chapter290 Hoping Not to Be Let Down This Time
Unity was incarcerated for child abuse and battery, awaiting trial and sentencing.
This left Russell without any family to care for him.
The Lewis family had faced a complete downfall and had long given up on Unity. The child she gave birth to, whose father remained unknown even to Unity, naturally went unrecognized by the Lewises.
Teresa called the hospital to inquire about little Russell's condition, the child's life was saved, but he lost his legs forever.
It seemed too cruel for a toddler barely over two years old, and Teresa couldn't imagine how Unity could be so heartless.
"What's wrong? Did a student upset you?"
After a meeting, Gabriel returned to his office and saw Teresa standing by the windows, staring out pensively, oblivious to his return. He approached her, wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissed her cheek, and asked.
Teresa snapped out of her trance, shaking her head, "I just called the hospital to check on Unity's son."
"There, there, sweetie, you've done all you could," Gabriel soothed as he turned her to face him, his fingers gently lifting her chin, and kissed her, "Let's not talk about Unity and her son anymore. Once he's discharged, I'll arrange for him to be sent to the appropriate welfare facility."
Teresa nodded, then something struck her, and she suddenly asked, "Oh, speaking of upcoming events, the Evans Group is having its fiftieth-anniversary celebration soon. Can you skip it?"
"Worried?" Gabriel asked, his dark eyes intensely fixed on her.
Teresa nodded, "Yes, the doctor said you should avoid crowded places to prevent infection. Even though you're healthy now, I don't want you taking even the tiniest risk."
"I can’t," Gabriel said with a smile, wrapping his arms tightly around Teresa and kissing her head. "Putting aside everything else, my long-standing friendship with Liam requires me to attend. If I miss it, people will speculate about our relationship, which could harm Evans Group's reputation."
Teresa tilted her head back within his embrace, pecking his chin playfully, her eyebrows knit in a tease, "Then let's make it a brief appearance and slip out early."
"All right, sweetheart, you call the shots. Let's have dinner."
"Mhm."
...
The Evans Group was buzzing with the preparations for its fiftieth-anniversary celebration, and Diana, the CEO's executive assistant, was naturally swamped with extra workload.
She had forgotten entirely about the fried beef steak that Douglas mentioned—the thought lost in a sea of tasks.
By the time the evening wound down, it was nearly ten o'clock. Only after finishing her work did Diana realize she'd skipped dinner in the frenzy.
But now, hunger had passed her, and she didn't feel like eating anymore. Leaving the Evans Group office building, she headed straight for her apartment.
Exhaustion and sleepiness weighed heavily on her. All she yearned for was a warm shower and to collapse into bed.
Unexpectedly, arriving at her apartment building, stepping out of the elevator, and turning toward her door, she spotted a tall, handsome guy casually leaning against the wall by her apartment, holding several takeout containers in his hand.
“Oh! The fried beef steaks!” A quick recollection sparked a smile on Diana's face.
"You finally made it back," Douglas said with a pout from a distance, looking quite sad.
Diana approached with a laugh, "Didn't we agree we weren't a good match? So, what brings you here?"
"That was you, not me," Douglas replied, standing up and reaching for her hand with a plaintive tone, "We never even gave it a shot. How can you conclude like that?"
Diana faced him as his hand reached out. She didn't pull away, and the moment his colder hand enveloped hers, she keenly felt a shiver.
"How long have you been waiting here?" she asked.
Douglas furrowed his brow, thinking. "I guess, around three or four hours?"
"Don't you know the code? Why didn't you go in? Are you nuts?" Diana blurted out, her tone a mix of irritation and concern.
‘Three or four hours in such cold weather... Was he out of his mind?’
Seeing her reaction, Douglas couldn't help but chuckle, "I was afraid you'd come home and miss me if I was inside."
Diana rolled her eyes in exasperation, "All right, now that you've seen me, you can go."
With a final word, Diana yanked her hand away from Douglas, punching in the code to unlock the door.
"Hey, sis, wait up, I'm freezing and starving!" Douglas hurried after her, grabbing at her hand again with a whine, "You wouldn't want to wake up to find me frozen dead on your doorstep in the morning, right?"
Diana punched in the code, opened the door, and shot Douglas an indifferent glance. "That's not my problem," she said before stepping inside, poised to shut the door.
"Yowch!" Douglas wedged a leg in the closing gap, wincing as the door pinched him.
"Hey, how's your leg?" Seeing his pained expression, Diana immediately checked on him, her concern palpable.
"It hurts!" Douglas exaggerated his expression at her worried look.
"Where did you hurt it? Show me. Is it bad?" Diana bent down earnestly to inspect his leg.
"Ah... it's not terrible," Douglas conceded, not wanting to take the joke too far. He gave her a few takeout containers, grinning, "I guess a fried beef steak should do the trick for healing."
Diana glanced at the containers before giving Douglas another wordless look.
