Elena was staring fixedly at the tall man in front of her as he advanced towards her step by step.
She had to admit, Tyler's physique was no less impressive than that of the male lead, Klaus.
His tall, upright figure resembled a sturdy pine tree.
His handsome face bore a cold and firm appearance, with long eyebrows reaching into his temples, and the curve of his nose being extraordinarily superior.
The light gradually dripped down, ultimately casting onto his rosy thin lips.
Even in her era, he could easily outshine many young heartthrobs.
Yet it was those eyes, the depth between his brows conveyed a certain frostiness.
When he glanced her way, it inexplicably gave her chills.
When the man finally approached her, Elena subconsciously avoided his icy gaze, explaining in a somewhat embarrassed and frightened manner.
"I didn't deliberately start the fire. It happened when I was cooking, some oil splashed out, and before I knew it, the firewood also got ignited..."
That was the truth. It was definitely not intentional, or she wouldn't end up in there herself.
Tyler glanced at the dark kitchen and slightly furrowed his brows, but didn't comment.
Instead, he spoke in a low voice: "I recently returned from military service.
My job situation is still uncertain, but according to the arrangement of the Armed Department, I will most likely work at the village tractor station."
If that's the case, he would only earn twenty-five dollars a month.
Whether that's enough to support his family wasn't known, but it was definitely sufficient reason for Elena to turn her face against him.
"Oh," Elena listened with an expressionless face.
So it was about this? "Weren't you here to question me about the house-burning incident?"
She blinked, "It's just a tractor station incident, no big deal."
Seeing her nonchalant reaction, Tyler's brows furrowed even more, he couldn't help but scrutinize Elena more than once.
Then, as if he's thought of something, he sternly said, "If you want to divorce fine, but I'll be keeping the children."
So, she already brought up divorce? Elena blinked and began to think rapidly.
Although she doesn't want to live with an unknown man, currently the Pierce family doesn't care about her.
If she gets a divorce, she'll not only starve but also be homeless.
Now is not the best time for a divorce! No, she cannot consider a divorce.
Not at least for now! She suddenly lifted her head to look at Tyler, with a firm tone saying: "I don't want a divorce now!"
"Now that you've completed your military service, you should earn our living, regardless of how much or little money, what matters is that our family lives well."
Hearing Elena's words, Tyler's first reaction was disbelief.
What is this woman planning? Tyler thought for a moment, rolled up his left sleeve to expose a forearm wrapped in bandages, and looked at Elena seriously.
"I was discharged from the military because of an injury to my left hand, and the compensation I received, I gave it all to my comrades who were injured more seriously."
"You need to be clear about this. I am not in the military anymore, I don't have that much salary.
Following me around like this, our life will definitely not be as good as before."
He assumed that Elena was after his compensation.
"I've thought it through very clearly." Upon seeing Tyler's disbelief, Elena couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
If she were in his shoes, she wouldn't believe in him either, considering how dodgy he used to be.
Suddenly, she remembered something, rushed into the bedroom, ransacked the cabinets, and finally found a package wrapped in oil paper.
"This is something I saved especially for you. Have it quickly. Once your hand heals, our life will definitely get better!"
As she spoke, Elena unwrapped the package in her hand, revealing a shiny roast chicken and placed it before Tyler.
Her face wore a sincere look, but internally she was extremely nervous.
This roast chicken was actually something she had hidden away for a secret feast for herself.
But since Tyler did not trust her, gaining his approval would require effort and time. What better way to curry favor with Tyler than starting with a roast chicken!
Tyler stared at the roast chicken, momentarily stunned.
Is this woman really Elena? Everything seems so unreal.
She knew he had been discharged from the army and had given his pension to his comrades.
Not only did she not make a fuss about it, but she also had saved a roast chicken for him?
He didn't believe for a moment that she had saved it especially for him.
Elena was always only considerate of herself.
When had she ever been so kind-hearted? Tyler looked Elena up and down, his eyebrows further knitted together.
Had he gone mad, or had Elena gone mad? Something was off about this woman today!
Elena felt prickly under his gaze, but in order not to expose any flaws, she had to tough it out and say,
"What are you looking at? Eat quickly!"
"You can't eat! Daddy, don't eat!" Suddenly, three children ran in from the entrance.
Jadel directly blocked Tyler and harshly knocked the roast chicken out of Elena's hand! The roast chicken fell onto the dusty ground and rolled several times.
"Daddy! The chicken is poisoned! This woman has poisoned it!"
"She was sleep talking last night, saying she wants to poison all three of us and my dad, then find a new man!"
"Daddy, you can't eat it! She wants to kill you!" Jadel pointed at Elena and vented his anger.
Elena looked at the roast chicken on the ground, feeling a pang of heartache.
She glared at Jadel, saying, "If you're going to spout nonsense, then spout nonsense.
What's the need to throw my roast chicken?!"
"Are you trying to let your poison kill my dad?!" Jadel glared at Elena, his gaze wasn't one seeing his birth mother, instead he looked at her like an enemy!
Who said that one would remember their sleep talk? Elena was somewhat speechless.
How much did the original owner hate this family that even in her dreams she wanted to poison these kids?
When Tyler heard this, his originally cold gaze carried a hint of ruthlessness, coldly sweeping over! Feeling those deep eyes on her, Elena felt a shiver run through her body for no apparent reason.
Everyone's impression of the original owner was deeply rooted, and it would be difficult to change in a short time.
She thought for a moment, picked up the roasted chicken on the ground, tore off a small piece of chicken meat with no dust on it and stuffed it into her mouth.
Several pairs of eyes were watching her closely, as she swallowed the chicken slowly and deliberately.
"Do you see that? It's not poisoned! If it was, I'd be dead now."
Elena said. Jadel still didn't believe it, shouting with red eyes, "I don't believe it!
You definitely poisoned it! If it's not the chicken, then it must be something else!"
Elena was speechless: "..." This kid is really troublesome! She helplessly said, "You believe in sleep talk? I also dream every day about getting rich, do you see me getting rich?
Are you going to stop eating the food I cook just because of one sleep talk?"
This stopped Jadel in his tracks.
Could it be that he has misunderstood? Could it be that this woman was just talking in her sleep, with no real intention to poison them?
While Jadel was still pondering, Tyler seemed to have understood.
With Elena's innocent face, and even taking a bite of chicken, it probably wasn't poisoned.
He patted the back of Jadel.
The child finally realized and lowered his head.
This was an admission of guilt.
Elena sighed again, saying: "Since you know you were wrong, go and wash the roast chicken, we can still have it for dinner."
Meat, especially a whole roast chicken, was extremely precious in this era.
Hearing this, Jadel's ears perked up.
He wasn't being difficult, and picked up the roast chicken to wash it.
Looking at the understanding Jadel, and Jaden caring for the youngest one behind him, Elena suddenly felt a warm sensation in her heart.
How could the original owner ever harm such adorable children? When Jadel had cleaned the roast chicken, Elena tore off the legs and wings, and distributed them among the three children.
She then stuffed the largest chicken leg into Tyler's hand. "Eat up," she said, "dinner will take a while to prepare, you guys fill up your stomachs first."
After speaking, she turned and entered the kitchen, beginning to tidy up.
The kitchen was in a state of chaos, but thankfully some kitchenware could become usable after washing.
The three children stood in place, looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Are they really letting us eat this chicken leg?"
The oldest and the Jaden were slightly in disbelief.
Joel, however, being the youngest, didn't think much and took a large bite.
"Wow, it's so delicious!" He swallowed in big gulps, gave a shout and then took another bite.
His eyes squinted in satisfaction. Seeing Joel eating with gusto, the Jadel and Jaden, driven by their cravings, also started to munch on their chicken wings.
They didn't know until they had a bite.
Both were stunned. How can there be such delicious chicken in the world!
They were just about ready to faint with happiness! Having a few bites was utterly unsatisfying, Jadel even sucked on his own fingers.
After finishing the chicken wings, he finally noticed Elena, who was busy in the kitchen. Shocked, he exclaimed, "Dad, she's actually tidying the house!"
Tyler was also looking captivated at the slender figure busying herself in the kitchen.
Regardless of whether anyone responded, Jadel continued: "This is so weird! Usually, she makes us do everything, even fetching a sip of water.
But now, she's suddenly cleaning up the house by herself, she even gave us meat to eat just now..."
Jadel seemed to have thought of something, and anxiously went over to Tyler.
"Dad, do you think she's gone mad?"
"Don't spout nonsense." Tyler lightly tapped the back of his head.
"I'm not talking nonsense!" Jadel was trying his best to prove his assumption, "She would rather give the meat to that smelly guy before, she wouldn't let us eat it, she must be mental!"
Tyler also thought it was strange, but it wasn't appropriate to show this in front of the children, and he only handed the chicken leg in his hand to Jadel.
"You and your brothers share it, I'll go help your mom."
Jadel happily took the big chicken leg, and when Tyler went into the kitchen, he muttered under his breath again.
"She's not my mother."
By the time Tyler entered, the kitchen had been mostly cleaned up by Elena.
The fire had consumed all the wooden items and firewood, only a stove was barely usable.
Elena laid a clean cloth on top of the stove, planning to temporarily use it as a cutting board.
A good wife can do nothing without rice. Almost all the food in the kitchen was burnt, fortunately, rice and oil were stored in jars and were not affected.
Elena opened the rice jar in the corner and saw that there wasn't much rice left but there were plenty of sweet potatoes.
So she planned to make sweet potatoes and rice, which was pretty nutritious.
After cooking the rice, she was about to take a few eggs from the cabinet, but turned her head and saw Tyler standing at the door, silently watching her.
Just then, the Jaden who finished the chicken leg walked over, pressing against the wall.
He didn't notice Elena and whispered to Tyler.
"Dad, I bet this woman wants to poison us through this food, you must take us and run away quickly!"
Another voice chimed in, "Oh? The lady wants to poison us again?"
"For sure! This woman is evil! Dad, you need to take us..."
Just as he was speaking, Jadel reacted.
The one who responded was not his father.
He jerkily raised his head and saw Elena standing in front of him with hands on her hips.