bChapter /bb249 /b

    The moment Maxine said it, she instantly regretted it. But Sebastian was already lying down beside her, so it was toote to take bit /bbback/b. Left bwith /bbno /bchoice, she turned over and thought, ‘If I can’t see him, maybe I won’t feel so bothered.

    Perhaps it was the warm glow from Sebastian’s bedsidemp that dispelled the darkness and eased her fears, or maybe just having someone bsleeping /bbeside her brought herfort. Either way, Maxine didn’t have any more nightmares for the rest of the night.

    By the time she woke up, it was already past nine in the morning.

    She walked into the living room to find both of them had already left, but the familiar thermal bag was still sitting on the table as usual.

    “Maybe living with Sebastian and Brian wouldn’t be so bad,” Maxine mused as she sipped her oatmeal. But then, catching herself, she gave her cheek a light p. “Focus!” she scolded herself internally.

    She couldn’t afford to dwell on this. Thewsuit was her top priority now.

    As Maxine sat on the couch scrolling through Hamlin’s case documents online, her phone suddenly lit up with a video call from someone she hadn’t heard from in ages.

    As soon as the call connected, a familiar face popped up on the screen, Vivian Bernard, lounging in a bikini with a sunhat perched on her headb, /badjusting her pink sunsses. “Max, when are youing back? Christmas break has been over for ages now!” she called out.

    Maxine smiled and said, “Just a few loose ends to tie up, should be wrapped up in a month or so.”

    Vivian took off her sunsses with a sigh and gave her a helpless look. “What took you so long? Did you run into any trouble?”

    Vivian shrugged casually and said, “No worries! I was actually nning a vacation to Hathnd anyway, might bas /bwell swing by and give you a hand.”

    “Vivian, really, it’s okay, I can handle it. Just a minor thing,” Maxine said with a resigned sigh.

    “No,” Vivian dered firmly, “I’ve made up my mind, visa’s done, ticket’s bought. In a week, at Capital Airport, if I don’t see you there…”

    Maxine chuckled, “Or what?”

    Vivian chuckled softly, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “You’lle pick me up, Max. I know you too well.”

    Maxine finally couldn’t hold back augh. “Alright then, just remember to send me your flight detailster.”

    Vivian blew her a kiss through the screen and said, “Alright, gotta go now!”

    After the video call ended, a small smile yed on Maxine’s lips. Vivian was a friend she had met abroad, more precisely, someone she’d gotten to know during her hospital stay.

    Vivian’s daughter was just a few years younger than Maxine. When she had appendicitis surgery at Maxine’s hospital, Jessic struggling with thenguage, was sometimes bullied by local kids. That was when Vivian stepped in.

    to the ce and

    Although Urban had already arranged for Jessica to enroll in a local school, the nanny he hired was primarily responsible for taking care of Maxine, so Jessica sometimes ended up being overlooked.

    Jessica was walking back to her hospital ward with her backpack when she encountered ba /bgroup of bullies.

    b“/bYou are gross! Get out of our country!” one of the boys yelled angrily at Jessica.

    Though Jessica couldn’t understand their words, the hostility in their expressions was unmistakable.

    Disoriented in a strange ce, afraid that Maxine might leave her just like her mother did, and now bullied by these unfamiliar kidsb, /bball /bof bJessica’s /bbpent- /b

    bup /bfrustration suddenly exploded. Without thinking, she hurled her backpack bat /bthem and shouted, “bGet /baway from bme/bb! /bbYou /bbmeanies/b!”

    08.31 Tueb, /bbJun /b

    The backpack hit the boy square in the chest, and he immediately burst into tears.

    iAD /i