Vivian tore up the note left by jos and flushed it down the drain. She remembered the pregnancy tests from yesterday but couldn’t find them anywhere in the bedroom. Had jos taken them? Maybe that was good news, Vivian thought. After all, she didn’t have a better way to handle those three pregnancy tests, but jos might. Vivian went downstairs and decided to follow jos’s arrangement to have breakfast. In truth, she was hungry. Vivian no longer felt embarrassed about her sudden increase in appetite because she knew the baby inside her needed nutrition to grow, although she didn’t show it very obviously, sheined to Haylee while eating. Haylee was constantly trying to cheer Vivian up, while Mare sat silently on the other side of the dining table reading his New York Times. It was a normal morning, and Vivian made it through safely.


    Haylee was about to go out to buy ingredients for dinner, as Vivian suddenly wanted steak, and there was none in stock at home. The elevator chimed, the doors closed slowly, and with Haylee on her way to the underground garage, Vivian immediately threw away the remote control.


    “I need you to contact jos,” Vivian said to Mare.


    Mare hesitated, wanting to refuse, but Vivian continued, “I know you can reach him. You report my every move to jos every day, and I believe that no matter what jos is doing, he can receive your messages.”Exclusive content ? by N?(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.


    Mare maintained his silence, which was an admission in itself.


    Vivian snorted coldly; she believed in Mare’s loyalty to jos, so she believed that Mare would protect her with his life. However, this bodyguard could never betray jos and obey her orders.


    Vivian was lonely. She didn’t have a bodyguard of her own. Those who protected her did so because she was someone else’s appendage. It used to be her father, Bryson, and now it was her husband, jos.


    “What did you tell him?” After a moment of stalemate, Mare took out a ck phone from his suit pocket. It looked no different from their usual phones, but Mare told Vivian that it was a specialmunicator, the only way to reach jos when he was on a mission.


    “I want to see Shelley,” Vivian said.


    Upon hearing Shelley’s name, Mare was surprised. He knew that Vivian’s previous encounters with Shelley had not been very pleasant, including the one in the supermarket yesterday  yes, Mare not only saw Vivian buying the pregnancy tests but also saw her meeting with Shelley.


    “Can I invite her to the apartment?” Vivian asked.


    Maybe not a good idea, Mare thought. He could tell that Shelley wasn’t very friendly towards Vivian. Of course, that was understandable; Shelley was very fond of jos, and before Vivian, they both thought that the person to marry jos would be Shelley.


    “I can ask jos,” Mare took out his other regr phone. It wasn’t anything urgent, jos just needed to reply in his leisure time.


    Half an hourter, Mare received a response from jos. “Shelley has already officially be engaged to Festus, and Charles has announced her new identity to the public. Her first son with Festus will be Benoist’s heir,” Mare said. “She attracted a lot of attention with her new identity, so her sudden visit to the apartment would raise suspicions.”


    “jos won’t allow it?”


    “No, jos has arranged a new meeting ce for you,” Mare said, rying jos’s decision. “I will be responsible for taking you there.”


    “Will it be safer than the apartment?” Vivian asked. She didn’t want others to overhear their conversation. Vivian believed that Shelley also wouldn’t want any extra ears.


    “Of course,” Mare said confidently, “jos’s arrangements will be the best.”


    Alright, Vivian was willing to believe jos. Just after lunch, a formal invitation from Mrs. Yazmin arrived at the apartment.


    “Afternoon tea?”


    “Yes,” Mare replied, “Mrs. Yazmin has obtained some delicious jams, and the estate’s chefs have used them to make pancakes and waffles. She invites you and a few otherdies to the estate to taste them.”


    Vivian heard Shelley’s name on the guest list. “So, Mrs. Yazmin’s estate is the new ce arranged by jos?” Mare smiled silently, not giving a direct answer. But Vivian knew she was right.


    Mrs. Yazmin’s estate was far outside the city but heavily guarded, especially after Vivian’s attempt to escape from there almost seeded. Mrs. Yazmin reluctantly added twenty more bodyguards, so it was very secure.


    It was indeed a good ce for a conversation, Vivian thought. But theestate was far from the apartment, and time was a bit tight. Vivian quickly went upstairs to change into a polite and elegant little white dress and grabbed some of Haylee’s specialty pastries and a few cans of Brazilian coffee beans before hurriedly getting into Diego’s car headed for the estate.


    When Vivian arrived at the estate, Shelley and her mother, Mrs. Benoist, were already there. Mrs. Benoist was chatting with Mrs. Yazmin, while Shelley sat quietly beside her mother, smiling as she listened to the twodies’ conversation.


    “Darling, you’re here,” Mrs. Yazmin got up to greet Vivian, embracing her. “I am so d you agreed to join us today.”


    “This is our Capo’s wife, Vivian Hargrave,” Mrs. Yazmin introduced them to each other, “This is Charles’s wife, Celinda Benoist, and their daughter, Shelley Benoist.”


    Mrs. Celinda Benoist was a gentle and smilingdy with a pleasant voice. “Capo’s wife is as beautiful as a flower, Capo will be enchanted by you,” she said.


    After that, several otherdies arrived one after another, all of their husbands being supporters of the Hargrave family in Houston. Mrs. Yazmin introduced each of them to Vivian.


    The Jones family also had many supporters in Los Angeles, and the families behind these supporters were the ones Capo had to win over, so hosting small gatherings to connect was amon urrence.


    When Vivian was in Los Angeles, she had attended many such gatherings with her mother. The number of people at these gatherings was notrge, but they were the people Vivian had to remember names and faces of. After a while, she got used to it.


    So, remembering and recognizing Mrs. Yazmin’s guests was not difficult for Vivian. Mrs. Yazmin was also pleased with Vivian’s adept demeanor. While their Capo fought in the forefront for their superior living environment, Capo’s wife also needed to fight at gatherings in the background to win over the strength that would help Capo win. Only by achieving mutual sess could the future of Houston go further.


    “I’m surprised you’re attending today’s gathering,” Shelley didn’t know why today’s gathering was organized. Mrs. Yazmin was someone who loved socializing and often held such afternoon teas.


    “You know, Luzia now lives in Los Angeles and can no longer apany me through these boring afternoons. I’ve lost my friend, and I need something to keep myself from feeling too lonely,” as soon as Shelley spoke, Vivian knew what the situation was.


    jos didn’t know what she wanted to do, so he helped organize this afternoon tea, facilitating her meeting with Shelley, but he didn’t reveal her initiative to Shelley. Instead, he let Shelley think that their meeting today was just a coincidence.


    No, perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence.