As Lucy walked out of her bedroom, she saw Dawn coming out of her bedroom with Evelyn and Jade, who was carrying Dawn's luggage.
Lucy blinked back the tears that had gathered in her eyes and forced a smile as Dawn came to take her hand.
"You were right. Everyone likes me," Dawn said, and this time, Lucy's smile was genuine, and everyone else smiled.
"Of course, we all do. Oh, Dawn! I'm going to miss you so much," Lucy said as she squatted in front of Dawn and embraced her while Sonia, Evelyn, and Jade watched them.
"I'm going to miss you too. I'm going to call you every chance I get. I promise," Dawn said, and Lucy nodded.
"We shouldn't keep the lady waiting," Evelyn said softly, and Lucy nodded as she straightened, and then she took Dawn's hand, and they all continued downstairs to join the rest of the family who were in the living room with the governess.
"Why didn't mom come with you?" Dawn asked her governess when she got to her.
"She was busy with work, hence she sent me. But don't you worry, she will be waiting to welcome you when we arrive," Dawn's governess said, and Dawn nodded before turning to Evelyn and Desmond.
"Thank you for having me. I won't forget to give you a call, Grandma Evelyn," Dawn said, and Evelyn patted her shoulder.
Jade turned to her mother, "Your sister-in-law just referred to you as grandma," Jade whispered, and Evelyn glared at her while Harry, who was standing next to Jade, chuckled.
"Take good care of yourself, Dawn. I hope to see you again," Jade said, and Dawn smiled.
"You can tell all your friends that you are related to Bryan Hank. How about I give you an autograph?" Bryan said, and his parents glared at him.
"Am I? How?" Dawn asked, and Desmond smiled at her.
"Your mom will tell you about it," Desmond said, and she nodded.
"We have to leave now," the governess said stiffly as she took Dawn's hand.
They all escorted her outside, and as she was about to get into the car, Jamal, who had been silent the whole time, ran over to her and whispered something into her ear.
Dawn blinked at him in surprise, but he simply waved at her as he returned to join his family while she got into the car with her governess.
Dawn looked out the window and waved at them until she could no longer see them, and Lucy brushed the tears from her eyes as she returned inside without saying a word to anyone.
"What did you say to Dawn?" Candace asked Jamal curiously.
"It's a secret between us," Jamal said, and Candace raised a brow.
"Really? A secret?" Aaron asked, and Jamal shrugged.
"If I wanted you to know, I would have said it loud enough for you to hear it, right?" Jamal asked, and everyone laughed at his witty remark while Candace looked at him in surprise before laughing out loud since she knew very well that he had learned that line from her.
That was something she always told him whenever he wanted to know what she was whispering about with Andy.
"Remind me to be more mindful of the things I say to you and around you," Candace said, and Jamal grinned at her since he had been wanting to use that line back at her for a very long time.
Sonia caught up with Lucy, "Why are you so sad? It's not like she is dying," Sonia said, and Lucy sniffled.
"I know. It's just that I really like her, and I don't know when or if I'm ever going to see her again," Lucy said, and Sonia embraced her.
Sonia believed that Lucy held a soft spot in her heart for Dawn, probably because it was the kid's appearance in their life that made her begin to think about having a child with Tom.
"LuLu? Are you alright?" Harry asked as they rest of them got to where she stood with Sonia, and Lucy pulled away from Sonia's embrace and forced a smile.
"Yeah. Sure," she said, and Desmond smiled at her.
"Thanks for stepping up and taking care of Dawn despite the circumstances. I appreciate it," Desmond said, and Evelyn nodded.
"Me too. Thanks to you, her stay here was quite pleasant. I don't think she would have been happy here had you not been here," Evelyn said with a heartfelt smile, and Lucy swallowed hard as she nodded.
"Things have been tough for everyone lately, but I know you would have done it had I not been here to take her under my wings," Lucy said confidently, and Evelyn smiled as she patted Lucy's arm before walking away with Desmond to their bedroom, while Aaron led Jamal to the room for his nap as the others headed for the Den.
"I saw Tom leaving earlier. Where did he go?" Jade asked Lucy curiously as they walked into the Den.
"He said he had business to handle at the hotel," Lucy said, and Jade turned to Harry with a raised brow.
"I guess you are not leaving anymore since Tom already left to take care of the business?" Jade asked, and Harry shook his head as they all sat down.
"Tom is handling a different business from the one I'm handling. I'm supposed to be there by 3 P.M.," he said simply, and both Lucy and Jade frowned.
"A different business? What do you mean?" Jade asked while Lucy raised a brow.
"Does this business require that you both work shifts?" Candace asked curiously.
"Do CEOs do that?" Sonia asked Bryan.
"Why does this sound like you both are making up excuses to go hang out together?" Lucy asked, and Harry groaned inwardly as he looked to Bryan for help.
"Is that it? Are you both going to hang out? Why didn't I get an invite?" Bryan asked, and Sonia glared at him.
"Just kidding. My favorite hangout spot is by your side, and you know that," Bryan said, and Jade rolled her eyes while Candace and Lucy giggled as Sonia kissed his cheek.
"The same goes for me, too. My favorite place is by your side," Harry told Jade with a wink, and she exchanged a look of disbelief with Lucy and Candace, making them laugh.
"Babe, we should leave for your apartment now. We might not be able to go pack up your stuff after now," Bryan said to Sonia.
"I thought we were doing that together?" Lucy asked Sonia, and Bryan shook his head.
"Nope. I'm going with her. The last time we were there, we didn't exactly create good memories, and I would like to correct that," Bryan said, and Sonia grinned.
"Yeah. I almost stabbed him the last time, thinking he was Derek. That bastard," Sonia said and wrinkled her nose with distaste at the thought of her ex.
"I wonder what happened to him," Jade said, and Bryan shrugged.
"He got the fame he wanted but not the way he expected it. Now he is hiding from furious ship BrySon fans," Bryan said, and they all laughed.
"Shouldn't we wait for Matt to arrive before leaving?" Sonia asked when Bryan started rising, and just as the words left her lips, the doorbell rang.
"That should be Matt," Bryan said as he rose to go confirm it.
Candace's heart raced with anticipation since she had been expecting him all morning from the moment Bryan announced during breakfast that he would be coming over. Although she was tempted to go see if it was Matt, she stayed put.
"Someone is excited to see their boyfriend," Harry said in a teasing tone, and Candace scowled at him while the others giggled.
"It's Matt. I told you," Bryan announced as he returned with Matt.
"Hello, Matt! Someone has been expecting you all day," Harry greeted with a grin.
"Shut up, Harry," Candace hissed.
"Why? Bryan has been expecting him all day. What were you thinking?" Harry asked with a chuckle.
"Oh! You thought I meant you? How could I ever think so?" Harry asked sweetly, and Jade giggled while Candace eyed him with displeasure.
Matt chuckled, "Hello, Harry," Matt greeted as he shook hands with Harry and exchanged pleasantries with everyone else while trying not to look in Candace's direction.
The last thing he wanted was a repeat of what happened the last time at Tom's place. If he had known she was here, he wouldn't have come over. He didn't want her thinking he had come because she was there.
"You are going to say hello to everyone else but not your girlfriend?" Candace asked with a raised brow as she rose to meet him, surprising everyone apart from Lucy.
"What?" Matt asked, taken aback by her question.
"Girlfriend?" Jade and Sonia asked in unison while Lucy grinned since she could see that Candace had really made up her mind after their last conversation.
"You heard me," Candace said as she stopped in front of him.
"Hello, Candace," Matt said for lack of what to say since he was still too confused by her action to know what to say.
Bryan grinned as he looked at Sonia and signaled to her to leave with him. Since it seemed like Matt and Candace would be needing some time to themselves to talk.
"Let's catch up later, Matt. I need to head out with Sonia," Bryan called out before leading Sonia away.
As they left, Lucy, Jade, and Harry rose to excuse them, too, since it was obvious to all that the couple needed to talk.
As Harry walked past them, he said, "If you need reasons not to date her, ask me, and I will give you a dozen. One of them is that she is a lousy cook...."
"That's not true. I've tasted her meal before," Matt cut Harry off without taking his gaze away from Candace, who was in front of him.
"Too bad for you. Love is indeed tasteless," Harry said as he walked away with Jade and Lucy.
"What do you mean by love is tasteless?" Jade asked curiously as they headed for the stairs.
"Like love is blind, right? But only this time, it is tasteless because he is too in love that he can't tell if the food is good or bad?" Lucy guessed, and they all laughed when Harry nodded.
"You made that up, didn't you?" Jade asked, and Harry winked. n..o//V-/E--L.-B).I))n
"Someone made up love is blind, so why can't I make up mine?" He asked, and they all laughed.
"Love is deaf. When you are in love, you don't listen to anything negative about your partner. I just made up mine," Lucy said, and they laughed.
"Love is dumb. When you are in love, you don't speak ill of your partner. Love is a lot of things. We should write a book on love together. All three of us, or maybe just the two of us. The sage couple," Jade said excitedly, and they all laughed.
"Maybe we should," Harry said in amusement.
"I should leave you two sages to go work on your future bestseller," Lucy said with a grin, and they laughed.
"I guess you are going to be bored by yourself now that Tom isn't here. Don't worry. When Harry leaves, we can chill together and gossip about them," Jade said, and Harry cleared his throat, knowing he was about to annoy her.
"Uhm, I was actually hoping I could speak with Lucy for a moment," Harry said, and Jade scowled.
"You are joking, right?" Jade asked, and Harry kissed her forehead.
"No, I'm not. It won't take long, I promise. I haven't had the time to chat with her since I got here. I will join you in the room before you miss me," Harry promised.
"Five minutes, Jonas. You both have five minutes, and it starts counting now," Jade said before storming off while Lucy and Harry watched her in amusement.
"I love you, esquire," Harry called after her.
"Go to hell, Jonas."
"That means I might take longer coming to join you in the bedroom," Harry called back.
"Try me!"
"Jade can be so dramatic at times," Lucy said with a grin, and Harry chuckled.
"I wouldn't have her any other way. Let's go sit on the balcony," Harry suggested.
"She gave you five minutes, and I believe two minutes is up already," Lucy reminded him.
"I'd rather she come to get me when she is tired of waiting. I love watching her in action," Harry said with a grin, and Lucy giggled as they both headed for the balcony.