Kevan's face was calm and emotionless. "It's not worth it for you to make the trip. It's too far." Without hesitation, Larissa shot him down. Gary had invited his network of close friends in Aldovia. Kevan wasn't close to any of them. Thus, it would only be awkward for him. Besides, he had his own job to take care of. "Alright," Kevan replied, pursing his lips. He did not confirm whether he would attend or not. "You guys should have an early night. Aren't you going to Disnieland tomorrow? You won't have enough energy to play if you don't go to sleep now." "Yeah." Larissa nodded, suppressing her reluctance to hang up. Avoiding Kevan's gaze, she lowered her voice and spoke to Aster. "Say goodbye to Daddy." "Bye, Daddy!" Because of his excitement to go to Disnieland, Aster bid Kevan goodbye immediately. Usually, he would try to prolong the call for as long as possible. Kevan's eyes shone with amusement. With a wide grin, he ended the call in a cheerful tone, "Bye, goodnight!"

"Of course, I missed you! Larissa pinched his chubby cheeks fondly and straightened up. She asked Allen, "Shall we leave now?" "Wait a minute!" Allen turned around and entered the house. In less than two minutes, he appeared with a brown paper bag and passed the bag to Larissa. "I made some sandwiches. Both of you must have left home very early. Have you had any breakfast?"Coincidentally, they had left in a hurry. Larissa didn't have time to prepare breakfast for themselves. She handed the paper bag to Aster and reminded him, "Say thank you to Uncle Allen!" On the contrary, Aster didn't seem to be in a good mood. He appeared dejected and his excitement from yesterday had completely disappeared. Holding on to a corner of the paper bag, Aster's arm hung limply at his side. For some reason, he didn't make any move to retrieve the sandwiches from the bag. "Thank you, Uncle Allen," Aster said with a forced smile. He quickly diverted his gaze from Allen and hung his head, staring

Freddy opened the door from inside. When Aster got in, Freddy quickly shut the door, as if he was afraid that Larissa would change her mind. Chuckling, Larissa got into the front seat. She turned around and asked Freddy, "What game are you going to play with Aster?" Like magic, Freddy produced an iPad and started a game with colorful visuals. Sounds of cheerful music echoed in the car. Freddy and Aster were around the same age, so they had common interests. After a while, Aster's attention was focused on the game and both of them played together happily. Larissa's worry eased slightly. Diverting his attention from the boys in the rearview mirror, Allen glanced at the paper bag Larissa placed at her feet. "Do you not like sandwiches?" "Oh, no." Larissa laughed awkwardly and opened the bag. She took out a stuffed sandwich that was wrapped in paper. "It wasn't convenient to eat just now." She asked Aster, "Do you want some sandwiches? There's bacon and ham!" Aster was stil

Allen did not stop the car, but he didn't drive to Disnieland either. Turning the car around, he drove in the direction of Larissa's home. "I'll send you back home. I won't feel comfortable letting you go back on your own," Allen said out of consideration for her. His tone was firm, leaving no room for Larissa to refuse. Freddy cried for almost half the journey there, but no one in the car paid him any attention. Even Larissa, who usually treated him kindly, maintained a stern expression throughout and ignored his crying. Freddy was truly afraid. Choking back his sobs, he huddled in a corner of the backseat for the latter half of the journey. He shot glances at Aster, who was sitting beside him, and at Larissa, who was sitting in the passenger seat. After venting his anger, Aster gazed out of the car window, lost in thought. Larissa stared ahead in a daze, unaware of Allen's frequent glances. In half an hour, the car stopped at the ground floor of Larissa's home. As soon as

Aster was ticklish, especially around his waist. He couldn't stand anyone touching him there. As expected, he squirmed under her touch and tried to escape. Larissa took the chance to pull the blanket off. She enveloped Aster in her embrace. Aster's tear-streaked face was exposed. Larissa's heart felt like it was being stabbed with a knife. Her chest ached, and she felt suffocated by the pain. Tightening her arms around him, she lowered her head and kissed his forehead. "Don't cry." Her voice trembled as scorching tears rolled down her cheeks as well. Aster released his clenched teeth and buried his face in Larissa's chest. He was crying his heart out. He had never cried like this before. His cries were heartrending and loud. It was as if he wanted to vent all the bitterness and grievances he bore for years. Holding him, Larissa's tears flowed. Words of comfort were stuck in her throat. She could only utter the same words repeatedly, "Aster, don't cry …"Wendy had been

Kevan replied calmly, "Yes, I'm on a business trip." "This late?" Larissa checked the clock on her phone again. It was indeed 1 am in Caldor. People of Kevan's status didn't need to consider costs on their business trips. It was impossible for Kevan to take a red-eye flight to save money. Moreover, he was sitting in a regular waiting area at the departure hall, not in a VIP lounge that befitted his status. All these details seemed strange. "The weather over there is bad, so planes are unable to take off." Kevan smiled helplessly and changed the subject. "Do you need something from me?" "Not me, Aster." Larissa pointed the camera at Aster. Seeing Kevan, Aster finally stopped crying. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and sniffled hard. Kevan's expression changed immediately. "What's wrong? Who hurt you?" he asked anxiously. Shaking his head, Aster tried to catch his breath and stammered, "No … No one hurt me."He was a pitiable sight. His eyes and nose were com

"What?" Larissa noticed the smirk on Wendy's face and took a step back. "Wouldn't you be annoyed if Kevan could comfort Aster with just a few words? After all, you spent so much time trying to comfort him." Wendy tried to provoke her, but Larissa remained silent. Wendy patted her on the shoulder and sighed. "It's understandable that you wouldn't want the father and son to reunite. If Aster learns that Mr. Rogers is his biological father, your position in this family would be jeopardized."Larissa couldn't stop herself from sneering. "No way! I believe that my son loves me the most!" She was Aster's favorite person, there was no doubt about that!" After half an hour, Aster emerged from his bedroom with Larissa's phone in his hand. He had stopped crying. Even his hiccups had ceased. His breathing had returned to normal. Still, Aster's eyes were completely swollen from crying, and he could only see through narrowed slits. It was quite a comical sight. Larissa wanted to laugh,

Larissa logged out of Facebook and logged into her old account on Whatsapp. She had added many random people on this account. As soon as she logged in, hundreds of message notifications appeared on the screen. It almost caused her phone to freeze. The main group chat for the Winston Hotel's staff was pinned to the top of the chat groups. Every second, there were new messages coming in. Larissa clicked into the group chat. All she saw were continuous text messages of despair. Regardless of department or position, everyone was asking, "The hotel's been closed down, what should we do?" No one had an answer. A sense of hopelessness and grief was spreading like wildfire amongst the chat group members. Larissa didn't know who started it, but everyone started tagging Bryan's contact at the end of their messages.Still, Bryan turned a blind eye to everything and didn't say a word in the group. Larissa found her former assistant and inquired about the situation, "I heard that the

"I'm not trying to flatter you, but you are a much better boss than Mr. Harrison! Look at what happened today! Mr. Harrison disappeared without a trace. No explanation was given! He disappointed all of us!"Kevan's aim was to deal with Bryan. That was why he'd targeted the Winston Hotel. Larissa had enough reasons to suspect that Bryan's disappearance was also related to Kevan. Still, she wasn't going to defend Bryan now."Apart from Mr. Harrison, who else is managing the hotel's affairs now?" she asked the assistant, who rattled off some names.Larissa said, "Contact them and see what they have to say. News that the hotel has been shut down should have reached headquarters by now. The arrangements would be ready soon. Don't worry, and tell everyone else not to worry either.""Alright!" The assistant disappeared and returned in a few minutes. "Ms. Miller said she's already in a discussion with headquarters. She also told us to remain calm."Larissa replied, "Good." In the main gro

Aster and Wendy had a great time playing in the theme park. They walked out hand in hand, their faces flushed red with happiness. Larissa handed them a cup of hot coffee and milk respectively. She had prepared drinks in advance. She reached out to Aster and discovered that he was covered in sweat. His body was radiating heat from running around and playing. "Mommy! It's super fun inside!" He chattered away merrily like a bird, eager to introduce every corner of the park to Larissa. She listened attentively and asked a question or two occasionally in response to what he was saying. Aster's mood had improved, as if he had completely forgotten about what happened this morning. Larissa made a reservation for lunch at a restaurant famous for their burgers and fries. Aster loved fast food like this, but Larissa usually didn't allow him to eat them. Wendy teased Larissa, "Feeling threatened? Are you trying to win back your son's love from Mr. Rogers?" Larissa rolled her eyes and r