My Four Miraculous Treasures

Willow sank onto the sofa. Rachel spoke up to say, "Gosh, it must be tough,

raising four kids! But lots of people would envy you for having children as clever and adorable as those! I'm one of them!"

"Well, of course they're clever!" Willow declared proudly. "They take after their mother, you see?"noveldrama

Rachel was perplexed by this statement. "I seem to recall you only achieved an IQ score of 100, though..." Average intelligence, in other words.

Yes, a heaven-sent blessing of a friend, Rachel Stone was to her...

Rachel went on, "I've heard that, where intelligence is concerned, children mainly take after their father."

What she meant was that if Willow's children were so bright, it was because they got it from their father.

"I think it might actually be thanks to Jas-" Before Rachel could finish that thought, Willow clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle it.

"What manner of deceit are the two of you up to now?" Lara emerged from her room to find her daughter smothering her own best friend. It was a childish sight to see.

Willow laughed dryly. "Ahah, nothing... just horsing around." She released Rachel. Lara greeted Rachel with a smile. "Stay and join us for lunch, Rachel. I'll just go do some shopping for groceries now."

"That sounds great! I just love your cooking!" Rachel replied sweetly.

Beaming happily from that compliment, Lara left the apartment.

The moment she was gone, Rachel prodded Willow on the shoulder. "Don't tell

me you haven't told your mother yet?!" she hissed.

"Of course not know my

mom-she can't keep a secret to save her own life! If I tell her, she'll definitely run off to spill the beans to Jasper Then he'll swoop in to snatch the kids away, and I'll truly be left with nothing."

Nothing frightened Willow more than the thought of losing her children. It was therefore of paramount importance to exercise the utmost caution, and make sure that her mother didn't find out about Jasper Hughes being their father.

Rachel gave her a big thumbs-up. "You're right, I totally see it now! Gosh, to think

I almost let the cat out of the bag, there... from now on, my lips are sealed!"

She pinched her fingers together, and drew them across her lips, as though pulling a zipper.

Later, as they were all having lunch together...

Willow turned to Lara. "Mom, I've quit my job. I'm no longer working at the Hughes Corporation headquarters. Don't go there looking for me or anything."

"What?! You've quit?! We've got so many mouths to feed, in this house! What are we to do about money, from now on?!" Her mother reacted exactly as predicted: with wild-eyed panic.

Willow hurried to placate her: "I've already found a new job, and they're covering

all the costs involved. There's nothing to worry about, Mom."

"Really?! Someone headhunted you?! How much money is your new employer giving you, exactly?" Lara remained skeptical.

Willow held up five fingers on one hand.

Her mother hazarded a guess: “Five... thousand?"

"Fifty thousand."

"Fifty thousand?!" Lara gasped.