“Okay. Don't worry! I‘11l stay with Maria and won't go anywhere!"

After hanging up the phone, Judy stayed glued next to Maria like a sentry.

But after a while, Maria's phone rang again.

It was a call from Julie.

“Hello, Maria?"

“Hello, I'm not Maria. This is Judy speaking."

Hearing the sweet and polite voice from the other end of the line, Julie was stunned.

Judy?

Julie had never given thought to the possibility of Maria having friends.

However, she knew what kind of person Maria was. If someone was answering Maria's phone, then it meant that they were trusted by her.

“Hello, Judy. I'm Maria's... My name is Julie. Can I speak to her now?" Julie was about to say that she was Maria‘s foster mother.

But she suddenly felt an aversion for those words, because the term weirdly sounded so intimate yet distant, which then made her think of the relationship between Vivian and Patricia.

“I'm afraid it's not possible for you to talk to Maria now. She is asleep," Judy explained apologetically.

"Oh... She's asleep..."

Julie echoed in disappointment. In fact, she didn't have anything important to talk to Maria about.

And the last thing she wanted to do was blame Maria for what happened in Broome.

Deep down, Julie was just curious to know about Maria's experience in Broome.

After all, Broome was Julie's hometown, but she had left the city 20 years ago.

“Alright, then I'll hung up. I don't want to disturb her rest," Julie whispered.

“When she wakes up, should I ask her to call you back?" Judy asked. Hearing these considerate words, Julie felt a rush of warmth in her heart. It seemed that Maria was surrounded by good company.