Facade of Love

Idris pursed his lips and suddenly reached out to hold my hand. His voice was low and restrained. "Perhaps the gods do exist, and your father simply found another way to exist in this world." Seeing him mention my father, | smiled but did not refute.

| stood up and said, "Let's go back." We walked very slowly down the one hundred and eight steps in front of the cathedral. As | followed him, | could not help but ask, "Idris, do you have any dreams?" He turned to look at me, slightly furrowing his brows. "Dreams?" I nodded. "If you weren't the CEO of the Young Corporation, what would you most likely be doing?" He shook his head. "I've never thought about it." | pressed my lips together and asked, "Do you have any special talents?" Perhaps my questions were too strange, but he stopped and looked atseriously. After a while, he said, "Are you worried about me?" | shook my head and changed the subject. "No, just asking." He remained calm and smiled helplessly. "It's just sinsignificant public opinion which can't harmor shake anything within the Young Corporation. It's just a minor setback, something that Young Corporation encounters every year, so don't worry." | was not concerned about the accident at the forest, nor was | worried that Jack's death would implicate him. | was worried about the hundreds of people who were buried ten years ago, a matter closely related to the Youngs.

Once the truth cto light, the consequences would be unimaginable. Regardless of how wealthy the Youngs were, they probably could not compensate for the lives of those hundreds of people.

| could not tell him this, so I just smiled and said, "In any case, no matter what happens, I'll be there by your side even if | can't help you." He looked at me, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he asked, "Yvette, are you confessing your love to me?" | was taken aback, my face flushing slightly. | avoided his gaze and replied vaguely, "It's getting late; let's go down the mountain." Without waiting for his response, | started running down the mountain on my own.

He followed me, and | could not describe the expression on his face. Fortunately, he did not dwell on it and just smiled, holding my hand as we admired the scenery on the way down.

Around the end of December, the anger at the forest situation gradually calmed down. Young Corporation compensated the families with the most significant compensation measures and handled the public relations well.

At the stime, we received news from Officer Jackson that they had obtained information regarding Jack's death. We were asked to visit the police station in Lake City after returning.

After arranging things in Tully City, Idris and | went immediately back to Lake City.

Having spent quite stin Tully City and having gotten used to its temperature, | could not help but shiver from the cold air in Lake City when we got off the plane. It was still the festive season, and the airport was crowded with people.

"Mr. Young." Charles cto pick us up and waved from a distance when he saw Idris and I.

We both smiled upon seeing him. After leaving the airport, Charles was preparing to put the luggage in the trunk.

| hesitated for a moment, and he looked puzzled and glanced at Idris.

Idris looked atand noticed my hesitation. He said, "It's rather late now. I'll take you back to the Scott Residence tomorrow." | bit my lip. After being away for so long, | had tried calling my mother, but she did not answer after several times. | also sent a message to Maxwell, thinking they would cto pickup, but...

It would be a lie to say that | was not disappointed. | sighed softly and handed my luggage to Charles, thanking him briefly.

"Yvette." Suddenly, a familiar voice reached my ears. | froze for a moment and turned toward the voice.

Unexpectedly, | saw my mother, whom | had not seen in a long time. | was delighted and without thinking, | ran over to hug her, excitedly asking, "Mom, why are you here?" While huggingback, my mother smiled and replied, "Didn't you say you were coming back today? Why wouldn't | come? It's so late. Let's go home." Nothing could compare to the joy of an unexpected surprise. | nodded repeatedly.

As | regained my composure, | noticed the people accompanying her were Alice and Maxwell. Maxwell went to helpwith my luggage and seemed to be talking with Idris.

Alice stood next to my mother, her beautiful face adorned with a faint smile. She wore a pink coat with a white scarf, making her beauty even more striking.

Seeing her, | could not quite tell whether | was happy or not. | merely offered a faint smile as a greeting.

The day was growing late, and after exchanging greetings, we each headed home. Idris and Charles left, and | naturally went with my mother and the others.

After a long day, we returned to the Scott Residence quite late.

My mother and | chatted about many things. Between a mother and daughter, what was there to hold a grudge about? Any lingering unpleasantness from our previous meeting had long since dissipated.

With the tgrowing late, after bringing us home, Maxwell had to take Alice back. As they were about to part ways, | remembered the article by Firefly | had read online. | then looked at Alice and said, "Ms. Cruz, | had read that article online. Thank you."