Chapter 284

After school in the afternoon, Loid's car was parked at the gate of Ember Creek High School. Lily finished her class and had just reached the first floor near Class 1 when she ran into Poppy. Lily usually didn't interact much with Poppy at school. She gave her a brief glance and was about to walk past her. But as soon as she took a step, Poppy called out, "Lily!" Lily stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her. Poppy bit her lip, lowered her head, and said softly, "Can I stay at your house for a while? I don't want to stay at Maxwell's house anymore." "What happened?" Lily frowned, her expression darkening. Maxwell had promised to take good care of Poppy and Bobby. "Nothing," Poppy quickly explained, fearing Lily would misunderstand. "It's just that Beatrice always pesters my brother to tutor her, and the house is very noisy. With exams coming up, I want a quieter place to study." Lily looked at her. Poppy's expression seemed innocent and sincere, so Lily didn't think much of it. "Alright, let's go." Lily opened the front passenger door and glanced at Loid. She pointed at Poppy and awkwardly said, "She's going to stay at our house for a while." Loud sighed and massaged his temples. He was somewhat resigned. What was so attractive about Anmer Heights? First, they had to get rid of Shannon, then came Yolanda. She hadn't even settled in before Michael arrived. Now, Poppy wanted to come too? Loid had just managed to win over Lily and wanted to strengthen their relationship. With so many people around, would he get a chance to do that? … Back home, Loid went to cook. Lily wanted to work on the antidote for the Mindshroud poison, so she followed him to the kitchen. As for the other three, they were busy with their own things. When Lily was focused on something, she devoted all her attention to it. Loid finished cooking and wanted to call her to eat. But seeing how focused she was, he didn't want to disturb her. Poppy felt somewhat reserved on her first day at the house. She tried to help out by washing the dishes after dinner to ease her discomfort. Loid wanted to make her feel at home, so he did his best to be amiable. Even Michael refrained from criticizing Loid, making for a harmonious meal. After dinner, Poppy eagerly volunteered to wash the dishes. Loid had work to do and went to his study to make some calls. By the time he was done, it was already midnight. Loid assumed Lily had gone to bed. But when he went to their room, she wasn't there. He went downstairs and found her still engrossed in her research. Loid was somewhat annoyed. He took the items from Lily's hands with a stern expression. "Eat." Lily looked up, slightly puzzled. "What time is it?" "It's midnight." Loid's voice was tinged with a mix of anger and helplessness. Did Lily even care about her own health? "Midnight?" Lily was surprised. She had been so focused on her research that she hadn't noticed the time passing. She hadn't eaten and hadn't felt hungry. But now that Loid had interrupted her, she realized she was indeed hungry. Loid sighed softly, went to the kitchen to heat up the food, and watched Lily eat.