"Senior Colonel, here is some water," Mark showed up in front of Daisy at the right time. He passed his water bottle to her. As a guard, it was his responsibility to keep an eye on her and know what she needed.

  "Mark, the whole troop will head to the exercise base this afternoon. Are you ready for this?" Daisy asked, taking several gulps of water. She wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.

  "Senior Colonel, I'm ready." Mark reported. He felt Daisy was acting a little weird today, so he behaved more cautiously.

  "Good job. You can go now! I want to be alone for a while," Daisy said, giving back the water bottle to him. She thought it was necessary for her to think about how to deal with her pregnancy issue.

  "Yes, Senior Colonel!" Mark said, looking at Daisy worriedly. Without much of a choice, he followed Daisy's order and left.

  Daisy sat down on the grass, looking up at the blue sky and white clouds above the army base. She didn't notice anything unusual, but for some reason, she felt sadder than before.

  She knew Edward wanted a daughter and that Justin wanted a sister. She would definitely have considered it if only they had talked it through first and made proper preparations. But never like this —— like she was forced and a passive participant.

  She sighed slightly, wondering what Edward would say to her if she decided to get rid of the baby. She always subconsciously tended to put the country first before family or anyone else.

  Some people might say she was cruel. Truthfully, she was the one who would suffer the most when it came to this kind of thing. After all, no mother would ever dislike her own child. Even though the new baby wasn't fully formed yet, it was already a life inside her.

  In the afternoon, the troops were ready to ship out. Even though it was only a warm-up for the formal military exercise, nobody took it lightly. As a brilliant soldier, he or she should be ready to serve the country anytime.

  Daisy didn't tell Edward about her attending the military exercise. She wanted to tell him about it this morning, but she was so annoyed with the whole pregnancy ordeal that she forgot about it. Edward had been waiting at the door of the army base for more than an hour. Eventually, he figured that something was wrong. No matter how many times he called Daisy, she wouldn't pick up. He decided to call Mark and Kevin, only to find out that their phones were turned off. In desperation, he called Leena, hoping that she might know what was going on.

  "Hi Edward, what's the matter?" Leena ans

  you know it?" Justin replied, looking scornfully at Edward. 'It's so simple! Why can't he understand?' he thought.

  "All right! It was kind of my fault. But did your mom say when she'll come back?" Edward asked, his voice masked with a hint of agitation. He walked up to the living room and slumped back onto the couch. He suddenly felt weak and burned out.

  "She didn't say when. But, daddy, why do you care so much?" 'He always cares about mommy whenever she goes out for a mission. But why does he look so nervous this time?' Justin thought.

  "She's my wife. Of course I care about her!" Edward said, staring at Justin angrily. He felt his son had become more difficult to deal with recently.

  "Oh! Okay. You just relax here, Daddy. I go upstairs." Justin said with a sly smile. He didn't want to waste his precious time on hearing his daddy's rants.

  "Wait. One more question," Edward stopped Justin who was already at the foot of the stairs. He couldn't be alone there! Edward felt that he needed someone to be with right now.

  "What is it? Come on. I can tell you all," Justin said, sitting on the couch next to Edward. He was just a little kid, but he behaved like an arrogant king.

  "If I tell you your mommy is having a baby, do you want it to be a sister or a brother?" Edward said expectantly, his eyes shining with curiosity.

  "I never do baseless assumptions. But if mommy is having a baby, I hope it's a sister. It will be okay too if it's a brother. In that case, I wouldn't be too tired when I take over the FX International Group," Justin said. He would have definitely said he wanted a sister if he was asked years before. But he didn't want a sister so much ever since Joyce showed up.