“Get out!” Chris sat heavily on the sofa, trembling as he pointed his finger at her nose, “I’m laying it out for you today: either you sever ties with Ava, or we get a divorce. You choose!”
Chris’s words were undoubtedly a thunderclap for Susan. She stayed silent for a moment, then crawled to his feet, hugging his leg and saying, “Chris, how can you be so heartless?!”
But Chris had made up his mind. He called someone to pull her away and clearly told her not to come see him until she had made up her mind.
**
On New Year’s Eve, Thelma took Tyler and Sam Noah to her sister’s place for the reunion dinner. The restaurant staff had all gone on holiday, and unlike the usual hustle and bustle, the restaurant now seemed desolate.
Her sister prepared a large table of dishes. After they sat down, her sister handed a red envelope to Tyler. Thelma pretended to be dissatisfied and said, “What about mine?”
Samantha shot her a glance, “You’re so grown up, and you’re still fighting for red envelopes with a child?”
She was just joking with her sister, but unexpectedly, Mr. Sam, sitting next to her, squeezed her hand and whispered in her ear, “I’ll give you one when we get back.”
Such a spoiled tone made Thelma turn to look at him, only to see him smiling at her, his smile gentle. If it weren’t for her sister and Tyler still being there, she would have wanted to pounce on him and give him a kiss.
As they were about to eat, they heard a knock at the door. Samantha opened it and saw a tall figure standing outside. Thelma recognized him.
Samantha was momentarily stunned, looking puzzled, “Leon? What are you doing here?”
On New Year’s Eve, shouldn’t he be having reunion dinner with his family?
“I have a mission; there was a shooting incident in Crestfall .”
Crestfall was an affiliated county under Brackenfield.
On New Year’s Eve, no one expected such a thing to happen.
Samantha had noticed he was wearing a uniform earlier, and hearing him say this now, for some reason, her heart suddenly sank. She stepped aside to let him in, “Come in and have something to eat first.”
“No, I have to leave soon.”
After he said that, he really turned to leave, but Sam Noah stood up and called out to him, “Officer Leon.”
Leon turned around and saw Sam Noah pouring two glasses of wine, then raising one towards him, “I toast you a glass.”
Leon paused for a moment, then stepped forward to take the glass, saying, “I heard you served in the military before?”
“I spent two years in the army.”
He raised his glass, “Nice to meet you.”
“You’re too polite.”
The two clinked glasses and drank their respective drinks.
Leon set down his glass, and Tyler, sitting across from him, looked at him with concern, “Uncle Leon, be careful when you catch bad guys.”
Leon didn’t say anything, ruffled his hair, and turned to leave.
Samantha returned to her seat, but Thelma noticed she seemed distracted. She asked, “Are you worried about Leon?”
“Of course not! Don’t talk nonsense, just eat your food.”
“You clearly are worried.”
“……”
“Actually, I think Leon is quite good; you can consider him.”
Samantha shot her a glare, “Weren’t you saying he didn’t look like a good person before?”
Thelma touched her nose, “I just didn’t understand him well enough.”
“Stop talking about that; just eat your meal.”
After dinner, Thelma’s family of three left. Thelma was worried about her sister being alone and initially wanted to stay and keep her company, but her sister found her annoying and directly shooed her away. With no choice, Thelma had to go home with Sam Noah.
On New Year’s Eve, of course, they watched the Spring Festival Gala. Sam Noah wasn’t interested in it; he held a cup of coffee and read a book, occasionally glancing at the two women who were laughing at the show.
When the time was right, he took out red envelopes and gave one to each of them.
Thelma was very happy to receive the red envelope and kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you, husband.”
Tyler imitated her and leaned over to kiss his father, “Thank you, Daddy.”
Sam Noah held one in each arm. In the spacious room, there were only the three of them, but Sam Noah felt as if something was filling the room.
Was it joy? Or happiness? That thing he thought would never fall upon him.
They had originally planned to stay up together as a family, but the little one fell asleep quickly, and Thelma first took him up to bed before coming back to the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala with Mr. Sam while waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
“Are you sleepy?” Sam Noah asked her.
She leaned against him and yawned but shook her head, “Not sleepy.”
