"Is it simply because he sees potential in my comic, or is he trying to use the development rights as an excuse to get closer to me? Or maybe he just doesn't want too many people to know about what happened between us."Either way, I still think I should keep my distance from him, so I'd prefer not to sell the comic rights to him.""If you don't sell it to him, and no one else buys it, would you be disappointed?"I shook my head. "No.""Now I can offer you another option.""What is it?" I asked quickly."Let Hughes Group develop your comic rights. The company will give you a certain percentage of the share."Without thinking, I responded, "Deal."Julian's expression became unusually serious. "If the adaptation doesn't do well, the money you make could be less than what you would get from selling the rights."He was worried I might regret it.But I had already decided. "I'm willing to take that risk."Julian praised me sincerely, "That's what I admire about you, Lyn. You're a
"I'll go tomorrow, then," Sophia quickly said.Amber couldn't contain her excitement. "If there's any problem, just ask your brother. He'll definitely help you."Sophia's mood lightened considerably.Recently, the company's business had been declining sharply. She and the staff had tried many ways to solve the problem, but nothing worked. If left unchecked, the company might collapse soon. She didn't expect Amber to find a savior for her."Okay. Thank you, Mom!" Sophia replied happily.…After Julian finished his work, he walked up to me and asked, "Are you curious about the choice I made just now?"I was focused on drawing and only looked up when I heard Julian's voice. "She's your mother. No matter how unreasonable she has been, as long as that blood relation is there, you can't let it go that easily. "Besides, this time, she took the initiative to apologize and give you an out. You're seizing the opportunity to reconcile with her. So, I can understand your choice."Jul
Not knowing how to start, I stared at the laptop screen, lost in thought.Julian noticed that I hadn't begun drawing for a while. "Having trouble?"I turned to look at him. "Yeah, I just have a general idea. But when I try to actually start, my mind goes blank.""If you use your current account to draw about our fake relationship, Shayne will definitely sense something's off. But what if you use a different account?"A lightbulb went off in my mind. "Why didn't I think of that before?"With that, inspiration struck, and I immediately began sketching."Have you settled on a specific theme?" Julian asked from the side."Yes, I'm planning to draw a story about a contract marriage." A sly smile flashed across Julian's face briefly, but his tone remained casual. "You were with Shayne for so many years, and he didn't treat you well. I imagine most of your time with him was spent in doubt and pain. You probably never got to properly enjoy what love feels like."I nodded. "That's t
Julian had always been confident in his work.Whether it was major decisions like the company's future direction and when to implement transformations, or smaller details like how to push a project forward and what goals to achieve at each stage, he always had a clear plan in mind.But today, the strengths he prided himself on seemed to lose their effect.All he could do was wait for my answer passively. I thought for a long time before finally saying, "If you're really considering marrying me, then for the next few years, no matter how amazing the women around you might be, you can't let your heart waver. You have to choose me no matter what."I didn't want the man I was considering as my husband to get involved with other women along the way. "Can you accept that?""Of course, I can," he replied, more seriously than ever.I didn't say anything.Julian continued, "I've been single until now. I've met plenty of outstanding women, but I've never had feelings for any of them. An
Julian was reluctant to let go. "I just want to spend a bit more time with you.""I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," I replied, amused."Julian, you need to earn money to support Willow and all the employees under you. If you get too caught up in romance and neglect the company, what will happen to them?"Hearing this, Julian finally let me go, albeit reluctantly. He returned to his desk but not before pulling me close for a deep kiss.After he left, I turned back to my laptop screen. Suddenly, the direction of the storyline became clear in my mind. I began sketching the outlines intently.When I finished, I turned my head and, to my surprise, found Julian secretly watching me.I got up and walked over to him. "Are you not in the mood to work right now?""I've already finished today's tasks." Perhaps because we had just confirmed our relationship, Julian felt even the small distance between us was unbearable.Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me into his arms. "So, what do y
At that point, without her parents to back her and without any real skills, she wouldn't be able to resist.She'd have no choice but to slink away from his house and take some low-paying job earning two or three thousand a month to scrape by.The more Alice thought about it, the angrier she became at how despicable he was."Your dad doesn't necessarily need to reject every collaboration outright. There's one project I've heard he wanted to propose to your father, the one in the northern part of the city," Julian stated.Alice shot Julian a wary look. "You're not getting back at me on purpose because I interrupted your moment with Aralyn earlier, are you?"Her father had clearly said not to accept any of them. And now Julian was suggesting otherwise?"If you don't trust me, then forget it." Julian didn't bother explaining further.Seeing that he was serious, Alice continued, "My dad said that project seems like the most legitimate one. If we had money, taking it on wouldn't be an
Previously, he even felt sorry for Alice.She had put aside her pride and gone out of her way to chase Julian. Yet, Julian remained unmoved.After discussing the project with Julian today, he realized his daughter couldn't handle a man like Julian. Alice raised her chin, brimming with pride. "Of course! Why else would I ignore so many others and insist on making her my best friend?"Danny sighed. "You've always had terrible judgment in picking friends. It's rare for you to get it right. And when you finally do, you meet someone influential."Alice let out an awkward laugh."My judgment has never been good, but Dad doesn't need to know that," Alice thought.At first, she had seen Aralyn as a rival in love.Alice narrowed her eyes.The people she made friends with were bad, and the people she disliked turned out to be surprisingly decent.Maybe from now on, she should only choose friends from the people she disliked.Danny patted Alice on the shoulder. "Cherish these friends.
"In the business world, this is the most basic skill. If you don't think further ahead, you might end up being harmed without even knowing how it happened," Julian said calmly.Alice could clearly sense that Julian was trying to teach her something. Not understanding it, she asked, "Why are you telling me this?"Julian didn't answer. He merely withdrew his gaze.Alice noticed Julian's disdain, which left her even more puzzled. Had she done something wrong?"You're planning to start a gaming company, right? Julian is teaching you how to handle things when you eventually have your own company," I said.Alice put on a fawning smile. "But running a company is so troublesome. I only recently realized I enjoy working for others more."She could live carefree every day while still earning so much money."Can I just keep working here forever?" she asked, looking completely innocent.Since I was also one of Julian's employees, I couldn't make that decision for him. I turned to Julian. "
Alice replied without hesitation, "No way.""Huh?" replied Melody."When I confessed to him, he made it very clear he wasn't interested in me," Alice said confidently. "Later, when I became friends with Aralyn, he allowed me to work at Hughes Group for her sake." "Oh, I see," replied Melody.She was rather disappointed. "I thought I was about to witness an epic romance!"Hearing this, Alice immediately looked around to ensure no one else was nearby. Once certain, she said, "You absolutely cannot say something like that again in the future. If Julian hears you, he'll really fire me immediately!"Melody quickly covered her mouth. "I'll remember!"…After buying a drink, I opened it and handed it to Julian.He quickly drank a few gulps. Once the burning sensation in his mouth subsided, he suddenly realized that Melody acted like she had a crush on him back then as a way to lower his guard. In reality, Melody's true intent from the start was to mess with him.Julian took my hand
Melody waited in the restaurant for a few minutes before sneaking out. She dashed all the way to Alice at the gaming department. "Alice!"Alice immediately ran to her side upon hearing her. "How did it go?"Melody replied with a mischievous grin, "I did everything you told me to!"Alice smirked wickedly. "Then let's go enjoy the show."Although Julian had been kind to her and even gave her dad valuable advice on work-related matters, she knew it was all for Aralyn's sake. In fact, she had a vague feeling that Julian didn't like her.No, more accurately, Julian seemed to think she was a third wheel who destroyed his and Aralyn's alone time.She and Aralyn were good friends. Spending time together was natural, and Julian had no right to object.Alice grabbed Melody's hand. "Come on!"Melody's excitement grew. "Let's go!"…In the office, I was just about to go back to my couch and continue working. However, Julian tightly held onto my hand. "Lyn.""Yes?" I asked as I turned
Luna thought eagerly that as long as she could get Julian, then everything Aralyn was enjoying now would become hers.It would be nice if that day could come sooner.…Julian picked a small restaurant this time. He also ordered their signature dishes.He then introduced the restaurant to me. "This restaurant was recommended by Mark. He said the food is really good, so I thought I'd bring you here to try it."The dishes were served.I took a bite. The cooking was just right, and the flavors were incredible. I nodded in agreement, "It's indeed delicious."Seeing that I was genuinely satisfied, Julian let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad you like it."I hummed in response and continued eating."Mr. Hughes, is that really you?" A young girl, likely just out of college, suddenly appeared and skipped over to Julian.She had a look of disbelief on her face. "The last time I promoted my parents' restaurant to you, I thought you wouldn't like such a small place. I didn't think you'd
"What? Do you think she's easy to bully because no one's protecting her?""No," Shayne quickly responded."That better be the case," Julian replied disdainfully.With that, he immediately hung up.…Hearing Julian's voice, I slowly walked out of the cubicle and stopped in front of him. "Was that Shayne on the phone just now?"Julian didn't intend to hide that from me. "Yeah. After Luna failed to get you in trouble and got criticized, she probably felt upset and called him to complain. He believed her."As he spoke, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. "He wanted to stand up for her."I asked disdainfully, "Are both of them out of their minds?""Yeah," replied Julian as his other hand held mine. He gently caressed the back of my hand and continued, "I don't get it. He's clearly constantly protecting Luna. Where does he get the audacity to say that he loves you?" I sneered and said, "I don't think he has feelings for me at all. He's deliberately sayin
Shayne was here to seek justice for Luna, so he naturally had no intention of hiding it. "Luna," he answered without hesitation.Julian didn't have the time to keep track of what happened online, but he could more or less guess what was happening. It was probably about Luna stirring up trouble for Aralyn online.However, it failed. Since Luna wasn't willing to accept her failure, she got Shayne to stand up for her. Julian crossed his long legs. There was an obvious sneer on his handsome face.Shayne took a deep breath. "Mr. Hughes, this matter has nothing to do with you. I don't want to take out my anger on the innocent, so please hand the phone to Aralyn.""She's my girlfriend," Julian replied, always quick to defend Aralyn. "Mr. Pearce, I've heard a bit about the feud between the two of them today."Shayne saw that Julian wasn't cooperating, so he asked, "So, you want to protect her?"Julian sneered. "Obviously. She wasn't in the wrong from the start. Wouldn't it make me
Everyone thought I made sense and began to criticize Luna. "What's wrong with her?""Was ruining someone else's marriage as a mistress wasn't enough for her? Now she's repeatedly stirring up trouble in the victim's comment section.""Is she nuts?"My mood gradually improved as I read everyone's comments.I lazily leaned back on the couch and calmly thought about Luna. She provoked me because she was jealous that I had so many fans who liked me, right? She was trying to incite my readers into betraying and hurting me.Her goal was to make me stop drawing, but life wasn't that simple. The more she wanted me to quit making comics, the more determined I was to continue. I was also determined to constantly improve the comic's quality. Whether it was the story or the art, I wanted to improve.Only then would more people like me, and Luna would become even more angry.I planned to use this approach to frustrate Luna and make her suffer before she gave birth. I considered it interes
Julian walked faster upon hearing that. Although Mark was very curious about the details, he understood that it was a private matter between Julian and Aralyn as a couple. It would be rude if he went over to eavesdrop on them. As such, he suppressed his curiosity and returned to his own office.…Julian pushed open the office door, walked over to me, and asked, "Are you feeling okay?""I'm feeling great." I then stared at him, confused. "Why do you ask?"He held my hand and said, "Mark told me someone was insulting you. I was worried you'd be upset..."I chuckled and replied, "Oh, you're talking about that. It's nothing—just something Luna stirred up. I resolved it easily and even dragged her down in the process. Now, more people are criticizing her than me."Julian's worry eased. "You're not angry?"I responded confidently, "Things have already reached this point. Getting angry won't solve the issue. It's better to take the opportunity to think about how to turn a crisis into
What disappointed Luna the most was that no matter how much she tried to stir things up, the fans only expressed doubt. They unanimously chose to demand an explanation from Aralyn.All Aralyn did was have a brief discussion with her in the comments, but it was as if the fans instantly understood her thoughts and continued to stand by her unconditionally.A hint of jealousy flashed in Luna's eyes.If the incidents that occurred after the marriage couldn't bring Aralyn down, then what about those that happened before the marriage?Luna smiled maliciously as she proceeded to upload a video filled with implications.In the video was a woman who, after going abroad, didn't break up with her boyfriend. Instead, another woman forcefully inserted herself into their relationship, causing the couple to part ways. Later, when the woman returned to the country, she rekindled her romance with her ex. However, the former mistress accused her of ruining her relationship.…The narrative shif
Although I didn't know who left the comment, I could sense that the person was deliberately steering the narrative. They were trying to make readers think I was at fault in this marriage.However, they used mutual affection as an excuse. Did Luna's actions not count as interfering in someone else's marriage? Did Shayne and Luna being together not qualify as infidelity?I didn't refute her. I replied calmly, "So, what you're saying is that once you're married if your husband gets involved with another woman, they'll have done nothing wrong as long as it's true love? That it's still right even if the man betrayed his marriage, and the woman hurt the man's wife with her selfish behavior?""Obviously," the other person replied in an instant.Upon reading this, I couldn't help but laugh derisively. I typed on my phone at a leisurely pace and replied, "By your logic, what's the point of marriage? Isn't marriage meant to bind two people together, ensuring mutual loyalty?""But don't you