"We're siblings. There's no need to be this formal," Sophia said sheepishly."Your company is short on business partners, right?" Julian asked.Sophia didn't know why Julian suddenly shifted the topic to work but answered honestly, "Yeah.""Do you have time now?"Thinking about it, Sophia realized she wasn't busy at this hour. "Of course, I do!""I was planning to collaborate with Shayne for a few projects. But I evaluated them carefully and thought it would work just as well for your company. Come to my place. We can discuss it properly."Hearing that, Sophia almost jumped with joy. "I'll be there right away!""Alright."…Hanging up, she dashed upstairs happily and burst into Amber's room. "Mom, great news!" she exclaimed."I told Julian about what Charlotte did, and he gave me several projects!" Sophia was overjoyed. She hugged Amber tightly. "See? As long as you're on Julian's good side, there are endless rewards. But if you go against him, there's no good outcome.""If
Eric had already picked Pamela up. He smiled and said to Ximena, "Let me. You should rest."Ximena didn't insist and replied sincerely, "Thank you.""You're welcome."All of us went to the dining room to eat. The original small dining table could no longer accommodate so many people, so we split into two tables.Pamela and Willow sat at the same table. They huddled together, chattering nonstop from the beginning of the meal.Every now and then, they would pause in confusion and ask others for help.The house was incredibly lively.I really liked this kind of atmosphere. Back when I lived at Shayne's house, Shayne was always too busy to spend time with me.Even after Zach was born, Shayne only stayed with me when Zach was too difficult to take care of.As Zach grew older and learned to eat by himself, Shayne would take Zach somewhere else to eat in the evenings.I was left alone, sitting in the dining room and eating the food I had cooked myself.Back then, I never thought th
"Of course," Victoria replied calmly.With the teacher's permission, Willow immediately grabbed Pamela's hand and went upstairs with her.The kids ran up the stairs excitedly, completely leaving their fear of the teacher behind.Victoria kept a serious expression as she said to Julian, "Don't worry. Since you've paid me, I'll make sure they learn something.""Your willingness to teach them this knowledge is already more than enough for me," Julian replied.He remembered that Victoria was a top expert in her field—someone people couldn't hire with money alone. It was only because she was short on funds recently that they were lucky enough to get her help. Otherwise, even people like him wouldn't even have the chance to meet her.Hearing Julian's trust in her, Victoria finally relaxed a little. "Thank you."The kids came running back downstairs with their toy airplanes.Victoria used the simplest terms and the most straightforward explanations to teach them about the principles.
"If it's not right, just end it. Clinging will only hurt us more."I smiled. "That's right. Before letting go, you'll always deceive yourself, telling yourself that if you just hold on, things will get better. But in reality, only after letting go and embracing a new life will you realize that every day you hesitated was pure torment."As I said this, I lowered my gaze to my toes. "I think what's better about me now compared to before is that I've become braver." Ximena, having gone through similar experiences, was deeply moved. "Indeed. During my marriage, when my husband cheated on me, I felt miserable. Even the people around me tried to brainwash me, saying it's normal for men to cheat. Some even said his infidelity was my fault."Ximena stared ahead, sighing. "But after the divorce, I realized he was the one at fault. It had nothing to do with me. In this life, you only need to be responsible for yourself. Other people are not our responsibility."…In the study, Sophia co
"But you're different. I'll be stricter with you because you're my sister."Sophia understood that Julian only wanted her to take her projects seriously. Ideally, through working on these projects, she could also learn a lot.That way, even if Julian stopped collaborating with her in the future, she could rely on her own abilities to find a way forward."No problem," she replied unhesitatingly.Julian handed a stack of documents to Sophia. "Take these and draft collaboration proposals for these projects. Then give them to me. I'll review them for you."Sophia took the documents happily. "Got it."With Julian helping to hone her skills, it probably wouldn't take long before her abilities became top-tier in the industry.Sophia could hardly hide her smile. "Don't worry, Julian. I'll give 200% effort on these projects! It's late now. I'll head home first!""Alright."Julian watched Sophia leave, then glanced at the clock. It was already 9:30 pm.…After putting Willow to sleep,
I wasn't used to being in a healthy relationship.But I had to admit. Julian being willing to communicate with me about these things made me feel incredibly happy.I looked up at Julian. "Alright. Tell me, then."Chuckling, Julian said, "She's my younger sister. We also had an older brother, but the age gap between us was too big, so we couldn't really play together. But since she and I were closer in age, our relationship had always been stronger. Plus, she was really cute when she was little, and I was always so proud of her."As he recounted these memories, there was a warmth in his tone that I had never heard before."I would even brag about her. I would tell people I had such an adorable sister and they didn't."I hadn't expected Julian to have such a vivid past, and I found it interesting. Instead of saying anything, I just watched him quietly.The humor in Julian's tone gradually faded. "That harmonious relationship was destroyed the year my brother passed away—by my mo
"Sophia happened to be at the house and overheard what Charlotte was saying, and she thought it was absurd. Since my mom was genuinely considering it, after Charlotte left, Sophia immediately sat down with my mom to reason with her. "She told my mom not to believe anything Charlotte said. It took a long while for her to finally convince my mom. After confirming that my mom had completely given up on the idea of going against you, she called me to report everything."Julian stroked my cheek with his thumb. "Lyn, ever since you came into my life, it feels as if only good things have been happening to me."I didn't argue. Instead, I looked up at him and said seriously, "Then you need to cherish me."Holding my face in both his hands, Julian slowly leaned in to kiss me.His warm lips pressed against mine.I closed my eyes, savoring his kiss.He leaned closer to me and whispered, "It wasn't easy to win your heart, Lyn. Of course, I'll never let you go."Shayne showed up at Hughes G
Shayne's heart felt unbearably heavy.Tears fell, one after another, hitting the ground.Shayne's vision blurred. He wiped his tears away, afraid he would lose sight of Aralyn.…Zach returned home.Maisy heard the sound of the door and immediately rushed to the entrance with a cheerful smile. "You're back." Looking at Maisy's bright, smiling face, Zach felt a wave of unfamiliar emotion.Ever since his parents divorced, no one had greeted him with such warmth.Zach was touched. Not wanting to disappoint Maisy, he replied, "Yes, I am."Maisy took Zach's backpack and sighed. "I prepared the mac and cheese; Daphne made the rest of the dishes. She's amazing at cooking. I was watching her the whole time. I don't know how, but her dishes just look more appetizing even though they're the same ingredients."Daphne Harper was Zach's new tutor. Lewis had resigned a while ago due to personal reasons.Zach loved living like this—being with family, where there wasn't always much to talk
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