CHAPTER 21. First thing for Mark

Louis gave her a light pat on her forehead. "You're already married. You should take care of your image in the future. Look at you, sweating profusely."

Paula laughed awkwardly. She then pointed at the breakfast in Louis' hand. "Eat it while it's still hot."

"Wipe off your sweat." Louis shook his head helplessly. Then he turned around to hand his breakfast to Mark.

Paula was reaching into her pocket, and just as she was about to go to the bathroom, a large hand with slender fingers handed her a dark blue handkerchief.

Unconsciously, she took it. "Thank you."

"You should know that I'm not very hungry, even though I asked you to go buy breakfast."

Hearing that deep, cold male voice Paula's hand tightened slightly as she wiped away the sweat.

"It just wanted an excuse to keep you away so we could talk about something you don't want to hear."

Paula finally folded her handkerchief and turned to Mark with a puzzled look.

"So you don't have to rush back, let alone embarrass yourself like that."

Paula gritted her teeth. She was about to say something when Louis immediately came over to ease the tension. "Mark, Paula was just afraid you wouldn't be able to have breakfast. Don't take offense. She grew up in the village, so she doesn't know the world. Please be more patient with her."

"Uncle," He clenched his teeth, annoyed that he didn't feel he had done anything wrong. Therefore, she couldn't stand it when her uncle acted so subservient to Mark.

"Paula. Keep your composure!" Louis took a deep breath.

"You are the young lady of the Aliston family from now on. You cannot act in such a frivolous and careless manner! You must understand that the image of the youngest of the Aliston family is far more important than this expendable breakfast!"

"But I think your breakfast is much more important!"

"What nonsense! You are now the son-in-law of the Aliston family, which is the richest family in Lourith City!"

The argument between uncle and nephew made Mark turn around silently, pushing his wheelchair to the window to enjoy the morning breeze.

It probably started when I was ten years old. No one cared whether he ate breakfast or not, except the servants of the mansion.

No one wanted to climb more than ten flights of stairs like Paula did just so she could have an early breakfast.

She was always alone and quiet.

It was no surprise then that he felt a sense of excitement when listening to uncles and nephews from ordinary families discussing breakfast amongst themselves.

The morning breeze hit her face. She closed her eyes, revealing a teasing smile.

"Here's your breakfast." He heard a clear female voice.

"I searched through several dining halls downstairs, but I couldn't find the milk and sandwiches you like. So I bought some at random. Don't refuse them."

He turned around and found himself facing Paula's beautiful face.

She tilted her head and inserted a straw into the cup filled with soy milk. Then she looked up and handed over the cup with a smile. "You rich people must have never had a drink like this, right? It's delicious."

Seeing that she wasn't holding it, he took her hand and placed the cup of milk in his hand. "I carried this from the ground floor to the fifteenth floor. Do me a favor, okay?"

It was the first time Mark had tried soy milk made outdoors.

The special flavor it has is obtained by grinding soybeans with black beans and adding sugar."

The result, a rich soy aroma combined with a tinge of sweetness, slightly matched Mark's current excitement.

The young woman squatted in front of his wheelchair. While handing over the milk, she also placed a hot bun in his hand. "Would you like to eat this?"

She denied it with her head. Mark also passed the rest of his milk to Paula.

Seeing that, Paula stirred the remaining milk in the cup, which was less than half full. She stuck to her principle of not wasting food, so she finished it and ate the two hot buns that Mark had refused.

After that, she went to Louis and picked up the empty food container and threw it into the trash bin with hers.

Once she was done, she turned around just as the emergency room door opened.

The nurse pushed Mrs. Mayer out of the ER. The doctor took off his mask. "The woman is out of danger now, but she still needs bed rest and some time to recover."

Having said that, the doctor earnestly looked at Louis. "Her physical condition is not very good right now. I hope you and the rest of your family can pay more attention to it. It must not be disturbed anymore."

Louis nodded firmly. "I understand."

Paula frowned slightly at the doctor's words.

"Could it be that Mom was angry about something again in the past few days?"

Back then, when her mother found out that she was going to get married and that she was going to marry a disabled person, she fell seriously ill.

Not long ago, but has she been bothered by something again?

Paula looked at Louis doubtfully.

The latter looked away frantically. Then she pushed Mrs. Mayer back to the hospital room with the nurse who accompanied them.

Mrs. Mayer was asleep the whole time, so after Paula confirmed that her mother was fine, she brought Mark to see her and keep her company for a while before they left together.

****

Mark ran his business while Paula went to college.

Being in class, she felt bad all day. She felt that her classmates looked at her strangely.

After school, late at night, Charlotte went to see Paula in anger. "Paula. What can I tell you? A woman's jealousy is really scary!"

At that time, Paula was reading a post made on the campus web forum on her mobile phone.

The author of the post was called "Crescent Moon".

The crescent account used a very mysterious tone to say that he had discovered that a village woman, who seemed to be very poor, was being supported by a rich man as her lover. He even listed some evidence to prove it.

She claimed that this woman went to university in a luxury car.

In the past, she was always in the library, except during class time. Now, it's hard to find.

In addition, some of her poor relatives wait for her at the entrance of the university to ask for money.

And the list goes on.

As Paula reads posts, comments, and guesses from other students, Charlotte tries to get her attention. "What's wrong with you?" she asks, putting her own worries aside.

When Charlotte saw Paula seriously looking at her mobile phone, she leaned in to look at it. Instantly, her jaw dropped.

He snatched the phone from her and switched it off. "Did you actually read this post?"

Paula was confused. "What's going on?"

"Crescent Moon is Claire!"

It was only then that Paula remembered something. They drove her in Mark's car the night before after school, and Claire saw her.

Paula looked confused. Feeling impatient, Charlotte patted Paula on the head. "She's talking about you! Are you still paying attention?"

Paula frowned slightly. "It shouldn't be me, right?"

"Although the first two things you mentioned coincide with my current situation, I don't have any relatives coming to bother me. Besides, there are many students who go to and from university in luxury cars, and there are also many students who are not always in the library. How can you relate that description to me?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. Then she took out her mobile phone and found some pictures showing the university entrance. "Isn't this your aunt?"

Paula took a closer look. The woman in the photo on Charlotte's phone was none other than Lucy, who had unsuccessfully made a mess of the hospital that morning.

"Why did she come here?"