Diana sat in a local park, feeding the baby with a bottle in her hand while her other hand scrolled through the places available for rent.
Literally, nothing. Nothing was affordable.
She did not get to bring her cards with her given that her parents could track her down using those. After all, those were provided by them.
What she had on her hand was the little money that she had saved from the money she earned by writing webnovels.
This was also her second phone, a phone she kept for her personal use because, in their family, everyone's phone has a mini tracker in its in-built system.
She basically had a few thousand dollars in her account and the flight tickets from Beijing to Los Angeles made her account around $8K lighter.
The remaining she had with her was $4.5K and if she went from these places costing her $3k per month then she would be done for.
After all, it has been a long time since she last earned some money. She could not be sure if she will make it in such a little time.
Disappointment kicked in her chest at the thought of it.
'Waaaahhh'
Her gaze shifted to the baby she was balancing on her lap. The bottle of milk was now empty.
Diana picked the little girl up in her arms, "Ah, are you worried about me?" she awkwardly patted the girl's back, "Don't worry, Princess, I am strong. Though I am poor currently, I will certainly do something about it," she inhaled the baby's sweet scent and it somehow soothed her anxious heart.
It's okay. This was not the end of the world.
With that thought in her heart, she took the baby with her for some shopping.
It was the month of May and the baby girl was dressed in a long white dress. Humidity was soaring in LA and her dress was all soaked up in sweat.
Maybe that was the reason why she was getting irritated easily.
"Miss, here is our best collection..." The saleslady in the mall led Diana to the VIP collection section.
How and why? Diana was puzzled for a moment but that confusion lasted till she noticed the lady checking her outfit.
She was wearing this designer leather jacket and her boots were also pretty expensive so despite her current messy appearance, this woman believed she was rich.
'Ah, I just abandoned my parents' wealth and moved countries. I am poorer than you.'
Despite her inner devil wanting to shout those words at the woman's face, she kept her expression calm.
Just as she was about to walk towards the normal section of clothes, a pale blue dress caught her attention.
She looked at the baby in her arms.
"Miss, that one is $298 by Versace."
And just like that, Diana finished her shopping with a bill of $1597.
After all, a girl deserved to be treated like a princess despite the circumstances.
"Miss, would you like to get something for yourself?" The saleslady had an extra polite smile as she handed her the bag and the bill.
"Well..." she looked at her messy outfit and brought herself two cheap dresses.
"Baby, where are we going now?" the baby looked much more comfortable in her new onesie and Diana rubbed the tip of her nose with the little girl's, the shopping bags in her hands slipped to her elbows with the movement.
The baby licked her lips and she could not help but giggle, "If you were not this adorable.... then maybe I would not have formed this attachment with you," Diana muttered absent-mindedly as she walked on the sidewalk.
Her phone buzzed and she quickly placed the baby on her shoulder and took out her phone to check the notification.
It was a 'house for rent alert'.
'66, Arkell Hills, the garage apartment for rent at $1400...'
It was a kind of studio apartment in particular.
Diana did not have to read past that. She got what she wanted. Just $1400. Perfect!
She raised the baby in her arms and looking into her doe eyes, Diana felt her lips breaking into a huge grin, "We found ourselves a nest, little birdie," she pressed a kiss on the little girl's forehead.
...
"Jennie, Ben, Whitney—"
"Mom, what are you talking about?" Maxim thought the quota of his bad day was reached by this point.
Little did he see this phone call coming. Sitting on the long L-shaped couch, he crossed one of his legs above the other and raked his fingers through his hair.
"Oh, these are the names for my future grandkids, son. Which one do you like? Actually, I have a lot more of these."
"Well, you can finalize the one you like and save them for the right time," Maxim rolled his eyes. The right time might never come.
He still messed up his own stuff to this day. Why would he ever think of dragging a little life into his chaos?
Not to mention the fact that he could not reproduce asexually. A partner was required and he was not interested in women. At least, not after his recent breakup.
He was determined about the fact that women were complicated and that staying away from them was the best thing one can do.
"You aren't getting any younger. It's time for you to abandon those cake faces and settle for some real deal..."
"Cake faces?"
"The women you have dated in the past, I could barely see their real features under those multiple layers of makeup. Humph!"
Maxim was speechless.
Right at this moment, the doorbell started ringing.
Maxim frowned.
It was past midnight. Who is here at this hour?
It better not be the nosy old neighbor who was peeking from his house some time ago.
"Mom, I will call you back later," Without giving the woman a chance to speak, he hung up.
If he told her that someone was at the door, then his mother's colorful mind would cook various scenarios of him making babies.
So, it was best to be discreet.
"Ah, Master, I am so horny, ahhh!"
"_"
The sleeping parrot was stirred awake by the sound of the doorbell.
Without sparing it another glance, Maxim went downstairs. The garage house was enshrouded in darkness and he had to turn his flashlights on to look for the light switch or remote.
Not finding one nearby, he walked towards the door and opened it.
"Hello, I saw this ad about the garage apartment being on rent and I am really really interested in it. I can pay the advance right now," Except that I would not have enough money left for the next month's rent.
Diana left the latter part of her sentence unsaid as she fed milk to the baby in her arms.
"Huh?" Maxim was stunned when he heard the woman's words.
For some weird reason, the voice sounded familiar to him and he wondered if exhaustion was doing tricks on him.
She was feeding the child in her arms and her hair covered her face so he could not see her face in the partially dark place but her words made him freeze.
That crazy bastard...Not only he duped him with a nosy neighbor, slutty parrot, and hellhole of a house but now there was a mysterious tenant thrown into the mix as well?
There was a reason for him to call this tenant mysterious. The baby she was holding was probably wearing a limited edition dress. He did not have much idea about fashion but having once dated a model helped him get a few ideas.
But despite the baby's expensive dress, the woman did not seem to be in decent condition. She was wearing expensive clothes as well but she was bruised and bloodied, appearing like she was on a run.
But then, he was not a charitable person. Atleast not to women on run.
There was no way he was keeping her here out of pity. The last thing he wanted in his life was more chaos.
"Here..." she shoved her phone in his hand without raising her head to look at him as she tried to calm the crying baby in her arms.
Maxim glanced at the ad for house rent on the phone.
'66, Arkell hills...'
This was the nosy old man neighbor's address.
And it dawned on him what exactly happened. The number '9' on the address plate flipped to '6' once again and the lady ended up here at '69', thinking that it was '66'.
He extended his hand towards her to return the phone , "The house that you are looking for—" his words came to a sudden halt when she raised her head.
Beautiful green eyes that widened at the sight of him and his breathing hitched. Her blonde hair looked darker than the last time he saw her, almost brownish and it suddenly dawned on him that exhaustion was not doing things to him.
There was a reason he found her voice familiar because he was familiar to her....in ways he could not comprehend.
"Warner!" Diana squealed, not expecting this surprise at all. Then without giving it a second thought, she ruffled his hair like she used to do when they were young and the next thing she expected to see was a huge smile on his face.