That night, Tanya Sinclair took care of Joy, coaxing her to drink the medicinal soup and wiping her body multiple times. It wasn’t until three in the morning that Joy’s fever finally subsided, and her face regained some color.
She checked Joy’s pulse to ensure she was fine before dragging her exhausted body back to the bedroom.
Tanya picked up her phone and glanced at it. There was a message from Vincent Hawthorne three hours ago, saying he was staying at The Hawthorne Gardens for the night and wouldn’t be coming back.
Tanya couldn’t be bothered to reply.
She noticed a friend request popping up on WeChat, and upon clicking it, saw it was sent two hours ago.
The account was clearly a new or secondary account, with a default WeChat gray silhouette as the profile picture and the username "Odyssey".
Tanya remembered that Daisy Bell had mentioned during the day that she had opened a new WeChat account and would add her later.
Tanya accepted the friend request.
Right away, the other party sent a message: [Still awake?]
Tanya replied: [About to sleep, you should rest early too, goodnight.]
She included two heart emojis.
The other party seemed to be typing, but Tanya waited a few minutes with no response coming through.
She guessed Daisy Bell was likely on a film set.
Not waiting any longer, she went to the bathroom to take a shower.
After finishing her shower, she picked up her phone and saw Daisy had replied with a simple "Goodnight".
Before going to bed, Tanya checked on the kids’ bedroom and found Joy had crawled into bed with Caden at some point, the twin siblings holding hands as they slept.
The sight made Tanya’s heart soften completely.
The next day, Tanya woke up a bit late. As she stepped out of her room and opened the door, the aroma of food greeted her. The nanny handpicked by the elderly lady had already arrived and prepared breakfast, with Caden and Joy sitting at the table eating.
Seeing that Joy’s color had returned, Tanya felt her heart finally settle down completely.
"Ma’am, you’re up." The nanny greeted Tanya—a round-faced, smiling-eyed, kind-looking middle-aged woman whom Tanya had seen before in the elderly lady’s garden.
"Aunt Tawny," Tanya smiled in acknowledgment.
With Aunt Tawny at home, Tanya could go to the company without worry the next day.
Tanya sat down at the dining table, and Caden and Joy exchanged a glance.
Joy appeared to have something to say but was awkward about it, stealing glances at Tanya from time to time, yet saying nothing by the time breakfast was finished.
Tanya wasn’t in a hurry; she was confident she would wait for the two kids to gradually embrace her as their biological mother.
Today, Caden and Joy were heading to lessons with the international piano master, and in the afternoon, Joy had ballet while Caden had another language class, so they wouldn’t be home until the evening.
Tanya escorted the two kids to the car and handed them sliced fruits and juice.
"Have a good lesson, Mommy will be waiting for you at home."
As Tanya was about to leave, Joy finally couldn’t hold back, "Wait a moment!"
Tanya turned back, "Hmm?"
Joy bit her lip, her gaze wandering everywhere except directly at Tanya.
"...Thank you for yesterday, and also." Joy quickly glanced at her, her hands interlocked, "Brother said the nutritious meal you made was delicious. I want to have it tonight too."
Tanya was momentarily stunned, but then quickly agreed with a smile, "Sure."
Joy, a bit shy, urged the driver to close the door.
"Mr. Driver, let’s go quickly!"
As the car drove off into the distance, Joy leaned against the window, still able to see Tanya standing in the same spot.
This woman didn’t seem so bad after all...
Feeling the reduction in resistance from the two kids, especially from Joy, Tanya was in a great mood all day. That evening, after the kids returned from their lessons, they ate the nutritious meal prepared by Tanya.
Watching Caden and Joy clean their plates with the food she cooked, Tanya felt immensely gratified.
With Aunt Tawny handling the cleaning, Tanya went to prepare some materials she needed to bring to the company the next day, most importantly, the file on her Alzheimer’s disease drug research.
Tanya took out the research materials, and on the advisor’s column, it was Professor Truman’s elegant signature.
The paper had already yellowed.
Originally, Professor Truman intended for her to lead a team independently to continue the project once she graduated.
To make this her first research project.
Professor Truman believed she could achieve remarkable success that would astonish everyone, and with his recommendation, there was a good chance the Royal International Pharmaceutical Association would exceptionally admit her as the youngest member.
But now, seven years later, she was only officially starting on this project...
Footsteps, familiar, approached from outside the door—Vincent Hawthorne had come back.
Tanya’s expression turned slightly cold; she stepped out but noticed the smell of alcohol and women’s perfume clinging to Vincent before she even got close.
Tanya faintly frowned in displeasure.
"I attended an important banquet tonight," Vincent said, collapsing onto the bed and bringing an arm over his forehead, his expression pained, "Tanya, make me some hangover tea."
Tanya agreed, walked out, and ordered takeout directly.
Make him hangover tea?
Does he even deserve it?
Tanya sat in the living room waiting for the delivery. Feeling bored while waiting, she turned on the TV and switched channels, coming across the video from the banquet.
This was a charity gala held almost every quarter.
The gathering was full of elite figures; calling it a charity event was more about these affluent people exchanging resources periodically. Then, they’d some money as if it justified their actions.
Tanya intended to change the channel but then noticed a figure in the video’s corner—it was Vincent Hawthorne.
His appearance stood out, hard to miss, and by his side, hooked onto his arm, was Cindy Lynn in a formal gown, looking every bit the mistress.
Feeling displeased by the sight, Tanya turned off the TV.
When the takeout arrived, she poured the hangover soup into a bowl, then went to the kitchen and added two spoons of vinegar and half a tube of mustard, stirring it, and brought it to Vincent.
"Vincent, I noticed you seemed quite drunk, so I switched up the hangover tea recipe. It might not taste great, but it’s effective. You must drink it all at once for it to work," Tanya said softly, her eyes filled with sincerity.
No one understood pharmacology better than Tanya, so Vincent didn’t doubt her and drank it in one go, almost spitting it out.
Recalling Tanya’s words, he forced it down.
"How is it? Did it wake you up right away?" Tanya asked with concern.
"Yeah." Vincent nodded with effort; his throat burned, and he had to drink several glasses of water to recover.
Tanya stood beside him, arms crossed, watching coolly.
As soon as Vincent turned his head, she replaced it with her usual gentle smile. Chapters first released on novel fire.net
"Tanya, the cooperation proposal you mentioned yesterday, I discussed it with Dad, and we’ll do as you suggested." Vincent said, walking up to Tanya and holding her hand, "I negotiated a lot to get Dad to agree. Don’t disappoint me, Tanya."
He’d run into his cousin Silas at the banquet, who had already boasted that the Pierce family’s second son was very pleased with his cooperation proposal, and that his collaboration with Westgard Pharmaceuticals was a sure thing!
Vincent indeed felt some urgency.
Moreover, Tanya’s suggestion posed nearly no legal risk, as he confirmed with the legal department; besides...
Vincent looked deeply into Tanya’s eyes.
No one knew better than him how deeply Tanya loved him, willing to risk even her life.
Such a Tanya would never betray him.
Tanya, having obtained the outcome she desired, smiled even more brightly.
"Vincent, rest assured." She leaned into Vincent’s arms, her eyes cold as ice, "I will definitely give you a ’surprise’!"