Jumping out of bed, Claudia ran her fingers through her hair, trying to piece together the events from last night.

Flashes from the previous night started to surface in Claudia's mind, but all she could clearly remember was her passionate kiss with Bennett.

Why was the rest of her memory missing?

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she became.

Did she fall asleep while kissing Bennett?

The mere thought made her cheeks burn. Covering her face with her hands, Claudia widened her eyes in shock.

Despite her best efforts, she couldn't remember how she'd drifted off last night.

She shook away the thoughts, got out of bed, and darted to the bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face.

The cool water sobered her up. She gazed at her reflection in the mirror and felt a sense of despair wash over her.

She really couldn't remember how she had fallen asleep last night!

Claudia was quite anxious because of this situation. She hesitated to go downstairs, dreading the encounter with Bennett.

But instead of Bennett, she was met by Marcia.

Spotting her, Marcia greeted warmly, “Good morning, Mrs. Dreskin. Do you want to have breakfast now?"

Claudia nodded, then casually inquired, “Marcia, when did Bennett leave?"

With a pleasant smile, Marcia replied, "Around 8:30. He mentioned if you weren't up by nine, I should cook lunch instead."

Claudia felt a twinge of unease. Even though Marcia hadn't implied anything, she felt a slight misunderstanding lingered.

She had the urge to explain but felt that doing so might only worsen the misunderstanding.

Forget it.

Marcia wasn't one for idle chatter. Claudia merely replied, "Marcia, could you serve breakfast, please?"

"Okay."

With a nod, Marcia headed to the kitchen to fetch the freshly prepared breakfast.

Finishing her meal, Claudia informed Marcia she'd return for lunch and then headed to the hospital.

Today, Jace was scheduled for a general check-up. His surgery date would be confirmed in a couple of days.

If all went as planned, the heart bypass procedure could take place next Tuesday.