Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance novel Chapter 1787

Henry’s laughter rang through the backyard, bright and carefree. Andre hopped out of the car and swept a quick glance over the back seat before turning toward the golden-lit lawn. “Henry, don’t chase your mom all over the place! Come in and get ready for your bath!”

Dirt-smudged and beaming, Henry finally caught his mom, wrapping his arms around her cream dress. His giggle was pure delight. “Haha, caught you, Mommy!”

Mia smiled, handing him her apple. “A couple bites, then bath time, okay?”

Henry scampered off with the half-eaten apple. When Andre tried to give him a bath, Henry absolutely refused to let go of his snack.

Andre teased, “Even the cat knows better than to eat in the tub—what are you, huh?”

Henry grinned, slippery and happy, and declared, “Mommy’s sweetie, born from a hungry cat!” He held up the apple. “Daddy, you want a bite too?”

“I’ll pass. Hand it back to your mom. Time to rinse you from head to toe.”

Fresh and clean, Henry flopped onto the sofa, still working on that apple. Not long after, when Mom and Dad headed to the dining room for dinner, he tossed the core aside, put his tiny slippers on the wrong feet, and trailed after them, tailing them like a little shadow.

Andre watched, amused, as his son clambered onto his chair and immediately reached for more food.

Mia always half-suspected the school didn’t feed him enough.

—

On the weekend, when Anya clocked out, her boyfriend was already waiting to drive her back to the Calder house.

Meanwhile, Milka’s mom was flying home to her country—Mars had arranged for someone to pick her up, and she was already on the plane.

She hung up just as headquarters got the so-called absenteeism report.

At the meeting, Fielding shrugged. “Lu put in her request and called me before her shift. I have no idea why this report says she was absent. Coen, where’d you hear about this?”

When they called Mr. Grant, he clearly hadn’t expected Milka to cover her bases. He apologized, blaming a work mix-up. “Maybe she told me and I forgot. We haven’t been coordinating well lately, so maybe I lost track.”

Coen—who’d been greased by Grant—chimed in, “Or maybe Lu figured out Grant would report her and set him up with a last-minute leave request. I say we bring Milka back to HQ. She hasn’t made progress in Eldoria, and most of her achievements are really Grant’s. Besides, she and Grant aren’t getting along, and someone’s got to go.”

“Grant’s our anchor. Lu’s the one with the attitude problem, so obviously she should come back.”

Headquarters held a quick meeting. A few people spoke up for Milka. After all, if Grant could find ways to get her sent back, Milka—who’d been around headquarters for years—knew how to fight her own corner, too.