Nina and Vicente were waiting for John outside the room. As soon as John exited, they rushed to his aid and helped him back to his room.
The first thing he did was take a shower to wash away his sweaty stench and refresh him after the fatigue he endured.
With the babies in their arms, Nina and Vicente sat on the sofa on the balcony, enjoying the sea breeze. Someone had sent a box to Vicente, so Rebecca took it to them.
"What's in the box?" Nina opened the box with one hand and saw a divorce agreement and a divorce certificate.
Nina reached for the divorce certificate, but Vicente said, "There's nothing to see on the certificate. Have a look at the divorce agreement."
"Let me see." Nina read over the agreement and was astounded to see that she was given a large sum of money as alimony.
Nina was moved.
"Don't look at me like that. It's not for you." Vicente smiled. "I did this for the children. Van and Don are my children too. Van, don't you think so?"
She reached out her hand and pinched Van's little cheek. "If I don't give you custody, the children will be forced to stay with me. They will probably grow to resent me. They might even join forces to destroy the Nangong family with John."
Nina said, "You are right."
John had finished in the shower. With the slight fragrance of roses hanging on his body, he walked toward Nina.
As he approached, Nina heard his footsteps and turned. She greeted him with a sweet smile that almost melted his heart. She was absolutely beautiful and her smile was as bright as a flower in bloom.
It was somewhat bitter sweet to see because it would be another three years before he could bring her back to his house and take care of her again.
John informed her that her parents wanted to keep her and the children by their side for another three years. Nina had no objections to be honest. Staying with them was good for her and she got on well with her parents.
However, this did take a toll on John. He spent his next three years either drowning in work or coming to C Island to see his wife and kids.
Over these years, while raising her children, Nina was a graduate student in criminal psychology. Sometimes she needed to study so the children were under the care of Bruce and Anne, and sometimes Vicente would take care of them.
Van and Don's birthday fell on the day of the Lantern Festival. Stone Road was left unusually quiet as the family arrived at Scher Mountain to liven it up.
A lot had happened over the past three years. James and Emma had finally gotten married on the same day that the J Entertainment Company was listed.
Emma, who recently graduated, won the best director award for a literary movie. In the process she brought two actors a lot of fame and recognition from it.
Michelle had given up E-sports and went to study abroad. It was a very normal thing to do and her parents supported her, but she didn't tell anyone where she was going nor did she contact anyone.
Nina was worried about her friend, so she sent someone to look for her. It wasn't that easy though. Michelle was like an injured rabbit, ducking and hiding where no one could find her as she licked her wound alone.
Perhaps all the noise from the people trying to track her down eventually made Michelle contact Nina. Whatever it was that prompted this, she reached out to her friend back in Scher Mountain, but refused to talk about any of her graduate life. She possibly didn't want to leave any clues about where she was.
Michelle only gave an address to Nina in the letter so she could write to her. She also hoped that nobody would come to find her and that her friend wouldn't tell anyone about the message.
Nina had vague ideas about what was happening because Michelle spoke about hiding from someone. She didn't explain further but it was fine in Nina's eyes. The main thing was that she was okay.
The two of them mainly chatted about Van and Don.
Three years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
After graduation, Nina would go back to the Lexingport City to get married some time later, so she wrote a letter to Michelle and asked her to return home before the wedding.
She also tossed some photos in the envelope and asked Michelle which bridesmaid dress she liked the most from the pictures.
After sending the letter, Nina came back and got out of the car. She felt two little hands clutch onto her thigh out of nowhere.
"Mom, guess who I am?"
A child's voice came to her ears. She lowered her head and looked at her son hanging on her thigh like a monkey. He was raising his fluffy little head, as his big eyes looked up at her expectantly.
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