"Not at all. Mr. Hughes is quite well-known in our city. Many characters have been created based on him. If such baseless stories could impact Hughes Group's stock price, people would be unbelievably foolish," replied Mark."If it doesn't affect anything, then let's not clarify," I said, smiling.Julian asked in confusion, "Are you not afraid of being criticized?""At first, when I hadn't experienced this kind of thing, being criticized suddenly felt a bit unfair. I didn't do anything wrong, so why was I the one being targeted? But later, I figured it out. They're not my real-life friends and don't truly know me. Being swayed by public opinion is just human nature."In such situations, what I need to do is be clear about who I am, what I want, and whether what they're saying is true or not. If it's not true, there's no reason for me to take it to heart," I uttered calmly.Mark gave me a thumbs-up. "Impressive.""Thank you. Right now, people are attacking me because of how that co
Julian couldn't believe there were people as ridiculous as this. "She's the one who did something wrong, yet she fabricates lies about Lyn and me in her comic. And she wants me to help her produce merchandise? Do I look that easy to push around?""So, should I just reject Avery and tell her it can't be done for now?" Mark asked."When Luna's true nature is exposed in the future, those who originally supported her and bought the merchandise will definitely feel betrayed. If we produce the merchandise now and everyone demands a refund later, all the losses will fall on us," Julian stated.Mark nodded. "That's true. I'll go inform Avery right away.""Alright."…Mark left the office and immediately found Avery, who was standing by the hallway. "You haven't released that much content for your comic yet, and there aren't many readers. Producing merchandise now could result in significant losses for the company."Of course, he softened his words, as he couldn't tell Avery what Julian
Julian and I both turned to look at Alice.Alice appeared completely bewildered. "Why are you looking at me? Keep talking.""When did you get here?" Julian asked."Just now, when Mark stepped out," Alice replied.I couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't even notice."Julian shifted his gaze back."If Avery isn't in the company, wouldn't that solve the problem at its root?"Julian didn't immediately express his opinion but first agreed with her, "That's a good idea."Alice's face lit up with a pleased smile. "But have you considered a very important issue?" Julian asked.Alice was puzzled. "What?""Avery and Luna both hate Lyn. If we keep them within sight, we can monitor their actions at all times. But if we let them go and they come up with a malicious plan, we wouldn't be able to detect it in time and respond right away.""Makes sense." Alice nodded."And as it stands now, keeping her in the company means if she gets bored and tries to make trouble for Lyn, I can assign her
After all, all her colleagues were saying that once this project succeeded, the bonus money alone would be enough for them to live comfortably for several lifetimes.Beaming, Alice asked, "Will that bonus include me too?"Julian looked at her curiously. "You're a member of this department, so of course it includes you."Alice instantly stopped feeling tired. "Does that mean I can splurge once I get the money?"Julian looked at her with sympathy, as if saying she probably wouldn't even have time to spend it."With such great incentives, you'd think anyone with even a little ambition would want to give it a shot in this department, but why is no one willing to?" I asked in curiosity.Julian responded, "Because this project isn't guaranteed to make a profit. Most people feel their current salary and benefits are good enough, so they don't want to take the risk."Alice was confused as well. "Even if they don't earn as much as they expect with this project, they still get their salar
When Alice first heard this, she was utterly baffled and immediately wanted to curse them out.They could stage their melodramatic love story all they wanted, but why drag someone who had already exited their circle into their mess? She was only minding her business, and she wasn't even in contact with them.Was this somehow a part of their tangled web of love and hate?Frowning, Alice asked, "Are they out of their minds?"For once, I agreed, "They must be."Julian also found it odd. He couldn't believe there were actually people this absurd in the world.Alice felt a little better after hearing that. "I think so too. I heard from my dad later that evening, he even had the audacity to call my dad and accuse him of being irresponsible. "He said my dad raised me to be a cruel woman who doesn't care about human lives and that he'd make sure my dad paid for it.""How did your dad respond?" I asked quickly.Taking a deep breath, Alice replied, "He recorded the call and sent it to
Suddenly, a man's impatient voice rang out. "Alice, I thought you didn't like me. Then why are you targeting her? You sent her a message, saying she stole your man. And you even told her to die."His voice was venomous and filled with hatred.Alice turned her head and felt utterly speechless upon seeing Joseph."What bad luck," Alice thought."What day was the message sent, Joseph?" Alice asked irritably.Joseph didn't even think before answering, "Yesterday at 4:00 pm."Alice rolled her eyes.Julian glanced at Alice and spoke calmly. "Mind if I say something?"Joseph was a bit surprised, as he didn't expect Julian to get involved. But he still said, "Go ahead.""The time you mentioned is when Alice had just been transferred to the busiest department in our company."Joseph immediately dismissed Julian's words, not even pausing to think. "So, being transferred to that department means she can't use her phone?"Unbothered by Joseph's tone, Julian replied, "Yes. In her departm
Alice rolled her eyes. "You're lucky enough that I didn't slap the both of you across the face. Joseph, I have no idea what kind of nonsense you're trying to pull. But let me make one thing clear—you might not have a job, but I do."I don't have time to play along with your little love games, nor do I care to be collateral damage in your relationship drama. I hope you'll stop dragging me into your messy relationship!"Alice still couldn't understand why they were so relentless. "Back then, to keep my distance from you, I even stopped associating with the social circles you're in. Isn't that clear enough about where I stand?"Joseph's face darkened. "Are you sure you've never had feelings for me?"At that moment, Alice felt incredibly thankful she had never been attracted to Joseph, not even once. Otherwise, this situation would be impossible to clear up, no matter how much she tried.Nodding, she replied, "If I really loved you, why would I have gone after Julian instead of you ba
"I think what she said makes perfect sense," Julian said. Hearing this, Joseph realized he had no grounds to argue. Even trying to involve Julian wouldn't help, as the latter was clearly not on his side. He grabbed Stella's hand in frustration and said angrily, "Fine, since none of you are reasonable, I have nothing more to say to you."Julian chuckled coldly. "You disrupted our meal to create trouble and now want to turn it around and blame us? Quite the skill you've got there."An undeniable sense of authority radiated from him.Joseph felt a pang of unease but refused to let himself be embarrassed in front of Stella. "Mr. Hughes, I only wanted to seek justice for my girlfriend," he snapped.He figured he couldn't criticize Julian's girlfriend, but Alice was just an employee. It seemed like fair game."The issue has already been explained. Alice made it clear that she didn't do what you accused her of. You blamed her wrongfully," Julian replied, unperturbed."But I trust my
Seeing that no matter what they said, Luna remained unmoved, Shannon slowed her speech. "We're actually here to ask you to get back with Rowan.""Sorry, that thought has completely left my mind," replied Luna."If that's why you're here, then you should leave. I have work to do, so I won't be chatting with you any longer."Luna walked to the door and opened it. "You can go now."Shannon looked at Patrick.Patrick said coolly, "I don't even care that you're pregnant with Shayne's child anymore. In fact, if you get back together with Rowan, we can treat this child as one of our own. I hope you don't miss out on such a great opportunity.""That's not a great opportunity for me. When I didn't have a job back then, I thought being a housewife was a good life. I didn't have to worry about making money—I just had to take care of the household. But I realized it wasn't like that at all."Earning my own money is much better than relying on someone else to give it to me. This way, I don't
"But I remember his place is pretty far from mine," Luna said, puzzled.Patrick sat down on the couch, looking at Luna. "Mainly, we figured since we came all this way to see Rowan, we might as well check in on you, too."Luna was even more confused. "Check in on me? Why?"Instead of answering her, Patrick asked, "You're pregnant."Luna glanced down at her stomach, then replied, "So what? I've been divorced from Rowan for so long, and I've been with Shayne for quite a while now. It's perfectly normal that I'm pregnant. You guys hated me before."Back then, you were eager for me to be with someone else. Now that I am, you guys should be happy."Luna sat down as well. When she was with Rowan, she had always been respectful in front of Patrick and Shannon.She had always seen them as family and worked hard to earn their approval.But no matter what she did, it was never enough.For a long time, Luna wondered if she was doing something wrong.But after the divorce—and after she wa
When I found out Serena didn't have a job yet, an idea immediately came to mind. "I actually started a new company. We're hiring. The salary during the probation period is ten thousand dollars a month, with weekends and all national holidays off. And if you perform well, there's a big commission on top of that."I was about to add more when Mark sent me a photo. It was a payroll statement.Right after that, he sent a voice message. "Take a look at how much they've earned in commissions!"I tapped on the image. The company didn't have many employees yet, but every single one of them had already made over a million in commission—some even over five million.The amusement in my eyes deepened as I replied, "I hope they'll take home even more next month."Mark responded without hesitation, "At the rate sales are going, doubling it shouldn't be a problem."After reading his messages, I finally put my phone down and looked at Serena. "But of course, it all depends on our product sales.
In the cafe, I looked at the young woman sitting across from me and asked, "What's your name?"She was sipping her milk tea. When she heard my question, she quickly looked up and replied, "My name is Serena Towson. You can call me Serena. I used to stay in the ward next to yours."I was a bit puzzled. "Then, how do you know I was framed?"Serena took a deep breath, lowering her head. "Actually, I should be apologizing to you for this.""Why are you apologizing?" I asked in confusion.Serena didn't answer. She looked uneasy as she kept looking down, pushing her phone toward me.On the screen was a voice recording.I tapped play.It was a conversation between Luna and someone else. "I need you to avoid the surveillance cameras and spill oil in that area. Do you hear me?"The other person seemed doubtful about Luna's plan. "If we do that, it'll be hard to clean up, and people will definitely notice something's off!""Don't pour too much. Just pour enough so she'll fall when she
I looked around and saw that there was no one else around before turning to leave."Are you Aralyn?"I heard someone call my name and turned around to see a stranger.A little confused, I asked, "Yes?""I heard from someone at the hospital that you went there before, trying to find proof that Luna was the one who framed you. Isn't that right?" The woman seemed nervous.I had been trying to get evidence for this for a long time, but after so much effort, I hadn't found anything.At this point, I was about to give up on that approach.After all, I had other ways to get back at Luna and Shayne.Hearing what she said, I was surprised. "What, you have proof?""Yes, I do," she said firmly.If I could really get my hands on that kind of evidence, my revenge would be even more ruthless.But I knew that in situations like this, it was important to stay calm. "Why don't we talk about it at a cafe?"The woman hesitated.I smiled. "Do you have time?"Only then did she nod. "Of course
I wanted Shayne to care about Luna, and when Luna gave birth to the baby who wasn't his, Shayne would be immensely devastated, especially since Luna and Charlotte had even forced Shayne into getting a vasectomy.Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if Luna and Charlotte were on my side.Charlotte looked confused. "Good?"I nodded. "Yes, good."Charlotte studied me. "If he and Luna are doing well, that means he doesn't want you anymore.""Then so be it." I had long since stopped caring about Shayne.Charlotte fell silent.I met her gaze. "I'm married now. Maybe I didn't inform you, but Julian and I are legally married. We just haven't made it public. After being with Julian, I've felt a kind of security that I never had in my previous relationship."So, I also hope that this marriage will last. Of course, it'd be even better for me if all of you stopped bothering me."With that, I was ready to end the conversation. "Anything else you wanted to say? If not, I'll head upstairs."
"Then, do we really need to give them commissions?"I didn't mind. "Yeah, go ahead. If they see that hard work pays off in our company, they'll be more willing to stay, right?""Yeah." Mark chuckled."I get what you're saying. I'll take care of it now.""Alright."After the call ended, Julian walked over to me and held my hand.I gently rubbed his hand in return. "What is it?""Your career is getting more and more successful," Julian said, a bit emotionally.When we first got together, I had nothing—just myself.But over time, I started drawing comics.With the right promotion, my comics gained traction and became a hit.That led to merchandise, trendy collectibles.But Julian never expected that I'd be able to launch my own plushies, start my own company, and make serious money.He always knew I was capable.But seeing me rise back to my peak in such a short time still surprised him.I smiled. "Yeah. Back when I was penniless and kicked out of my house, I never would've
"My plan is to take advantage of the fact that our comic still has some merchandise and the hype hasn't died down yet. While ensuring quality, we'll speed up production as much as possible."I understood what Julian meant. "Alright.""Should I arrange it now?" Julian asked."Sure."Julian took his phone and went out to the balcony to share his thoughts with Mark.As someone who had been working with Julian for years, Mark immediately understood what Julian meant. "Leave it to me."Still, to make sure he didn't misinterpret any details, he confirmed everything with Julian.Only after making sure there were no issues did he finally breathe a sigh of relief and ask Julian to hand me the phone."Yes?" I asked, confused about why he needed to speak to me."Our company's recruitment is pretty much done. I ran the numbers, and with our current profits, we can afford to raise the salaries of our interns," he quickly informed."Since you're bringing this up, that means you already hav
Shannon looked at Patrick.Patrick said, "Tell Rowan to win Luna back. She married someone else out of heartbreak, and that's because of us. Now we have money and are willing to spend it on her. I believe she'll come around. She'll want to come back and be with us again. It just takes time."Patrick wasn't used to staying in such a small place, so he said to Rowan, "Drive us to the hotel.""Alright."Rowan dropped his parents off at the hotel and then returned to his place. Sitting on the couch, he took out his phone and pulled up a photo of Luna.She was sitting by the ocean, turning her head to look at him, her eyes sparkling and filled with love.Rowan couldn't understand how things had gotten to this point.He picked up his phone and texted Luna. "I finally understand why my parents treated you that way back then.""I've known for a while," Luna replied calmly.Rowan was a little surprised. "You knew?""Yeah, I found out a few days ago. But that's your family's issue. It