me to massage your wound? Won't that just make it worse?"

Sunny was stunned into silence. He wanted so badly for Xante to pity him that he had forgotten the kind of 'wound' he had.

Blushing with embarrassment, Sunny continued to plead, "Then can you please blow on my wound? Just two puffs, and I'll be better.” Xante's lips twitched. She could not stand him behaving like that in front of his father.

"As if I'm ever going to do that! You should behave yourself. Your father is watching US, you know? How can you not feel embarrassed at all?" "We're not doing anything shameful at all, so why should I feel embarrassed? Xante, it really hurts…"

Xante looked at the deep frown on his face, then at the blood oozing out of the bandage.

"I think you need new stitches on your wound. Lie here, and don't move around.

I'm going to get the doctor to check on your wound again."

She turned around and started walking out of the room.

'Sh*t! She's going to know I'm faking my injury if the doctor really comes!' thought Sunny.

He quickly grabbed her arm and said, "Xante, I'm okay! My wound isn't really that serious, so let's not bother the doctor. I'm sure he's very busy as he is. Just sit here and chat with me. That's all I need to feel better."

Xante turned her head to look at the arm he used to grab her. It was his supposedly injured arm.

"Why are you still using that arm? What if the wound gets worse? Don't come crying to me when you have no choice but to chop it off when it gets infected,"

she scolded with a frown.

Sunny knew he was not really hurt, so he said nonchalantly, "Don't worry, Xante.

It's not going to get infected when you're with me. Hehe. Just don't call the doctor, okay? Sit down and talk with me if you don't want me to use this arm."

Xante's eyes turned sharp as if she realized something. She looked at Sunny’s bandaged arm again. The red color stain she thought was blood looked too bright for it to be real.

’D*mn it! I was in such a hurry that he almost tricked me entirely!' she thought.

"Are you sure you're really hurt?" she asked Sunny.

Sunny's face immediately flashed with guilt. "Xante, what are you talking about?

I’m bleeding! How can you think I'm lying? I'm really, really hurt. Please just sit down and talk with me."

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1684-Seeing Sunny's reaction, Xante's suspicion was basically confirmed.

"Okay, I won't call the doctor." She sat on the chair next to the bed. "But how about I open up the bandage to check how the wound is doing?"

Sunny's face froze. "Uh… I don't think that's necessary. I'm really okay, Xante."

Xante pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses and said seriously, "You won't let me or the doctor check your wound, so I can't help but think you're not injured at all."

Sunny blinked and immediately looked away. n0f course I'm injured! Why would I be lying here if I'm not injured?"

Xante stared at him coldly. "Okay, you said you were injured, right? I'm going to check the hospital’s emergency records to see if you're on the patient list!"

Xante stood up, turned, and walked out of the room.

Sunny knew his cover was blown, so he quickly sat up on the hospital bed and said, "Xante! Don't go. I admit I was lying! You were right… I wasn't injured at all…"

Xante stopped and turned to glare at him. "Why did you lie to me?"

Sunny got down from the bed and lowered his head like a dog who caused trouble.

"I have to stay in the hospital with my dad, but I miss you so much, so I came up with this lie to get you to come here." "You could've just told me that instead of putting up this charade!" said Xante with a darkened expression.

"But would you have come then? You would've just told me to look after my dad and ignore me after that, I'm sure."

Xante was speechless. 'He's right. I most probably wouldn't come if he had told me the truth. I mean, why should I come? It's not like I'm close with his dad.' "I'm right, aren't I? You wouldn't have come if I didn't tell you I was injured," said Sunny when he saw she had fallen silent. "But I'm really glad you came after you knew I was injured. I was so worried that you wouldn't even come then.

Xante…"

Sunny threw his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze. "Thank you so much for coming."

Xante frowned in embarrassment. "Ahem, ahem! Let me go! Behave yourself!"

Sunny nuzzled against her. ' Why do I need to behave myself? Xante, we're a couple, so it's only normal to hug like this."

Xante patted his back helplessly. "Have you forgotten your dad is in the room with US?"

Sunny was stunned. He really forgot!

He raised his head and turned to look at Maxwell, who was sitting on the sofa and looking at them serenely with a teasing smile.

Sunny blushed a little. Just a little. He did not really think there was anything to be embarrassed about. He pulled Xante to him and said, "Dad, let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Xante.” The sudden introduction caught Xante off-guard. 'Ugh. This kid really doesn't think before doing anything!' Maxwell looked at her, nodded, and smiled. "Very nice to meet you, Miss Xante.

I'm sorry you have to see me like this for our first meeting. Please come by the house another day, and I'll make it up to you then."

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1685-No backing out at this point.

Xante sighed helplessly and said, "Please don't trouble yourself over it, Mister Maxwell. It's more important for you to prioritize recovery, and I shouldn't even be here to bother you in the first place."

Maxwell shook his head and smiled. "Nonsense. You have no idea how much better I feel to know Sunny has a girlfriend.” Xante bowed a little and said, "I'll be leaving now, but I'll come back another day to visit you."

After that, she turned and walked out of the room.

Seeing that, Sunny quickly said to Maxwell, "Dad, I'm going to see her off."

"Sure, go ahead," said Maxwell with a nod and a smile.

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Sunny worriedly.

Maxwell knew what Sunny was referring to, so he nodded and said, "Yeah. I promise I won't do anything stupid again."

Relieved, Sunny quickly ran out of the ward.

Sunny managed to catch up to Xante in the hospital corridor. He grabbed her arm and said, "Xante, why are you leaving so quickly? Why not stay for a little while longer since you're here?" "How dare you still ask me to stay when I haven't even made you suffer for lying to me?!' Sunny looked down, laughed awkwardly, and twiddled his fingers. "I thought I already explained why I lied to you, Xante. Don't you think you should forgive me since I did it out of love?"

Xante looked coldly at him. "No! Lying is lying. You shouldn't use love as an excuse."

Sunny pouted. "But there are different kinds of lies… Please don't be angry anymore. I promise I won't lie to you about something like this again."

Xante scoffed. "Hmph! So that means you'll lie to me about something else?"

"Yeah… I mean what if I want to prepare a surprise for you after we get married?

Of course I need to lie to you then, right? I mean, white lies can make our relationship better at times."

Xante was first taken aback, but she then replied with disgust, "I haven't even agreed to marry you, and you're already thinking about our married life? Mister Sunny, you really have your head up in the clouds!"

Sunny lifted his chin. "To be honest, I've even thought about what we should name our two kids!"

Xante narrowed her eyes. "Don't you have anything else in that brain of yours?' "I do! I'm also working very hard now so that I can give you a good life.

Other than that, I'm thinking about how to get you to agree to marry me."

Xante massaged her temple. "That's enough! stop wasting your time here. You should go back to look after your father. It's important to be with him at all times since there's no telling if he'll try to take his life again.' Sunny pouted. "You're really not going to stay? I feel pretty bored here. And Dad kept on wanting me to tell him everything about Corinne. I told him so much that I feel like my mouth is about to fall off."

Xante looked at him sharply. "Your dad knows Corinne is his long-lost daughter?"

Sunny nodded. "Yeah! Corinne even came just now and fed him some soup.

That's why he's much more stable now. It's all thanks to her!"

Xante frowned, remembering that she saw Sophia in the elevator minutes ago.

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1686-Somehow, Xante got a really bad feeling about the whole thing, so she quickly whipped out her phone to call Corinne. However, no one answered.

She called the Holdens' mansion and asked whether Corinne was at home, to which she was told no.

The bad feeling Xante had intensified. She put away her phone and quickly asked Sunny, "When did the boss leave the hospital?"

Sunny thought about it and answered, "About an hour before you came.

Lucas was the one who sent her home. Why do you ask?"

Xante frowned. "Call your brother now. Ask him if the boss is with him. Hurry!"

Sunny did not understand why Xante was in such a panic, but he still did as he was told. He called Lucas even though he did not dare to call him for fear of getting lectured. However, Lucas did not pick up the phone either.

Xante had guessed what was going on when she saw Sunny was silent." He's not picking up, is he?"

Sunny nodded. "Yeah. What's the matter, Xante? Is something bothering you?"

"I saw Sophia in the elevator just now, and I have a feeling she didn't come alone. In other words, Jeremy should be here in the hospital, too."

Sunny's expression became serious. "You're worried Lucas and Corinne didn't leave the hospital after they saw Jeremy?"

Xante nodded. "Yeah. I saw where Sophia went, so I'm going over there to look forthem now."

Sunny immediately followed her. "I'm coming with you."

Xante frowned. "You should stay with your father. He needs you more."

Sunny grabbed Xante's arm. No! How can I let you go face that evil woman alone? My dad's going to be fine with the nurse looking after him. Plus, he promises he won't do anything stupid again now that he knows Corinne is still alive. I'm coming with you."

Xante knew it would be impossible to get rid of Sunny, and she did not want to waste time trying. She wanted to find Corinne as fast as possible to make sure she was safe.

Sophia was willing to do anything to hold Jeremy captive, so she was rightfully worried that she would do something extreme to Corinne. Thus, Xante simply allowed Sunny to tag along.

The two of them came to the unusually quiet corridor on the first floor. There was not a single person in sight. No doctor, no nurse, and no patient. It was as if someone deliberately cleared the whole place of people.

As they looked around the place, Sunny asked, "Xante, are you sure Sophia came here? Why isn't there anyone here?"

It was beyond strange.

Xante raised one finger to her lips as a signal for him to be silent.

Sunny obeyed and followed cautiously beside her as they looked around some more.

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1687-Suddenly, Xante saw a pool of liquid on the ground. Someone must have spilled their drinks there. More importantly, someone stepped on the liquid and left their wet shoe prints on the ground.

Xante looked at the string of transparent footprints, and it was so obvious that the person was wearing high heels. They followed the shoe prints that led them to a consultation room.

The door was ajar, and they tiptoed over to spy inside. Sure enough, they saw Sophia in the room talking to a doctor in a white coat.

Sophia, sitting on the chair with her legs crossed, was checking the time impatiently. "Doctor Kingsley, how long do I have to keep waiting? Is the procedure that difficult?" "Miss Sophia, please be patient. Your husband's body is different from the average male's, so it'll be harder than usual to extract his sperm out of him. But no need to worry. The nurse is a professional, and she'll call US once she has completed the procedure. We might interrupt them, which will result in the procedure being a failure if we go over there now."

Sophia frowned. "What method is that nurse going to use on my husband?

She won't do anything to take advantage of him, right?"

Doctor Kingsley squeezed out a professional smile. "Miss Sophia, I'm sure you know how these things go, and that's why you came to US for help.

There'll certainly be some bodily contact during the extraction, but don't worry.

Like I said, the nurse is a professional. She wont do anything illegal or more than necessary."

His words did not do anything to put Sophia at ease. "That better be the case!"

Doctor Kingsley could tell Sophia was bothered by the situation, so he asked curiously, "Miss Sophia, I'm actually curious. During the consultation, I mentioned to you that you could personally do the extraction. After all, you're his wife, so it's only befitting that you perform the extraction. That way, you wouldn't have to worry about the nurse taking advantage of your husband too. Oddly enough, you turned down the idea, so I thought you wouldn't mind. It seems you really do mind someone else touching your husband. Why didn't you choose to do it yourself?"

Sophia's expression darkened. It was not that she did not want to do it herself, but she was afraid to face Jeremy's wrath. Yes, she knew Jeremy would be furious, which might affect him getting aroused.

After thinking it over carefully, she concluded that it would be better to leave it to the professionals. That was why she agreed to let the nurse do it.

However, her mind could not help but spiral at the thought of some other woman touching her husband while she was waiting outside. She could not take the jealousy pressing on her chest. She felt like she was about to explode!

She never once had an intimate moment with Jeremy in all the three years they had been together, and then some nurse got to do it with him?

"I… I was worried I wouldn't be able to do it correctly. What if I failed? Not only will my husband go through that for nothing, but it'll just delay my whole plan. It's better to leave it to you professionals."

Doctor Kingsley nodded. "You're right to think that way, Miss Sophia. It's best to stop worrying and wait patiently. The procedure should be over soon."

Sophia nodded and crossed her arms to wait patiently.

However, 15 minutes later, there was still no call from the nurse.

Sophia could not wait anymore. "Doctor Kingsley, maybe you should call the nurse to see how the procedure is getting along. I mean, don't you find it weird that there's no news though it's been this long?"

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1688-Doctor Kingsley looked at the time. He could tell Sophia was burning with jealousy, so he nodded and said, "Okay. I'll call the nurse. Please hold on a moment."

Sophia paced around the consultation room and glanced at Doctor Kinglsey, who was making the call, from time to time.

A minute later, she saw Doctor Kingsley frown. He had called the nurse twice, but neither time did she pick up. Something was not right!

Sophia immediately walked over to him to ask, ’ Doctor Kingsley, what's the matter?" "Sorry, Miss Sophia. The nurse didn't pick up the call. I’m afraid

something has happened. I'm going over there to check on them now," said Doctor Kingsley with some embarrassment.

'Something happened?' Sophia's frown became even deeper. 'Could it be that the nurse got so into it that she didn't hear the phone ringing?' That thought sent her mind into a frenzy.

"What could've happened? I'm going with you, Doctor Kingsley!"

Doctor Kingsley did not stop her. He simply took out the key to the special examination room from his drawer and quickly hurried over to the room with Sophia following behind him.

At that moment, Xante and Sunny-who were eavesdropping outside-did not have time to retreat, so they quickly hid in the utility room near them.

Sophia, who had always been paranoid, felt something was off the moment she stepped out of the consultation room. She stopped and looked to the left and right, but no one was there.

Noticing she had stopped, Doctor Kingsley turned and asked, "What's the matter, Miss Sophia? What are you looking at?"

Sophia snapped out of her thoughts and frowned. "It's nothing. I thought I saw two people scurrying away."

Doctor Kingsley did not have the best eyesight, which was evident from the thick glasses he was wearing. Thus, he did not notice anything at all.

"This area here is considered abandoned by the hospital, so no one usually comes over. Perhaps you were mistaken, Miss Sophia."

Me, mistaken?' thought Sophia. She might not have thought too much if they were in an area where many people were walking about, but it was like Doctor Kingsley said-no one would go there at all. Why, then, did she see two people running away?

Sophia still did not feel at ease, so she said, "Please give me a moment, Doctor Kingsley. I'm going over to the utility room to see if anyone is there." "Okay,"

said Doctor Kingsley as he remained standing where he was to wait for her.

Sophia walked over to the utility room where she saw the two people going in.

She even heard the door closing! She reached out her hand to turn the door handle but …it was locked from the inside!

'This is odd,' she thought. She turned around and asked Doctor Kingsley, "Is this utility room normally locked?" "Nope. We don't keep it locked since there's nothing but worthless junk inside," said Doctor Kingsley, confused.

Sophia frowned. "Then why is it locked now?"

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1689-"It's locked?" The baffled Doctor Kingsley walked over. He tried the door handle, but alas, it was indeed locked.

"That is strange. This room isn't usually locked since no one would want to steal the worthless junk inside. Who in the right mind would lock it?" he muttered.

Sophia became convinced she definitely saw two people running to hide inside.

'Someone must've been spying on US. And they ran away to hide inside this utility room when they heard US coming out!' "Doctor Kingsley, I'll stand guard here while you go find the key for this utility room. I won't feel assured until I know for sure that no one is hiding inside," said Sophia.

Even though Doctor Kingsley thought it was weird the utility room would be locked, he did not think anyone was hiding inside. After all, it was totally possible some nurse accidentally locked it after putting something inside. However, he did not dare to defy Sophia's order, so he went back to his consultation to take the key.

Sophia stood outside the utility room with her arms crossed. She kept her eyes on the door as if she feared that someone would slip out if she so much as took her eyes away from the door.

Meanwhile, inside the utility room, Xante was glaring at Sunny.

"What should we do now?" she asked.

Sunny spread out his hands. ’Beats me. It's not like there's any furniture to hide behind in this room! And I'm so big that I'll stick out like a sore thumb. Instead of waiting for Sophia to find US here, we should just go out and confront her headon! I want to know what she and that doctor is doing to Jeremy!"

Sunny was about to open the door but Xante stopped him.

"Don't go out! It'll just bring more trouble!" said Xante with a frown.

Sunny turned and argued, "Then what do you suggest we do? That doctor's going to bring the key over, and then we'll be exposed! Sophia's not going to believe we're just passing by if we don't come up with a d*mn good excuse!"

Xante looked around the room full of discarded medical equipment, thinking, 'Sunny's right. There's nowhere to hide. We have no choice but to confront Sophia head-on.' At that moment, they could hear the key being inserted into the lock. The door was going to open soon!

Xante took a deep breath to compose herself for the disaster about to strike them when someone pulled them both from behind.

A second later, they found themselves in a small, dark space where they could not see anything.

They were about to panic when they heard Doctor Kingsley say, "See, Miss Sophia. There's no one inside here at all."

Sophia frowned and looked around the utility room. There was indeed no one in sight, but she still thought it weird.

"Doctor Kingsley, don't you find it weird that a room that isn't usually locked is suddenly locked?" "Miss Sophia, while it's true nobody rarely comes here, some nurses will occasionally bring the discarded medical equipment here. Maybe one of them accidentally locked the door, so there's really nothing for you to worry about."

Sophia frowned. She did not think things were as simple as Doctor Kingsley made it out to be.

"Is there any surveillance camera in this corridor? I'd like to check out the surveillance footage if there is! You must understand, Doctor Kingsley, that I have serious paranoia and OCD. I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't rule out all of my suspicions."

The Day I Kissed An Older Chapter 1690-"I'm sorry, Miss Sophia, but the surveillance camera here has been turned off since this part of the hospital has been abandoned," said Doctor Kingsley apologetically.

Sophia was not happy with that news. She kept scanning the utility room alertly.

Doctor Kingsley felt that Sophia was too paranoid for her own good, so he reminded her, "Miss Sophia, don't you want to check on how your husband is doing?"

Sophia came back to her senses. 'Yes, it's more important to make sure Zachary is okay!'

She gave the utility room one last scan before turning and said, "Let's go."

She followed Doctor Kingsley out of the utility room and into the special examination room next door.

Silence returned to the utility room after the door closed. A minute later, the door of a closet on the balcony where fire fighting equipment was stored was pushed open from the inside, and three people walked out one after another.

Sunny kept coughing as it was so dusty inside. He, Lucas, and Xante were squeezed into the small space, and they almost could not close the door.

Fortunately, the door faced the window of the balcony, so they were able to escape notice when Sophia went to the balcony to check.

Sunny suppressed his cough, patted the dust off his body, and looked back to see who had just dragged him and Xante in. He was shocked when he realized it was Lucas, who was also patting the dust off himself. For a brief moment, he thought he was seeing things because of all the dust.

''Lucas? What are you doing here?" he asked.

Lucas frowned and said sternly, "You still have the nerve to ask me? I asked you to look after Dad and here you are having a secret rendezvous with your girlfriend! Have you learned nothing at all?"

Lucas glanced at Xante on purpose.

"I didn't come out to have a secret rendezvous! I heard Sophia is up to no good again, so I came with my Xante to see what she's doing!"

He said the words 'my Xante' so naturally that Xante rolled her eyes at him.

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "How did you know Sophia is here?" "My Xante told me. She saw her and suspects Corinne is still around. We called you and her before we came, but neither of you picked up the phone!

Lucas' phone was on silent, so he did not realize somebody called him. As for Corinne… She was probably too busy to pick up the phone.

"Lucas, what are you still doing here? I thought you were sending Corinne home. Where is she, by the way?" asked Sunny.

Lucas' gaze instinctively floated to the next-door balcony. "She's with Jeremy."

Both Sunny and Xante were a little surprised to hear that. They exchanged glances and asked at the same time, "What are they doing together?"

A complicated expression flashed across Lucas' face. He did not answer the question but instead sighed and said, "It's a long story. But I think they're going to be discovered by Sophia soon."