At night, when it was time to hit the sack, Josephine grabbed her pillow and went to find Nicole.
Nicole was busy putting on a face mask.
Ever since she reunited with Josephine, she had been more into her self-care routine. Josephine even tagged along when she bought the face mask.
"Mom!" Josephine knocked on the door, "Can I crash with you tonight?"
Nicole waved her in, "Sure, come on in."
Since Nicole was doing her face mask, Josephine kept quiet and didn't say much.
When Nicole was done, Josephine watched her go through her skincare routine.
After that, they both got into bed and leaned against the headboard to chat.
Josephine asked, "Mom, if Gerald wants to get a girlfriend, do you have any preferences?"
"As long as she's got a clean background and is a good person, what more could I ask for?" Nicole said, "What I'm worried about is Gerald. He doesn't know how to date or handle a marriage."
"Didn't Gerald and Ulysses' mom fall in love on their own back then?"
"Gerald's always been kind of cold. After you got lost, he blamed himself even more. If it weren't for worrying about us, he wouldn't even want to get married."
"Back then..."
"Back then, he always felt it was his fault for not taking good care of you, which is why you got lost."
Josephine held Nicole's arm and leaned her head on her shoulder. "Mom, I feel so happy now."
Nicole patted her hair. "Yeah, our family will be happy together from now on."
Early the next morning, Josephine went downstairs for a run and saw Gerald coming back from his morning exercise.
"Gerald, you're up so early?"
Gerald said, "I didn't sleep as well as I do at home, so I woke up early."
"Did Kathy chat with you?"
Gerald laughed, "Don't overthink things."
"Gerald," with Nicole not around, Josephine spoke boldly, "don't you think Kathy is pretty great?"
"What are you thinking?" Gerald said, "Not to mention her situation, but her age—she's not even thirty yet. Do you think we're a good match?"
"Of course. Don't all guys like younger women?"
Gerald ruffled her hair, "I don't."
Josephine didn't believe him, "Gerald, just get to know her."
Gerald said, "I don't have the time, energy, or interest right now."
"I don't believe you," Josephine said, "If you were really against her, you wouldn't have let her cling to you back then. Given your personality, the fact that you didn't shake her off at least shows you don't reject her."
Gerald laughed, "She said if I dared to do anything to her, she'd scream rape. What could I do?"
"She was forced by the situation; you should understand that."
Gerald said, "Alright, I get it. You just focus on your own love life and don't worry about me."
Gerald added, "If helping her find the scammer is too difficult, just let it go."
"I asked a friend to help; we should have news soon."
Josephine had asked a friend abroad who had some influence locally. With his help, it wasn't hard to handle.
However, Josephine didn't expect to get a reply so quickly.
Around ten in the morning, Josephine got a call from him, telling her that they had found the person and asking if she wanted money, the person, or both.
Josephine felt that taking away what the scammer valued most would be the biggest punishment. What would she do with the person? She couldn't send him to jail.
Once it was confirmed that Josephine only wanted the money, they quickly took action.Josephine kept the good news to herself, not wanting to get Kathy's hopes up in case things didn't pan out.
By Sunday afternoon, their family was heading back home.
Josephine had asked Kathy, and Kathy had left the night before. She said the hotel at the hot spring resort was too pricey for her.
As they were leaving, the villa's butler had people load the fruits and veggies they had picked into their car.
Callie saw it clearly this time. The person standing next to the fancy car was Josephine. And next to her was Gerald. It wasn't Stuart!
So, the reason Josephine could stay in such a nice villa wasn't because of her own background, but because she had become someone else's mistress! Gerald was obviously married!
Callie watched their car leave and then asked the butler, "What was the last name of the people who stayed here?"
She hadn't seen Nicole and the two kids because they had gotten into the car first.
Only Gerald and Josephine were outside watching the people load the car.
The butler said, "Sorry, that's the guests' privacy. We can't disclose that."
Callie was even more convinced that Josephine and Gerald's relationship was something unspeakable!
Josephine had no idea Callie was watching her. She got back to her home in Celestia Springs and sent a message to Stuart.
On the way back, she had also told Nicole that she would be going out for dinner.
Stuart quickly replied: [You're back? I'll come pick you up now?]
Josephine replied: [Okay.]
In less than five minutes, Stuart sent another message: [I'm here.]
Josephine thought he must have flown over. She told her family and then went out.
Sure enough, she saw Stuart's car, and he was standing by it.
Josephine walked up to him and asked, "How did you get here so fast?"
Stuart said, "I was waiting outside the neighborhood. I was afraid if I came in, Nicole would see me and get upset."
"How long have you been waiting?"
"Not long." Stuart wanted to hug her but held back, "Can you help me get something from the trunk?"
"Sure, what is it?" Josephine walked over, and the trunk opened by itself. She saw it was full of flowers.
In the middle of the flowers was a gift box.
"Open it and see." Stuart spoke from the side.
Josephine opened the box and saw a dazzling necklace. The pendant was a large sapphire, which she seemed to have seen at an auction before. It was said to have sold for a very high price.
"Do you like it?"
"Is today a special day?" Josephine asked, puzzled. Why was Stuart suddenly giving her a gift?
"It's not a special day," Stuart took the necklace and stood behind her to put it on. "Or rather, every day with you is special."
After putting it on, he came around to the front to look and said, "It's beautiful."
He then took a small bouquet from the trunk full of flowers, just the right size to hold in her arms.
Placing the flowers in Josephine's arms, he took her hand and led her to the car. "Let's go have dinner."
Josephine sat in the passenger seat and smelled the flowers. She said, "I really like them, thank you."
Stuart had been wanting to express his feelings ever since Roy had outdone him last time. This time, he finally had his moment.
Roy's flowers were a big bouquet, right?
Stuart's were a whole trunk full! That had to be more, right?