Sunday morning, Lana was still sleeping when Liam arrived at the hospital with the dishes he cooked with all his heart for both Lana and his mother-in-law.

He quietly put down the boxes on the table, then stared at that cute sleeping face of Lana. He shifted his gaze to Mrs. Huang, who was also asleep before he knelt down on the floor to have a proper look at Lana while she was asleep. He leaned closer… Lana smelled so good that he wished to snuggle in her arms and sniff her for so long.

Liam looked again at Mrs. Huang’s bed before his face leaned down to give Lana another stolen kiss on her lips. It was very quick only because he was actually scared of getting caught by Lana.

‘Darn,’ he silently cursed, realizing what he just did.

“Good morning, son, and I saw that.” he heard his mother-in-law greet him in a weak and low voice. Liam stood up and gave his mother-in-law an awkward, guilty smile.

Mrs. Huang lightly chuckled and teased, “Don’t worry, I will not report you to Lana.” her voice came almost like a whisper due to the pain and stitches that she had.

Liam approached her and asked, “How are you feeling mom?”

“Good. I can now talk a little… Hehe. I know my daughter can be like a cold statue and not be very sweet. But I hope you’ll be patient with her. I’m sure you’ll make her melt and she’ll be soft towards you soon. Just let her adjust for a while.” Mrs. Huang advised.

She heard how her daughter hissed at Liam last night on the phone, and she even scolded her for that attitude. Lana was mostly like that only, even to her friends. Lana was a candid person, and she was quite short-tempered, especially with male species, be it friends or colleagues.

Liam threw her his roguish smiles and reassured, “That’s okay mom. Don’t worry about me, really. Like I said, I can handle Lana well.”

He pulled a chair over and sat beside her to talk with her while Lana was asleep. “I cooked and brought some food mom. I guess only Lana can taste it for now but don’t worry, as soon as I will talk to your dietician, I’m gonna prepare something very special for you.” Liam boastfully offered.

Mrs. Huang had a satisfied smile on her tired face seeing her son-in-law because she could feel how much he cared not only for her daughter but also for important people around her daughter as well… like her. He was making sincere efforts to win Lana.

‘Such a fine man really,’ Mrs. Huang inwardly praised him.

“You’re here so early…” Lana interrupted their conversation in her still sluggish voice, seeing Liam talking intimately to her mother. She stood up after yawning and did some stretching to wake herself more.

“I told you last night I will cook and bring you breakfast. I wanted to impress mom with my cooking as well, but she’s not allowed to eat anything yet. Maybe later, once she’s fully recovered.” Liam answered and excused himself from his mother-in-law to prepare the breakfast on the table.

Mrs. Huang could not help but feel the love in the air while she watched Lana and Liam together. She recalled her younger days spent with her husband when he was still alive. Rod died in an accident and she was completely devastated with his loss. However, that same year, God gave her Lana to take care of and Lana became her reason for living.

She saw Lana at one of the orphanages she supported, but she was very aloof and did not mix up with other kids at all. She would always stay in a corner all by herself. That time the director of the orphanage noticed her looking at Lana, and she explained Lana’s situation to her.

“The kid is so pitiful. We have even scheduled a psychological treatment for her. She was a victim of extreme physical and mental abuse by her own parents. It’s a good thing that a concerned neighbor reported to police that night when her father killed his wife and almost killed little Lana, if not for the right timing of the police’s arrival.

The kid survived even after all the wounds in her body that night. She’s definitely a fighter… But the trauma she had experienced at such a young age… The poor child…” The director narrated and Mrs. Huang could still recall how her heart ached for young Lana.

The director told her that Lana’s father was a drug addict and was no longer sane because of the side effect of the drugs. He was an addict, a pusher and a user as well. Lana’s mother tolerated everything he did because she loved her husband too much and her world revolved mostly around her husband. The father would always beat his wife and child. Sometimes the child would be hidden by her mother in a closet in the room for hours.

She walked towards young Lana and sat down beside her. She asked Lana her name, but Lana didn’t speak and only stared at her. Until she saw some of her wounds… And some of those were already marked wounds, the physical torture the child would have tolerated might have been extreme.

She could not help the urge to hug young Lana at that time. In her embrace, she felt young Lana cried hard and from that moment on, Mrs. Huang felt that calling in her heart to take care of Lana. She wanted to protect that child… Take away every dreadful memory from her young age and replenish with good memories and love.

She did everything in her power to heal Lana’s trauma and she could tell she succeeded pretty much, but not fully because Lana had shut herself up from all the men. Lana grew up scared of falling in love.

She still remembered Lana, who had her favorite line of ‘too much love could kill you’ always ready for all her friends, because ironically, that was what happened to her biological mother. She got killed by the man whom she loved more than anything in the world.

Mrs. Huang came back to reality and once again smiled, seeing a lot of changes had already taken place in Lana since she got involved with Liam. She contemplated whether to tell Liam about Lana’s history, but then she decided to seal her mouth and let Lana open up herself to Liam about those sensitive topics.

“Mom, stop drooling on us!” Mrs. Huang heard Lana jokingly comment when she noticed she was staring at them while eating.

“See? Bringing food here like this is not a good idea… My poor mom…” Lana added with a grin.

Mrs. Huang chuckled. But stopped because she felt pain in her stitches since the effect of painkillers was already wearing out.

“You two don’t mind me and enjoy eating breakfast. Rest assured I will recover very fast so that I can check if Liam is better than you, my dear, in cooking.” Mrs. Huang answered with a smile.

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