An unwanted guest

As soon as Mrs. Lugard entered the living room, Cecilia could see the rage, disappointment, and anxiety pouring out of her like smoke from a fire.

The woman practically collapsed onto the couch, her hands running through her messy hair as if trying to wring out the stress that was coiled inside of her like a spring.

Mrs. Lugard was clearly not in a good mood, and Cecilia knew something big was up.

Cecilia calmly walked over to Mrs. Lugard, concern in her voice as she gently sat down next to her mother.

“What’s wrong, Mom? How did the meeting go?” she asked, trying to get to the bottom of what had put such a dark cloud over her mother's mood.

Mrs. Lugard sighed heavily, her eyes shadowed by fear. “We didn’t get the contract,” she said in a low voice, sounding exhausted and defeated.

“They said they can’t trust us because of our character,” she explained. It was clear that this news had taken a huge toll on Mrs. Lugard, who was struggling to make sense of what had gone wrong and wh