"What happened? Anything wrong?"
Seeing that Samuel was not in a good mood, Nicole asked.
Samuel smiled, "Nothing. Stay with grandpa. I got something to attend to."
"OK."
Nicole nodded.
Now that Samuel did not say much about the matter, he must have the confidence to fix it.
After Samuel left, Edwin snorted, "He was a prick when in the military. But with you, he is like a meek
lamb. I'm not quite used to it."
Audrey coughed, "Dad, what are you talking about? Nicole is your granddaughter. Do you want Samuel
to be the impatient with her?"
"Of course not!"
Edwin apologized.
Nicole could tell that grandpa and mom cared for her, so she didn't grandpa's words into heart.
"Well, you don't have to stay with us. You must be tired from this journey. Just go to take a rest."
Audrey looked at Nicole's raccoon eyes and felt distressed.
"I'm not tired. I want to stay with you."
Nicole didn't want to leave. To be honest, Nicole had no idea about how many more days Audrey had
for her. She was afraid that if she left, something might happen to Audrey.
Audrey read through Nicole's mind. She said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I'll be fine, at least before you
take part in the competition. You have my word."
Nicole had mixed feelings at Audrey's words.
"Don't worry. Your mother has promised you that everything will be fine. Besides, we have Morgan. By
the way, when will Morgan come back?"
Edwin wished Morgan could be with Audrey all the time.
Nicole knew what Morgan was doing. She answered in a low voice, "She would be back soon. I'll go to
take a rest."
"Where are you going?"
Edwin asked when he saw Nicole walk out.
Nicole said naturally, "Grandpa, you don't have many rooms here. Now that mom lives with you, I will
go back to the Green's."
"We have plenty of rooms! Your mother lives in her original room. I got you your room as well. Let's go
upstairs."
"Upstairs?"
Nicole was a little surprised.
She thought that there was just a study upstairs. She hadn't seen anyone go up there.
Audrey smiled, "There used to be a lot of members in the family. We had rooms for me and Martha in
the past, and have the room for you now. My mom used to live upstairs. Dad didn't want to change the
layout."
When Edwin heard that, he sighed, "There are some things that I can't let go of. But now that I'm old, I
ask myself why bother. So I've had people redecorate it. It's brand new now."
Nicole knew that Edwin was stubborn, so she did not refuse and followed Steve up to the second floor.
The room was redecorated. She couldn't tell the style of the previous design, but it seemed that the
room had been redecorated a long time ago.
Steve looked at Nicole and asked, "Ms. Nicole, how do you like it? Actually, Mr. Shaw finished
decorating the room five years ago."
"Five years ago?"
Nicole was somewhat surprised.
Steve nodded and continued, "Yes, the room was ready when you got married. He had intended to tell
you who he was, but didn't know how to explain his relationship with you when we had no news of Ms.
Audrey. So he gave up. But over the years, Mr. Shaw has been caring about you. However, there are
things that he could do nothing about. I hope you will not blame Mr. Shaw. "
"I will never do that!"
Nicole particularly cherished kinship now. So, she decided to let go of what had happened in the past.
Home was not a place of reason. It was a place of love. Sometimes, you had to leave behind the
unhappy memories.
Steve then heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Nicole's words.
"There aren't many women in the family. Mr. Shaw hasn't had a maid after the accident happening to
Mrs. Shaw. We only have part-time cleaner. Mr. Shaw asked me to get a special nurse for you. Now
that your special nurse is injured, we need hire a new one."
Hearing that, Nicole shook her head, "Thank you. But I can take care of myself. Samuel is looking for
one. Let's talk about it with him later."
"OK. Call me if you need anything. I'm the housekeeper for the time being."
Steve left respectfully.
Nicole looked around and familiarized herself with the room before she sat down.
Nicole was originally sleepy, but was now wide awake, probably because of the new environment.
Samuel was not in a good mood when he left. Although he said everything was fine, Nicole was still a
little worried.
She always felt that something had been overlooked, but had no idea what the matter was about.
She got a bad memory after getting pregnant. And many things had happened recently. Nicole rubbed
her temples and opened her computer.
Edwin was really a doer. During Nicole's trip to Bordeaux, Edwin had moved all her belongings here.
She didn't know if Samuel allowed it or not.
Nicole turned on her computer and looked at those familiar drafts, feeling peaceful.
She already had the outline on her entry design, and now she needed to work on the details. Also, she
had some new ideas.
Nicole looked at the computer and began to work on the design. She forgot the time.
Audrey and Edwin were chatting downstairs. When Audrey looked upstairs, she found that the lights
were still on, "I will go upstairs to see if Nicole forgot to turn off the lights. It's bad to sleep with the lights
on."
"Leave it to Steve."
Edwin said without thinking. But after finishing speaking, he somehow felt embarrassed.
Audrey smiled and said, "We need women here. Don't you think? Nicole will have kids. It is
inappropriate for Steve to go to their room."
"Fine. I've already asked Steve to deal with it. But to be honest, I am not used to having women in the
house."
Audrey smiled at his words, "Nicole and I are both women, aren't you used to us? Do Nicole and I need
to move out?"
"What are you talking about?"
Edwin immediately put on a serious look.
However, when he saw Audrey's smile, Edwin stopped being upset.
"Alright, take a rest. I will cook you meal. I remember that you like the noodles with soybean past made
by me the most, don't you?"
Audrey suddenly fell into contemplation, with the memories flooding back.
When she was young, Edwin always had missions and she could barely see him all year round. Edwin
didn't spend much time with Audrey. Audrey remembered nothing about her father during childhood,
except for the noodles with soybean past made by him.
It was as if dad was back home when she had the noodles.
After so many years, Edwin still remembered Audrey's favorite dish. Audrey felt tears in her eyes.
"Dad, I'm not hungry. Leave the meal to me."
Audrey was about to stand up, but got stopped by Edwin.
"Just wait for me here. Dad hasn't prepared a proper meal for you for so many years. I failed to fulfill
my duty as a father."
After that, tears welled up in his eyes.
Audrey was thinking a lot. They were both stubborn. Were it not for Nicole, they might have no contact
at all. However, they both knew that they actually cared about each other.
Audrey sat back now that Edwin insisted. When the noodles were served, Audrey's eyes were wet.
Edwin pretended not to see it and gently wiped his eyes when he turned around.
After so many years, he got his daughter back finally.
Nicole did not know what was going on. Once she got immersed in design, she would forget about the
time. Many things happened recently, which interrupted her work. Now that the date of the prelude
competition was approaching, Nicole felt a little anxious, although she knew what she should do.
After all, too many things needed to be perfected for each of the draft.
When Nicole was drowned in work, someone knocked the door. She didn't even look up, "Come in."
Audrey walked in with a bowl of noodles. She sighed when she saw Nicole worked on the design
devotedly.
"Look at you. You just came back from a trip, and need to take a rest before starting to work."
"I know, Mom. I'll when I'm done. "
Nicole still didn't raise her head.
Inspiration is a fleeting thing.
However, after Nicole finished drawing, her brows were tightly knitted.
"What's the matter?"
Audrey asked with concern.
Nicole sighed, "I feel that something is wrong. Never mind. Let it be."
Nicole then printed out the design and looked at the noodles. She felt hungry now.
"It smells good, Mom. Did you make it?"
"Grandpa made it."
Nicole was stunned.
"Grandpa? Does he cook?"
Audrey smiled, "All those who serve the country know how to cook. But grandpa can cook noodles
only."
"Not bad."
As Nicole enjoyed the noodles, she felt warm. It was as if the temperature of the noodles had slowly
seeped into her skin and made its way into her vessels.
"Go to bed early. Would Samuel come back tonight?"
Nicole paused for a moment.
Would he come back?
She didn't know. Samuel didn't tell her either.
But where could Samuel go if he didn't come back?
She recalled the way Samuel answered the phone before he left.
It had been a long time and he hadn't called back. Nicole felt uneasy.
Did something go wrong?
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