"Mr. Coburn, welcome home."
Lois, the maid waiting in the villa, quickly greeted Calvert as he walked in.
Calvert nodded and instructed her, "Go get a clean set of pajamas."
Lois glanced at the girl in his arms but didn't dare ask any questions. She simply replied, "Yes, sir," and went to find the pajamas.
Calvert laid Luana on the guest bedroom bed and looked at her peaceful face. The possessiveness he felt eased a little.
He reached out and gently tousled her hair. A softness was in his eyes that he himself didn't even realize.
He sat by the bed and watched Luana for a while before letting Lois in to change her clothes.
After that, Calvert went to the bathroom to freshen up.
When he came back to the guest room, he saw Luana had turned over in her sleep. He breathed a deep sigh of relief.
When Luana slept, she was so still it was like she wasn't breathing at all. Calvert had been worried something might happen to her while she was asleep.
Seeing her safe and sound, he quietly closed the door and went to the master bedroom.
When Luana woke up, it was already the next day.
She looked around the unfamiliar room and was a bit dazed.
She remembered collapsing on the sofa and crying her heart out yesterday.
She had cried so hard she couldn't catch her breath and passed out from lack of oxygen.
Luckily, she had taken a lot of medication before the bidding event, or she might not have woken up at all.
But she had been at the Moriarty Group yesterday—how did she end up in this strange place?
She tried to sit up but realized her legs were severely swollen and she couldn't move.
She saw her bag on the sofa, a bit too far from the bed. The medicine was inside, but she couldn't reach it.
The door opened as she was thinking about crawling over to get it. Calvert walked in.
The room was well-lit. The sunlight shone on Calvert, giving him a soft golden glow.
Looking at him like that, Luana was reminded of seventeen-year-old Albion.
Back then, he would walk into her room with the light behind him, bringing her warmth.
"Are you awake?" Calvert asked gently, his eyes softening as they landed on Luana.
"Mm-hmm," Luana nodded, feeling a bit awkward and looking up at him.
"Where am I?"
"This is my private villa in Los Angeles."
So it was Calvert's villa...
Luana thought for a moment, then looked at him again.
"Why didn't you refuse the hotel arranged by Winward earlier?"
"Miss Ortega insisted that you arrange a hotel for me. If I had refused, she probably would have blamed you for not taking good care of me," Calvert explained.
Luana didn't know how to press further.
She fell silent for a moment, and Calvert added, "After I took you home last night, you still didn't wake up. I didn't know which building you lived in, so I had no choice but to bring you here."
Luana understood and nodded. "Thank you."
Her polite distance made Calvert feel a bit uncomfortable, but Luana didn't notice.
She looked up at him and asked, "Mr. Coburn, how did the bidding go?"
She hadn't been at the event yesterday and had no idea what the final result was.
Calvert replied in a neutral tone, "Coburn Group won the bid."
Luana was a bit surprised to hear that.
Cline hadn't given the development rights to the Ortega family?
Wasn't Miss Ortega his first love?
She couldn't quite figure it out but didn't ask further. She simply said to Calvert, "Congratulations."
Calvert didn't like her polite and distant attitude. He opened his mouth to say something but felt he had no right to.
He pushed down the strange feeling in his chest and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Luana shook her head, but she noticed her clothes had been changed.
She looked at Calvert with a mix of suspicion and shock.
"Lois changed your clothes. She's the maid here," Calvert quickly explained, seeing her misunderstanding.
[$]
Luana let out a sigh of relief when she heard it was the maid.
She felt a bit awkward and said, "Sorry about that."
Calvert waved it off and said, "It's normal for you to be confused."
After he said that, Luana didn't know what to say next.
She thought she should get up and leave, but her legs...
As she was thinking about how to ask Calvert to take her home, she saw him call out to someone outside.
"Lois."
A middle-aged woman, around forty or fifty, responded and walked in with a tray.
She was a bit plump and had a gentle smile on her face, looking very kind.
She placed the tray on the table and smiled at Luana. "Miss, I wasn't sure what you like, so I prepared some breakfast based on Mr. Coburn's taste. Eat something to tide you over. I'll make you something nice for lunch."
Her kindness eased Luana's discomfort a bit.
Luana said, "Thank you."
Lois waved her hand. "My pleasure." Then she turned and left, closing the door.