Is something wrong with Lane Corporation? I think that I’ll get John to investigate the things that are going on tomorrow.
By the time Evan roused from his sleep and opened his drowsy pair of eyes due to the sunlight that had beamed through the curtain, Nicole was nowhere to be found by his side anymore.
He sat upright abruptly and brought himself out of their bedroom after he had put on a pair of indoor sandals.
Meanwhile, Nina and Maya were in the middle of the corridor. The former offered to help her sister in combing her hair.
“Stay still!”
“I’m not even moving!”
“What about your head? You’re not supposed to move your head when I’m combing your hair!”
Evan was reluctant to get in his daughters’ way because they seemed to be in the middle of a serious hair-combing session.
Maya greeted her father with a heartwarming smile the moment she saw him, “Daddy, Mommy is preparing our breakfast in the kitchen! She has prepared your favorite dish!”
The moment Maya finished her sentence, Nicole made her way upstairs and asked gently, “Why don’t you stay in bed longer?”
After she finished her question, she looked in Maya and Nina’s direction. “Why are you guys combing your hair here? Are you guys the ones who have roused your father from his sleep?”
“No! We didn’t even make any noise!” Nina refuted.
Maya shook her head fervently, staring at her mother, wide-eyed. “Mommy, we didn’t! We have been whispering all this while!”
“Hey, stop moving around!” Nina yelled at Maya once again.
Consequently, the chubby little girl covered her mouth using her chubby pair of hands. She stopped moving around as she was instructed.
Evan caught sight of the serious look that Nicole had as she confronted their daughters. Smirking, he took their sides and defended, “I have woken up on my own. It has nothing to do with them.”
“Oh, if that’s the case, can any one of you go to get Juan and Kyle for me? It’s time for breakfast.”
Nina pouted her lips and made her way toward her brothers’ bedroom.
Similarly, Evan returned to their bedroom to get changed into another set of clothes.
After they finished the meal that Nicole had prepared for them, the delighted children headed out and made their way to school.
Nicole asked Evan, “Aren’t you returning to the company?”
“I’m about to leave. Why? Do you want to tag along with me?”
As soon as Evan finished his question, both of them received a call at the same time.
After Nicole took a peek at her phone, she hung up the call without a second thought.
Meanwhile, Evan hesitated for a few seconds before bringing himself to end the call.
Simultaneously, they directed the exact same question at one another with a confused look on their faces. “Why didn’t you pick up the phone?”
Albeit faintly, Nicole had a grim expression as she replied, “It’s a call from an anonymous person. I’m pretty sure that it’s a prank call or something.”
Evan nodded in return and explained, “It’s a call from Susan. I’m not in the mood for a conversation with her.”
Although Evan had told Nicole the truth, she had lied because it was a call from Levant. She had hung up the call because she didn’t want to engage in a conversation with Levant in front of Evan.
“You should get going!”
“Okay.”
The duo left Imperial Garden, one after the other.
After Nicole departed, she felt unease deep down because she was afraid that the call from Levant had something to do with her father.
Therefore, she pulled over by the road and decided to call Levant.
“Levant, what do you want?”
“Nicole! It’s my birthday today! Can you join me for a meal tonight?”
Nicole’s expression turned gloomy all of a sudden. She remained silent for a few seconds before blurting out the question that she had in mind. “Levant, have you gotten word on my father’s whereabouts?”
“No.”
Ha! You’re lying!
As she harbored such thoughts to herself, she fell silent once again. In the end, she decided to confront Levant, “My father is in Wicked Palace, isn’t he? Your father is the one who has taken him into custody, right? When are you going to set him free?”
“Nicole, what are you talking about? Assuming that you’re right and that your father is in Wicked Palace, do you think that I’ll set him free unconditionally?”
“What exactly do you want, Levant?”
“Nicole, can you please join me for a meal to celebrate my birthday? I’ll be waiting for you tonight!”
As soon as he made himself clear, Levant hung up the call.
Nicole took a deep breath because she was unsure if she should join him for a meal as he had requested.
She was afraid that he would give her father a hard time if she turned him down. Perhaps he might decide to put her father at stake as he had previously threatened her.
However, things could possibly spiral out of control if Evan figured out that she had joined Levant for a meal to celebrate his birthday.
Her mind was all over the place once more because Levant had put her in a tough position yet again.
She had been turning the idea over in her mind throughout the entire day. In the evening, after she got off of work, she decided to switch her phone off as she made her way back to Imperial Garden.
Eventually, she felt a sense of relief because Levant couldn’t reach her through her phone calls anymore. He wouldn’t be able to locate her exact whereabouts either.
