Vespera had never seen this number before, but the tone of the message was unmistakably familiar. The message read, "Vespera, you can''t keep this baby. We need to talk. I''m at the apartment. I''lle down when you get here."

Vespera couldn''t believe Luke hadn''t moved on from this. Her temple throbbed. It was like she had braced herself for a ghost to crawl out of her television, only for a half-witted clown to jump out instead. It wasn''t scary. It was just infuriating.

And the worst part was that she couldn''t punch him. She took deep breaths as she didn''t want to argue with an idiot.

"It seems like it was a spam message," said Dominic casually.fnaa9d The source of th?s content is FindN()vel/fnaa9d

Vespera quickly deleted the message and responded, "Yeah. It''s a boring spam message. It gave me a bit of a scare."

Vespera locked her phone and flicked it to silent, just in case more nonsense came rolling in. Then, it hit her. Luke said he was at the apartment.

"How about we eat out tonight?" Vespera asked.

They were already close to the apartment. Dominic nced at her, clearly sensing something but choosing not to push. He said, "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

Vespera randomly said a restaurant name, and Dominic drove to that ce.

After dinner, Vespera suggested taking a walk. They walked from the restaurant to a square to a park. They even watched a musical fountain show that kicked off precisely at 8:00 pm.

When the musical fountain show ended, it was only 9:00 pm. Not wanting to go back to the apartment yet, Vespera gave a few suggestions.

"Let''s buy a blind box.

"Do you want some ice cream?

"Let me win you a stuffed toy. Which one do you like?

"A carousel! Come on, I''ll make up for your lost childhood.

"Have you ever used one of those bubble guns? I bet you haven''t. I''ll buy you one!"

Dominic went along with Vespera. When it was 10:30 pm, he said, "Vera, there''s a small train over there. Do you want to ride it?"

As his hands were full with a bubble gun in one and a stuffed toy in the other, he pointed at the train nearby with his chin.

Many kids were tugging on their parents, squealing to ride the train.

Vespera was rendered speechless She pursed her lips and said with great difficulty, "I know you want to ride bu it really doesn''t suit your

Give up. You can''t even take a seat."

s

Dominic smiled slyly and replied, "If I don''t give it a try, my inner child won''t be

healed. Do you want me to live with regrets?"

Vespera surrendered. If she didn''t stop Dominic, he would drag her onto that train in full view of a dozen shocked parents.

"Let''s go home. I''ll make it up to you next time!" Vespera said.

She really hoped Luke wouldn''t be there. It was a slim chance, but she

clung to that faint hope as Sand

Dominic walked to the car and headed back to the apartment.  s

As Vespera got out of the car and walked toward the elevator, her stomach churned with every step.

Dominic asked, "Why are you so reluctant to return to the apartment?"

Dominic handed Vespera the stuffed toy, which she hugged tightly. Thinking that she shouldn''t make things moreplex, she answered, "I''m not."

"Is your mom here?" Dominic asked.

Vespera responded, "Nope."

"What''s the reason then?" Dominic questioned.

Vespera replied, "It''s nothing. I just wanted to have a nice evening with you. You enjoyed yourself too, didn''t you?"

On the way to the elevator, everything seemed fine. Vespera rxed and reached out to press the button.

When the elevator door slid open, Luke was inside. In loungewear, he crossed his arms as he waited for Vespera Perhaps he had been waiting for too long and was tired. His face was pale as he slowly

opened his eyes.  s

The moment he saw Dominic and Vespera smiling as well as the toys in their

hands, he was enraged.