Melissa was taken aback.

In truth, she knew that since Marcus learned about Matthew's existence, she couldn't prevent him from seeing the child, especially since they were co-parenting. After pondering for a moment, she said, "That's fine. How about four in the afternoon?"

Her tone was professional.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Only the sound of their breathing filled the air. After a prolonged silence, Marcus murmured softly, "I'll come get him at four in the afternoon, the day after tomorrow."

With that, he ended the call.

Marcus focused solely on arrangements for Matthew during the conversation.

Melissa felt that their current relationship seemed more strained compared to when they first reconnected. If it weren't for Matthew, they might have remained estranged from each other indefinitely.

On this cold winter night, Melissa stood outside for quite some time, clutching her phone in her hand.

Early the next morning, Melissa rose and accompanied Julie and Matthew to the shopping center.

Melissa purchased several sets of clothes for Julie, Matthew, and Yvonne. However, Julie halted Melissa from buying more, stating, “I already have plenty of clothes in my closet. If you want to shop, you should focus on yourself. Now that you've been promoted, you should pay more attention to your wardrobe. You can arrange to go shopping with Miss Green another day; she seems to care about you.

She visited us twice when you were in Heron."

Engaged in aiding Yvonne with her new shoes, Melissa glanced up and remarked, “She never mentioned that."

“She inquired about Mr. Watson," Julie supplemented.

Silent, Melissa persisted in assisting Yvonne trying her new shoes.

Perhaps due to her momentary lapse in focus, Yvonne couldn't resist calling out to Melissa.

Melissa snapped back to attention and tenderly patted Yvonne's hand.

Julie sighed heavily. "Miss Green is actually a fine young woman. Why hasn't Mr. Watson considered marrying her? She comes from a decent family and loves him sincerely. Men can be so disappointing sometimes."

Melissa preferred not to dwell on the topic.

Observing Melissa's expression, Julie ceased discussing the matter further.