The conversation between the two men hadn't continued when the two children had finished their
homework and came downstairs.
"Mom, are we going to sleep here or go back to Grandpa's house?"
Megan asked her mother, but both children had already packed their school bags and brought them
down, clearly meaning to return to the suburbs.
"You guys go back and spend some time with Grandpa."
Winnie did not ask the children to stay, fearing that Brian would take the opportunity to stay.
"Aren't you coming back with us?"
Megan inquired of her mother with slight disappointment.
"Come back with us, you've been out relaxing for days, it's time to go back."
Brian brought the children over today not just to talk about Gloria, but most of all to get the children to
cooperate with him to bring Winnie back.
"I'd like to take a few more days off ......"
"Grandpa still needs someone to take care of him, so you should go back, Mom."
Luke interrupted his mother's refusal, having said on the way here that the three would work together.
Besides, he was worried about his mom living alone.
"Go back, Dad just got out of the hospital and still needs someone to take care of him, so you can help
out a bit. Besides, he likes to talk to you and Vanessa. Go back and stay with him for a few days before
he goes to convalesce. I don't know how long he'll be back from this trip."
Brian used his father to convince Winnie.
This trick did work well, and Winnie couldn't find an excuse to refuse.
"Your father promised to let me come back and stay for a few days."
"He doesn't want to give you trouble, in fact he misses you. Go back, and you can rest just as much,
the kids are all my business."
"Luke, go help mom pack the computer, Megan, you go help mom with her bag and we'll go home
together."
Brian didn't wait for Winnie to agree before instructing the two children to do their part.
The children were cooperative enough to rush off to do as told.
Winnie had no choice but to sigh sort of helplessly.
She still had a year to go before the problems between her and Brian were resolved, and in that year
she still wanted to keep her distance from Brian, not wanting to get herself in too deep, not wanting to
forget the pain.
The next day Wendy asked Gloria out.
Things didn't get any better with Gloria, and instead it was getting festering. So now she was a popular
figure, and the places they met had to be screened closely.
The location was chosen by Gloria, a cafe in a small alley. The cafe was so hidden that reporters
couldn't find it at all, and she used to hide here to meet people whenever scandals appeared.
"What do you want from me?"
Gloria asked indifferently.
"Nothing, just trying to explain the misunderstanding you had about me."
Wendy's attitude was much more enthusiastic than Gloria's, and to get Gloria to believe her words, she
did need to do some work on her attitude in response.
"Explanation? The facts are right there, what is to explain?"
"Penny is pushing the problem to Winnie, but right now I'm not sure you guys didn't have anything to do
with this."
Gloria treated Wendy unkindly, but compared to Penny, who was full of bad idea, she didn't think
Wendy had that much intention.
Only, no matter what Wendy was like, she was her opponent. Since it was an opponent, she had to be
treated toughly.
"It's not what you see between me and Penny, we have nothing to do with each other, we just used to
know each other and now I take pity on her to visit occasionally."
Wendy first explained the relationship between herself and Penny. Penny didn't ask her to explain. But
she felt the need to clarify herself out first so that things wouldn't get to Brian that she was implicated.
"You guys are really protecting yourselves at a critical moment. Wendy, don't think of things so naively,
and don't think of me so foolishly. These things aren't innocent even if you explain them."
"You and Penny are partners, she comes up with ideas and you carry them out, you think I can't see
that? You're still here pretending to be a good guy."
"You're cute enough."
"But if you let Penny know about this cuteness, will she still be able to help you? If she doesn't help
you, Brian can get farther and farther away from you."
Gloria didn't even give Wendy a chance to defend herself and directly poked Wendy's lie.
Wendy was embarrassed and flustered to look at Gloria, she did not expect Gloria to be so
straightforward.
It was true that she couldn't let Penny know what she said today, and if she did, their plan would
definitely be aborted.
"You can think what you want, but I came over here today to talk to you about this one."
Wendy had no way in explaining the relationship between herself and Penny, but could only explain the
most important purpose of her coming.
Wendy continued.
"Penny and I are targeting Winnie, and we're not targeting to get Brian, so this time it really has nothing
to do with us."
"We don't have the time or energy to find someone to follow you, and we never saw you as an
adversary. So ......"
"Didn't see me as a adversary? You don't think I'm qualified, do you?"
Gloria gave Wendy a chance to speak, and she was listening carefully to her explanation, but there
was something about how she listened with contempt.
"You're overthinking it. You are trying to get Brian while Penny and I treat Winnie with a kind of hatred,
we must avenge ourselves, we gave up on Brian a long time ago."
Wendy hurriedly gave an explanation, her explanation was a bit flustered, and she really didn't know if
Gloria would pick anything out.
"You mean you've given up on Brian and are alone in only wanting to deal with Winnie, right?"
Gloria asked sarcastically, a nonsense she certainly didn't believe.
"Yes, we just want to deal with Winnie, so we never thought about dealing with you. Winnie knows it,
we have clashed head on and also picked it out that we just won't stop until we win. She knows that we
can't be with Brian."
Wendy's hint was more than obvious, she was trying to sit Winnie as a suspect in the Gloria incident, a
task given to her by Penny.
"You mean she's turned her sights on me after knowing you guys gave up."
Gloria questioned thoughtfully.
Now things were still festering and her father hadn't even gotten it under control by stepping in. And the
baby's father has been dug up several times, and while some people here and there say it's Brian's,
they're quickly denied.
Things had developed to this point, without finding the final mastermind, not only Winnie had
suspicions, Wendy and Penny were also unlikely to be cleared of suspicion.
"I'm not sure, but I think it's a possibility."
Wendy didn't dare to say with certainty, afraid that she was liable by association. If her search for Gloria
today was known by Brian, she would be yelled at again.
"Wendy, let me sum it up."
"I had my suspicions of Winnie at the very beginning, and I'm still suspecting her even if you don't
come over to instigate it. But it's not that easy for you and Penny to put the blame on Winnie."
In the end, Gloria still didn't believe Wendy's words, and the more Wendy explained, the more likely
she thought it was.
" I believe Penny gave up Brian, because she didn't have a few days to live. And you, you said you
gave up, I don't believe it, you are now using Penny to try to snatch back Brian."
"So put your little mind to rest and don't be a smartass."
She, Gloria, was usually arrogant and domineering, but she wasn't stupid. There were still some things
she could see, and some words she could hear and understand. Trying to use her as a gun, it seems
like this trick hadn't reached the realm yet.
Gloria stood up, then waved the phone in her hand.
"I have recordings of today's conversation, including the one from the hospital that day. Once we find
out that you and Penny did this, then I don't have to deal with this personally, just give the recording to
Brian and he will solve this matter for me."
"Bye!"
After saying a mocking goodbye, Gloria swayed away.
Wendy sat there in panic, they have the advantage clearly, but it fell in the hands of Gloria now.
Ugh ...... it was so hard to do something, how come there were difficulties everywhere and how come
none of it goes well.
She was going crazy. She swore when she came, but now she didn't know what to do.
It had been four days since Rufus had been discharged from the hospital. The thing that had been on
his mind during these four days was the result of Isobel's isolation observation in the hospital.
Every day, he would call Isobel when no one was at home, and now that no one was at home, he
called Isobel again.
"So, nothing unusual today, right?"
Inquiring and nervous, afraid that Isobel's answer would be something he didn't want to hear.
"No, nothing unusual. You don't have to worry about it, just give your own body a chance to get well."
"I'm going straight from the hospital to the airport, I'll meet you at the airport terminal."
Isobel had thought of everything, even what to do. She was also worried that the children would find
her back.
"I know, we have our tickets all ready, Paul is coming with us."
"Isobel, I want us to not think about anything or ask questions, let everything go with the flow first."
"We ......"
"Dad, I'm coming."
Rufus wanted to say something else, but Stella's voice came.
"Hang up for now, Stella is coming over."
Rufus hurriedly said a word and hung up the phone.
"There you are, just in time for me to see you."
Rufus stood up from the sofa, seeing Stella's big belly, he felt a little guilty. Although he couldn't help
much, he should replace her mother to help her with some nutrition during pregnancy.
But now he was leaving and could not take proper care of the kids.
"Dad, how are you feeling?"
Stella was concerned about his father first.
"It's okay, I am fine."
"Come and sit down."
Rufus called Stella to his side and the two of them sat down together.
"Dad, can you go to sanatorium in this condition?"
Stella was still worried, after all, they didn't know what was going on when her Dad went to sanatorium.
"No problem, Paul will be following me. The doctor said I'm recovering well, so you don't have to
worry."
"Stella, be sure to pay attention to Brian during the time that Dad is no longer there. Tell me early if
anything happens so I can come back and help out."
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