After wiping away the tears from my face, I suddenly felt embarrassed. How could someone in their thirties cry so easily? Sigh, it seems that being pregnant has made me more sentimental. Actually, I'm just going home, not breaking up with Dominic Hartnell. Why cry about it? We'll still see each other in the future. At that moment, my mother, who was sitting next to me, handed me a tissue and said, "Alright, you're already an adult, for heaven's sake." I already felt embarrassed, but with my mom's comment, I wanted to find a hole to hide in. "Mom! I...I just..." "Enough, don't say anything. I understand," my mom interrupted me, then glanced at my dad sitting in the front seat and deliberately lowered her voice, saying, "Stop overthinking. Your dad insisted on bringing you back for your own good. If you continue like this, be careful not to make your dad angry." I felt frustrated and wanted to defend myself, but when I caught a glimpse of my dad, I obediently closed my mouth. Forget it, the more I say, the more mistakes I'll make. Let's just leave it at that. The taxi was smoothly driving on the highway, and we would enter Dellmoor in about half an hour. Just then, my phone rang. It was Shannon. As soon as I answered the call, Shannon went straight to the point and asked, "Hey, how are things going with your parents? Did you convince them?" I held my phone and looked out the window, casually replying, "Well, it's half and half. I'm on my way now. If you have something, message me on WeChat." After two seconds of silence on the other end of the line, Shannon's voice came through, "OK, I'll chat with you on WeChat. Gotta go."Before I could respond, the call was already disconnected. Then my mom asked me who called. Just as my mom asked, a notification sound from WeChat rang. I opened my phone and told her it was Shannon, and she wanted to discuss work matters with me. Since Shannon and I were friends who also worked together, and Shannon was particularly good at handling things, my parents liked her. So when my mom heard it was Shannon calling, she didn't ask any further. I opened WeChat, and Shannon's message was simple, just three words: "Tell me." I thought for a moment and replied, "My parents are angry, especially my dad. It's like a collision between Mars and Earth. So I was forced to come back to Dellmoor. I'm on my way there now, almost there." After two minutes, Shannon's message came again: "It's normal to be angry, but what do you mean by being forced back to Dellmoor? Does your dad not want you to be with Dominic Hartnell?"I was about to reply when I heard two beeps. Shannon sent another message: "Don't be too sad. Your dad is just looking out for you. Dominic Hartnell is a jerk. It's better to turn back early." "Ha... cough cough..." When I saw this message, I couldn't help but burst out laughing, and then I accidentally choked on my own saliva. Shannon's imagination sometimes goes wild, and she tends to overthink things. My fingers danced as I quickly typed a response. "What do you mean turn back? Dominic Hartnell and I haven't broken up, and my dad doesn't have that intention! It's a long story, but as long as you know that nothing's wrong, it's fine." "I'm getting off the car soon, so I won't chat with you for now. When you come to Dellmoor to see me someday, I'll explain everything." The car had already exited the highway, and in about ten minutes, we would reach my block. This time, Shannon only replied with a rolling eyes emoji and nothing else. I didn't reply anymore and put my phone away. Soon, we arrived outside my block, and the car drove straight into the parking lot beneath our apartment building. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw Professor Liu, who lived in the unit above ours, coming out of the building. Professor Liu was my dad's colleague and had already retired. He was a decent person, but he liked to talk a lot. Whenever he saw something, he would always have something to say about it. So, as soon as I saw him, I instinctively felt a buzzing in my ears. "Oh, isn't this Old Zhong? I heard that your whole family went on a trip recently. Are you back now? How was it? If it was fun, I'll take our family out for a spin too."My dad politely smiled and greeted him, "Old Liu, we just came back yesterday. It was quite fun. If you and Old He have time, you can give it a try. It's not bad." Professor Liu laughed happily and enthusiastically chatted with my dad for a while, and then suddenly turned the conversation towards me. "This is Lili, huh? Oh my, your belly is so big! How many months along are you? I haven't heard anything about a wedding banquet at your house, Lao Zhong. You didn't forget to invite me, did you?" As the conversation went on, Professor Liu's face became stern, indicating that he was a little angry. My dad quickly responded, "What are you talking about? We haven't had it yet. How could we not invite you? We've been colleagues for decades, not to mention we're also neighbors." Only then did Professor Liu smile again, like a gentle spring rain. "That's good to hear. I'll be waiting for your invitation." Then he grinned and said, "Lili, Uncle Liu is ready with a big red envelope to enjoy the wedding feast." I could only smile and say, "Okay." After seeing off Professor Liu, we went upstairs and returned home. I sent a WeChat message to Dominic Hartnell, letting him know that we had arrived home safely to ease his worries. It was already past the time for lunch, but since no one had been living at home for a while, there wasn't much to eat. My mom cooked three bowls of Love Brand instant noodles. I didn't know if my dad was still angry, but he completely ignored me the whole time. After finishing the noodles, he went straight to the bedroom, and all I could do was sigh as I watched his back. My mom spoke beside me, "Don't think too much about it. Just make it up to your dad later." "Yeah, I know. Mom, I'll clean up. You go take a nap and rest."Saying that, I wanted to grab the cutlery on the table, but my mom quickly took the bowls in her hands and dodged away. "Enough, it's just three bowls. I'll finish it and then go to sleep. You go rest first." I couldn't argue with her because I realized that there were indeed only three bowls, so I didn't insist. Moreover, I hadn't slept well last night and had been busy since early morning, so I was a bit tired. After returning to my room, it didn't take me long to fall asleep. Since becoming pregnant, my sleep quality had actually been quite good. Once I fell asleep, I was usually not easily disturbed. However, this time, it felt like I hadn't slept for long when I was awakened by a mixture of voices and laughter.