Eliam was an intelligent person.After hearing what Hayden said, he immediately understood that Hayden saw Shelly differently. However, from his perspective, Shelly was undoubtedly not a match for Hayden.Hayden likely felt the same and intended to test Shelly; it remained to be seen whether Shelly could withstand the test.It was half-past six in the evening, and Shelly was getting ready to leave work.With the addition of a few more employees in the shop, she no longer had to stay late at night.As she stepped out of the shop, a man immediately intercepted her path. Despite his somewhat brusque demeanor, his face carried a gentle and friendly smile."Shelly, do you remember me? I came to your shop last time to buy cakes, and we chatted for a bit," the man who spoke was Fergus Bailey, an employee from the Administration Department of the Dream Maker.Shelly immediately smiled and replied, "Of course, I remember you! We're from the same town! It's my first time meeting someone f
On the other end of the phone, Shelly's mother burst into laughter. "I've played poker with your mother before! I didn't expect you to run into Shelly here! That's wonderful!"Upon hearing her mother's words, Shelly suddenly felt a closer connection to Fergus.They went to the restaurant he had mentioned.Fergus took the initiative to grab the menu and ordered a few signature dishes before passing it to Shelly. "Order whatever you like. I earn a decent salary, so you don't need to worry about saving money for me."Shelly noticed that the dishes he ordered were enough for two people, so she did not order anything else. "Even if you earn a good salary, it's still important to spend wisely, unless you plan on going back to our hometown." Shelly hoped that he would continue to improve his life. "As for me, I don't plan on going back. My goal now is to earn money and settle down here.""That's impressive! You are so young and already a boss running your own shop. You even turned my bos
Shelly had not expected Fergus to be so accepting. She was surprised, but she was not going to immediately decide to be with him because of this.Although they were from the same hometown, this was only their second time meeting so rushing to date seemed like too hasty a move."Fergus, thank you for saying that. We've only just met, and we still don't know each other very well," Shelly said. "Besides, you don't look that old to me!""I'm twenty-seven this year, can't you tell?" Fergus could sense that Shelly was a cautious woman. He did not know what had happened with her previous child, but he felt she could be a lifelong partner."I really can't tell. I thought you were, at most, twenty-five!" Shelly exclaimed. "And twenty-seven is still quite young in a big city.""Yeah! Actually, I'm not in a hurry to get married. It's mainly my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents who are. You know how it is in our hometown; many people get married in their twenties, and people my ag
"Is it really that bad?" Hayden asked."Your son's weight has shot up, and your dad loves carrying him around. How could his arms not feel sore?" Avery said."Let him rest for a while, and don't let him carry the baby for now.""He can't help it. It's all his fault that your son likes being held by people and being carried around. He cries as soon as you put him down, and, sometimes, he cries even when he's being held without movement. I've had so many children, and none of them were like this. It's all your dad's fault," Avery complained.Elliot sat there sipping his tea, not daring to say a word, as he had never expected Aiden to grow so spoiled.He had helped take care of Robert before, and Robert had not been at all like this."Wah!" Aiden started crying because Hayden was sitting on the couch without moving as he held him.Hayden immediately put his phone down and stood up with the little rascal in his arms.As soon as he stood up, Aiden stopped crying."He already enjoys
Due to her family background, Shelly thought that she had a rather smooth life and was already quite blessed, so she dared not dream about marrying Hayden.If one was greedy, one would eventually end up with nothing, so she only wished to grab onto what was within her reach."Shelly, tell me the truth: What do you think of this?" Shelly's mother wanted her to find a reliable man she could raise Audrey alongside.withAfter all, she would eventually grow old and could not remain by Shelly's side forever, so she wanted a man around to care for Shelly."Mom, I haven't thought much of it yet. I've only met Fergus twice!" Seeing that Audrey was asleep, Shelly returned to the living room. "But Fergus is in quite a hurry. His family has been urging him to get married.""He is almost thirty, so of course his family is in a hurry. I'm supposed to be as well when you get to that age," Shelly's mother said. "Honestly, Fergus seems rather reliable. Maybe you should consider him."They were al
"I happened to walk past a florist and saw that these were on discount," Fergus explained. "It's not like these are roses. Just accept them!"Shelly set the bouquet aside on the counter. "Have you eaten, Fergus? If you haven't, let me treat you to lunch."Since Fergus had paid for the dinner the night before, Shelly felt that she owed him."Will it take you away from work?" Fergus asked."No. I need to go for lunch anyway," she said before stepping out of the cafe with him.The two ran into Hayden on their way out, and Hayden was surprised to see them together."Have they already started dating?" he thought.Fergus froze when he saw Hayden as he had not expected to see him here. Shelly, too, was surprised.Not daring to presume that he had come to see her, she asked, "Hayden, are you here to buy cakes?"Hayden remained expressionless and said, "I'm here to see you."Shelly did not have time to ask him why he was looking for her. Taken aback, Fergus exclaimed, "Shelly, you kno
Shelly was extremely embarrassed by Fergus's words and stole a glance at Hayden to see his expression darkening."What is happening? This is hell!" she thought."Have the two of you already gotten to the point where you are discussing marriage?" Hayden had not anticipated that they would be moving forward with their relationship so swiftly or that Shelly would be so desperate to get married."No, Fergus is just messing around!" Shelly said."Haha! Yeah. I'm pursuing Shelly, but she hasn't agreed to it." Seeing how Hayden seemed interested in the topic, Fergus continued, "Shelly and I come from the same hometown. It's a remote, underdeveloped town. She was the first person that I had met from there since moving to Avonsville. It felt like fate. Moreover, we're around the same age, and, most importantly, our mothers know each other."An unreadable look crossed Hayden's face, one that could be interpreted as displeasure, but Shelly felt like he had a similar expression on most of the
Fergus felt slightly disappointed. "All right, then! I respect your choice. Let's just be friends. If a day comes when you want to start a family with me, let me know.""Sure. I advise you to go and meet other women, though. You will definitely find a better partner out there," Shelly said. "I have a child, so most of my focus is going to be on my child. It's best that you marry a woman who hasn't given birth yet.""With that logic, are you going to look specifically for men who are divorced and have children of their own?" Fergus asked. "It's not the olden days anymore, and there are plenty of couples who live together without getting married so they are no different from married couples. Countless women have gone through abortions after moving in with their boyfriends, and, if you ask me, I think giving birth is a better option over abortion."Shelly was pleasantly stunned, as she had never imagined Fergus to be so open-minded."Fergus, let's not talk about this for now, and let