‘Hon?! Is he kidding me?!’ Gale inwardly burst while she felt Craig’s hand tighten on hers. It was a sign for her to shut up, and Gale clearly understood that, so she remained quiet and listened to Craig with an open mouth.

Craig knew it was the only solution for his mother to be at ease. He could tell his mother the truth, but it would only make the situation worse. His mother was glad for him thinking that he had good work in an office and if she found out that he was doing the job of a bodyguard and once again was involving himself in a situation where he could get hurt, hell would definitely open up.

The best solution for him was to confirm to her that she was right about what she was thinking right now, that his only son brought a woman inside his house unwed.

“I’m sorry mother if I kept this from you. You see, we are in a different generation now where a woman and man prefer to know each other first before getting married. Gale and I are trying to do that. Living together like this is the best way to know if we are compatible and will be able to bear each other’s differences throughout our lives. If you want, you can also check. She has a separate room okay, so don’t think too much…” Craig explained.

“Son, this is not how it goes.” his mother whispered. She had already calmed down by then. She was aware of it since the new generations were too aggressive, but still it disappointed her that his son was also like them because she always told him that he should do things the right way like how everything should be properly done when it came to getting a partner.

She looked at Gale and asked, “Do your parents know that you’re living with my son.”

“Mom, she has no family… She’s an orphan from Country V where I met her during our business trip. I brought her here…” Craig answered, but pursed his lips when his mother’s sharp eyes stared at him.

“I’m not talking to you, son. Are you Gale?”

Gale felt Craig squeezed her hand that he still held firmly.

Gale cleared her throat before answering, “Yes auntie… I’m an orphan and do not have any family. He’s helping me a lot at this time to start here in this country.”

Mrs. Chang exhaled frustratedly and fell quiet. For a couple of minutes there was only silence…

Craig looked at his mother and asked, “By the way mom, what’s with this surprise visit? Why didn’t you call me to pick you up at the airport?”

“There was an emergency with your auntie, so I rushed to her place since I’m already here. I thought to give you a surprise visit, but I didn’t expect that I would be the one to be surprised by you son…” his mother scorned.

Craig gave her his sweetest smile and said, “I’m sorry about this mom. Honestly, I want to bring Gale home to introduce her to you, but I have a hectic schedule in the company nowadays and it’s too impossible to spare time at the moment.”

Mrs. Chang looked at Gale with sympathy. “It must have been hard for you to live like this in another country. I hope my son is taking good care of you well. You two are already grown ups. I know that no matter what I say… You will just still do whatever it is that you want, but I do hope you two don’t do things…” Mrs. Chang paused because she could not continue to give advice about premarital s.e.x. Maybe she was just born in the old days and too conservative. That was why she still preferred her son to do things the conservative way, so it would not be unfair for Gale as well.

“Mom, aren’t you hungry or tired? How about we talk about it later, just the two of us? Gale needs to wake up early tomorrow for her work so let us let her sleep?”

Mrs. Chang nodded. Gale quickly pulled her hand out from Craig’s hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you auntie. I will go first to my room.”

Gale was too red as she walked back inside her room. As soon as she was inside, she looked at her hand and crumpled her face whispering, “What was that?”

She immediately jumped on her bed and brushed off the thought. She was thankful that Craig’s mother let her off easily. She could still feel the fast racing beat of her heart.

******

The Next Morning.

Luo went over to the address Vin gave her, where the man who left her at the doorstep of her parents currently lived. It was inside the suburbs and he lived into a shabby place.

She felt a little nervous as she walked forward and contemplated whether to walk further but she still did. That man she was going to meet was involved in a lot of illegal things, and he also went back in and out of prison because of various illegal dealings.

‘Could he be really someone related to me?’ she mused with a disappointed face. She would need a sample to do the DNA testing for that. But she had no intention to. She just wanted to see him somehow or talk to him, perhaps.

What should she expect from the man when he even left a helpless baby on the doorstep of strangers?

“Oh, God…” Luo whispered as she turned around to leave. She must be out of her mind to even go to that place and think of seeing that man.

She was walking absentmindedly and suddenly bumped into a man.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and tilted her head to look at the man.

‘It’s him…’ she mused, looking at the man who stared back at her. He had a cigarette in his mouth and a plastic bag in his hand.

Luo felt uncomfortable with how he looked at her, so she retracted her eyes and walked forward.

“Wait…” she heard him speak, and she suddenly paused in her track, frozen at that spot.

“You look familiar to me… Are you looking for me?” she heard him ask from behind. She cursed on how it was obvious since he probably saw her at his doorstep when she turned away.

Luo inhaled and exhaled loudly before she turned around and faced the man with her sharp eyes.

********************

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