The manager was a little lost when he walked out of his office with the portfolio. Later, he went to complain about this to his colleagues from the secretary department. “What’s up with President Larson?”‘He signed the contract himself, and now he wanted to change it all of a sudden. How am I going to explain to them?’The others patted his shoulder and comforted him. “Don’t argue with the president. Just do the work.”Big trouble would ensue if the president was angered, and all his colleagues from the secretary department had experienced the most from it.The marketing manager returned to his office and phoned a friend from the broadcasting station to pass the message about Michael’s decision.Coincidently, the one friend from the broadcasting station who picked up the call was chasing Ariel. However, she despised him, and she even publicly embarrassed him. Hence, it was revenge time for him, and after he hung the phone. He went straight to the boss’ office and embellished the
Christina tried her best to keep her emotions under control. “I want to meet Michael!”“I’m sorry. President Larson won’t meet you if you don’t have an appointment.”The security guards stood by the lobby to prevent people from breaking in by force at any time.Christina could not enter his office, but she insisted on waiting and meeting him today because she did not believe that Michael would never step out of his office. Therefore, she walked over to the couch and sat down to wait for him.After two hours, most of the employees were gone. Finally, the lobby manager could not take it anymore and walked toward her and reminded her. “Miss Williams, President Larson had taken the lift and left the company through the car park in the basement.”Maybe the lobby manager pitied her when she saw her waiting for him for half a day, so she added in when Christina was about to swear like a sailor. “He has a meet up with his friends at the karaoke lounge tonight.”This meant that she had re
Everybody in the private room started laughing. “This girl is daring, though!”Michael frowned as he grabbed her hand and went out of the private room, then he closed the door.In the corridor, Michael let go of her hand and said with a cold voice, “What do you want?”Christina stared at him and asked, “About Ariel, just what are you up to?”Michael ignored the hostility from her gaze. He leaned against the wall, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lighted it. “She did something wrong, and of course, she needs to face the consequences. Anyhow, it’s a small punishment!”Christina took a step back and frowned a little. ‘He smokes?’She was disgusted with men that smoke and she disliked the smell of cigarettes. Michael told her that he had never smoked before, but it was obvious that he was a chain smoker when she saw his gestures.Christina realized that she knew very little about this man.“Michael, come at me if you have any opinions about me. Don’t make it hard for Ariel
The night breeze brought a slight chill. Christina was walking straight along the road. For some reason, her eyes suddenly started tearing up. Michael looked at her back which was turned against him. His arm stretched out and wanted to pull her back. In the end, he quietly retrieved his hand and stood against the wall as though all of the energy was sucked out from his body. Michael’s mood was extremely irritated. It had been a while since he felt this irritated. After he stood for a while, Michael took out the cigarette from his pocket again and was about to light it up. A sentence suddenly popped out in his mind, “I don’t like the smell of cigarettes…”Michael stopped, let out a sigh, and threw the cigarette and lighter altogether into the trash. Christina was crying and laughing on the way home. It took her awhile before she got there. Francis looked at her pale expression. “Christina, what happened? I’ll heat up your dinner for you.”“It’s okay, Francis. I just had dinner
“It won’t be long. Wait for Mommy to be ready and I’ll bring you over.”“Mommy, have you found Daddy?” Travis asked again. “Not yet. Mommy will try to help Travis find Daddy as soon as I can!” “Yes, Mommy. Take your time, I’m not in a rush.”Christina’s tears started flowing again and hugged this little kid tightly. “Mommy will pick up Travis very soon. Mommy doesn’t want to be apart from you anymore.”Sean let out a sigh. “Christina, if it’s really tiring to work out there, just come back. I can take care of both you and Travis.”Christina shook her head. “Sean, I’m grateful to have you the past few years. But, I don’t want to owe you anymore, do you understand?”“You don’t owe me anything. I’m doing this willingly from the bottom of my heart for both of you.” “But I can’t get over myself to accept all of these. Sean, you deserve a better woman. You shouldn’t be wasting your time on me.”Sean could only let out a sigh and only spoke after a second. “Christina, if you ever
Michael definitely underestimated his competitor this time. Luckily the consequences for that were not too dire. He needed to be more alert the next time he would interact with the Henderson family. ====When Christina returned home, she unexpectedly found out that the broadcasting station resumed Ariel’s job and allowed her to be in charge of this Blind Date Reality Show. She was not too sure what was going through Michael’s head. Maybe his conscience got the better of him!The male guests who signed up for this show all had outstanding looks and good family backgrounds. Ariel knew that Christina was looking for a boyfriend so she wanted to dress her up beautifully to prepare her for a stunning appearance in the show. If Christina could find a man who was not too bad and they successfully ended up together, it would be considered as a good deed done by Ariel. Christina could make money and find a partner at the same time. Christina thought again but did not agree to it in th
John did contribute to the decision of the bidding as well, but he would not have told that to Sophia. The moment Sophia heard it was a decision made by the city council, there was nothing she could do so she just ended the phone call with resentment. When Serena heard the news, she quickly rushed back home too. The moment she entered the house, she asked, “Mom, Michael didn’t win the bid. So what now?”Sophia replied harshly, “We’ll discuss it when your father returns home.”“Mom, could you find someone who has better connections? Maybe we can still make a change!” Serena was pacing back and forth anxiously. Serena made a guarantee to the Larson family saying that as long as her father was there, they would definitely win the project. Now that everything had turned into a disaster, Serena did not know how to give an explanation to her future mother-in-law. “Serena, don’t panic. I just called and asked. Your father’s not in a good mood. Even if you were to call again, it woul
John felt burdened about this. Both girls were his biological daughters and he did not want to let go of either one of them. Therefore, he just kept trying to convince Christina. Later on, Christina suddenly disappeared. John freaked out and sent a lot of people to search for her. He found out later that she ran away to her uncle Francis’s house. John sent someone to bring her home but she refused and would never accept Serena and Sophia. Finally, Christina moved out from the Garcia family by changing her address and changing her last name to ‘Williams’. John felt pity towards her but he could not do anything and could only agree to it. Ten years later, she completely ended her relationship with the Garcia family and never stepped foot into the house ever since. John was busy electing to be the Mayor during that time so he did not have much time to handle his family matters and only made time occasionally to see her. Christina had a stubborn personality. She would lock the
In fact, Matthew was the one who planned this entire thing. He had been keeping a close eye on Rachel since she returned.He could let bygones be bygones if she was willing to settle down. However, the woman did not learn from past mistakes and once again partnered up with Serena to plot against Christina.Matthew went along with their plan. He even found someone to set this up to lure them into the trap.Christina’s due date was approaching after Rachel and Serena were taken care of. Michael began making preparations for Travis’ transplant operation.He hired the best hematologist and gynecologist before arranging for both Christina and Travis’ operation to take place in the same hospital.The delivery went smoothly. Christina gave birth to a baby girl, and Heather was over the moon.Everything had gone well, and it was about time to start on Travis’ operation. Christina was accompanied by Matthew and Rachel whereas Heather stayed close by the baby’s side. Michael comforted Chri
Besides, even if the plan failed, intentionally causing a pregnant woman to miscarry was not considered homicide by the country’s criminal law. The punishment was less serious as the behavior would be categorized as an assault occasioning bodily harm.Assault and criminal homicide were two completely different crimes.Rachel agreed to the suggestion. Scarface was indeed a ruthless man. He came up with this vicious revenge that would put Christina in pain forever.Upon agreeing on the details of the plan, Scarface and his friends from the streets proceeded to kidnap Christina. Rachel and Serena were told to sit tight and wait for the good news.Scarface had a well-thought-out plan and got his hands on Christina before long. Her head was covered with a black cloth as they forcefully pushed her into the van.Serena and Rachel were already at the agreed-upon location when Scarface instructed Christina to step out of the vehicle. The latter’s belly was round, and both of her hands were
Serena lost everything. She had no choice but to work as a bargirl to survive.Scarface was the person in charge of the bar she worked at. The ruthless man had pretty much slept with every woman who worked at his place. Naturally, Serena could not escape from that fate either.Serena was different from other bargirls. She came from a prestigious family and was highly educated. Even in dire straits, she still maintained a certain grace that made her stand out from the crowd.Scarface spotted her on her first day at the bar. He ordered his men to drag her into the private room and tortured her the entire night.She resisted in the beginning. However, without anyone to depend on, she had no choice but to give into Scarface’s tyrannical abuse.Several times later, he found himself attracted to her. Every night, he would ask for her instead of other women.Serena, who could not escape from him, gave in eventually. She even ended up becoming his lover.By doing so, she found someone t
“Just a little while ago.” Sean came closer. “Christina, we need to talk.”She nodded and followed him to the garden. He helped her to get comfortable on the bench. “Do you believe in fate?”She shook her head, unsure where this was leading. “I didn’t either as I’m a firm believer that hard work always pays off. But now I do.”He looked her in the eye. “I’ve been lost and struggled a lot since that incident, unsure how to face you. After considering this seriously for the past few days, I’ve finally mustered enough courage to meet you again.”A sigh escaped her lips. “Sorry, Sean. It’s all my fault.”“No! It has nothing to do with you, Christina. It’s my fault that my love is not strong enough. I discovered that Suzy is really great after spending the past few months with her. She’s just like you. She’s gentle, kind, pure, and adorable. I realized I’ve fallen in love with her.”This was not what he really thought.He loved Christina since the beginning of time and believed he
“That’s old history. We think Michael is actually pretty good.”“We? Who do you mean?” Christina teased.Ariel and Matthew had been spending a lot of time together lately. Christina went through that herself and understood the passion in her friend’s eyes. This silly girl was actually in love. She could not be happier for her.“Who else? Matthew, of course!” Ariel glared at Christina.“I say whatever’s on my mind, unlike you, who always keep everything to yourself and get stuck in dilemmas. Every good opportunity slips past you because of your indecisiveness!” “How can I not be? I promised to marry him but I’m now trying to convince him to marry someone else. Is this really the best thing for him? Will he be happy?”Ariel questioned after a brief silence, “Christina, let me ask you this. Who do you care for more? Michael or Sean?”Christina asked herself the same question too. She naturally cared more about Michael in the past, but she also started to develop a strong feeling f
The following morning, Serena hurried to the police station to file a report.The police treated this with high importance and warned her to be careful of Darren Cain as he was a vicious gang member who had served over a decade in prison.She became more frightened after hearing that. Immediately, she moved out of that house and rented a place somewhere quiet. As she was terrified, she stayed indoors for the next few days.Much of Christina’s stress was relieved without having to deal with Serena’s pestering.“Christina, John was at the last stage of cancer. It was lucky enough that he lasted until he did. This is his fate, so try not to get too upset.” Francis comforted the dispirited woman. It did not make any difference even though he was not the real Francis. He had long adapted to the identity after assuming it for so many years. Most importantly, Christina was still willing to treat him like a real uncle even after finding out the truth.“Don’t worry, Uncle, I’m fine.”
The harassment continued after the funeral. Serena went around spreading accusations and threatened Christina to give her money. Otherwise, she would report John to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for private corruption.If reported, the antique art collection would be seized and no one could get it!Christina became more frustrated after hearing that.She never expected John’s leniency toward Serena would cause her such a big problem. Matthew was infuriated by Serena’s unreasonable behavior. He suggested they could shut the woman up by teaching her a lesson. Sean shook his head. “That’s not going to solve the problem. Serena must’ve come prepared if she dares to stir up trouble. This is a lawful society. We can’t do as we wish.”“Are we actually going to pay her off then?” Ariel asked, “I think giving her money isn’t going to put an end to this. She’s certainly going to keep threatening for more!”Michael scoffed. “Why should we give her money? She can go
“I will, Dad, don’t worry. I’ll listen to Sister,” Suzy replied.“Christina.” John grabbed Christina’s hand in his own. “My greatest regret in this life is failing to take good care of you and your mother. I’m going to meet your mother soon. I hope she’ll forgive me!”Tears rolled down Christina’s cheeks. Men would speak kindly in the presence of death. She was unsure if Molly would forgive him, but she had long forgiven her father.He strained to pull Suzy and Christina’s hands closer together as he looked at them with pleading eyes. “The both of you must live peacefully together. Suzy, listen to your sister, and Christina, you must take good care of her on my behalf.”Christina looked at Suzy before nodding quietly. Then, John shifted his glance to Michael.“I’ve done many wrongs in this life. I betrayed my wife and disappointed my daughter. I hope you’ll do better than me. I’ll hand over Christina to you now. I’ll come back to haunt you as a stubborn ghost if you dare to wr
Suzy felt guilt-ridden and knew she was not in the position to demand anything from Christina. However, her mother had gone mad. She did not wish to see Christina continuing the fight with her mother.At a loss for what to do, she cried her heart out while in Christina’s arms.Sean felt a heavy feeling in his chest. He knew Christina too well after all the years they spent together. She was a soft-hearted person behind her stubborn facade. Seeing others in sorrow was her greatest weakness.There was no doubt she would choose to forgive Suzy and accept her as her sister.If that was the case, then the marriage between them was destined to fail. Christina would reject him for the sake of the child in her sister’s belly.At this moment, he was thinking of how everything was falling apart at this moment even after he had consistently pursued her all these years. He stood there in a daze for a long time before finally heaving a sigh.Perhaps this was their destiny. Suzy cried for a