"Yes," I said with a chuckle.Shayne anxiously added, "Then for Zach's sake!""But you already gave up on him, did you not? Shayne, once you're unhappy, you can abandon anyone. That's who you are. You said you loved Luna, but after getting Luna, you're now saying you love me and want me back. Is your love really that cheap?"Shayne shook his head in a panic. "No. I can change. Aralyn, as long as you're willingâ""I'm not willing," I interrupted, not giving him a chance to continue."Shayne, I don't want to get back together with you and repeat the boring, painful life we had before, only to get betrayed again when you fall in love with another woman."I asked him, "Do you know why I chose Julian?"Shayne shook his head. He truly didn't know.I smiled gently, the warmth clear in my expression. "Because being with Julian means I won't have to worry about these things."Without thinking, Shayne retorted, "How can you be so sure Julian won't do the same? Don't be foolish, Aralyn!
"Isn't that your fault?" Julian asked icily."Had you been willing to spend money by hiring a nanny, a chef, and everything else back then, she would've had time to do what she wanted. Then you would have seen her shine in the field she's passionate about. In fact, the reason you're belittling her is because, deep down, you know how amazing Aralyn is."Shayne immediately retorted, "Impossible!""If you truly thought she was terrible, then you wouldn't be regretting it now. Isn't that right?" Julian said with certainty.Shayne remained silent, just staring at me.At that moment, though, Julian was all I could see.He truly saw my strengths and acknowledged my efforts.Shayne pressed his lips together, feeling a deep pang of bitterness. "One day, you'll meet someone better than Aralynâ""There's no one better than Aralyn," Julian cut him off.I finally understood that Shayne was trying to belittle me in hopes that Julian would despise me. Ideally, he wanted this to lead to Julia
"He had a first love."The sadness in Shayne's heart disappeared instantly as he asked in disbelief, "Really?"The other party chuckled. "You don't believe me?""So, Julian is the same as me," Shayne said with an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. Initially, he had genuinely believed Julian was as exceptional as Aralyn claimed."Keep looking into it," he continued."Alright."After hanging up the phone, Shayne felt slightly better.As long as he remained patient, when Julian's first love appeared, Julian's attention would naturally be drawn to that person.And just like how he had hurt Aralyn, Julian would also neglect Aralyn because of his first love.When that happened, Shayne could pursue Aralyn for himself.Shayne kept reminding himself to be patient and not to act rashly.As long as Aralyn ended up with him in the end, that would be enough.Shayne took a deep breath.When he looked at Julian again, his gaze was full of mockery."He's still thinking of his first love
When Julian saw that it was me, his expression finally softened a bit."His son came to me, acting crazy and bullying others, but he doesn't seem to think it's a big deal. Maybe their family's status far exceeds that of ordinary people, so it gave him the illusion that he's actually superior to others."But in today's society, everyone is equal, isn't that right?" Julian asked, looking up at me.I nodded without hesitation. "That's right."Julian's eyes were filled with approval. Patting my arm, he said, "But it doesn't matter. I'll show him the truth."I was wondering how he planned to handle it.Julian had already started contacting Mark. "Some of our contracts with the Wilson family have expired recently, haven't they?""Yes, but because their products have fallen too far behind, they were no longer popular in the market. Our plan was not to renew with them for now, but we didn't have a suitable excuse," replied Mark."We do now. I remember you mentioned a while back that ot
"I was just about to bring the evidence to you when Lucas called me. He said if I was willing to tell you that Joseph already apologized to Alice and that Alice has expressed her willingness to forgive Joseph, he would agree to continue investing in me."Julian let out a cold snort and recounted in full detail to Danny how Joseph had brought his little girlfriend to the restaurant to corner Alice. He left nothing out.Upon hearing it, Danny became furious. "If I hadn't called to ask you and blindly agreed to his request, wouldn't that make me a scoundrel selling out my daughter for personal gain? No way!"Julian knew Danny cherished his daughter and worried he might waver, so he said, "Even if he agrees now, he'll still make things difficult for you later. So, it's better to just refuse him outright.""Don't worry! There's no way I'd let my daughter suffer such humiliation!" Danny promised without hesitation. "Hold on, Mr. Hughes. I'll handle this matter and then contact you."J
"How is this even reasonable?"The more Danny thought about it, the angrier he became. Leaving his office, he got into his car and instructed the driver to take him to Hughes Group.âĶJulian leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling and counting down. "Three, two, one."Just as he finished, his phone rang.Julian glanced at the caller ID. As expected, it was Lucas. He answered coldly."Mr. Hughes, do you really have to take things this far?"Lucas paced around his office anxiously. Moments ago, his secretary, pale-faced, had informed him that all previously agreed-upon contracts for renewal with the Hughes Group had been canceled. Even projects that weren't due for renewal but had been planned for early extension were now completely off the table.It was only then that Lucas realized Julian was genuinely angry. His resentment toward Julian deepened without him even noticing."Julian's willing to ruin everything over such a trivial matter," he thought."When paths diver
"And there are no significant loopholes?"The lawyer replied seriously, "That's correct."Julian finally felt reassured. He glanced at Danny and said, "Since we've already blocked their escape route, should we go ahead and publicly announce that our companies have entered into a partnership?""Yes," Danny replied, nodding.Seeing that his presence was no longer needed, the lawyer left voluntarily.Danny immediately called his company to arrange for an official statement to be released, broadcasting to the world that their company had successfully formed a partnership with Hughes Group.Julian also instructed his public relations team to release a similar statement.Danny was beaming with joy.Seated at his desk, Julian looked at Danny. "This project is likely beyond your company's capabilities to handle independently. Should I assign a few employees to assist you?""That would be amazing!" Danny was in disbelief.With Hughes Group backing him up, Danny could ensure the proj
Avery suddenly felt a pang of regret that she hadn't learned to draw when she was younger.If she had known she had such a good opportunity, she would definitely have cherished it."Think it over carefully. Luna, do you want to know something? Hughes Group has the most generous profit-sharing ratio I've ever seen in the industry."Even if you switch to another company, you probably won't get such good terms. If you really let this slip by, you'll regret it for the rest of your life," Avery uttered.Luna couldn't deny that she had been swayed by Avery's words. "I'll reach out to Shayne and see if I can convince him to cover this expense for me."Seeing that Luna was finally tempted, Avery let out a sigh of relief. "I'll be waiting for your good news.""Alright."âĶEnding the call, Luna walked into the courtyard on the first floor and sat on the swing. She admired the lush greenery all around her, a smile forming on her lips.Right now, Shayne was like her dog. He might not love
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 nothingâjust 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
Patrick and Shannon stood frozen in place. They had never imagined that the son they had spoiled since childhood, the boy who had grown up in a big house, was now living in such poor conditions.Shannon's face darkened instantly. "Why didn't you rent a bigger place?""I have no money," Rowan replied calmly."Just make yourselves at home. You don't need to be polite with me."Patrick snapped, "How could you have no money? Didn't you have a lot when you moved out? Did Luna spend it all?""What does this have to do with her?" Rowan thought his parents were being completely unreasonable."I worked for you, but you never paid me. You also never gave me an allowance. So tell me, where was I supposed to get money?"Patrick was at a loss for words."Then where did you get the money to buy Luna jewelry?" Shannon questioned.Rowan didn't even have to think about it. "I made it through projects in college. Haven't I told you before? Ever since I got together with her, every penny I spent
Luna had endured their bullying for so long.But Luna and his parents' relationship didn't improve, not even a little.If his parents had come to their senses back then, things wouldn't have turned out this way."But it's too late now. You should just head back," said Rowan."We haven't even done anything yet. How do you know Luna won't forgive us?" Shannon objected."Because she's decided to settle down and build a life with Shayne," Rowan responded dejectedly."She went through a lot when she was part of our family. Now that she's finally found a new life, I hope you won't disturb her. Let her live peacefully."Shannon immediately refused, "We can't do that. Mason is our only grandson. She can marry someone else, but our grandson absolutely cannot have another dad!""You sure weren't saying that before."Shannon's words made Rowan feel as if he had stepped into an alternate reality. Had they said this in the past, he wouldn't have thought anything about it.Luna and Mason's
Charlotte decided that when the time came, she would go show off in front of Aralyn.She wanted Aralyn to see just how happy Shayne and Luna were now, and she would simultaneously make sure Aralyn gave up on Shayne just in case Aralyn still harbored any thoughts of getting back together with him.Shayne lowered his gaze.Only now did he realize that it was impossible to stop thinking about the woman he had once truly loved.But to make his mother happy, he still smiled and said, "Don't worry. I won't think about her anymore.""You'd better not!"âĶBy the time Rowan's parents arrived at the airport, it was already past 11:00 pm.They called Rowan and told him to come pick them up.Rowan was a little surprised, but he still did as they asked.Seeing his parents coming out of the arrivals gate, he suddenly felt a headache coming on. "Mom, Dad, why are you here? Are you trying to convince me to go back? That won't happen."Patrick kept a stern face but said nothing.Shannon kne
Shayne smiled and replied, "Alright, I'll call you when the food's ready.""Okay," Luna responded before walking into the bedroom and closing the door behind her.The soundproofing in the room was excellent. She was certain that Shayne wouldn't be able to hear anything she said. Picking up her phone, she hesitated for a long time before finally dialing Rowan's number.Rowan was busy at the moment, and he was a little surprised to get a call from Luna. "What made you think of contacting me all of a sudden?""I just wanted to remind you that no matter what, you absolutely cannot tell anyone the truth about the baby, understand?"The happier and peaceful her days were, the more anxious she felt. She was deeply afraid that this good life could be ruined at any moment."Don't worry. I won't."Luna breathed a sigh of relief.Rowan understood what Luna meant. "So, you're planning to stay with Shayne for good?""If nothing happens, yes. In the past, I always thought about climbing hig