As the call ended, the husband looked at his wife maliciously. Finding his attitude suspicious, she asked him, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
Answering the question in a malicious tone, he said, "I never expected you to be this way."
"To be what way?" She asked in confusion to her husband, who retorted with the following, "You spoke so proudly of Takumi, even going as far as to propose a welcome party for our granddaughter. I knew from day one that you were a good person." "To think that I thought you would take this opportunity to throw the wedding on the spot again, but you didn't. You truly amazed me with your words."
"You thought so low of me. How could you?" She uttered as if offended and walked away from their room. Her husband followed her closely to apologize.
Meanwhile, at the G Consortium, Saunji was distributing sweets among the employees when Takumi walked in.
He observed the scene from afar in silence. When one of the employees asked as the sweets were distributed to her, "What are the sweets for? Is there some pleasant news?" Saunji answered hypothetically, "Why don't you join us after work today? Hasegawa will share the pleasant news with all of you."
When they heard the mention of Takumi Hasegawa, all the employees came up with some kind of excuse. Watching this, Takumi was utterly disappointed and as he attempted to walk away, Saunji uttered, "If you don't want to be there to share the pleasant news with us, I can't force you to attend, but you'll certainly regret it if you don't come."
Takumi was baffled by Saunji's words. Adding further, he said, "Just in case, I'll share the address in the group chat. We'll be expecting all of you, so please come! We'll be waiting for you."
Walking into their superior's office, Saunji offered him sweets. When the superior stared at the sweets in Saunji's hands and asked, "Why are you offering me sweets?" Saunji retorted, "It's a joyous occasion, so we'd appreciate it if you could share the happiness with us and if possible, join us today after work. We hope you'll be able to attend tonight's after-work party."
When Saunji was walking away from the office, the superior asked, "Who's the one throwing the party? Is it you?"
In response to the question asked, Saunji said, "You should check the group chat later. You'll have all the info you need."
Back in his cubicle, Saunji and the others worked diligently on their work and projects. Elsewhere, at the Seaside Orphanage, Luna was building sand castles with the kids. Watching her, Lady Claire grinned from the corner of the mouth and kept on watching her silently.
At some point, Luna noticed her and leaving the kids for a short moment, she stepped forward to her mother and asked, "Mommy, were you looking for me?"
She nodded in response to the question her daughter asked her and said," Yes, I was looking for you because I had something important to share with you, but witnessing as you were enjoying yourself, I didn't want to bother and was simply watching you on the side."
"You will never bother me, Mom." Luna retorted with a joyful grin. "Tell me, Mom, what did you have to tell me?"
Not wanting to speak of such a matter before the kids, Lady Claire uttered to her daughter, "Would you mind coming with me to my office?"
Luna paused for a moment, not saying a word. Whenever Lady Claire called Luna to her office in the past, the matter to be discussed was always a sensitive one. Knowing clearly as she stared at her mother the importance of the matter, she nodded as she agreed to follow her back to her office.
Arriving in her office less than five minutes later, Luna sat on the sofa as she waited for her mother to speak. Sitting beside her on the sofa, Lady Claire asked her daughter the following, "Do you remember what you told me once about the dream you had?"
Nodding in response, Lady Claire continued, "Well, your dream came true, my baby girl."
Luna looked at her mother with a stunned expression as she knew exactly what that entailed. Remembering her dream more vividly, she asked her mother, "Are you saying that you've found someone willing to adopt me?"
She asked her mother as her voice trembled uncontrollably. When Lady Claire nodded in response to her question, Luna was somewhat sad but happy at the same time. It was a mixed emotion she didn't know how to transcribe or express.
"What is it, my baby girl? Aren't you happy with the news?"
Lady Claire asked her daughter and at that moment, Luna shed tears as she let her emotions take control. "Luna, why are you crying?"
Trying to comfort her so she would stop crying, Luna retorted with the following, "Why did you look for a family to adopt me?" "I've long given up on that dream, so why did you have to bring it back? Why, Mom? Why?"
"Because I want nothing but your happiness, Luna. How could I have accepted for you to spend the rest of your life in this orphanage?" "I merely wanted what was best for you. Nothing else matters but your happiness, my baby girl."
At the sound of the last sentence, Luna spontaneously asked her mother, "You thought of my happiness in all this, but what about you?" "Will you be able to live without me?"
At the sound of her daughter's question, Lady Claire answered hypothetically, "Why are you speaking as if we'll never see each other again? It's not as if you'll be leaving the country and never coming back."
"I've found you a good family, and they'll love you tremendously, just as much as I love you if not more."
"Well, I don't care. I don't want to meet them. I refuse to be adopted."
Luna stood and turned her back to her mother, not willing to listen to any more of what she had to say. Lady Claire could understand her daughter's emotions and feelings at that moment. Thinking of how to persuade Luna to hear her out, she found an alternative and attempted to use it and see whether it would be effective.
"So, should I turn them down?"
"Yes, turn them down!" She answered without an ounce of hesitation in her tone.
"I don't mind turning him down if that's what you truly desire, but Takumi Hasegawa-San would be sad and heartbroken when I tell him you don't wish to be his daughter and part of his family."
At the mention of Takumi Hasegawa's name, Luna turned around and faced her mother again.
Looking at the expression her daughter was now harboring, she internally wondered, 'Did it work?'
"The one who wants to adopt me is Mr. Takumi Hasegawa?" Luna asked her mother, harboring a stunning expression on her face.
"Yes, it's him. It's the same man you took a liking to and wished to be your father from the bottom of your heart."
At the G Consortium, after working hours, Takumi and Saunji were waiting for their colleagues to turn up at the restaurant.
After waiting nearly half an hour, no one turned up. Takumi wasn't that surprised by the result. Checking the time on his wristwatch, he told Saunji, "None of them is going to show up at this point. Let's just go home!"
"Why are you giving up so easily?" "It has been nearly half an hour only."
Retorting to his friend's words, Takumi uttered, "If they had the intention of showing up to this after-party, they would have been here by now, wouldn't they?"
Faced with Takumi's reasoning, Saunji had nothing to say. He knew Takumi was probably right in thinking so, but for some reason, he didn't want to give up hope until the last second.
"I'm going to use the washroom."
Heading to the washroom, Saunji kept waiting for his colleagues to turn up. Sitting down at the table, the waiter turned up and asked, "Sir, are you ready to order?"
Before Saunji could give a forward response to the waiter, others responded in his place. "Yes, we're ready to order."
Hearing the voices of his colleagues, Saunji was delighted to finally see them turn up at the restaurant.
Joining Saunji at the table, one of the colleagues said as he apologized on behalf of all the others, "Sorry that we're late. We were searching for a gift to offer Hasegawa as a means to celebrate."
Noticing one of the employees was holding a small package in his hand, Saunji grinned from the corner of his mouth as he said, "Thanks for coming, everyone! Please, have a seat!"
Looking around, another employee asked, "Are you the only one here? Where's Hasegawa?"
Responding to the question, Saunji uttered, "He went to use the washroom."
As all the employees sat at the table, Takumi returned from the washroom, and seeing all his colleagues present, except for his superior, he was shocked.
Noticing him, Saunji said, "Hasegawa, you're back!" "Look, all our colleagues have gathered to celebrate with you."
Takumi was lost for words, but he was somehow happy that Saunji's belief didn't turn out to be in vain.
Joining Saunji and their colleagues, they ordered food and beverages and enjoyed themselves fully at the after-work celebration. When it came the moment to make a speech, Takumi stood among his peers and uttered joyfully, "Foremost, I thank all of you for showing up to this after-work celebration. The reason I gathered all of you here on such short notice is because I'd like to share joyous news with you all."
Listening attentively to him as he spoke, he carried on with the speech. "I've always been an average guy, living an average life. I always thought I was happy the way I was, but recently, I was rendered wrong in my predicament."
"Something was missing in my average life and I found that missing part in the form of an angel. Meeting this angel, I realized lots of things, especially that I wasn't satisfied with my current life and needed much more."
"Reflecting on myself, I decided to make a change for the better. I decided to adopt a little girl and the adoption was deemed successful in the end. Now, I'm very, very happy, and I thought how wonderful—--------" Pausing for a moment, he looked over at Saunji and continued, "Saunji thought how wonderful it would be to share the news with everyone and I don't regret on taking him up on that offer."
"Thanks, Saunji for proposing this." "I hope in the future, each one of us will be better acquainted. Cheers!"
As they all raised their glass and cheered, Saunji was more than happy with the step Takumi was willing to take. Afterward, his colleagues congratulated him on being a father.
"All of us contributed to buying you this token." One of the colleagues handed the gift they all contributed to buy to Takumi who was more than happy to receive it.
"Thank you."
"We didn't know what the celebration was for. Had we known what it was for, we would have opted for a much better gift."
Retorting, Takumi said, "What matters is not the gift itself, but the sentiment ingrained inside."
Raising a glass, Saunji uttered, "Let's raise another glass to Hasegawa!"
Raising their glass for the second time, they uttered harmoniously, "Cheers!"