Help! My One-Night Stand Is Examining Me?!

Before she could finish, the other person suddenly hung up.

Alana froze.

What’s going on?

Why did she hang up so suddenly?

She hadn’t even finished speaking.

Could it be that the other person misunderstood her and thought she was calling to extort money?

She just wanted to return the bank card.

After thinking it over, Alana sent a message to explain why she had called.

But after she sent the message, the other person didn’t reply for a long time, and she didn’t know if they’d even seen it.

Alana thought about it for a moment, then let it go.

After all, she’d said what she needed to say and made it clear she wanted to return the bank card. If they didn’t want it, then it wasn’t her problem anymore.

Putting down her phone, Alana put the bank card back in the drawer, then turned off the main light, leaving only a dim nightlight on.

Then she lay down on the bed, pulled the covers over herself, hugged one of Stephan’s pillows, closed her eyes, and, breathing in the faint scent unique to him that lingered in the pillow, slowly drifted off to sleep...

Little did she know.

In a certain villa, a woman had lost all hope of sleep because of that phone call...

A large hand rested on the woman’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong? It’s so late, why aren’t you resting?”

The woman looked up. The man before her was her husband, Henry.

She furrowed her brow, pondering for a moment, then couldn’t help but take his hand. “Honey, I told you I had a daughter before I married you, right? I... I want... to bring her back to live with us. Is that okay?”

Upon hearing this, Henry’s expression softened slightly. “It’s been so many years.

Your daughter must be all grown up by now.”

The woman nodded. “Yes, she’s grown up. If I do the math, she’s almost twenty-three now.”

Henry spoke up, “Honey, when you were with me back then, you promised me that since you’d decided to marry me, you’d cut all ties with your past...including your daughter. And you also promised to care for my daughter, Darla, as if she were your own. If you bring your daughter back to live with you, where does that leave Darla?”

“I...” The woman choked on her words, her expression instantly filled with conflict and anguish. “Does that mean I shouldn’t have anything to do with her for the rest of my life? She’s out there now, and as her mother, I don’t even know if she’s doing well.”

Henry replied calmly, “She’s an adult now and capable of taking care of herself. Since you were heartless enough to abandon her back then, don’t go soft now. Even if you bring her to live with you now, she might not be grateful to you. It might even cause friction between her and Darla, she might hate you think you abandoned her for this family.”

The woman lowered her eyes. After much hesitation and inner struggle, she finally let go of the idea.

She thought to herself that over the years, she had secretly sent money back to her hometown, enough to ensure her daughter was living a comfortable life.

So, even without her as a mother by her side, her daughter would still live comfortably.

********

To avoid running into Cynthia again, Alana went straight back to her small rented apartment after work the next day.

Little did she know that because of this decision, Darla, who had been trying to talk to her, was turned away several times.

Darla had originally intended to find Alana to persuade her to break up with Stephan.

After all, given Alana’s background, she was truly not a suitable match for Stephan.

Her advice to break up with Stephan was for Alana’s own good; after all, the Hudson family would never accept her.

The sooner they parted ways, the sooner she would be free.

But to her surprise, after waiting outside Stephan’s house for several nights and being turned away repeatedly, she never once managed to meet Alana.

Only then did she realize that during the nights Stephan was away on business, Alana wasn’t staying at his house.

So, she had been waiting in vain.

Darla frowned. It seemed that sitting around waiting for something to happen wasn’t going to work; she’d have to take the initiative.

*******

Alana hadn’t returned to her apartment for quite some time, and the neighbors all assumed she had moved out.

It wasn’t until she returned that they realized she hadn’t left.

An elderly neighbor ran into Alana and couldn’t help but ask, “Lana, where have you been all this time? I haven’t seen you around at all.”

“Um...”

“I was staying at a friend’s place for a while.”

The elderly neighbor asked curiously, “A friend’s place? Male or female? It isn’t your boyfriend, is it?”

“Lana, I don’t mean to pry, but I just think girls like you should take good care of yourselves. You shouldn’t just go stay at a guy’s place the moment you start dating him. If you end up pregnant before marriage, that’ll be a real mess!"

Alana blinked.

She forced a smile. “Auntie, you’ve got it all wrong. It’s a female friend of mine, not a boyfriend.”

“Oh, so it’s a girl! Why didn’t you say so sooner!”

The neighbor asked again, “But aren’t you seeing someone now? Why haven’t I seen you bring your boyfriend home?”

Alana really didn’t want to talk about it. Every time she ran into an older woman these past few days, she’d get asked the same question. It was driving her crazy.

She made an excuse: “Auntie, the elevator’s here. I’ve got to go. Bye.”

Then she practically fled out of the elevator.

She really hated it when these older women gossiped about her personal life. Not only did they have no sense of propriety, but they also loved to meddle in other people’s business.

Back in her rented apartment, she shut the door.

Alana. finally felt at ease.

She hadn’t been back for a while, and a thin layer of dust had settled over the place.

On the day she returned, she gave the place a thorough cleaning to get it neat and tidy. To be honest, it had been a long time since she’d done such physically demanding housework.

At Stephan’s place, there was a robot vacuum to sweep the floors, and cleaning staff came by from time to time to clean and disinfect, she never had to lift a finger.

So, coming back to her own apartment and having to do everything herself, she was already finding it a bit hard to adjust.

Habits really are a scary thing.

Alana took a moment to catch her breath, then walked into the kitchen to make herself a bowl of instant noodles.

She topped the noodles with fried egg and a few greens for a balanced meal.

That way, Stephan wouldn’t criticize her dinner for being unhealthy.

But living alone, she didn’t worry too much about what she ate, as long as it filled her stomach, that was enough.

As she ate, she couldn’t help but think of the noodles Stephan used to cook for her.

In comparison, she felt his cooking was still a bit tastier.

Her longing for him grew even stronger.

Come to think of it, this was already the fifth day of his business trip.

So, when would he be back?

Just as she was thinking this, her phone suddenly rang.

Alana thought it was Stephan calling, but when she picked up the phone, she saw it was an unknown number.

Could it be a scam call?

She hung up without hesitation.

But the very next second, the phone rang again.

It was that anonymous number again.

Alana frowned, thought for a moment, and then answered the call.

“Hello, who is this?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end before a voice spoke slowly, “Lana, it’s me.”

The moment Alana heard that voice, she recognized the caller instantly. “Darla? How did you get my number?”

Darla’s tone was flat. “How I got your number isn’t important. What matters is that I’d like to talk to you.”

Alana instinctively refused, “Sorry, I don’t think we have anything to talk about.”

Darla laughed and asked, “Is it that you don’t think we have anything to talk about, or are you afraid to talk to me?”

Alana scoffed.

She must be overthinking it!

Darla spoke calmly, “Don’t you want to know about the real Stephan Hudson?”

Alana furrowed her brows.

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