Did he meet this woman before? Why couldn’t he remember anything? Linford felt the urge to figure out who she really was. And then, his eyes fell on Cristelle’s drafts.
Linford picked up those papers scattered on her desk, and his eyes widened shortly in amazement. This girl was indeed talented.
After putting down the drafts, Linford also took off his suit jacket, draping it gently over Cristelle’s shoulders.
****
When other colleagues came back, Cristelle was still sleeping. However, everyone’s gaze fell on the male jacket on her body. That jacket looked tailored and expensive.
“Jeez… It’s only been days, and our Cristelle has got herself so many chasers.”
“I told you she’s a whore.”
“Yep. Or why would someone take care of her like that? She may look innocent. But I assure you she’s nothing but a cunning slut. What do you think, Juliette?”
Juliette looked complicated, and she didn’t say anything after coming into her office. She looked away, not knowing how to face Cristelle or Izzy.
****
Cristelle still felt drowsy after waking up. She felt so weird because she seldom felt sleepy during work. She would never guess that the friend she thought she had actually drugged her tea.
Besides, she had something else to worry about. That suit jacket was on her body when she woke out. She didn’t know who owned it, but her colleagues had been giving her weird looks.
Cristelle asked around the office, but no one came to claim the jacket. She could only take it back home with her and iron it. Hopefully, she could find the owner the next day at work.
Cody looked pretty serious as he saw that jacket, “Mom, who does this jacket belong to? Is he even a good person? You can’t wear other people’s clothes so randomly, okay?”
The boy looked so serious as he said that. Cristelle laughed, “This belongs to one of my colleagues, Cody,” She repeated what happened to her this lunch break, “Whoever the owner is, I’ll iron it and give it back tomorrow. You don’t need to get worried, Cody.”
Cody looked at his mom’s pretty face, sighing, “Don’t give people any chance to fool you, Mommy.”
Cristelle crouched down and gave the boy a little kiss, “Don’t worry, Sweetie. Mommy will be really careful. My son is a genius. I won’t be an idiot.”
****
Cristelle went to the company quite early the next morning. She planned to go to the security department first and check out the surveillance footage. She needed to figure out who put this jacket on her when she was sleeping, or she wouldn’t be able to give it back.
Before she could do it, however, Alfred showed up. The assistant seemed genuinely surprised to see her, “Cristelle? Why are you still here today to work? We’re taking a break.”
Cristelle explained about the suit jacket. Alfred’s eyes fell on Cristelle’s hands, and he instantly realized that the jacket belonged to his boss.
The assistant smiled, “Just give it to me.”
Cristelle’s mouth fell open, “So… This is yours?”
“Yep,” Alfred smiled.
“Thank you,” Cristelle was a bit confused as she handed the jacket to Alfred. Why did this man care about her so much?
****
Alfred went straight to Linford’s office, putting a folder on his desk, “This is everything I got based on my investigation toward Cristelle.”
Linford put down his phone and grabbed the folder, his eyes skimming across the words on those papers.
And then, he stopped, “Wait… She has twins?”
His voice was soft, yet the look on his face was quite grim.
Alfred shook his head, “I’m also surprised to know that Cristelle has two babies at such a young age. Being a single mom is not easy.”
“She’s a single mom? She still contacts the father, doesn’t she?” Linford asked, making his tone as casual as he could.
“Well…” Alfred cleared his throat, “I haven’t found anything about the father. I guess Cristelle also doesn’t know who the father is.”
****
Cristelle went home and decided to take her children to a nearby park to enjoy the weather.
It was good for the kids to go to the park, especially for Candace. However, she was scared and clung to Cristelle all the time.
Cristelle carried Candace in her arms, calling Cody from behind, “Would you wait for us, Cody?”
Cody had been locked in the room for too long. He couldn’t help running around like a little bunny.
“Don’t worry, Mom! I’ll be safe. You just take care of Candace!” The boy answered.
Cristelle shook her head and sat on the bench with her little girl, letting Cody play around as he wanted.
Cristelle leaned over and smiled at Candace, “Look at how much fun Cody’s having. Do you want to join him?”
Candace loved to play with Cody but now that they were outside and there were too many kids. She didn’t dare to play with them. So the poor girl clung to Cristelle’s side and frantically shook her head.
Cristelle left a kiss on her head before pulling her in, “Mom’s here, sweetie. Don’t worry. You can do whatever you want, okay? We can watch Cody play if you don’t want to play.”
Candace hummed something, but it was hard to identify what she had just said. Cody was playing football with other kids.
He liked the new city and where they were living right now. Nobody criticized his mother anymore. Those people back in their old town were bad. They called Cody and Candace little bastards all the time.
Candace got bored after a while and then noticed a kid who was eating a hotdog.
Cristelle noticed the look on the girl’s face and smiled, “Do you also want one, honey?”
Candace nodded firmly.
Cristelle carried her to the hotdog stand to get some snacks for the kids.
Cody was distracted when he noticed Cristelle walking away. Unfortunately, he failed to send the ball in the right direction and hit a pedestrian with a fierce kick. Other kids quickly scattered.
Cody ran over instantly to apologize, “Sir, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you.”