A middle-aged woman in a red silk camisole nightgown pushed the door open. It was none other than Lionel's mother, Cristal. Behind her stood Lionel's father, Tristan Grant, dressed in a navy blue robe.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Lionel stared in astonishment at his parents.
At that moment, Julia's voice came through the phone again, "Since your parents are here, you can ask them whatever questions you have. I'm too tired and need to sleep." With that, Julia hung up.
Lionel looked at his disconnected phone, realizing that Julia's departure was related to his parents. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted.
"You were on the phone with Julia, right? Don't worry, she's fine. We asked her to leave. You two are not officially together yet; it's not appropriate for her to stay here. A good girl wouldn't live with a man before marriage," Cristal explained, though it was clear she was subtly criticizing Julia.
Lionel wasn't naive; he understood his mother's underlying message. His tightly furrowed brow never relaxed, and his eyes were filled with helplessness. "Mom, didn't you promise not to make things difficult for Julia?"
"Did I make things difficult for her? Did you see it?" Cristal retorted with a displeased expression.
Lionel was at a loss for words. Before he could find a way to respond, his mother continued, "Do you think asking Julia to go back means I don't like her? I'm telling you, this is for your own good. If word gets back to our hometown that she's living here unmarried and pregnant, what do you think your aunt will say about Julia?"
"Lionel, your mother is indeed thinking of Julia's best interests by asking her to go back. And you don't need to worry about her being alone; we've arranged for a maid to accompany her," Tristan added, following his wife's lead.
Seeing this, Lionel felt even more helpless. He wanted to argue that cohabitation before marriage is common nowadays and there's no need to make a big deal out of it. But seeing his mother's slightly displeased expression, he decided not to say anything further.
He knew that siding with Julia would only worsen his mother's opinion of her.
The next morning, Lionel woke up early, thinking about Julia. He prepared breakfast for his parents before leaving with breakfast for Julia. However, when he arrived at Julia's place, she was nowhere to be found. He had no choice but to call her.
"Julia, where are you?"
"I'm at Deanna's place. Why?" Julia's indifferent voice came through the phone.
Lionel frowned slightly at her tone and explained, "I came over to bring you breakfast and found you weren't home. I was worried. Since you're at Deanna's, I'll come over to pick you up."
"No need. I'm planning to stay at Deanna's today." With that, Julia hung up without waiting for Lionel's response.
Lionel could tell that his girlfriend was upset. He thought about going directly to Deanna's to comfort Julia but worried that it might make things worse. He decided to wait until the next day when she had calmed down a bit.
On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Julia looked upset. Deanna, sitting nearby, noticed and asked with concern, "Did you have a fight with Lionel?"
The two little ones also looked at Julia.
"Godmother, are you upset? Did Uncle Lionel make you unhappy? But please don't get too upset; it will make the baby uncomfortable."
"If the baby is uncomfortable, you'll be uncomfortable too. So please don't be upset."
Hearing their soft voices, Julia felt some of her frustration dissipate but still felt uneasy. She forced a smile and said, "I'm fine. Don't worry."
Despite her words, Deanna didn't believe her and guessed she didn't want to show her true feelings in front of the children.
"Gregory and Chloe, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to bathe Luna and Whiskers?" Deanna deliberately found something for them to do.
The children remembered and frequently glanced at Julia, clearly worried about her.
Julia understood and felt a warm sensation in her heart. She patted their heads and smiled, "I'm fine. You go ahead and do what you need to do."
She gently pushed them towards their task. Deanna signaled Sam to take the children away.
Sam understood and approached kindly, "Master Gregory, Miss Chloe, Luna and Whiskers are ready for their bath. Let's go take care of them."