Chapter 17 Have You Fallen In Love?

Upon Yvette's return home, she was met with her mother's complaints.

Lassie whined, "You didn't tell me in advance when you were eating out. I had already prepared dinner."

Yvette looked up and saw the hot food board on the table still running, with the meal Lassie had prepared specifically for Yvette.

Yvette suggested, "Then pack these dishes into a lunch box for me. I'll take them to the office tomorrow."

Seeing Yvette's casual attitude, Lassie looked at her angrily and said, "You're pregnant. You need to eat fresh food. I'll have these dishes for lunch tomorrow, and you need to eat something fresh."

Yvette casually replied, "The food in the cafeteria at my company isn't that fresh either. The food you make is definitely fresher."

Lassie rebutted, "Reheating this kind of food multiple times can be harmful to the body. Forget it; I don't want to argue with you."

Not wanting to discuss it further with Yvette, Lassie turned off the power to the hot food board.

Yvette sat on the sofa and found a phone charging cable in the wall crack. After charging her phone, she started watching videos.

Observing Yvette in such a state, Lassie continued discontentedly, "What is your mysterious husband up to? Is there still no confirmation of the specific time for the weekend rendezvous? His demeanor truly irks me."

As soon as Yvette heard this topic, her mood for watching videos disappeared.
Yvette remarked, "If you didn't insist on seeing him, wouldn't it be better not to see him?"

Upon hearing Yvette's words, Lassie became angry.

Lassie questioned, "Do you even know what you're saying, Yvette?"

Lassie was particularly angry and asked Yvette seriously, "It seems like you're really annoyed by the topic of meeting up. Tell me the truth. What's going on between you and your husband?"

Yvette replied, "What do you mean?"

Lassie furrowed her brow, and asked accusingly, "Was your husband willingly married to you? Could it be that you used the child as leverage, leaving him no choice but to marry you?"

Lassie widened her eyes, visibly enraged.

Yvette tilted her head, offering no response.

Feeling her speculative scenario validated by Yvette's silence, Lassie exclaimed passionately, "In that case, you'd better let go of this child. Men can be ruthless; without genuine love from him, your family will never find true happiness!"

Feeling ashamed, Yvette retorted, "He's just been really busy lately, with a lot of work every day. He comes home late at night. You two will definitely meet; don't overthink it."

Yvette had to make a lot of effort to calm Lassie down. She felt exhausted both physically and emotionally.

Also, Yvette had no idea how Albert had planned the weekend.

After the incident with Violet, would Albert still keep his initial promise? Yvette had no confidence in this matter at all.

Lying on the bed, Yvette stared blankly at the ceiling light.

Yvette felt like the weekend was a death sentence, and she was unsure if she could get through the week.

To solve the problem with Lassie, Yvette had to contact Albert.

It was really awkward. Yvette realized it would have been better to speak up earlier in the morning, taking advantage of Albert's guilt at that moment.

After lying down for a while, Yvette let out a soft sigh, realizing that what needed to be addressed couldn't be avoided.

She calculated the time when Albert would return to Luken; he should be almost home by now. Yvette picked up her phone and began composing a message to send to Albert.

Yvette: [Have you settled on a time for meeting my family this weekend? ]

After typing the message, she felt her tone might have been too assertive, so she added another sentence.

Yvette: [If not convenient, we can reschedule.]

She sent the message and anxiously held onto her phone, waiting for Albert's response.

One minute passed, then two, then five, then half an hour... an hour went by.

Before going to bed, Yvette checked the message one last time, but Albert still hadn't replied.

Suddenly, Yvette remembered how Albert had reacted when he received a message from Violet in her presence.

Yvette thought to herself that, to Albert, Violet was Violet, and any other woman was just another. Yvette was simply one of those other women who had accidentally become pregnant and was nothing particularly special to him.

Albert's car was parked quite far from the bar, requiring a walk of over ten minutes.

On the way, Albert encountered a few drunkards, some of whom were vomiting by the roadside, making the already noisy environment even more unpleasant.

Albert's phone battery was running low. As soon as he got into the car and put it in the charging slot, it started ringing.

Glancing at the screen, Albert saw it was Victor calling. Presumably, Albert had left, and his friends were asking Victor about his situation.

Frowning, Albert answered the call while driving.

Victor immediately bombarded Albert with questions.

Victor asked, "What's going on? How did you end up in a dispute with Prince?"

Victor had just returned home from work, feeling exhausted. Now, he had to deal with this issue for him, and he complained, "Why do I have to resolve the problems you've stirred up? After a long day at work, I come home to deal with this kind of situation. Isn't that just exhausting?"

A few drops of rain fell on the windshield, triggering the automatic wipers as they identified the rain, creating a harsh scraping sound on the glass.

Albert's tone was very flat. Speaking softly and clearly, he said, "It's nothing."

This answer simply left much to the imagination.

Victor certainly wouldn't believe Albert's words and retorted, "If it's nothing, why did you leave before even starting to drink? We're all friends, and your behavior was disrespectful. Who can feel comfortable in that situation?"

Albert, driving, looked into the distance and remarked, "That bar is too subpar; the taste of the drinks is unpleasant, the sound system is terrible, and the clientele is of low quality."

Victor found Albert's response to be perfunctory, a sentiment he was not willing to believe.
It is not something Albert would typically do.

Despite his eccentricities, Albert usually manages to maintain a basic level of dignity in public.

Today, the fact that Albert abruptly left before even having a drink, despite initially suggesting going out for one, can be attributed to one reason alone: Albert was displeased.

After pondering for a few seconds and recalling what other friends had mentioned about the incident,

Victor tentatively asked, "Could it be because Prince mentioned his interest in pursuing Yvette?"

As a police car and an ambulance swiftly approached from behind, overtaking them, the midnight sirens conveniently drowned out the mention of Yvette's name.

The atmosphere around Albert returned to tranquility as he focused on driving with a calm expression. The streetlights flickered like piano keys, alternating between black and white.

A complex expression appeared on Albert's face.

Seeing Albert's silence, Victor leaned towards the assumption that Albert was tacitly agreeing.
Albert had also pondered a lot. Amid the rhythmic sound of breathing in the car, there was a very light sigh.

"You're upset because Prince mentioned Yvette. Have you fallen in love with Yvette? What about Violet?"

Victor's tone became low and suppressed, pausing for a moment before asking seriously, "Albert, who do you really love?"