He received no response to this question. He had just come down to the second floor when he heard a slight noise coming from the kitchen.
He walked calmly into the kitchen, his tense expression already relaxed considerably.
"From now on, you need to control your temper..."
The kitchen door opened, and the face that appeared inside was familiar, but it was different from the face he had imagined.
Taryn wiped the water droplets from her hands and asked softly, "Lucas, how is Ben now?"
Lucas didn't reply. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought today was a special day, so I wanted to stay with you until midnight before leaving," Taryn said coquettishly. "Nikki is such a kind person; she definitely won't mind."
But in reality, she knew better than anyone how much Nikki minded.
"I just heard from Aunt Shopia that Ben wanted to eat seafood porridge, so I specially made a portion for her. Would you like to try some?"
Lucas glanced at the seafood porridge simmering in the stone pot. It looked good and smelled delicious, but he still felt it was far inferior to Nikki's cooking.
"No need, I'm not hungry." He poured himself a glass of warm water, but the taste just didn't feel quite right. "Did she reply to my messages this afternoon?"
she?
Taryn paused in her tasting of porridge, her smile fading slightly, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Sister Nikki didn't say anything; she just told us to have fun."
"Don't worry, we've known each other for so long, we're good buddies, I'll definitely help you handle the relationship."
Lucas heard a soft sob, and the moment he turned around, his heart felt like it was being gripped tightly.
The child on the bed was burning red with fever, murmuring, "Mommy...Mommy, save me...Don't go..."
He thought that Ben was calling Nikki.
But the next second, Taryn had already leaned over and sat on the edge of the bed, holding Ben's little hand: "Auntie is here, don't be afraid."
Ben held on tightly, with terrifying strength, as if he were treating her as a lifeline.
"Mom...don't leave me..."
Lucas felt uncomfortable upon hearing this. He frowned and was about to speak when the family doctor arrived.
A few minutes later, Ben had a thermometer inserted, but his temperature kept rising.
The family doctor instinctively scolded, "How could you take such a weak child to the beach? Your wife wouldn't be so negligent normally."
The suggestion to go to the beach was made by Taryn, which made her blush slightly as she was also by the bedside. She explained, "I didn't expect that Ben would still get sick so easily at his age. Children should go out more often; their health will definitely not be good."
"Are you the doctor or am I? I've already told you not to let your child be exposed to the wind. Children may not understand, but don't adults understand?" the family doctor retorted irritably. He hated people who wouldn't listen to advice.
Taryn's eyes reddened from the rebuke. She subconsciously looked at Lucas, only to find him standing by the window, staring at the door downstairs.
Lying on the bed, Ben tried hard to get up, "It's not Aunt Taryn's fault, I also want to go to the beach..."
But he's so feverish that his vision is blurry, and he can only speak in broken sentences.
After the family doctor examined him and prescribed medication, his temperature finally came down after about half an hour.
Seeing this, Taryn was about to feed him some hot porridge when the quick-thinking family doctor stopped her.
"Doctor, Ben should be able to eat something by now, right? I specially made seafood porridge—"
The doctor paused for a moment, but didn't look up. He simply said calmly, "Seafood is considered a cold food. Avoid it for two days after the fever subsides, especially for children with congenitally weak lungs."
"How can the young master drink seafood porridge after his fever has just subsided? Mr. Templeton, your new nanny is really irresponsible." He was helpless and could only ask, "Where is Madam? I have some things to tell her."
Taryn's fingers were red from gripping the seafood porridge.
She didn't understand why the other party kept insisting on bringing up Nikki.
She felt extremely wronged. "Lucas..." Lucas explained, "This is Ben's early childhood education teacher."
Upon hearing this, the family doctor looked at her with even more curiosity, but he didn't say much. After leaving instructions and medication, he hurriedly left.
Taryn wanted to continue taking care of Ben, but Lucas stopped her, saying, "You should go back and rest first. Aunt Shopia and I are here."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "If Nikki comes back later, she'll throw a tantrum again."
Taryn's heart skipped a beat, but she still had to maintain her usual gentle demeanor.
After she left, Lucas sat on the sofa in the side room, remained silent for a long time, and then made a phone call.
At that time, Nikki's plane had just landed, and as soon as she turned on her phone, she found more than a dozen missed calls.
Calls came from Aunt Shopia, her friends, and even...
Lucas.
This was a phone call she never expected.
Just then, her phone vibrated; it was him calling again.
Nikki rubbed her aching back, which had been sore from sitting on the plane for several hours, and answered the phone.
"Have you made enough of a scene? Come back right now." His tone remained icy. "Ben is sick, and you're not even going to care?"
Nikki scoffed, "Just because he's sick doesn't mean I have to take care of him. Is your father dead?"
This was the first time she had ever confronted Lucas in all these years of marriage.
Not to mention Lucas, even Nikki himself was stunned by those words.
"Nikki, I'm warning you, don't cross the line." Lucas's deep voice carried a strong warning. He sneered, "Do you think your tricks of playing hard to get will work on me?"
"I'm only giving you one chance. I need to see you within two hours."
Nikki smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Templeton, you may be disappointed this time."
Before the other person could speak, she hung up the phone.
After landing, Nikki took a taxi to the streets of the American community, following her previous memory.
Before marrying Lucas, she had her own studies and direction, but after deciding to marry Lucas, she almost abandoned everything.
Nikki looked at the address her senior had given her in the chat box, her heart pounding with excitement, and her fingers unconsciously tightened around her phone.
[Gabe Braddock: But Nikki, why did you suddenly come to the mainland? Didn't you leave the project team to get married and have children?]
[Senior Brother Gabe: After you left, Teacher Paul was heartbroken for a long time, and never accepted female students again after that.]
Nikki: Senior brother, it's my fault. I've let Teacher Paul down. I will apologize to her.
Nikki's eyes welled up with tears.
If there was one person she most wanted to see at the end of her life, it would definitely be her mentor.
Before she even graduated with her master's degree, Professor Paul selected her from among thousands to join the project team and learn from her.
Teacher Paul praised her as a rare genius, saying that if she focused her energy on this medical project, she would definitely achieve great things within five years.
Unfortunately, she disappointed Teacher Paul's expectations and chose to fulfill her marriage agreement with the Templeton family.
This time, she didn't want to disappoint Teacher Paul again and hoped to do some things she hadn't finished before in her final days.