Chapter 7 Finding Out Claudia’s Not Coming Home?
When Andy heard Summer’s voice, his eyes lit up immediately.
“Ms. Summer! Ms. Summer!”
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He yelled for her and angrily said, “Daddy, you’re a liar! You said you’d come home and didn’t! I’m not talking to you anymore! Ms. Summer, Daddy’s a liar!”
By the end, he was already tattling to Summer.
Summer took the phone and gently comforted him, pretending to scold Alan with a few playful remarks. Then she promised to play with him and game with him over the weekend. That finally made Andy laugh.
Ms. Summer always knew what to say.
Whether Dad was scolding him or he just got upset, going to Mom was useless–Dad never listened to her anyway.
After a while, Andy reluctantly hung up.
Then he suddenly remembered something Alan had said–Mom was back from her business trip?
Did that mean she’d be home tonight?
No way. If she came back, she’d start bossing him around again, limiting his game time–so annoying!
Dad clearly didn’t like being with Mom. Why was he the one who had to stay with her all the time? Dad was the worst!
No way he was going to sit around and behave.
He’d go to Grandma’s house. That way, even if Mom came home, he wouldn’t have to see her.
Andy jumped out of bed, clumsily got dressed, and hugged his game console as he ran to knock on Mandy’s door downstairs.
Mandy was woken up, completely confused by what the little prince was up to this time. Struggling to stay awake, she called the driver and accompanied Andy as he was driven to the Moore family estate in the middle of the night.
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Chapter 7 Finding Out Claudia’s Not Coming Home?
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Claudia had no idea what drama was playing out at the Moore villa that night.
Even if she had, she wouldn’t have felt much. Year after year, the disappointment had piled up to the point of numbness.
She was getting divorced anyway–and she wasn’t fighting for custody.
The next morning, Claudia woke up early, as usual.
She watched the latest Fashion Week videos on her laptop, then grabbed breakfast downstairs near the office before heading in to work.
No need to wake up early to cook for Alan and Andy anymore. Since she was only temporarily living here, she ate out every day. It gave her a lot more time–and energy–to focus on herself.
She spent the day interviewing new hires and organizing all her recent tasks and files for a smooth handover.
Even so, she clocked out on time.
Her grandaunt was coming back at the end of the month. Before then, she needed to finish her portfolio and prepare her latest fashion pieces. That was her true path now, and the schedule was tight.
Between six and seven in the evening, peak traffic clogged Capital City.
It took Claudia more than two hours of driving to finally reach a slightly secluded villa neighborhood called Bamboo Garden.
She pulled up in front of a two–story villa. The plaque by the gate had one word engraved: “Lane.”
This was the villa she had bought with years of savings, including income from her high–end private commissions. It served as her design studio.
Though she’d focused more on family life and gone deep into computer science in recent years, she had never completely abandoned art and design.
Alan had always hated seeing her in the public eye. His refusal to let her work at Moore Corp had less to do with dislike, and more with wanting her tucked away at home, a decorative Mrs. Meng.
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Chapter 7 Finding Out Claudia’s Not Coming Home?
But Claudia wasn’t the type to admit defeat.
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So she dove into Alan’s beloved field of computer science. For seven years, she bent over backward to care for him–but never earned a place in his heart. Now she was left with nothing but a failed marriage.
Fortunately, she had her own backbone.
Alan didn’t want her being seen? Fine. She worked in secret under the name “Lane,” relying on referrals from trusted clients to build a private clientele.
Her service was discreet, her designs elegant and mysterious, her craftsmanship luxurious. She was one of the few who still practiced traditional embroidery techniques. Over the years, she had earned a quiet reputation among the elite.
She didn’t have the time to attend international shows, so her handmade custom pieces were usually priced in the hundreds of thousands. Rarely did they break the million mark.
But now, she could pour herself into design completely. Things would move faster from here
- on.
She unlocked the door. The main hall inside was spacious and quiet.
Paintings–oil and ink alike–lined the walls, mostly portraits. Drafts of outfit designs were scattered around. The floor was packed with fabric racks, half–finished garments, mannequin parts, and tools of the trade.
She’d spend the weekend here, fully focused.
The second floor housed her finished work, valuables, and her portfolio. Claudia headed upstairs.
She pushed open a door and paused at the sight of a mannequin draped in cloth.
That suit…
She pulled back the cloth. On the mannequin was a black Chinese–style embroidered men’s suit. The cuffs were adorned with a gold–and–silver cloud motif, stitched with a double–sided color technique–Lane Studio’s signature mark.
On the shoulder rested a silver–threaded crane with spread wings. A ruby was set in its beak, positioned right over the heart. Under the light, it gleamed with quiet elegance and lavish detail.
Seeing this outfit made Claudia’s heart sting.
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Chapter 7 Finding Out Claudia’s Not Coming Home?
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She’d made this for Alan–working nights, sketching designs, choosing fabric, cutting, sewing, embroidering by hand. She even secured a rare red diamond from a gem buyer. It had taken over three months.
She’d meant to give it to him on their eighth wedding anniversary.
Instead, she got betrayal–father and son, together.
Now, standing before it again, and thinking of how she’d been humiliated last night, Claudia suddenly had the urge to rip the whole thing apart.
She grabbed scissors, but when it came time to cut, she hesitated.
She knew this suit would never reach Alan. She didn’t want to give it to him anymore. But she couldn’t bring herself to destroy it either. It had been her passion project for months.
In the end, Claudia left the suit intact and covered it up again.
She’d find some other way to deal with it later.
Bespoke pieces like this were designed to fit one person only, never duplicated.
Still, if the designer had enough reputation, it wasn’t hard to find another buyer.
That night.
Garden, the Moore family villa.
Alan returned home from work. Claudia didn’t come to greet him like she usually did.
He casually asked Mandy, “Where’s Claudia?”
Mandy was confused. “Sir, she left on a business trip a few days ago. I don’t think she’s back yet.”
Business trip?
Hadn’t she already returned? He’d seen her just last night.
But he didn’t think much of it. Claudia had nowhere else to go.
As far as he remembered, her relationship with her family had soured before they married. She hadn’t contacted them in years. She only knew a few people in Capital City–no one
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Chapter 7 Finding Out Claudia’s Not Coming Home?
close. There was nowhere else for her to go.
This was the only home she had. Where else could she be?
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Alan asked about Andy and found out he was at the Moore family estate. Then he left.
He’d only come home to pick up Andy anyway–he’d promised to take him out this weekend with Summer.
