Once that mumbling left my mouth, I wanted to end the call. However, the next thing I heard was the woman's chuckles. “Lili, it's only been a few years since we've met. Have you forgotten about me? Do you remember that I always made good food for you whenever you hung out at our house?” At that, a buzzing noise exploded in my mind. Ms. Potter? Did I go to her house to play? Did she make good food for me? Oh! Darn! I really am too groggy for this. She can't be Camille's mother, can she? “Are... Are you Camille's mother?” She chuckled again. “You've finally recalled who I am. I knew I was right to dote on you.” It was true. Camille's mother was truly nice to me. Other than making me good food whenever I went to their place, she would even ask Camille to send soup to me whenever I was sick. During the festive season, if I did not go home, she would get Camille to invite me to their place. However, I had a falling out with Camille, and it had been a long time since I contacted her family. The abrupt call rang the alarm bells in my mind. After all, Eleanor must have a reason to call me, and it was certainly not to reminiscence about the past. I wonder if she's going to talk about Camille. However, at the end of the day, she was someone who had once been nice to me. Despite the suspicion thrumming in my veins, I showed none of it in my tone. Instead, I cheerfully said, “Oh, it's you, Ms. Porter! I'm sorry. I was a little slow on the uptake earlier. Please forgive me.” Hearing that, Eleanor chuckled again and said, “It's fine. I'm not that petty.” Okay. She's definitely calling because of Camille. I might as well be straightforward with her.In my mind, Camille's mother was a nice woman. Perhaps things would clear up if I were to discuss the matter with her properly. At most, she would scold at me, and I would just listen. Although Dominic had told me he was going to deal with it himself, I did not want him to bear the responsibility alone. Thus, I started explaining, “Ms. Porter, you must be calling me because of Camille's injuries, right? Please let me apologize to you for that. It's true that we had some disagreements, but I really didn't mean to hurt her.” As I had expected, Camille's mother did not seem to be enraged. “I've heard about this from Camille. I don't blame you for this. You used to be so close to Camille, so I trust what you say.” I stiffened, confused by her strange response. “Um... Thank you, Ms. Porter.”Then, I was stumped as I did not know what else to say. “No need to thank me. Why are you still so courteous with me?” “All right. I'm just glad that you aren't blaming me for this.” I laughed drily... Maybe I should just end the call. I really don't know what else to say. With that thought in mind, I added, “Ms. Porter, I still have some work to do, so please let me take my leave. I'll... I'll find another time to chat with you.” I cringed badly when I said those words, but that was the best I could come up with. After all, I could not possibly tell her not to call me anymore, could I? Luckily, Camille's mother was a reasonable woman who agreed with it quickly. “All right. Young people like you should prioritize work. I won't interrupt your work any further then.”That made me heave a sigh of relief. I was truly glad that she had not insisted on continuing the conversation. However, before I was even done with the sigh, her next sentence nearly made me choke. “Lili, I just came back from overseas. It's been such a long time since I've seen you. It's almost New Year soon. Why don't you find some time to come to my place? I'd like to see how you look like now and have a chat with you.” Turmoil was the state of my mind, but I was swift to voice my rejection. “Ms. Porter, I have to visit my family during New Year, so maybe...” Eleanor interrupted me in a casual tone, “I know it's New Year, and family members spend time with each other during a time like this. It's the same with our family, but there are many days after that too. Why don't you come on the third? I'll make your favorite food. I do quite miss you.” I stiffened again when I realized I could not come up with another excuse to reject her. It was not as if she had given me a chance to say no to her, anyway. “That's settled, then. You'll come to my place for a meal on the third. Tell me what's your address. I'll ask the driver to pick you up. All right. Go ahead with your work. I won't disturb you anymore. Goodbye.” In the next second, the call ended. I was still in a daze, feeling like the world had come to a stop for me. What is she trying to do? No matter how long I ruminated about the call, I could not figure things out. Days after the call, I was still feeling stumped. I did not want to go to her place. .The falling out I had with Camille was a rather nasty one. It would feel really odd, to say the least, to be a guest at her place Even Dominic noticed my odd demeanor in the past few days. He asked me several times about it, and he even frowned and questioned if I had done something behind his back again.I told him no but he did not quite believe in me. I knew that because the way he was looking at me had betrayed his thoughts. He even tried to threaten me with the report before tormenting me at night again. In other words, his behavior made me blue. Nevertheless, I mentioned nothing about the call to him. This was mainly because I did not know what I should tell him. If I were to tell him that Camille's mother was looking for me, would he storm to her place? The last time he went to pick up her parents—although I did not ask him what actually happened—I was sure something had happened. I did not want to go up against their family again. The days were tense until Christmas came. A whole group of us went to Jadeborough, which was the city where Louis went to school for Christmas. We were in the south; we were close to the sea, so the weather was perfect. Even though it was December, it was not freezing. Before we left, I told Louis about our trip, and he told us he would join us later. The moment we reached Jadeborough, we headed straight to the port. There was a yacht waiting for us, prepared by the rich James Dalton. It had been days since I had kept Eleanor's call a secret. As Shannon had been busy, I never got the chance to tell her. Now that I was seeing her in person, the secret rushed out of my mouth. Yet, right after hearing my story, she said nothing but smacked my head. Immediately, I was furious.