Chapter 10 He Lives in the Same Block as I Do

• The emergence of such thoughts surprised me, but I took a deep breath before patting on my face to warn myself to focus on the present. My only mission then was to reclaim everything that I gave the two b*stards.
• For the next few days, I stayed at Isabella's place, while Carson would call me everyday. I was gradually able to accustom myself to exchanging sweet nothings with him in a calm manner despite my initial distaste, while Isabella would praise me upon observing my interactions with him.
• My acting skills improved by leaps and bounds within days, whereas the time had come for me to return. Besides, I sure did miss Keira after hiding for such a long time. In fact, I missed her so much that I returned home a day earlier with a present that I picked out for her.
• Upon entering my community area, I lifted my head while observing the house we lived in, all the while recalling something. My mom was the one who paid for the house behind my father's back. Carson was so angry at me after knowing that I took my mother's money that he swore to repay them as soon as he had the money to. However, he never did mention it even once throughout the years, nor did he repay the five million he used to set up his company, which he promised to repay. Now that I looked back at it, I sure was foolish to believe in him.
• I stepped through the security gates with mixed feelings after shaking my head, only to bump into Dylan when waiting for the elevator, whom I hadn't seen in a long time. It wasn't without some degree of awkwardness I stared at him, as I turned him down rather harshly back then after having made up my mind about Carson as my person, after which we drifted apart, so I wondered why he would be there.
• “What brings you?” While a lot of possibilities flashed through my mind, what he said was what I daunted the most.
• “I live here.”
• I was stunned that he not only lived in the same community as I did, but we were in fact neighbors living in the same building. “Since when did you move here? Did you buy a house here?”
• With a nod, he confirmed my suspicions. “I bought it just a while ago, so I came to check up on the interior as it was recently finished.”
• The elevator stopped on the eighth floor as we spoke, while I offered upon stepping out of the elevator, “I live on the eighth floor, so you can drop by if you’d like to.”
• “Okay.”
• I only extended the offer out of courtesy, so I wasn’t expecting him to actually come with me. While I regretted extending the offer at all, I could only open the door as I put on a calm facade, all the while thinking of excuses which I could use to chase him away, as I didn’t want him to stay for long, nor did I want him to know about my current life.
• As soon as the door was opened, we could see that the floor was full of toys, which I quickly explained, “The house is a little messy right now.”
• He didn’t seem to mind though. “It’s normal when you have kids.”
• With much indignance, I motioned for him to sit as I began tidying the toys on the floor. “Have a seat while I tidy things up.”
• However, it was at that moment that I heard noises from my bedroom, which grown-ups would be able to immediately recognize.