Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

At Pinkwater Alley, Tina arrived home just as Hugo and Jennie were stepping through the door. She greeted them and asked, “Mr. Reed, is everything going alright?”

Hugo and Jennie had taken Zackary to enroll at Royal Oaks Kindergarten that morning. Hugo nodded, “It went well; Zackary really likes the school.” There was a hint of bitterness on his face as he sat on the sofa, looking exhausted.

Tina sat down beside him, glanced at him, and inquired, “Ran into some trouble?”

“Ah,” Hugo sighed, “It’s nothing, just the usual.”

Seeing him sigh without elaborating, Tina turned to Jennie, “What happened?”

Tina wasn’t one to pry, but having grown comfortable with Hugo’s family over time, she was naturally willing to help. However, Hugo seemed reluctant to trouble her, never speaking up about his problems.

“Don’t mind him; he’s just being idle,” Jennie said, glaring at Hugo before patting him on the shoulder, “Big deal, if you can’t find a job, you can’t find it. I still have some savings, and after a while, you can look for a job elsewhere. Can your mother intervene with your work in Ensford? If you go to another place, can she still meddle?”

Jennie continued, “Besides, Zackary’s tuition is completely waived now. What’s there to worry about? Don’t bring a bad mood home every day and affect Tina’s mood.”

They had just found out about the tuition waiver while enrolling at Royal Oaks that day. For them, this was incredibly good news. Initially, Jennie was happy about Zackary being accepted at Royal Oaks, but after discussing it with Hugo, they realized they couldn’t afford such a prestigious school under their current circumstances. They had decided to send Zackary to a regular kindergarten instead. They went to Royal Oaks to explain this, only to be told that Zackary’s tuition would be waived.

This had delighted them immensely. But now that the tuition issue was settled, Hugo was worried about finding a job, constantly fretting about supporting the family, leaving Jennie speechless.

Tina understood; Hugo was being suppressed by Elizabeth and couldn’t find work. She pressed her lips together, not caring whether Hugo had a job or not. She could support the family herself.

Hugo, in his forties, had lost a lot of time due to his job situation. Tina glanced at Hugo, took out her phone, opened her social media app, and found over 999 messages in her inbox. She was startled, then remembered posting about looking for a job and not checking her phone since.

She read the messages.

“I can’t believe it, are you really looking for a job? Come to Lumieux? Be the president.”

“Holy smokes, am I seeing things? You’re looking for a job? Hurry and come to Mendara, you can be the chairman; I want to travel the world.”

Rubbing her temples in disbelief, Tina’s gaze lingered on the last message.

Principal of Ensford High School: “Interested in coming to our school for a visit?”

Tina paused, recognizing Ensford High School as Amber’s alma mater. After reading the comments, she exited and clicked on a contact with a black avatar, named ‘Jimmy’, “Does Mendara have a branch in Ensford?”

The reply came almost immediately, “Love disappears out of nowhere, Serena? You don’t even know where my branch is? I’m so heartbroken…”

[One thousand words omitted here]

Tina’s temples throbbed as she read, too tired for nonsense. She sent Hugo’s resume, “Need a vacancy.”

After a moment, she added, “This is my dad!”

“Wow, my future father-in-law! Serena, don’t worry, I’ll take good care of our dad…”

A thousand-word message followed.

Tina, “…”

She turned off her phone.

As soon as she put away her phone, Hugo’s rang. Whatever was said on the other end, Hugo listened with a serious expression, “I understand.”

After hanging up, he looked at Jennie and Tina, “Talon has invited us to a birthday banquet tonight and made a point of asking us to bring Tina.”

Jennie frowned, “Why bring Tina? They don’t like her, why invite her kindly?”

Tina smiled slightly, “Let’s go! Let’s see what they’re up to.”

The people at Moon Gate Estate wouldn’t invite them without reason. Tonight-it wasn’t a birthday banquet, but a trap! Perfect!

She was curious to see what they were planning.

Elsewhere.

Jared and Hayden had just left Moon Gate Estate when Jared received a call from Amber, inviting him to Talon’s wife’s birthday banquet that evening. Jared accepted.

In the car.

Jared held the phone, his slender fingers tappingslowly on it as his piercing eyes stared out the window, his expression unreadable.

“What is Amber up to?” Hayden asked, noticing Jared had ended the call with a frown, “She couldn’t wait to get away from you inside, and now she invites you to her aunt’s birthday party?”

Jared’s fingers continued their slow rhythm on the phone, his eyes slightly narrowed, but he said nothing.

Nathan glanced at Jared through the rearview mirror, “Mr. Farrell, are you really going to the birthday banquet tonight?”

“Going,” Jared replied slowly, “She saved Sophia, I owe her that courtesy.”

Nathan’s expression was somber, “I have a feeling this birthday banquet isn’t going to be straightforward. Amber is very cunning.”

Jared’s lips curved into a cold smirk, “Miss Ensford is no big deal.”

Hayden was confused by his cryptic words, “What do you mean? Did you discover something?”

Jared’s eyes lifted slightly, his voice cool, “She’s too greedy.”

He didn’t know why Amber had treated Sophia behind his back, but he was certain it wasn’t out of pure kindness.

Nathan agreed, “Right, I wanted to mention that Amber’s eyes showed greed when she saw the check, even though she hid it well. I suspect her motive for saving Miss Sophia isn’t simple.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Damn, she’s up to something?” Hayden’s eyes widened in shock, then with excitement, “I like trouble, it’s fun when I’m bored.”

Then, leaning towards Jared, he said, “Take me with you, I want to watch the drama!”

Jared glanced at him and then instructed Nathan, “Pick up Sophia, we’ll come back here tonight for the birthday banquet.”