Marina and Ryder cleared table after the meal. Shawn took a rest and began to wash vegetables and chop the filling to prepare the dumplings for New Year’s Eve.
After the meal, Marina walked for a while. She felt sleepy and leaned on Ryder’s shoulder, sleeping soundly.
Markus hurriedly took a blanket and draped it over Marina. He thought that Marina didn’t treat Ryder well. With a big belly and heavy weight, Marina leaned on Ryder. But Ryder did not move.
Markus was worried for Ryder. He thought that Ryder was a good husband.
Markus’ attitude changed quickly. In the past, he had used to dislike Ryder. Since Markus knew that Marina had never cooked soup for Ryder, he suddenly felt sympathetic for Ryder.
Marina had a good sleep. The Spring Festival Gala began. The hosts and hostesses were the same every year, but people did not feel tired to look at them. The audience had been used to enjoying their performance.
“These fruits were cut just now.”
Lola served the fruit and sat down on the sofa. It was necessary to watch the Spring Festival Gala during the New Year. Otherwise, it would seem like something was missing.
They watched the crosstalk, sketch, singing, dancing, acrobatics, and magic, the most interesting and suspenseful program every year. Marina took a nap for a while and she stayed up until the countdown.
“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”
Marina held Ryder’s hand and closed her eyes to make a wish. In the new year, she hoped that her family would be healthy and Nicole could be cured. She also hoped that her baby would be born safely and those evil people such as Mark and Maeve would be arrested soon.
After eating dumplings, it was time to set off the fireworks.
Markus, Shawn, Lola, and all the servants were all waiting in the small square. Marina and her family just went out, and they could hear a few crackling sounds. The fireworks rushed up to the sky, and colorful fireworks flew up and down. Some were like scattering flowers, some were like shooting signals. The colorful fireworks were flickering, flickering.
Nicole said, “Mommy, the fireworks are so beautiful!”
Nicole was held by Marina. She stood under the lamp in front of the door and looked up. The most beautiful thing was that when the fireworks flew up to the sky, they exploded and turned into large peony flowers. The flowers turned into countless little flowers and spread out in all directions. The red and yellow swaying flowers were like a group of ever-changing butterflies flying in the sky.
“It looks good. Now, it is the first year that we get together.”
Ryder whispered.
Although Ryder had been married for several years, he had never known who Marina really was. He believed that she had the same feeling.
They had neglected to take care of Nicole. From this year on, everything was going to be changed.
This year was an unusual year. On last year’s New Year’s Eve, Ryder and Marina sat at the dining table but they were indifferent to each other. But now, Marina was in Ryder’s arms, watching the fireworks at ease.
Their second child was about to be born, and the future was wonderful.
From then on, Ryder and Marina would be together for one year, two years, ten years, twenty years, and even forever.
There were some things that Ryder did not say, but he told himself silently in his heart.
Markus said, “Ask the butler to take a photo of our family. We will take photos every time when we celebrate the New Year together.”
Markus raised his hand and asked the butler to take photos for them.
Last year, Markus and Ryder had spent a cold New Year’s eve. This year, the whole family gathered together.
Markus smiled. There was no one happier than him. His wife would have been happy to see this scene.
“Come on, everyone. Stand together.”
When the butler heard this, he held his camera and commanded, “Just stand under the fireworks and take a photo. We can take these fireworks as the background. This is called art.”
Marina said to the butler, “You have a talent for art. Can you take a photo and make me look prettier?”
In order to show Marina’s belly, the butler asked her to stand in the front. There were not many people in the family and there was no need to divide the family into two rows. Nicole stood beside Marina and pointed to her belly.
“Marina, no matter how I shoot you, you are beautiful.”
The butler was full of smiles and asked the people to pose. At the moment when the fireworks scattered, he pressed the button on the camera and took a series of photos, taking the most beautiful family photo.
…
After New Year’s Eve, Ryder gave himself a holiday for the first time and spent the holiday with Marina and Nicole for fifteen days.
Jane’s family came to Jin City from City J. The two families had a vacation together and they stayed in the resort.
There was a hot spring in the resort. In the winter, the trees made pleasant shades. The service staff set up a table for tea and sent the charcoal. The two families were going to have a casual barbecue together.
They were tired of the high-end places. They felt that they could enjoy the life of ordinary people here.
“Ryder, you’re so free. Is the company bankrupt?”
Marina seized the opportunity to ask Ryder in a low voice. She didn’t mind this. Marina did not want many luxury products.
She was kind of obsessed with charity right now. If she had the ability to help others, she would try to offer more help. Anyway, she couldn’t use up all that money.
No matter how rich she was, she would only need to pay for three meals a day. She didn’t care much about the luxury clothing brands no matter how noble they were.
In Jane’s words, Marina didn’t care much about money.
Ryder asked, “How do you think that way?”
Ryder smiled bitterly. He left a lot of business behind just to accompany Marina and Nicole. He did not expect Marina had such an illusion.
He hoped that the company would go bankrupt so that he would not have to worry about all kinds of projects.
Marina said, “Is that so?”
Marina tilted her head and remembered something.
A few days ago, Ryder and she went to see Javon. His mother was almost fully recovered from her illness.
The small courtyard had a poor living environment and it was far from the school. So Marina helped the family of three to rent a house with a living room and a bedroom near the building of the Langdon Group.
After the new year, Javon’s mother would go to the Langdon Group to be a cleaner.
Right now, the internal strife within the Langdon Group was rather intense. It had already reached a white-hot stage.
“Don’t worry, Mark won’t make things difficult for a cleaner no matter how evil he is.”
Ryder didn’t care. Everything was in his plan.
Kayden’s illness had spread all over his body. He wanted to see Mark get engaged in his last days. He had tried to get Mark and Paula Floyd together.
“You mean Paula Floyd?” Jane said with a half-smile.
Jane passed by and happened to hear the conversation.
Paula was pampered by her family. However, she was a z-list actor and often acted in a peremptory manner in the cast. But the Floyd family funded the cast so the cast could only stand Paula’s behavior and please her.
If Mark was going to be engaged to Paula, it would be a good show to see. Jane planned to send congratulatory gifts and watch the show.
Kayden was naïve when he thought that the Langdon Group would be under Mark’s control after he married Paula.