"Yes! Mommy, let's take Auntie with us! Mama said seeing new places can heal a broken heart!" Luke tried persuading her mother.
"And when did she tell you that? You're just making things up." Charmaine teased him with a smile. She has never heard those words from Jienna before!
Luke averted his eyes and lowered his head. "I'm not. Mama really said that. She said it when I visited her in the hospital with Sarah. She told me stories like how she left her home and went to beautiful places to cure her broken heart." Luke mumbled before lifting his head again and turning to Charmaine. "Didn't it help? Was mama's heart too broken and that's why she passed away?"
Witnessing the boy's mood turning foul, Charmaine close in on him and ruffled his hair. It was her fault for reminding him of those sad memories. Luke always had a good memory. How could she doubt a thing he say? "It's not something like that. Don't be sad now. I was just teasing you.... and Laura is Leo's sister. Of course she's always welcome to live with us. One day, I know we will also come to move in with her and Grandpa." Charmaine answered. She felt awkward at first, but remembering the warm Laura of the past, she suddenly missed living with her.
In the other life she lived, after Charmaine married Leo when she was eighteen, she moved in to the Ji mansion and that meant getting along with a lot of people. There's grandpa and Leo's siblings and another two cousins. The Jun Ji back then was sly but not as aggressive as he is right now. Laura on the other hand was the same; she was a good natured woman who gets along with just anyone. Although Charmaine and Jienna frequently fought, she didn't side with either of them. After Jienna died, they became closer, and they became close friends even after Adele came to their life to snatch her position.
"Thanks." Laura uttered. "I do feel like running away from life right now. A change of place would really help."
"Yeah. I know what you mean." she replied. Didn't she runaway from home to forget Leo, too? "But... I don't know if you'll still feel the same after trying it out. You know that your mom visiting Chelsea would mean she'll live with us, too right?"
Laura stared at her as if she was saying nonsense and she didn't understand a thing she say. "And so?" she asked with innocent eyes.
Charmaine sighed in resignation. Forget it. It's impossible to explain it to her without revealing her secrets anyway. She's not aware of it yet because she was separated from her mother for a long time, but in her memories, Elise's first visit was to attend Laura's wedding and she stayed with the Jis for a month with Adele. It didn't turn out well for Laura as Adele kept stealing her thunder and was so pissed she decided to move out of the Ji mansion and didn't come back until her mother left to go back to Bonn. Come to think of it, she wondered what she did to change that part of the timeline. Elise and Adele came to visit a year earlier and Charmaine wasn't prepared for it. How strange.
When Charmaine turned to Laura once more, she found her holding a phone and staring at the screen. It looks to her that someone was calling her but she was pondering if she should answer it or not. Was it her boyfriend?
"Hello! You're Bianca? Are you Jun's friend?", Charmaine heard Laura asked after taking up the call. "I'm sorry but I can't do that. Jun had a car accident and he hasn't woken up yet. I'm sorry..... Hello?"
"What happened?" Charmaine asked as she watched Laura stare at the phone again.
"She hung up." she replied. "This is Jun's phone. The one he was carrying when he got into the accident. The caller ID says Bianca. I don't think I already met her. I wonder who that woman is. Could it be his girlfriend?" Laura guessed.
Charmaine didn't answer. Bianca? The woman who looked like her sister? Sure. Let her come. She wants to have a word with her too.
"What are you two talking about? Whose girlfriend is who?" From the door, Leo looked at the people in the room with a bit of confusion. Were they gossiping about him? The moment he opened the door, he could hear them talking about a woman?
Laura when she saw her brother, suddenly giggled. "Oh! You're here! I thought you left to escort your ex-girlfriend!" Laura started teasing him.
Leo frowned. "Who's my ex-girlfriend? I never had a girlfriend! Don't spout nonsense in front of my wife." he roared as he walk closer to the two women. He walked past Laura and sat on the edge of the bed with Charmaine. "Don't listen to her."
Laura laughed even more. "You're a henpecked husband now?" she teased before turning to Charmaine. "Let me tell you Min, everyone in their high school knew they were going out. They were always together and everyone thought they suited each other.... except Leo, of course. He's dense." Laura jested and winked at her sister in law. Charmaine knew she was telling the truth. Although Leo wasn't allowed to have a girlfriend because he already had a fiancee from the very start, it didn't mean he won't like anyone. And it's also true that Leo could be so dense at times that he wouldn't realize he's treating someone special.
"Laura..." Leo uttered with a threatening glare.
"What? Wasn't it true? Your ex-girlfriend kept telling your classmates that you were going to marry her someday! So delusional." Laura scoweled and crossed her arms over her chest. "She thought you had a mutual understanding. I'm just warning my sister in law. You don't know what a jealous b*tch could do."
Charmaine watched as Leo clenched his fist and so she placed a hand on top of his clenched hand to calm him down. Leo looked at her when she did this but she didn't say anything. In fact, she knew very well that Laura was saying all that to express her own grievances. Laura hated it that Leo gave his full attention to Adele since they came to Bonn. In her heart, she lost her brother and Adele was the one who took him from her.
"She's really not my ex-girlfriend. I only treated her as a sister." Leo reassured her as he held her hand.
Charmaine held her forehead. Stupid Leo. That's the last thing Laura wants to hear and she can't believe he just said it out loud in front of her.
***
"This house is beautiful!" Adele exclaimed when she entered the house. Leo asked his assistant to pick them up from the hotel and send them to his house in St. Georges Hill. She didn't think the house would be this dreamy!
"Let's go upstairs so we could take a rest." Elise told her step daughter.
A maid in uniform approached them and led them upstairs to show them their room. Both rooms were classy and almost identical. It's a bit boring actually, but the view from the balcony was good.
"Mr. Ji said he didn't know you were coming so he wasn't able to make proper preparations. Feel free to ask if you need anything." The maid told them.
Adele ignored her and dashed towards her step mom standing near the door. "Look mom! My room is great. The pink curtains and bed covers... and those pink roses in the vase; Leo remembered my favorites!" she exclaimed.
Elise furrowed her brows. Does her son still care for Adele like before? She wondered.
Outside the room, Lucia sighed in helplessness. Should she tell the guests that it wasn't Mr. Ji who asked her to arrange the room that way? She simply loved pink and played with the decorations when asked to clean the rooms.... Oh, whatever!