Since Watkins and Erica were in different places at that moment and he couldn't see her phone, he couldn't explain what was going on. All he knew was that she sounded really cute. He smiled in spite of himself. "Come here and let me see your phone."

"Where are you?" she asked.

"At the entrance to your villa." Watkins had just parked the car at the gate of the villa. He couldn't get in, so he was stuck outside.

"Ah! You're here? I'll be right out. How did you know where I was?" Erica walked out of the bedroom and bounded downstairs quickly.

Leaning against the car, Watkins replied honestly, "Rhea told me. I knew she was headed back to her own country, so I called her to say goodbye. She told me you saw her off at the airport, and thought you'd be home by now."

"Oh! I see. Wait a minute. I'm headed your way."

After hanging up the phone, Erica trotted towards the gate of the villa, phone in hand.

It took about ten minutes to walk from the front door of the villa's living room to the gate. As the crow flew, it would have taken only five. But Matthew had installed a traffic island and filled it full of flowers and bushes. There was no way to get through that without a great deal of trouble. So Erica had to follow the road around it.

Three minutes later, Erica reached the gate, out of breath.

Watkins wore a white sweatshirt, sweatpants, and a new pair of sneakers. He leaned against his convertible. When he saw Erica, he waved at her. "Hi, Erica!"

"Hey, why are you here?" Erica asked, panting. She was exhausted. She contemplated buying a scooter so she could ride out to the gate and back.

"I tried to get ahold of you, but you weren't online. It's almost noon. I thought you might want go out and get some lunch. Oh, by the way, where's your phone? You said it's virused? Let me see."

Erica took out her phone and unlocked it for him. She put her hands on her hips and said, "I can't go now, because I'm meeting up with someone later."

"Oh, I was wondering how you knew I was here before I called. You thought I was someone else, huh?" Far from being annoyed, Watkins thought this rashness was rather endearing.

Hearing this, Erica felt a little embarrassed. "Yeah, I answered my phone without checking the number."

Watkins tinkered

ve, but they each had a lock indicating safety with words "safe" and "healthy" carved on it. What better to carry Erica's wishes for Ethan?

There was nothing on Ethan's wrists, so the pair of bracelets looked just fine.

After putting on the bracelets for him, she picked him up again and kissed him. Once, then twice. She really loved the little guy. "Now, all done. I'll see you soon, okay?"

This time, Ethan called clearly, "Mommy—"

Tears welled up in Erica's eyes when she heard the boy call her "Mommy." This was the baby she had brought back home. The kid she raised, the kid she sacrificed everything for. And now he was leaving. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in Ethan's neck. She sobbed and sobbed.

Ethan thought she was playing with him, so he put his arms around Erica's neck and grinned, revealing his baby teeth. Little, white, perfect and shiny. He looked super-cute like that.

Julianna took it all in, a complicated look in her eyes. After a while, she came over and said, "Erica, if you want to see him in the future, just send me a message. My number's still the same, and so is my WeChat account."

Tessie and Lenora had been sent away, and Matthew had taught her a lesson as well. When she calmed down, she reflected on everything that had happened between her and the other two girls.

Erica had never done anything wrong. She'd always been a good friend. They fell out over Julianna's now ex-boyfriend, but Erica knew he was no good from the start. She saw that now.