He recognized her as the young girl he had once saved. Since he had saved her then, there was no reason to harm her now.
Because inside her belly was a vibrant life, belonging to her and also to him. If he were to harm this child, she would surely hate him.
Andrew inexplicably looked forward to what a child, a blend of their blood, would be like.
Then Asher was born, and their destinies intertwined, tightly entangled together.
They left the amusement park, already past midnight.
Before going to bed, Andrew went to the children’s room and quietly watched over his son’s crib for a while before leaving. When he returned to the room, Isabella was sitting on the bed playing with her phone.
“Is Asher asleep?” she asked.
“Yes, fast asleep,” Andrew sat down beside her on the bed. “He looks a lot like you when he’s asleep.”
“Of course, since I gave birth to him, he’s naturally adorable like me,” she tilted her face up, proudly saying.
He habitually reached out with his long fingers and lightly brushed her nose. “Stop playing with your phone and go to sleep.”
“Okay,” she placed her phone to the side, the screen still lit.
That night, Isabella posted on Instagram: “Praying the stars in the sky won’t go out tonight, promising to be with you forever in my heart.” The picture was of an amusement park under a starry sky.
That post went viral that night on Ins.
Fans and netizens left comments.
Fan 1: “Goddess, does this mean you have boyfriend? Tears of joy.”
Fan 2: “I hope our sister finds happiness.”
Fan 3: “The goddess is mine; no one can take her away.”
The next day, Isabella trended on hot searches: “Popular actress Isabella suspected of dating; boyfriend splurges on amusement park date.”
The next day, Olivia scolded Isabella without holding back. But the studio didn’t offer any explanation or response to the Instagram post.
If they publicly denied it, and later Isabella and Andrew’s relationship was exposed, Isabella would appear to have fooled the public.
Anyway, such news was constantly being hyped online. It wouldn’t be long before it was forgotten by the public.
Soon after, her new movie entered the promotional phase.
Isabella got busy again, touring around the country with Davis, attending various talk shows to promote the movie.
She was so busy that she didn’t even have time to attend Aria’s wedding, just sending a hundred-thousand-dollar check with Ava.
Since Charlotte and Victoria had both made contributions, she couldn’t be stingy. However, she wouldn’t be taken advantage of either.
She flew to Rochester town with Olivia to attend a show recording, and upon arrival, she found out that Luke was also invited.
“Luke, long time no see,” she politely greeted Luke.
Luke nodded and smiled; they exchanged a few polite words.
As it was an entertainment show, there were game segments. During a game, Isabella nearly fell, but Luke, standing beside her, reached out and caught her waist, preventing her from embarrassing herself.
After the show recording, Luke asked Isabella out for dinner, and she gladly accepted.
She liked French cuisine, and Luke chose a French restaurant.
As the recording ended in the evening, by the time they reached the restaurant, it was already past six in the evening. After dinner, when they left, it was already dark.
Neither Luke nor Isabella expected that there would still be paparazzi following them so late.
So when news of their late-night meeting with Luke flooded the internet the next day, Isabella was caught completely off guard.
The online articles about her secret relationship with Luke were vividly written, complete with pictures to back it up. Since they started shooting “Mermaid Princess,” there were rumors about their ambiguous relationship. Later, they appeared together on a reality show, showing affection, heating things up. Even on yesterday’s variety show, Luke was protective of his girlfriend throughout. After recording the show, they met secretly late at night and went to their love nest together.
The pictures accompanying the articles included the moment on the show where Luke accidentally caught her waist, as well as a photo taken last night when they left the French restaurant together. In the photo, Luke wore a baseball cap, covering most of his face. She had her hair down and wore a mask, but it was clearly them.
After reading the article, Isabella was amazed at the paparazzi’s imagination.
What affection and heat? The reality show was obviously staged by the crew for ratings using her and Luke as a couple. And going to a love nest? They had dinner last night and went their separate ways at the restaurant’s entrance.
She placed her hand over her heart, feeling so upset it hurt.
This time, Olivia didn’t even bother to scold her. Instead, she immediately handled the crisis with public relations. On behalf of the studio, a formal statement was issued claiming that Isabella and Luke were just ordinary friends. During the filming of “Mermaid Princess” and the reality show, Luke, as a senior, had always taken good care of Isabella, and they were very good friends.
Shortly after, Luke’s studio also issued a statement, claiming they were just friends.
However, denials from both parties didn’t help much. People always believe there’s no smoke without fire. The news about Isabella and Luke continued to spread wildly online, causing her a lot of headaches.
Olivia said, “This kind of news is common in the entertainment industry. After a while, when you and Luke have no contact, the attention will gradually fade. So many male and female celebrities have rumors about them, but very few are actually dating. What you should worry about now is how to explain this to Andrew.”
Thinking of Andrew made Isabella even more anxious.
Although she and Luke had no ambiguous relationship, the photos online were indeed suggestive. She had no idea what Andrew would think when he saw them.
She held her phone, picking it up and putting it down repeatedly, finally giving up on calling him.
“Don’t know how to explain? Aren’t you usually quite eloquent?” Olivia teased her.
“What’s there to explain? If there’s no basic trust, what’s the point of talking about love?” She threw her phone aside, covered her head, and tried to sleep.
However, lying in bed, she couldn’t sleep no matter how much she tossed and turned.
When the clock struck midnight, she couldn’t lie still anymore. She sat up abruptly, angrily picked up her phone, and dialed Andrew’s number.
The phone rang for a long time with no answer. Her anger quickly turned into worry. She thought, “Is Andrew really angry? Would he really give her the silent treatment over such a trivial matter?”
The phone kept ringing with no answer. Listening to the busy tone, Isabella redialed several times before finally getting through.