“Bonita will like it too. Oh, but should we tell her in advance? About the birthday party.”
“I think we should.”
The whole mansion was planned to be decorated for the birthday party.
If they just kept Bonita in her room without letting her out, they wouldn’t be able to hide it in the first place.
The two went to the playroom where Bonita was.
Bonita was sitting comfortably on the sofa, leaning to one side, flipping through a picture book while occasionally trying to find a few characters she had learned during the last lesson.
“Bonita.”
“Um… Aria!”
Bonita, who was about to call her mom, quickly changed her address when she saw Luke next to her.
Luke wasn’t a fool either. He noticed how Bonita was addressing him and Aria.
He was just pretending not to know.
While he himself couldn’t hear the sound of being called Dad, it was quite awkward for that girl to be referred to as Mom in Bonita’s presence. However, he didn’t want to say anything to Bonita.
Standing in front of Aria, Bonita looked at her and Luke alternately with expectant eyes.
“Did you both come to play with me?”
“Do you want to play together?”
“Yeah.”
At Aria’s laughter, Bonita blushed shyly, crossing her arms over her body.
“Being alone is good too, but it gets boring if it continues.”
“Then let’s sit on the sofa and talk for a bit.”
Aria lifted Bonita onto her lap. In the process, Bonita, who was tickled on her side, laughed as if she was about to suffocate.
“Wait a minute, it’s ticklish! Ahaha!”
“Oops.”
When the mischievous Aria intentionally wiggled her fingers, Bonita, ticklish, ran away with a small scream.
Laughter echoed. Watching that scene, Luke felt strangely touched and sat on the opposite sofa.
“Hoo.”
After playing on the sofa for a while, Bonita, out of breath, exhaled. Aria patted the head of the child.
“So, what should we talk about?”
“Oh, right. Well.”
Aria, who had been absorbed in playing with Bonita, suddenly realized something and had a “oops” expression. Sensing Luke’s gaze, she quickly got to the point.
“Bonita, do you know that your birthday is coming up soon?”
“Birthday…?”
However, Bonita’s reaction was strange.
“Is it my birthday soon?”
Bonita looked puzzled, as if she had never heard of it.
Luke and Aria felt discomfort from her expression.
Usually, children eagerly anticipate their birthday, which is the only special day of the year. While busy adults might not know, for young children, there are few occasions as joyful as their birthday.
However, Bonita acted as if she didn’t even know that she had a birthday.
Aria, with a hint of anxiety, decided to ask.
“Bonita.”
Her voice trembled.
“Do you happen to know when your birthday is?”
As Bonita shook her head, the expressions of both Luke and Aria stiffened.
Witnessing the change in their expressions, Bonita’s eyes, filled with anxiety, shook.
“D-Did… Did I do something wrong?”
“There’s no way.”
Luke, who had been watching silently, stood up. Aria instinctively took a step back.
It was to distance herself from Luke.
“There’s nothing wrong with you. The one who did something wrong is someone else.”
The red eyes turned slightly toward Aria. Unlike a little while ago when it was mostly irritation, it was now infinitely cold.
Only now did Aria realize how the recent situation might have appeared to Luke.
Before coming to the mansion, Aria’s body bore the traces of abuse, and her nutritional condition was not good.
In that situation, Luke had tolerated Aria’s presence only because Bonita loved her.
But even there, there was a limit.
“Aria definitely knows Bonita’s birthday.”
It was impossible not to know.
Aria had witnessed and assisted in Elodie’s childbirth.
Luke also knew that fact well.
That’s why Aria could casually mention Bonita’s birthday in front of Luke.
However, Bonita herself had never thought that she might not know her own birthday.
“Not knowing Bonita’s birthday means…”
Aria raised Bonita.
It wasn’t her, the real Aria.
So, the real Aria, despite raising Bonita for seven years, had never once told her about her birthday.
She bit her lip.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
