Troy's vision blurs. And his heart hidden in the chest cavity, which has been cool for five years, begins
to heat up. And as they meet each other’s eyes, they gaze at each other affectionately. It is unknown
when they have fallen in love with each other. When they know it, they have been deeply in love with
each other.
He holds her in his arms tightly. As soon as he cries, he knows in his heart well that loving someone for
a long time will be a habit, being in pain for a long time will leave a scar behind, and that hating
someone for a long time will become a burden. However, when it comes to waiting for someone,
whether time has washed away everything, the heart will always be where it is stubbornly, jumping fast
and obsessively...
By the time the two of them come back from the cemetery, it has been in the evening. Jane has made
dinner. Seeing her parents come back, Esme excitedly runs towards them, "Dad, Mom, you finally
come back..."
Troy picks up his daughter in his arms and kisses her on her pink cheeks. Seeing that her mother's
eyes are red and tears are hanging at the corners of her eyes, Esme asks, "Did you make mommy
angry, Daddy?"
He shakes his head innocently, "No."
"Then why is Mommy crying?"
Troy glances at Karin and says with a smile, "Your mom is jealous when she sees that I kiss you rather
than kiss her."
"Really?"
"Of course. If you don't believe me, look."
He leans over and gives Karin a peck on the cheek with a swift movement.
Karin, who is stunned, laughs without good grace.
"Ya, it is true. Mommy is smiling. Mommy is smiling."
Esme is so happy that she claps her hands.
When they enter the house, Jane says, "Quickly wash your hands and get ready for dinner."
Over the meal, Mike asks, "Son-in-law, do you know how to play Chinese chess?"
Troy nods, "I know a little bit about it."
"Then let's have a round after dinner."
"Okay, Dad."
After dinner, Mike plays chess with Troy. And after three games, he is amazed, "How come you said
you knew a little about chess?"
He has lost two out of three rounds. Originally, he wondered whether he should be somewhat lenient
with his son-in-law in the game.
"It was you who was lenient to me deliberately, right?"
Mike’s face turns red as he says "If only I could."
"Then it seems that I have improved my chess skills. I indeed had poor skills before."
It is rare for Mike to meet a rival in playing chess. Mike is interested. And the two of them keep playing
chess until eleven o'clock at night, both feeling unfulfilled.
Karin brings two cups of tea into the living room and says casually, "Dad, it's late. Shouldn't you rest?"
Mike raises his head, "Son-in-law, are you sleepy?"
Troy shakes his head, "No, I'm not sleepy."
Troy is lying. It is just that when he sees that the old man is in high spirits, he can’t bear to spoil his
mood.
Karin sighs lightly, gazes meaningfully at Troy, and turns around before leaving the living room.
After another half an hour, the chess game in the living room isn’t over yet. Then she walks in again,
"Dad, you have to get up early tomorrow. What time is it?"
Mike isn’t happy, "Well, why don’t you sleep in the middle of the night? Instead, why are you always
running around? Are you afraid that I will bully your man?"
"Of course not. I am afraid that if you stay up late, it won’t be good for your health. After all, it is not too
late to play chess during the day tomorrow."
"No, I can't sleep if I don't win him tonight."
Knowing it is impossible to sway her father, Karin decides to start with Troy.
She goes back to her room, takes her phone, and sends him a text message, which reads, "Surrender.
Or you can’t sleep tonight."
He replies, "Am I the kind of person who will easily admit defeat?"
"My dad is not your rival in the business field. You don’t need to be so serious, okay?"
"How can you not be serious with your elders. Seriousness is respect for them."
...
Karin speechlessly lies down on the bed. After pondering on it for a moment, she suddenly thinks of a
method that can make Troy surrender. Then she hurriedly sends him another message over.
This method indeed works. As soon as Troy reads the new text message, his eyes suddenly shine as
he replies, "I'll wait for you in your room."
He sneaks a glance at his father-in-law across the room and feigns with casualness, "Dad, let's rest
after this game."
"Are you sleepy?"
Mike frowns as he stares at the chessboard, thinking about what to do next.
"Um, a little."
"No, I'm not sleepy at this age. What does it matter if you stay up a little late at a young age?"
"But..."
Before Troy can finish his sentence, Mike glares at him, making him hurriedly shut up.
Karin has been waiting for a long time. Even so, she doesn’t see Troy come back, not to mention
getting his reply in text. So she, who is annoyed, decides to text him for the last time.
"If you don't come back in ten minutes, I won't wait for you."
When Troy reads this text message, he is so anxious as if a cat were scratching his heart. He
deliberately lost two games, only to be exposed by his father-in-law. Instead of letting him, Mike scolds
him.
He quickly replies to Karin’s message, "Wait a little longer. I'm trying to figure out what to do."
Then he gets up and says, "Dad, I'm going to the bathroom."
He races out of the living room. However, instead of going to the bathroom, he goes to Jane's room
and knocks on the door, "Mom, are you asleep?"
Jane opens the door, "No, what's wrong?"
He looks askance at his daughter on the bed and asks in surprise, "Huh, did Esme sleep here tonight?"
"Yes, this child pestered me, saying that she likes to sleep with me tonight for a good reason."
Troy is overjoyed, knowing that Esme surely has been instructed by her mother to do so. Then he
grabs Jane's arm, "Mom, go pull my father back. I'm sleepy."
Jane, who is stunned, immediately nods, "Ah, okay. I'll go now."
Troy goes back to the living room before Jane does. And Mike has set up the chess pieces for him. As
soon as he sits down, Jane comes in, "Old man, why aren't you sleeping?"
"You sleep on your own. what do you care about me?"
"If you don't sleep, I can't sleep by myself. How about I come and learn how to play chess as well so
that I can play chess with you if nobody else is around."
Jane moves a chair to sit beside Mike. While watching them play chess, she asks many questions
deliberately, completely disturbing Mike’s thinking. Then Mike wipes the pieces on the chessboard
directly, "Forget it, let’s stop it. She is chattering. And she is noisy."
Troy acts like he has been atoned. Hurriedly slipping out of the living room, he walks briskly in the
direction of the guest room.
The ten-minute deadline given by Karin has long since expired. And he wonders if she is still there.
However, subconsciously, he thinks she will be.
When he pushes open the door, the room is dark. He fumbles towards the switch. And as soon as he
touches the switch. Before he can press it, someone suddenly jumps at him from behind and hugs him
tightly around the waist.
He is briefly stunned. And then he suddenly comes to his senses. Then he excitedly turns around.
Although he is standing in the darkness, he can accurately find the fragrant lips. And then he fiercely
kisses her.
At 4:30 am, Karin's alarm which she specifically set off last night goes off. She rubs her drowsy eyes,
intending to sit up, only to be confined in strong arms, "It's not even at dawn. Where are you going..."
"Back to my room. There is half an hour to go before my parents get up. Do you want them to find out
what we did last night?"
Troy groans grumpily, "Obviously, our child is five years old. Why did you make it look like we were
cheating?"
She laughs, leans over, and plants a kiss on his forehead. After that, she quickly gets dressed and
quietly goes back to her room.
Not long after Karin leaves, Troy's cell phone rings. And he looks at the number, knowing that it is
Robert calling him. Then he immediately has a bad feeling. If it weren’t for something urgent, Robert
surely wouldn’t have called him at this time.
He guesses it correctly. As soon as the phone is connected, Robert says urgently, "Mr. Troy, it is bad.
Something has happened!"
"What's wrong?"
"Your uncle is dead!"
"What?" He is so shocked that he sits up, "What happened?"
"At 3:00 a.m., your uncle is found to be strangled in the warehouse of his company. It’s said that he
purchased the leather raw materials from nowhere yesterday. And he checked the inventory with the
workers in the warehouse until midnight. After the workers left, he remained there. As his son saw his
father hadn’t been home at such a late hour, he rushed to the warehouse, only to find that your uncle
had died. And there are obvious traces of strangulation with a rope around his neck. "
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