hapter 11
An entire month passed after Jennifer disappeared before Leonard finally realized something was wrong.
He had initially assumed she was just playing some childish game, trying to provoke a reaction. But when he found himself completely unable to contact her, no matter how hard he tried, he finally began to take it seriously.
He called several of her former acquaintances, but none of them had seen or heard from Jennifer.
In his irritation, he hung up and turned to his study. He then switched on his computer and pulled out her bank account information.
On the screen, the black card he had given her still hadn’t been used.
Jennifer had left with only her personal savings, never touching a single cent from the Faron family.
“Prideful, aren’t you?” Leonard sneered and switched off his computer.
Leonard assumed that Jennifer wanted them to come chasing after her. Such childish tricks were useless.
The next morning, at breakfast, Yvonne and Yannick were chattering about school, while Samantha smiled gently and served them their food. From time to time, she would look up to flash a sweet smile at Leonard.
Yvonne blinked at Leonard. “Dad, we’re having a parent–child sports day next week at school. Can you come with Aunt Sam?”
“Of course,” Leonard replied immediately. Then, he paused. “Who used to go with you? Was it your mom?”
Both kids immediately put on a look of disdain.
“It was her, but we didn’t want her there!” Yannick huffed. “All she did was stay home and cook and clean. She never even stepped outside. She never dressed up either. We didn’t want her showing up at all.”
Yvonne chimed in. “Exactly! Aunt Sam always dressed so pretty. All our classmates are jealous of us!”
Samantha smiled and poured a cup of coffee for Leonard. “Leonard, try this. I asked the housekeeper to brew it just the way you like.”
He took a sip, and he frowned. It was too sweet.
Back then, his coffee had always been hand–ground by Jennifer. Jennifer never made mistakes, always remembering that he liked it unsweetened, with just a touch
of milk
“What’s wrong? Is it not to your taste?” Samantha asked with some concern.
“It’s fine.” He set down the cup and said nothing else. He merely adjusted his cuffs and stood up. “I’m heading to the company.”
In the days that followed, everything on the surface at the Faron household seemed normal, but subtle shifts had quietly taken root.
Samantha, who had never done housework before, gave up after a few attempts and simply handed everything off to the staff.
On paper, the household continued to run just fine.
But only a few in the family noticed how things had slowly started to change.
Gone were the soft, neatly pressed clothes that were prepared just right. There were no more warm glasses of milk at bedtime or breakfasts that thoughtfully catered to each person’s tastes.
There were no glaring issues, but the home had lost something intangible. It had lost its sense of warmth and familiarity.
Then came the night when Leonard returned home late from a business banquet.
He stumbled into the living room and waved at Victor. “That’ll be all for tonight. Go home.”
Once the door closed, silence fell over the room. Leonard rubbed his temples wearily as he called out, “Where is everyone?”
Then, he suddenly realized that something was different from usual.
There was no softly lit lamp on for him, and no steaming bowl of soup waiting on the coffee table.
“Mrs. Potts? Didn’t I say earlier that I had a dinner engagement? Why isn’t anything prepared?” He called the staff quarters and asked in a stern tone.
Soon, Susan Potts came rushing into the living room, flustered. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Faron. It’s just that it was always Mrs. Faron who personally handled those
things before, so we forgot. Also, she used to be the one who made the soup herself, spending hours in the kitchen. She never let us help…”
Susan added, “If you’d like some, I could go check how it’s made now.”
Something inside Leonard cracked, and a strange, unfamiliar emotion surged in his chest.
So all those little things had been done by her, with her own hands.
He had known that she was meticulous about the household, but never before had he felt the weight so clearly.
Never before had regret struck him this hard, and he suddenly realized something. He owed her far more than he ever imagined.
