Marcos looked at the yard in front of him. He had no idea if this was the farmhouse restaurant that her mother had told him about before.

"I'm looking forward to it after all those things you've told me," said Marcos.

“Let's go in. I've reserved a private room. It won't be too noisy," replied Tina. She pushed the door open and invited them.

Marcos said gentlemanly, “Ladies first."

Luca did not delay any longer and stepped into the restaurant first. Andy was holding the door, signaling Tina to enter the restaurant first.

Tina knew they were gentlemen, so she did not say a word and followed behind Luca. After the two ladies entered the restaurant, Marcos stepped into the restaurant.

Tina was close with the owner of the restaurant here. That was why she was able to reserve a private room at the last minute. The female owner came up and led the way when she saw Tina. She brought the four of them to the private room.

The private room was nicely decorated. There were barely any green plants growing in A City as it was still the winter season. Hence, the green plants in the room were fake, but that did not affect the unique design of the interior.

There was an indoor water fountain in the room, surrounded by stalks of bamboo. It made them feel like they were in an idyllic and beautiful paradise.

The female owner asked Tina after she served them tea, “You brought foreign friends this time, Ms. Tina. I don't know how to speak other languages, so I might need your help translating what they say."

“No problem," replied Tina.

“Does everyone eat spicy food?" The female owner asked while holding a menu, but she did not hand the menu to them.

Tina had dined with Luca several times before, and she knew Luca could handle spicy food. Hence, she did not ask Luca and just asked Marcos, “Mr. Marcos, Mr. Andy, are you able to handle spicy food?"

“Yes," Andy nodded, and he added, “Boss can take spicy food too."

“Everyone can take spicy food, and the budget is exactly how much I told you the last time," replied Tina after getting their answers.

The female owner gave them a warm smile and replied, “Okay. Let me prepare your dishes now. One moment, please."

Although Marcos could not understand what she said, he could briefly understand what the female owner was talking about from her hand gestures. He asked Tina with curiosity, "Aren't we going to order?" All content is property © .

Tina smiled, shook her head, and explained, "The ingredients for restaurants like these usually come from the owner's farm. The owner of this restaurant owns a farm too, but it's located in the suburbs. Fresh ingredients are delivered here every morning, but there are different ingredients throughout the year and it depends on the seasons too. Besides, the ingredients delivered might not be the same every day. That's why the farmhouse restaurant doesn't have a fixed menu. The owner will prepare random dishes for the customers based on the ingredients they get every day. They only have to figure out if we can take spicy food and our budget. Then, the owner will prepare the dishes for us."

Luca added, "Authentic local foods are usually done like this. The dishes served will taste good as they use fresh and organic ingredients. They won't look for suppliers who can supply a lot of ingredients for them like the restaurants in the city. That's why it's normal to run their business this way."

"I see. I've learned something new today," said Marcos. He nodded, thinking that it was quite interesting to him. Then, he turned to look at Luca and asked, "Ms. Craw, are there any updates from Mr. Crawford lately?"

"Mr. Crawford is busy with the acquisition project. We haven't received any news that he's coming back soon." Luca thought Marcos was asking when Luke would be back. After all, there were certain things he had to discuss with Luke.

Luca and Tina were only here to entertain him. They could not decide anything on behalf of the company.

"Well, I guess he'll be back soon," Marcos said thoughtfully. Matysh would be traveling to A City soon if Luke was not coming back yet. Something might happen to Luca by the time Luke arrived.

Andy, who was sitting beside him, heard the conversation between them. He was secretly hoping that Luke would not return so soon.

"Hmm, I'm not sure about that. Mr. Crawford wouldn't mention his work progress to us." Luca smiled.

Tina went along and asked, "Mr. Marcos, do you intend to meet our boss?"

"No. I'm just asking. But I have a favor to ask him when he's back here," said Marcos.

The sun had gone down after the four of them finished their dinner. Marcos was different from other guests. He did not enjoy the nightlife, and that was why he rejected Tina's offer when she made arrangements for him on the first day.

Hence, Tina canceled all the arrangements for his nighttime entertainment.

Lliam was responsible for sending Marcos and Andy back to the hotel, while Luca and Tina hailed a ride back home.

"Dr. Craw, we're supposed to go back to work as usual tomorrow, right?" Tina asked.

"Yes. Let's go back to the office tomorrow. Oh, although Mr. Marcos told us that he'll explain it to Mr. Crawford, it'll be better if you inform him too," replied Luca. She was not planning to contact Luke. After the intimacy they shared that night, she felt that she could not stand Luke being cold to her if she contacted him now.

Everything was fine when he departed. He even told her where he was, but it ended up becoming nothing.

Luca shook her head. She felt layers of unsettling emotions in her at the thought of this, and she refused to think about it anymore.

Although Tina wondered why Luca did not take the initiative to contact Luke, she agreed to it since Luca mentioned it to her. Then, she replied, “Okay. I'll inform Mr. Crawford later. The taxi is here. Dr. Craw, hop in." "It's okay. Aren't you feeling cold?" Luca noticed that Tina was shivering when she came out of the farmhouse restaurant. It was obvious that Tina was feeling cold.

"I'll be fine." Tina shook her head, thinking of letting Luca take the taxi.

Luca stopped the car, opened the door, and said to Tina, "Come on. Get in."

"But..." Before Tina could say anything, Luca noticed that there was another empty taxi coming in their direction from behind. She said, "There's another taxi coming. Hurry up."

Tina turned around and glanced at it. There was indeed an empty taxi. She bent down and got into the car without saying a word.

Luca stopped the taxi behind, slipped into the car, and left.

The kids already had their dinner after Luca arrived home. They were sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Luca took off her coat, walked toward them, and sat down.

The kids' attention had always been on the TV, and they exclaimed with surprise when they saw Luca, "Ms. Luca, you're back!"

The three of them said in unison, and Tommy's voice sounded the happiest.

"Yes. Have you finished your homework?" Luca was concerned about their homework. After all, it would be hard for the kids to explain to their teachers if she did not check their homework and leave Luke's signature on it.

"Yes. We've finished our homework!" The kids replied as they took their books out of their school bags.

"Okay. Leave it on the coffee table. I'm going to check Lanie's homework first. You can continue to watch your cartoon show. After that, take a shower and get ready for bed," said Luca.

"Okay." Lanie handed his book to Luca, while Rainie and Tommy left their books on the coffee table.

The kids were smart. They seldom made mistakes when they were answering the questions. Luca picked up Rainie's book as soon as she finished checking Lanie's homework. Lanie and Rainie's homework was the same, so Luca was able to go through it quickly.

Lanie and Rainie answered all the questions correctly, and Luca signed the signature on the last page.