Ryan's face was gloomy as they were walking down the stairs.
"You finally got discharged today.Let's go out for dinner tonight to celebrate, shall we?" Wendy
suggested.
"Absolutely! I'd kill for hot pot right now." Precious echoed.
All of them agreed with her so they decided to make this a hot pot night.
But first, Wendy and Raymond had to go back to their home and change.
As they reached the house, Wendy hastily found a white T-shirt and denim shorts with suspenders for
Ray.
Taking the clothes from her hands, he hurried into his room.
Wendy found herself a similar outfit and changed into it.
When Ray returned to Wendy's room, he took in her white T-shirt and denim shorts, complete with
suspenders and his eyes lit up.
"Mommy..." Ray sounded surprised, so Wendy said in a soft voice, "Honey, you look so handsome!"
Ray's ears turned red at his mother's compliment.
"You are really pretty too, Mommy."
This outfit made Wendy look even more petite than she already was.
With her hair tied up in a ponytail, she looked like a schoolgirl.
People would find it hard to believe she was Ray's mother.
When they were finally ready, having put on their sneakers, they left to meet the rest of their party.
"Look at you two.Matching outfits! Adorable!"
Precious felt a small pang of jealousy seeing Wendy and Raymond's outfits.
She wiggled out of Ryan's arms and ran upstairs, calling over her shoulder, "Hey, Uncle Luke! You
bought me a pair of shorts, just like Ray's, remember? I'll go put them on and then we'll match, all three
of us!"
Precious had always worn dresses.
Whether it was spring, summer, autumn or winter, she did not care.
She hardly ever wore trousers, so it took the servants quite some time to locate those denim shorts.
They were tucked away in the back of a drawer, which would make sense since Precious had never
worn them.
Precious grabbed the shorts and rummaged a bit until she found a white T-shirt.
She hastily changed into them, completing her look with a pair of sneakers, just like Raymond and
Wendy's.
Then she ran down the stairs with a big smile.She reached Wendy in a minute and stood before her,
twirling around to give her a good look of her outfit.Excitement was written all over her face.
"Do you like it, Auntie Wendy?"
"Like it? I love it! You are so beautiful!" Precious giggled happily.
Then she suddenly grabbed Wendy's arm and asked, "Do you think we look like a family, the three of
us?"
"Of course we do!" Wendy answered.
And she really meant it.
The three of them walking down the street dressed like this, people would definitely think them a family.
Wendy's answer had Precious ecstatic, so they were all affected by her good mood as they set off for
dinner.
Ensfield was in the heart of the city, close to a huge mall.
There were all kinds of restaurants there, offering a variety of cuisines to choose from, but their minds
were set on hot pot for tonight.
Thankfully, they could find this at the mall too.
It was only a ten minutes’ walk away, so they all agreed to go there on foot.
Ray and Precious looked so cute walking hand in hand with Wendy and Ryan.
It really was the prettiest picture.
As they walked down the street, all eyes were on the four of them.
Wendy felt a wave of discomfort sweeping over her.
After all the things that had been said about her a few days ago, people could easily recognize her
face.
On the bright side though, the pictures posted on the web during the whole mess were either from her
acting on set or selfies from the backstage.
This time, before she went out, she deliberately dressed like as plainly as possible and wore no
makeup, in order to avoid unwanted attention.
But it seemed that it was not just her people were looking at.
It was Ray and Precious too.
Walking a few steps behind them, Ryan kept a cold and unmoving look.
Luke could only walk behind him in silence, knowing his brother was in a bad mood.
When a young couple walked past them, Ryan heard them whisper, "Aww! How cute! The little ones
must be twins and the girl in the middle their older sister.Look how pretty they all are.And they are
holding hands! So adorable!"
Then, the young woman saw Ryan behind Wendy and the children and her eyes lit up.
She turned away quickly and covered her face, exclaiming, "Oh God! What a lovely family! This must
be the father.He is gorgeous!"
Ryan was left speechless.
He just glared at the young woman, a frosty look on his face.She looked startled by his reaction.
The young man next to her started pulling her away, muttering, "Look what you did now.Obviously they
are a family of four.That's not his daughter, it's his wife.No wonder he is offended! "
"Oh!" The woman by his side looked properly chastised.
"You think so?"
"I know so! What else could it be? Don't you see how he looks at her? His gaze intense, full of yearning
and affection.He wouldn't look at his daughter like that, for sure." The woman turned her head, taking a
closer look.
Then she exclaimed, "Oh, right! I just noticed.He looks at her just like you look at me!"
"Exactly, my love!" The couple walked away still holding hands.
Wendy had heard their discussion and her cheeks grew hot.
Although they had deliberately kept their voices low, she had still heard every word.
She stole a glance at Ryan walking behind her.
He was just as expressionless as ever, but his eyes held a strange depth.
Wendy was really confused.
What that couple had said made absolutely no sense!
‘‘Yearning and affection? Where did they see that?’’ She grumbled in mind.
She decided to save herself from any further embarrassment.She challenged the kids to a race, just so
she could put some distance between her and Ryan.
"You seem to be in a foul mood, brother!" Luke said, walking faster until he reached Ryan's side.
"Is it because these people thought you were Wendy's father?" He asked his brother cautiously.
Ryan didn't say a word.He simply clenched his jaw and gave Luke a warning look.
"Come on, Ryan.Someone misunderstood your relationship.So what? You are thirty years old, and
Wendy is only twenty-three.There is indeed an age gap here, seven whole years!"
"Shut up!" Luke flinched, but didn't stop talking.
"Hey, just listen.You are only seven years older than Wendy, but if you keep wearing these old-
fashioned clothes, this won't be the last time someone mistakes you for her father." Ryan narrowed his
eyes and looked lost in thought.
The mall was truly huge, at least six stories high.
The first floor was full of jewelry shops, the windows laden with watches, diamonds, silver and gold.
The second and third floor were filled with women's clothes, while on the fourth floor were the shops
selling men's clothes.
Clothing for children could be found at the fifth floor and finally, on the sixth and seventh floor were
several restaurants offering the most delicious food.
They got in the elevator and pressed the button for the sixth floor.
Luke really looked after his skin.
He was prone to acne, so he avoided spicy food.
Wendy knew that so she ordered the two-flavor soup for them so Luke wouldn't have to have the spicy
one.
"Oh, Wendy.You are too nice to me.I would marry you this instant, if I could."
"Ewww..."
Precious seemed to find the idea revolting.
Luke squinted his eyes at her and said crossly, "Excuse me? Why wouldn't she marry me?"
"My daddy is handsomer, richer and smarter than you.And Auntie Wendy still doesn't want him." Her
meaning was crystal clear.
Luke was staring around speechless.
Precious's words were spot on.
There was nothing Luke could say to save face now! He just lowered his head and focused on his food.
With the hot summer weather, having hot pot in the well air-conditioned room was a blessed occasion.
Precious and Luke seemed to be enjoying themselves more than anyone.
The two of them were practically stuffing their faces with food, as if it was the most delicious thing they
ever tasted.
But their enthusiasm was transmitted to everyone else too and they all ate more than their fill.
When they finished eating, Wendy suggested, "Why don't we go for a walk now?"
Before she even finished her sentence, Ryan gestured to the waiter.
He wiped his mouth slowly and then paid the bill using his credit card.
He didn't return the card to his wallet, but put it directly into Wendy's hand instead.
She just stared at him, confused.
"Ryan..."She started, but he interrupted her.
"Usually, I am the one buying clothes for Precious.But she doesn't seem to like what I pick out for
her.And she likes your style very much.If you see anything you like, just buy them using this card.The
card's PIN is her birthday."
Realizing that this came out like an order, he tried softening his tone.
"If that's okay with you, of course."
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