"Thank you." Vivian picked up the teacup Luca handed her, took a sip, and flashed a smile. "The taste is so mellow.
I've never tried such good tea in Russia."
Luca smiled and brought another cup to Luke.
"Thank you." He took a sip.
Vivian put down the teacup and looked at Luca. "Luca, are you free tomorrow? Can you accompany me to the
apartment to have a look?"
"Okay, I could do that." Luca agreed without hesitation.
Tommy listened, raised his hand, and shouted, "I want to go too! Aunt Vivian, I want to visit your apartment too."
Seeing his enthusiasm, Vivian smiled and said, "Okay, no problem."
Luke shook his head and said, "Don't get in the way of the adults."
Tommy pouted and protested, "Daddy, I can help too."
"Don't cause any trouble and stay at home," Luke said with a stern expression. He did not allow him to be reckless.
Vivian went to Luca to ask for help because she trusted Luca.
If the children were over, the two of them would be distracted taking care of them.
Tommy suddenly teared up. He looked like he was about to cry. Luke knew that he would not cry.
Tommy was merely acting in front of him.
Vivian wanted to step in and say that she would not mind Tommy coming over. She was confident that two adults
could take care of a child.
Besides, Tommy was a sensible kid and would never trouble them.
Lanie whispered in Tommy's ear, "Tommy, don't make trouble. We can visit her place when Aunt Vivian settles
down."
"Okay..." Tommy agreed, although not very willingly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtLuca touched his head and whispered, "Don't be sad. There's cake later."
Tommy's eyes lit up, and he felt better at the mention of food.
Vivian looked at him and could not help but sigh in her heart.
‘Children are so cute. If I hadn't been so stubborn and chosen the man Ray wanted me to, I might've given birth to
a kid too. It's just that... I'm so ugly. Can I give birth to such a beautiful child?'
Vivian was envious.
Tommy noticed Vivian's change in expression and stepped forward. He lay on Vivian's lap and looked at her with
bright eyes and a cute smile on his face. "Aunt Vivian, let's have dinner together later! Ms. Luca did the cooking and
she made your favorite—cake!"
Vivian touched his head and was warmed by his smile. She said, "Okay, let's have dinner together later."
Luke glanced at Luca.
Luca also smiled. She thought that Tommy was more sensible than many other children.
He liked being at the center of attention, but he was attentive. Tommy had noticed the subtle changes in Vivian's
expression and knew to come forward to comfort her.
Ray said, "When he has free time, Tommy can go spend it with Vivian."
"Can he?" Vivian looked at Luke. He was the child's dad, so she needed his approval for anything related to the kids.
"No problem. Now that the kids are on winter vacation, they have a lot of time." Luke was more than happy to
agree.
"Tommy, what do you think?" Vivian asked for Tommy's opinion cautiously.
"I'd like to spend time with Aunt Vivian! Whenever she wants to see me, I'll be there!" Tommy promised.
Outsiders thought that Ray was cool and difficult to approach while Vivian was ugly, so they did not want to
approach them.
However, Tommy did not think so.
He thought that Ray was a good man who had a sense of justice. Ray had also saved his daddy, so he liked him very
much.
Although Vivian was not the best-looking, she was gentle and kind, so Tommy also liked to be around her.
"That's great! I thought that I would be bored and lonely once I start my studies here, but I have someone to
accompany me now." Vivian liked Tommy a lot. She took him into her arms.
Tommy was sitting on her lap. He had a wide smile on his face.
They chatted for a while before they went to the dining room for dinner.
During dinner, Vivian kept on praising the food prepared by Luca and Aunt Neile.
Luca smiled. She was relieved to see that the guests were enjoying her cooking.
This was Ray and Vivian's first meal in A City. She wanted to make sure to treat Luke's guests well. When she was
preparing the food, she was worried that they would not be used to her cooking.
After all, Russian food was different from local food.
After dinner, Aunt Neile brought Luca's cake out.
She sliced the cake and passed the slices around. The adults paired their cakes with champagne, while the children
ate the cakes with some soda.
After they were done, they returned to the sofa in the living room. They were talking while digesting.
Ray and Vivian left around nine-thirty at night.
Lliam sent them back to the hotel.
Luke trusted Lliam to pick up and drop them off. After he walked them out, the children went upstairs to wash up
and get ready for bed.
Luke picked up his phone and took a glance.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHe had not looked at his phone out of respect for the guests. He just had the time to check his notifications now.
He raised his brows after he went through them.
"I need to go upstairs to reply to a text," Luke said.
"Okay." Luca nodded, tidied up the cups and fruit bowl on the coffee table, and brought them to the kitchen.
When she saw what Luca was doing, Aunt Neile hurried over and said, "Ms. Craw, let me do it."
"Aunt Neile, why are you still here?" Luca was surprised. She had been chatting with Ray and Vivian and did not
notice that Aunt Neile had not gotten off work.
After all, Aunt Neile would have already gone home around this time.
"The guests were still here. How could I get off work? If the guests needed anything, I should be ready to attend to
their requests," Aunt Neile said.
Luca smiled and said, "Aunt Neile, it's getting late. You should head home now. It's snowing heavily today. I'll put
these into the dishwasher."
"No, no, I'll do it. It's not troublesome," Aunt Neile quickly said.
"It's okay, you should head back. I'll sort it out," Luca said as she unbuttoned Aunt Neile's apron.
Aunt Neile gave in and got off work.
Luca put the cups and fruit bowl in the sink before starting to wash them.
It was not too difficult to wash them with warm water.
She remembered Luke's expression after he looked at his phone just now. There seemed to be a significant update
because he was slightly surprised.
Luca wondered who texted him.
Upstairs.
Luke sat on his office chair and said to Gordan after calling him back, “I was occupied.”
Gordan had sent him a bunch of messages, both text and voice notes. However, he did not see them just now.
He did not pick up the last two calls either because he had muted his phone.