The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

James's words lingered with Herman.

From that day on, he really did keep his distance from Anastasia. He even asked the housekeeper to make sure she got extra nourishing meals-chicken soup, slow-cooked stews, homemade desserts-anything to help her regain her strength.

For the next two weeks, Herman didn't touch Anastasia at all. The change had her feeling anxious and uneasy.

Had she hurt his pride with her earlier refusal?

Though Herman no longer made any moves, he still pulled her close every night when they slept. Anastasia was puzzled. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but the words got stuck in her throat. Instead, she tried to show affection in little ways, hoping he'd respond.

But every time she reached out, Herman gently moved her hand away. "Let's get some sleep. It's late," he said.

The rejection felt like being doused with icy water.

Ever since Herman's memory loss, the only time they truly felt close was in their most private moments. Now, even that connection was gone. It felt like the bridge between them had quietly vanished.

Their relationship slipped back to polite small talk and courteous smiles-like they were just two people living under the same roof, not husband and wife.

Herman quietly wondered if there was something going on between Anastasia and Rowan. Anastasia, meanwhile, worried if Herman had feelings for Sandy.

Neither dared voice their suspicions. Even if they did, would it change anything, or just make things worse?

Herman still showed his love in small, thoughtful ways, but Anastasia's anxious heart no longer noticed. She had no idea that all the tonics and nourishing foods from the kitchen were his doing.

With his lost memories, Herman just couldn't bring himself to fully trust Anastasia. Plus, with Pattie's recent health scare, he was already stretched thin and indecisive.noveldrama

No one else in the family seemed to notice the subtle shift between them. Anastasia spent her days looking after the kids, working on new design sketches, or visiting Monica when she needed a break.

Tavon was back in town, throwing himself into the middle of Salma and Adam's drama, and Anastasia let him handle it however he wanted.

Meanwhile, Pattie's birthday was coming up fast, and Katelyn had nearly finished all the preparations.

That day, Katelyn placed an order for an extravagant eight-layer birthday cake from a famous pastry chef. Each layer had a different theme and flavor chocolate, lemon, strawberry, pistachio, you name it. The cake cost a small fortune, but Katelyn couldn't wait to see Pattie's reaction.

Just as she finished the cake order, Katelyn got a call from Autumn inviting her to play mahjong.

Autumn knew Katelyn loved mahjong, so she'd learned how to play just for this reason to get closer to her. While most people tried to curry favor with Autumn for her connections to Mr. Walker, Autumn was actually working on Katelyn, all for her own reasons: to get revenge for Julie.

They played mahjong all afternoon, and when they were done, Autumn suggested they grab dinner together.

Over dinner, Autumn steered the conversation to the hotel incident. "So, Katelyn, whatever happened with that situation with your daughter-in-law? Didn't you want to look into it?"

"Ana explained everything-it was just a misunderstanding," Katelyn replied with a smile. "That's all behind us now."

"You're too kind, honestly," Autumn said, trying to stir things up. "If it were me, I'd never let something like that slide. What if you hadn't caught it? Who knows what would've happened. I have to say, Katelyn, Anastasia doesn't really seem

satisfied with what she has. You

should keep an eye on her."

Katelyn just laughed it off. "Autumn, don't worry. Ana and my son are rock solid.

They've got three kids together—she'd never betray him."

Autumn leaned in, lowering her voice. "Your daughter-in-law used to be just a street vendor, right? she's married your son, and he's not

handed her the company.

nothing. When your son went missing for months, everyone assumed the worst. Wasn't Anastasia always out early, back late? Or on business trips? Last time

I saw her with that man, the way he

looked at her-it was more than just business."

The truth was, Katelyn wasn't blind. She'd seen Rowan hand something to Anastasia, and his gaze wasn't the way a man looks at a friend.

Autumn pressed, "If it wasn't planned, how did that guy just happen to show up at the hotel?"

No matter what others said, Katelyn knew she had to stand firm for her family. If she so much as hinted at any doubts about her daughter-in-law, the rumors would spread like wildfire and never die down.

So she just smiled and said, "Ana said it was a coincidence. Sometimes life is full of surprises. I mean, didn't we just happen to run into each other that day too?"