Valeria was at work when she got a Whatsapp text from Gavin, saying that he was around the Central South Building, inviting her for lunch.
A little surprised, she went out to see what was going on.
Gavin was all smiles when he saw her. Going up to her, he said, “Valeria, I came all the way here to buy you lunch.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Valeria shook her head lightly.
“I’m already here anyway. Accept my offer, will you?”
Losing lost to the tender smile on Gavin’s face, Valeria finally agreed after a moment of hesitation.
As they were crossing the road, Gavin accidentally slipped. Valeria was quick to hold him, “Sir, be careful!”
“Your knees are weaker as you’re older, you know?” Gavin laughed as he held on to Valeria.
And it surprised Valeria that Gavin was okay with her holding him. Remaining in that posture, the two of them walked across the road to the Chinese restaurant.
Since Gavin wanted to show his sincerity, he ordered a handful of dishes and even started introducing himself to Valeria.
“My name is Gavin Saunders, and I’ll be 75 years old this year. My wife passed away early, so I raised both of my children all by myself. But now that I’m old, these two see me as trouble and left me. I live alone now.”
“It’s that so?” Valeria felt a little sorry for him.
“Valeria, you feel like family to me. In fact, you’re about the same age as my granddaughter. Looking at you reminds me of her.”
“Why don’t you go see your granddaughter if you miss her so much?”
“She went abroad. All of them left me here and immigrated,” Gavin said it so naturally that no one would have known that he was lying. “I’m always alone. The only things I can do are play with my cats and dogs or go exercise at the park. Valeria, why don’t you be my granddaughter?”
Valeria felt sorrier looking at the old man, but being his granddaughter still seems weird to her. “I… I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“I knew it. I know this is too much coming from someone whom you only met twice. You haven’t even known me completely, of course you won’t be able to see me as your grandpa,” Gavin sighed, realizing that this wouldn’t be easy.
A waitress interrupted him as she brought up the dishes. So, Gavin dropped the subject, “Let’s put this aside and eat up. You should eat more. You’re too petite.”
Later, throughout lunch, they talked about Gavin’s pets. He purposely brought this matter up after he got to know that Valeria had a soft spot for small animals.
Gavin talked about how intelligent his pets were. He had a dog that could ride a bike and buy things for him; his cat was chubby and would always fight with the dog out of jealousy. These stories had piqued Valeria’s interest.
Gavin, of course, noticed the interest in her eyes. He quickly suggested, “If you have time, I can bring you to see them. Or I can also bring them to you tomorrow.”
“That’s great!” Valeria agreed in excitement.
“Okay! I’ll bring them over at noon tomorrow.”
Gavin paid for their lunch. Before they part ways, he promised Valeria, again, that he would be bringing his favorite pets to see her the next day.
Then, after they bid goodbyes, Valeria returned to the Central South Building while Gavin turned towards his limousine a few hundred meters away. Seeing that Gavin was coming back, Arthur, his housekeeper, quickly held the car door open.
Sensing the giddiness that Gavin couldn’t even hide, Arthur smiled and asked, “What did Miss Brown say to make you so happy, Sir?”
“Nothing much, just some small talk. She’s a very considerate and well-mannered child, you know? She even picked the fishbones out for me.”
“She looks like one too,” Arthur added in agreement.
“I was wrong back then. Natalie didn’t seem so bad if she could raise Valeria to be such a well-behaved and adorable girl. But I…”
Gavin didn’t finish his sentence. He suddenly remembered, “Get someone to send Oreo and Mocha here from Ruthorham immediately. I’m bringing them to Valeria tomorrow. Also, I want to buy a house here.”
“Sir, you’re planning to stay here for long?” Arthur asked in surprise.
“Of course! No one can refuse Oreo and Mocha. Since Valeria likes animals, I’m sure we’ll get closer in no time,” Gavin laughed over his thought.
Meanwhile, in a farmhouse at B City, a woman, dressed in black, laid writing in pain on a bed in a farmhouse. Her head was aching as if something was burning inside.
There was a bottle of pills that could relieve her headache on her bedside table. All she had to do was to reach out and swallow them.
But she was trying her best to resist it. She refused to yield to the intense pain even though she couldn’t stand it any longer.
It had been three months since she had woken up, but the side effects were still killing her. Her memories were fading.
Natalie had had terrible headaches ever since she woke up, and it left her no choice but to take the painkillers Lucian bought for her to stop it. However, the cost was severe.
And she didn’t realize it until it took her a while to recognize Archer through the keyhole on Lucian’s attic’s door on that day.
The thought of her fading memories terrified her.
And it only started after she began to take the painkillers. Natalie had no memory problems when she woke up.
She was too terrified to think further. What was the point of living if she were to lose all of her memories? She would turn to living like a walking dead!
She wanted to be able to remember her daughter, and most importantly, her enemy. She had to prevent the memory loss from getting worse.
Therefore, Natalie must restrain herself from taking the painkiller.
After struggling for some more time, the pain began to recede. Natalie was already drenched in sweat by then.
Gasping for air on her bed, Natalie felt like she just survived a deadly blow.
However, this was only the first, and there were still four or five times coming in a day. As much as she was devastated, for the sake of Valeria and her vengeance, Natalie was determined to endure it all.
After resting for a while, she managed to pull herself up and get ready for a shower. It was at that time, her phone rang. “What’s the matter?” Natalie asked in a hoarse voice.
“President Garcia, Mr. Saunders went to see Miss today!”
“What?” Natalie raised her voice without realizing it.
“I’m not sure what Gavin is trying to do, pretending like a poor man, and bringing Miss Brown for a meal. Miss Brown doesn’t even know about his true identity!” Lucian’s frustration was evident even over the phone.
Not getting a reply from Natalie, Lucian continued to ask, “The cunning old man is nothing good. There must be a reason for him to approach Miss Brown. Do you think he could have found out who Miss Brown really is?”