Jean raised his eyebrows at the disrespectful question, "What if your lady comes home for the weekend? What right do you have to question her actions?" Jean shot a knife-sharp gaze at the male servant.
The servant's face immediately turned deathly pale. He shook his head frantically, "T-That's not what I mean! I-I just thought that Miss Lilia was still busy filming in Jakarta!" He explained.
Lilia ignored their argument and turned her gaze to the living room window. Even though it was still morning, the lights in the room were bright, "Are we having guests at the house?" Lilia asked to make sure.
The servant shifted his gaze and shifted restlessly, "Um ... about that ... I don't really understand..."
Right at that moment, there was a sound of crisp laughter coming from within the house. The young woman's voice was definitely not Sylvia's, and the Pangestu Family had no more daughters other than Lilia.
The servant could only lower his head with an embarrassed expression, "... Yes, there is a young lady who came to visit." He muttered.
Jean sighed in annoyance and was about to enter the house when they heard the roar of a car engine. The three of them turned their head towards the sports car that stopped in front of the house gate. A young male figure appeared from inside the car.
"Oh, looks like this is the right house." Mike said casually as he approached them. One hand was tucked into his coat pocket.
The man was wearing a black suit which made him look more impressive than usual. But the embroidery with a lion motif on the back of his coat destroyed that positive image and replaced it with a wild one.
"Young Master Jean." Mike greeted them with a small nod.
Jean just stared at Mike coldly without responding to the young man's greeting.
Lilia didn't know why Jean didn't like Andrew's brother, but this wasn't the time to be discussing that. She stepped to the front of the door and pushed it open, "Come on in." She said as she took turns looking at the two men.
The two of them nodded and followed behind Lilia obediently. Kenny, who entered last, closed the door behind him. They had just set foot into the house when there was another sound of laughter from the living room.
But the laughter immediately stopped when the four of them appeared at the living room door.
Prang!
Sylvia dropped the teacup she was holding when she saw them. Her mouth was still half open, but not a word was spoken. Beside her, Leila turned her head towards them. The young woman looked fine, and she seemed to be enjoying her time with Sylvia.
"Mother?" Lilia took a step forward, but her movements suddenly stopped.
Her chest felt tight and her breath caught in her throat. The thing that stunned Lilia wasn't the situation where Sylvia and Leila were chatting intimately. But when she saw Sylvia and Leila sitting side by side, she finally understood something. The reason why she felt that Leila's appearance and that woman's smile looked familiar was—
Because Leila looked similar to Sylvia.
From the shape of her face, the color of her eyes, to the way Leila smiled, everything reminded Lilia of Sylvia.
"Y-You ... Why are you here?" Sylvia asked in panic. She was so shocked that she ignored her teacup which was smashed into pieces on the floor.
The sound of breaking goods caught the attention of the servants in the house. One of the maids walked into the room and started cleaning the teacup, giving Sylvia a chance to calm down.
However, seeds of suspicion had started to grow inside Lilia. Why was Sylvia so nervous and panicked? Was it because they caught her talking to Leila?
"J-Jean, apparently you also visited here!" Said Sylvia while forcing a big smile. That woman did not think that the situation would turn out like this. Still, her fake smile could not hide her panic.
"Brother Mike?" Leila's eyes widened when she saw Mike, who was standing behind Jean, "Did you come here to pick me up?" The woman got up from her chair and rushed at Mike. Her eyes were shining and a sweet smile adorned her lips.
"So it is." Mike replied coldly. His gaze brushed over the figure of Sylvia who was still rooted to her seat, "Why are you here?"
Leila's smile instantly froze. She stopped walking and lowered her head, like a child being scolded by her parents, "I-I want to catch up with you, but I don't know where you are. When I got out of the taxi, someone grabbed my bag. My cellphone and wallet are in the bag, so I don't know what to do."
Then Leila fixed her gaze on Sylvia.
"Luckily, I met Aunt Sylvia. Auntie worried about me and asked me to wait at her house. She said someone would come to pick me up. It turned out that Brother Mike really came! I'm so happy!" Leila gave him an angelic smile.
At first glance, Leila's explanation sounded reasonable. But if looked deeper, Lilia felt that there were too many coincidences in that explanation. It so happened that someone picked her bag, then Sylvia found her, and it just so happened that Sylvia was Lilia's mother.
After hearing Leila's explanation, Sylvia finally regained her composure. She also rose from her chair and nodded, "I saw Leila crying alone by the side of the road. Her appearance looks so similar to mine that I feel sorry for her. I didn't have the heart to just leave Leila, so I took her home!" She explained while looking at Lilia.
The model had the feeling that Sylvia's explanation was aimed specifically at her, as if her mother was trying to defend herself.
Leila nodded enthusiastically, "Brother Mike, you also think that I look similar to Aunt Sylvia, right?" Leila asked, hugging one of the man's arms, "Today Auntie not only helped me, but also brought me back to her house. I feel that our meeting is predestined!"
Mike shot Leila a look of disgust and waved his arm. He didn't want to see her sickening smile up close at this point. Leila had tested his patience enough today.
"Lilia, I didn't know that you and Jean would come today…" Said Sylvia while forcing a stiff smile on her face.
Lilia raised an eyebrow. Oh, so now Sylvia was suddenly willing to call her name instead of the usual 'unlucky child'? She resisted the temptation to laugh out loud and refocused her wandering thoughts.
When Lilia thought back to Leila's story earlier, she felt that she might be thinking too far. It looked like her imagination was getting even more exaggerated due to her busy shooting schedule.
"We're here to find Leila." Lilia replied briefly. She glanced at Leila, who was still clinging to Mike even though the man was clearly disgusted by her.
This whole incident was caused by Leila. Just because she decided to go alone to Surabaya, it didn't mean she could make the two families in Jakarta worry about her. Not only that, the Widjaya Family also used their various contacts to search for her all over the city.
But the young woman seemed oblivious to all the trouble she was causing. Her figure who smiled broadly without any worries seemed like a naive child who didn't understand the outside world.
Leila heard Lilia's words and turned to her. Then she looked at Jean. Only then did she seem to realize the impact of her mindless actions.
Leila's expression was now filled with embarrassment as she said, "Brother Jean, Sis Lilia, I'm sorry I made you worry.. I promise, I won't do it again."
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