Leo watches Alyssa leave the office and can't help but admire Luke's observation.

Alyssa is beautiful and her short hair shows that she is very capable.

Claire quit when Leo was seriously ill. Luke's promotion of this woman in that difficult situation shows her ability.

So Leo is relieved to leave it to her. He devotes himself to his work.

Claire and Leo play for several days. After Leo goes to work, she is not used to it. It's like she's facing a very serious separation.

Conan is not like that. According to him, he doesn't have to be ignored at last. So after Leo goes to work, he stays in his room and plays computer all day.

Leo specially prepares a high-end computer for him, so Conan, the hacker, is deeply attracted by it. Conan is essentially an otaku.

Claire shakes Conan's shoulder every time he plays computer games or makes some interesting program.

"Conan, do you want to eat anything? Mommy will cook for you."

Conan doesn't look back and his eyes shine because they reflect the light from the computer screen.

"How about braised elbows?" Claire tilts her head and looks at Conan expectantly.

Conan quickly edits code that Claire doesn't understand and responds to Claire casually.

"No, Mommy, I don't want it."

Claire doesn't want to give up. Several new dishes come to her mind and she chooses one of them.

Claire smiles flatteringly. "Conan, do you want to eat braised meatballs?"

Conan is a little impatient. He frowns and says, "Mommy, please."

"Then boiled fish slices. I promise you will definitely like it..."

Claire is like a landlady who can't sell her dishes, but Conan, the customer, has no desire to eat.

And the reason is simple. It's not because of Claire's poor cooking, it's because...

"Mommy!"

Conan glances at Claire and raises his watch and says, "dear mommy, we had lunch two hours ago. Do you think I'm a pig?"

Claire looks at the watch incredulously and says in surprise, "but I feel so long."

Conan shakes his head helplessly and says, "Mommy, you're bored. Don't you want to go shopping or have some afternoon tea with Aunt Kate?"

Claire replies seriously, "shopping? We have been shopping a lot these days. I can't disturb Kate these days."

Claire has a sly smile on her face.

Claire wants Kate and Luke to be alone.

"But you can't disturb me." Conan says angrily, "I haven't seen such an dependent Mommy."

Claire's been rejected.

Claire puts her head on Conan's shoulder.

She says, "hey, doesn't my son like me?"

Conan doesn't care about Claire's problems at all. He replies gravely, "yes, I don't like you, Mommy."

Conan pouts and complains, "you had a good time with Daddy the other day and ignored me. Now you disturb me because Daddy's gone."

"Women are really fickle." Conan continues coding.

Claire hits Conan on the head and says, "you wanted us to make up. Do you regret it now?"

"..."

It makes sense. Conan thinks and says, "you can go to the company and find Daddy. I think you miss Daddy. Go ahead."

Claire has this plan in mind, but she can't tell her son. She asks tentatively, "really? Can you stay at home by yourself?"

Conan puts the big headphones on his little head. Without looking back, he says, "I beg you to do so."

Claire smiles and hits Conan in the head again. Then she goes back to the room and is ready to dress up.

Claire is going to the company so she can't dress casually. She is wearing a white shirt and a black skirt. She looks like she is working as a secretary.

Claire puts on light make-up, but she does it several times before she is satisfied. Then she goes straight to Howard Group.

Last time Howard Group had a crisis, so many positions changed, but most people still know Claire.

Even if they don't know her before, they have a certain understanding of Claire for some reason recently.

Claire feels a little unusual as soon as she enters the company, because she finds that there are many people in the hall staring at her and laughing at her from time to time.

Claire's a little upset. She thinks she just feels wrong, but when she goes to Leo's office, she sees someone whispering and even pointing at her not far away.

Claire doesn't know what those people say, but she can foretell that it's definitely not a good thing.

...

Claire sees a short haired woman on her way to Leo's office. The woman catches Claire's attention because she looks smart and she seems to say Claire's name when she speaks to others.

Claire thinks that the eyes of those people have made her a little nervous before, so she doesn't care. The short haired woman is talking to other staff. She looks serious. They may be talking about work.

Claire relaxes and continues toward Leo's office.

Then the short haired woman suddenly turns around and says to Claire, "Miss Bennett? Are you looking for President Howard?"

Claire nods and thinks she used to work for the company. She asks awkwardly, "hello. Who are you?"

The short haired woman smiles and says clearly, "my name is Alyssa. I'm President Howard's secretary for the time being."

For the time being?