Sean was in his fifties this year. He could have had a much more prominent career, but due to Maria’s health problems, he had groomed Franklin to be his successor in the early years. He was always by Maria’s side in her recuperating journey, clearly showing how much he valued Maria.
As Maria’s health problem was caused by Lauren, so Bryce could anticipate his father’s attitude.
He bet that if his father would actually like Lauren, he did not mind to be Lauren’s brother. Instead, he would not mind to address Lauren as his brother if that happened.
Sean and Maria did not live close by, they lived more than two hours away from the Torres mansion. As Maria liked to live near the mountains and the oceans, so Sean had built a small villa specifically for her near the mountains and the oceans.
As today was Friday, the traffic jam had caused their two-hour journey to stretch to four hours.
By the time they arrived, it was almost 10 pm. Lauren got out of the car and was a little nervous. She immediately saw the villa where her parents were staying.
The surroundings were very quiet. Only the villa was brightly lit. However, the light was not bright. There was only a small light at the entrance. It seemed that the light was there for them to see.
The environment was excellent. As soon as she got off the car, Lauren felt that the air had become much fresher. There were lush green mountains on both sides of the road. However, it was already night time, so she could not see them clearly.
Franklin held onto Lauren’s hand as they walked towards the villa. They climbed up some stairs to get to the villa.
As they went up the stairs, Lauren could still hear the sound of a stream.
When they arrived at the front of the villa with their luggage, the door opened from the inside. However, the person who opened the door was neither their father nor their mother. Instead, it was a housekeeper.
Before they arrived, Franklin had already told Lauren that she could call the housekeeper Aunt Ricci.
Aunt Ricci had been looking after Maria all this while. After Maria moved here, Aunt Ricci had also followed her here. She was very close to Maria, and they had formed a very deep friendship.
“Mr. and Mrs. Torres are already asleep. They usually go to bed at nine o’clock.”
Franklin looked at his watch and saw that it was already past ten o’clock. It was indeed a little late.
He nodded and asked the servants inside to help them carry their luggage to their room.
“Dad and Mom are already asleep. Let’s go and see them tomorrow morning. Hurry up now, go wash up and get some sleep.”
Lauren nodded. She was tired from sitting in the car just now.
This villa was decorated very differently from the Torres mansion. The Torres mansion was a classical and traditional house. The furniture inside was made of noble mahogany. Although it looked very gorgeous, it did not have the aura of life.
Moreover, the mahogany furniture was stiff. Lauren did not like it, so she usually just sat on the white sofa in the living room.
The Torres mansion also had a collection of all kinds of vases and antiques.
When she first went to the Torres mansion, Mr. Hayes specifically instructed Lauren not to touch those things. Those things belonged to her grandmother. If she touched them, she would definitely be scolded. Therefore, she never went near those cabinets.
However, this small villa was different.
The sofas were soft, and the furniture looked very comfortable and had an aura of life. The decorative paintings hanging on the walls were also very interesting.
Lauren fell in love with this place at a glance.
The villa was not big, so there were very few guest rooms. Other than the master room that Sean and Maria stayed in, there were also rooms for the housekeeper and servants. There were not many rooms left.
Quinn and Bryce had to share a bed now.
Bryce protested when he found out about that.
“What? I have to share a bed with Quinn? I’m already so old. Why do I still have to share a bed with someone else?”
“What’s wrong with sharing a bed with me? I’m a famous international model. Do you know how many people want to share a bed with me?!”
“Heh, I don’t know. I only know that you like to move around when you sleep. I’m afraid that you’ll kick me off.”
Franklin felt that his three siblings were the best among the crowd. No matter which two of them met, they would always quarrel with each other. Franklin was the only one who knew how to deal with this situation.
So, he proposed a solution.
“Bryce, if you don’t want to sleep with Quinn, then you can sleep with me. Otherwise, you can sleep on the sofa.”
“Sleep on the sofa? Franklin, you’re so heartless!”
“But now it’s not a matter of who we sleep with. The problem is that we could each have our own room. If it weren’t for someone else in our family, we wouldn’t have had this trouble and wouldn’t have to suffer. I’ll complain to Dad and Mom tomorrow!”