Chapter 4

"Who is it?" William asked. "A woman named Lorraine Somner. I want to know everything about her," Logan said. He was used to being in control. Since his newlywed wife was a stranger to him, he had to do what he could to learn more about her. William's interest was piqued. "Have you finally fallen for someone, boss? I can rest easy now that you're interested in a woman. God knows how worried I was that you were gay." "If I were, do you think you'd still be single?" William snickered. "I'll be honest. With how close we are, I wouldn't be able to escape your clutches if you really were gay." Logan rolled his eyes. "I'll give you half a day." He didn't want to waste his breath and time on this pointless conversation, so he gave William a deadline to get Lorraine's details. "C'mon, boss. You've got to give me a photo so I know what she looks like. How else am I going to investigate her? She can't be the only Lorraine Somner in the world. I can't possibly investigate every Lorraine I come across," William said. After a brief silence, Logan searched for the photo he and Lorraine had taken after registering their marriage earlier. He edited himself out of the photo before sending it to William. William whistled after receiving the photo. He said, "You've got good taste, boss—she looks good. She's not the type to catch your eye when you first see her, but she becomes prettier the longer you look at her. "Her smile is innocent, and her gaze is guileless. I only need to look at her to tell that she's the simple type. I can't believe there are still people in this world who haven't been polluted by the evils in this world." He paused, then continued, "Where did you meet her? Wherever it is, are there more women who are like her? I want to hang around there too. Maybe I'll meet another woman like her." William wasn't sucking up to Logan. People in their social circle were all schemers who hid their true colors behind masks. It was rare to find an unpretentious woman like Lorraine. "She likes my children," Logan said indifferently without elaborating. "Oh. Is she a nanny you hired for Finnegan and Luna?" Logan had adopted his friend, Terence Quall's, twins. This wasn't a secret among Glendale City's upper crust. Everyone who knew about this praised Logan for being a good friend. At the same time, they scorned the Quall family for not wanting their flesh and blood. Yet it was also because Logan had adopted the twins and raised them like his own that people thought he was in love with their birth mother. It didn't help that she and Logan had grown up together, so everyone thought they were childhood sweethearts. This resulted in Logan having a hard time finding a wife. None of the daughters of affluent families wanted to marry him because they didn't want to be the twins' stepmother. They would only consider marrying him if he were to send the twins back to the Quall family. "Just investigate her like I told you, okay? Stop with the questions and get to work." Logan didn't want to go into detail on the matter and hung up. William muttered, "You're only making me more curious by keeping the truth from me, you jerk. You're just getting the twins a nanny, aren't you? It's not like you're finding them a mother." He thought about how stoic and aloof Logan usually was. He had never dated anyone and constantly turned down the blind dates his family wanted to set him up on. There was almost no chance of Lorraine being the twins' mother. He grumbled about Logan being all mysterious and leaving him hanging. Despite that, he still arranged for someone to look into Lorraine's background. Lorraine was just a regular woman, so it was easy to investigate her. William only took an hour to find everything he could. He went through the dossier before going to look for Logan. From there, he learned that despite seeming ordinary, Lorraine had nerves of steel. She had ignored her family's objections and taken out a million-dollar loan to kickstart her career. She even borrowed money from friends and family. Wasn't she afraid she'd be in heavy debt if she were to fail? Wasn't she worried she wouldn't be able to pay off the loan despite working her ass off? And why did she return to her family's home in the countryside to plant fruits after graduating with a degree in landscaping? William headed to the 68th floor with the dossier. He knocked on Logan's office door. Logan had just received a location and message from Lorraine, "This is my address. You can just take a cab to the orchard's entrance if you're coming over. The roads have been paved, so you can reach it directly." Logan replied, "Okay." Lorraine sent another message, "There's one more thing I need to tell you." Logan felt that typing took too long, so he called her. When she answered, he asked, "What is it?" "I wasn't wearing glasses during our blind date, and I'm severely short-sighted. I basically can't see anything without my glasses… Like, I wouldn't be able to recognize my mother without them," she said. He hummed in agreement. One of his cousins was also severely short-sighted and couldn't recognize anyone without his glasses. He could understand Lorraine's condition. But what did that have to do with anything? "I got the wrong guy. You're not the man I was supposed to be on a blind date with. Your name is exactly like his, so I got you two wrong. I thought the matchmaker lied to me, but I was the one who got mixed up." Logan didn't say anything. Had she just realized she'd gotten the wrong guy? Could she possibly be thinking of getting a divorce? Were they going to have a flash marriage and divorce on the same day? Lorraine continued, "We're already married, so I'm not getting a divorce. I didn't force you into this marriage anyway. You were a willing party." Logan smiled slightly. He wanted to chuckle but held it back. He grunted in acknowledgment. Yes, he was a willing party. She didn't force him to marry her. "So, we can just continue like this, okay? You can take a cab here once you pick the kids up in the afternoon. I think it's troublesome, but you do have to meet my parents. We wouldn't want a situation where you can't recognize your in-laws despite running into them on the street," Lorraine said. "I'll be busy lately. The cherries and mangoes are ready for harvesting, and they're going to hit the markets soon. After harvesting this batch, I'll squeeze out some time to meet your parents. Is that okay with you? If it's not, I can make time to meet them tomorrow. "Oh, there's also the fact that I've taken out a million-dollar loan with the bank. Don't worry, though. I got into it before marriage, so I won't make you repay it with me. I'll draft an agreement, which you can sign when you come over later. That way, you won't have anything to do with my debt." Lorraine wasn't the type who expected her spouse to help repay her debts once she married. She had brought the loan upon herself, so she would settle it. Fruits were selling well this year, and the prices had increased compared to last year. Thanks to her attentive care, the fruits in every orchard had grown well and aplenty. Once she harvested another batch of fruits before the winter, she could repay some of her debt after covering her expenses. As long as the market remained strong, she would soon be debt-free.