CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 182: REFUSE TO ADMIT EVEN IN DEATH

"In his heart, his fiancée is still alive!" Kiki thought. The living could never compete with the dead. Having fallen deeply in love, she felt only despair and helplessness. No matter what she did, Lucas Robertson only had eyes for his late fiancée; he simply didn’t see her at all.

"The dead are gone, but the living must go on..." Sienna Johnson stated solemnly.

"If Lucas Robertson weren’t repaying you for saving his life, he probably would have died for his fiancée long ago," Kiki said bitterly.

Everyone has their weaknesses and obsessions. Lucas Robertson couldn’t let go; he was still stubbornly living in the past. Sienna Johnson didn’t know what to say to him.

"Kiki, what do you think of my brother, Marvin Rafael?"

"Marvin is great."

"Then how about becoming my sister-in-law?"

Rose Collins’s biggest concern at the moment was Marvin Rafael’s marriage. Due to their family’s financial situation, Marvin Rafael, nearing thirty, was still unmarried. In their village, children of men his age were already old enough to run errands like fetching soy sauce.

Kiki was stunned into silence.

"You know my brother; he’s a good man. If you marry him, while I can’t promise wealth and luxury, at least he won’t let you suffer. He’s also a caring person... You should consider him..."

"Sienna, I..."

Sienna Johnson didn’t let her speak and advised, "Kiki, you’re always complaining that Lucas Robertson only sees his late fiancée and no one else. But what about you, Kiki? Don’t just fixate on Lucas Robertson; take a look at the other people around you."

"..."

"Besides Lucas Robertson, there are many good men in this world. I can’t speak for others, but I can vouch for my brother."

Kiki didn’t immediately refuse. "Sienna, let me think about it," she said.

"Okay."

When Kiki stepped out, her mind was in a whirl. As she closed the door, she suddenly looked up and saw Lucas Robertson standing there, leaning against the wall, his sharp, dark eyes fixed on her.

"Lucas Robertson, you scared me!" She patted her chest and turned to go downstairs, but he pulled her back. He took a pair of silver bracelets from his clothes and shoved them into her hand.

A pair of earrings, a pair of silver bracelets. Now she only had the silver bracelets. Where were the silver earrings? They must be for his late fiancée.

Kiki pushed the silver bracelets back at him. "I don’t want them!"

"Why not? They’re for you!"

"How can I just accept your things? Take them back."

Ever since Kiki had confessed her feelings to Lucas Robertson and been rejected, she had started to keep her distance from him. Their relationship had also grown much more distant.

"Are you really going to date that silly boy?" Lucas Robertson suddenly asked.

She no longer accepted the gifts he gave her.

"You were eavesdropping on Sienna and me!" Kiki said, embarrassed, her face turning red.

"I have something to report to the Miss; I wasn’t eavesdropping," Lucas Robertson retorted, his tone self-righteous.

"Then you should go in. Sienna is awake."

Kiki turned to leave, but he seized her hand and wouldn’t let go. Annoyed, Kiki asked, "What are you doing? Let go! I still need to make lunch for Sienna."

"You haven’t answered my question!"

"What question?"

"Are you going to date that silly boy?"

"Marvin Rafael is not a ’silly boy’! Don’t you dare talk about him like that again!"

Lucas Robertson gripped Kiki’s hand tightly, refusing to let go no matter how she struggled. "Just give me a little more time... I will forget her..."

"Her"... Of course, he meant his late fiancée, Kiki thought, a wave of grievance washing over her. Her mind drifted to Sienna Johnson and Adrian Desmond. Sienna had loved Adrian Desmond, but she left because her love wasn’t fairly reciprocated.

So, Sienna let go; she fled. Now I finally understand how she must have felt. Love is selfish and domineering. And I... I’m selfish too. I can’t allow his heart to hold any other woman.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me go!"

Lucas Robertson watched her trying desperately to escape. "Kiki," he said, his voice cold, "you know what I’m talking about."

"..."

"Just give me a little more time... I will forget her..."

"Lucas Robertson, you’ll never forget her!"

Lucas Robertson fell silent. Kiki pushed his hand away. This time, he didn’t grip it tightly. Kiki looked at him, sighed, and left.

「Later, at lunch.」

The meal was rich: tremella tofu soup, tofu with scallions, stir-fried tofu skin with bean sprouts, Coral Lotus Root, braised asparagus, Dry Stir-fried Kidney Bean, stir-fried bitter melon, and a colorful fresh soup. Although they were all vegetarian dishes, they tasted wonderful.

Curly Baby sat in Sienna’s lap, drinking the colorful fresh soup. She smacked her little lips, savoring the taste with every sip, and her brilliant smile each time delighted the Old Madam.

"This little girl! So young and already a connoisseur of good food," the Old Madam chuckled.

"She eats so much, like a little piglet. My arms get sore if I hold her for too long now," Sienna Johnson said, her eyes curving into crescents with her smile.

"Big Sister, if your arms are sore, I can hold her! I love holding Curly Baby," Samara offered with a smile.

It was Saturday, so Samara wasn’t in school.

"Sister..." Curly Baby called out to Samara.

"You’ve got the generations mixed up. Call her Little Auntie," Sienna Johnson corrected gently.

"Sister..."

Curly Baby had learned the word "Sister" from hearing Samara call Sienna Johnson "Big Sister" so often, and now she called Samara "Sister" too.

"Curly Baby, you naughty girl, you’re making me younger! I’m clearly a generation older than you. No, you have to call me Little Auntie."

"Sister..."

"She’s still young. She’ll understand when she’s older," the Old Madam said reassuringly.

"Curly Baby, call me Great-Grandma..." the Old Madam cooed.

"G’an!" Curly Baby chirped, attempting the word.

Pauline Briggs’s expression soured. She slammed her chopsticks on the table. "I heard you beat Eric Johnson so badly he ended up in the hospital."

Of course, I’ll deny it, Sienna Johnson thought. And I trust no one from the meeting room that day would dare leak anything. This supposed ’beating’ is just the Johnson family’s side of the story.

"Madam Johnson, I’m not sure where you heard that. I’m certainly not aware of any such thing."

That "Madam Johnson" always made Pauline Briggs feel choked with resentment. "Sabrina told me," she snapped. "Not only did you hit him, but you also stripped Eric Johnson of his manager position, didn’t you?"

Sienna Johnson didn’t even glance at her, her gaze fixed on Curly Baby, who was happily gnawing on a spoon. "I did remove Eric Johnson from his managerial position. As for assaulting him, I have no knowledge of that."

"..."

"Perhaps Eric Johnson offended someone else?" Sienna Johnson asked, her expression perfectly composed, her heart rate steady.

Pauline Briggs seethed. "You’re still lying?"

Sienna Johnson met Pauline Briggs’s furious gaze. "Madam Johnson, why are you so certain that I’m lying, and not Sabrina Johnson?"

"I raised Sabrina! Don’t you think I know her character? She has never told a lie in her entire life!"

"Never told a lie?" Sienna Johnson scoffed. "Heh. Madam Johnson, what gives you such astounding confidence..."

I might not have known the old Sabrina Johnson, but I certainly know the one who conspired with Frederick Stewart to murder me. I was their intended victim!