Yurika followed Samantha to the doorstep. All the way, she kept nagging, "Sammie, are you really not moving in with me?"
Samantha nodded firmly, "Really not! You just had a quarrel with Karen. If I move out now, what would she think? Anyway, we are best friends, and I don't want our relationship to be affected because of Justin."
Seeing her determination, Yurika could only choose to give up. Perhaps hearing the commotion outside, the front door opened. Karen stood there in pajamas, smiling gently when she saw them, "Sammie, you're back? Yurika, you're here too! Do you want to come in and sit?" While speaking, there was no change in her facial expression. It seemed like there was no estrangement due to the recent events.
Seeing her smile, Yurika felt uncomfortable, finding it hypocritical. The desire to tear off her hypocritical mask was particularly strong.
"No need, I'm moving in with you guys tomorrow." This statement stunned both Samantha and Karen.
Samantha looked at her in surprise. Karen's attempt to maintain her facial expression couldn't hold any longer, freezing for a moment. "You, you want to move in?" Karen asked.
Yurika nodded.
Samantha sighed helplessly, "Yurika, don't be silly!"
Yurika blinked and pretended to be innocent, "I'm not being silly! We are the best of friends! Of course, I want to be with you two every day." As she spoke, she looked at Karen and deliberately asked, "Karen, you wouldn't mind, right?"
Karen's lips twitched, wanting to smile but unable to. She forced out a sentence, "Of course, welcome!"
Not giving her a chance to change her mind, Yurika immediately walked into the house without courtesy. "I'll sleep here tonight. I'll go back tomorrow to pack. Remember to give me a key for easier access."
Karen was almost gritting her teeth in anger. She wished she could chop Yurika into a thousand pieces, but she couldn't show it on her face. Seeing Karen hating her but unable to do anything about it, Yurika's mood suddenly improved.
Samantha knew that Yurika wanted to deliberately provoke Karen. If this continued, their relationship would only get more and more strained until it became irreparable. "Yurika, there are only two rooms here. One for Karen and one for me and the child. There's no place for you to sleep."
But Yurika had already planned ahead. "I'll sleep in the same room as Karen!"
Karen was stunned. "???"
Yurika looked at her and deliberately asked, "Karen, you wouldn't mind, right?"
Karen had a thousand refusals in her heart, but she said, "Of course> Aren't we the best of friends?"
With her back to Samantha, Yurika smiled triumphantly at Karen, revealing a satisfied expression.
Karen was almost spitting blood with anger. Samantha's gaze shuttled back and forth between them. The atmosphere felt somehow off. But she couldn't put her finger on what exactly was wrong.
After taking a shower, Samantha led the two kids back to the room.
Yurika casually went to Karen's room. Karen, who was playing with her phone on the bed, looked like a child caught doing something wrong when she threw her phone onto the bed. She apologized, "Yurika, sorry, Justin messaged me." Her tone was full of pride.
Yurika had long seen through her true colors, and she didn't buy into her act. She smiled and sat down by the bed, "How are we going to sleep tonight?"
Karen pointed to the bedding on the floor, "I've set it up for you. Tonight, you sleep on the floor, and I'll take the bed."
Yurika smiled sweetly, "As a guest and best friends, you surely wouldn't let me sleep on the floor, right? It's cool at night, and I'm delicate; I might not be able to handle it."
"???" Did she imply she wasn't delicate? That she could handle it? The refusal was on the tip of her tongue, but before Karen could say anything, the door was suddenly pushed open.
Samantha stood at the doorway with a smiling face, pretending to be serious, "How was it? Did you guys quarrel?"
Yurika intimately hooked her arm with Karen's, "Karen is so kind. She gave me the bed to sleep in. How could we possibly quarrel? You go and soothe the two little ones to sleep! Everything is fine here."
Samantha clearly didn't fully believe her, "Really?"
Yurika nodded vigorously, "Really."
Karen echoed, "Really."
Only then did Samantha leave with peace of mind.
After the door was closed, Yurika rudely pushed Karen to the ground and lay down on the bed without any politeness. Karen was so angry that she almost spat out a mouthful of blood. She wanted to kick Yurika out.
Feeling the fiercely resentful gaze behind her, Yurika smiled triumphantly, revealing a satisfied expression. She just loved to see Karen frustrated but unable to get rid of her. With her around, don't even think about hurting Samantha.
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Karen gritted her teeth and secretly added another layer of cotton wool to the bedding on the floor. She reluctantly lay down. The floor was too hard, far from the softness of a bed. She tossed and turned but couldn't fall asleep.
Midnight, everyone was asleep. Noah quietly crawled out of bed, found Samantha's phone on the bedside table, opened Whatsapp, located Ethan's chat box, and sent him a message.
[Are you in a bad mood today?]
Although he didn't talk to his father during dinner, he could clearly feel that his father had something on his mind. This should be what people call a father-son connection!
The message was sent, but there was no response. Noah waited for a long time but received no reply. Unable to bear it, he sent another message:
[If there's something on your mind, you can tell me. I can be your most loyal listener.]
Still, there was silence. Noah couldn't accept it. He sent several messages in a row.
[No matter what happens, I will always be by your side, your strongest support!]
[I miss you!]
[Go to bed early, good night!]
[Haven't you seen my messages?"
"Why aren't you responding? Are you mad at me?]
[Don't ignore me; I'll be sad! I really care about you.]
[I like you.]
Despite sending a series of messages, there was still no response. Usually, at this time, his father would be working. Thinking about Ethan's unusual behavior, Noah couldn't shake off his concern. He secretly went into the bathroom, picked up the phone, and called the landline at Chelsea Creek.
It took a while for the call to connect. The butler answered the phone.
Noah deliberately pinched his nose and said, "Hello, is the master at home? I'm Milly from the old residence. Madam asked me to check if the master is back."
The butler, still half-asleep, didn't doubt it, so he went upstairs to check. Seeing that Ethan was asleep, he picked up the phone and replied, "Mr. Ethan is already sleeping in his room! Is there something wrong?"
Hearing that Ethan was asleep, Noah breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay! You rest early!"
After hanging up the phone, Noah cleared the Whatsapp messages, placed the phone back in its original position, and stared at the dark ceiling for a while before finally falling asleep.
***