Unfortunately, I gave birth to a son. This meant that the skills I had learned couldn't be used.Now, I had a daughter. I could tie her hair beautifully every day.I braided Willow's hair into a bun. She then looked in the mirror and saw her hair all tied up, revealing her cute and round face. She blinked and exclaimed, "Who's kid is this? She's too cute!" My mood couldn't help but become better upon seeing her compliment herself. I played along and said, "Probably our family's, right?"Willow turned to look at me. "You must be really lucky then."I had no idea where she picked it up, but her tone was like that of an adult. Even so, it had that childishness unique to children. It was especially cute.I couldn't resist and pinched her little cheeks. "That's right. People are definitely envious of me for having such a wonderful daughter."Willow nodded. "And all the other kids must be jealous of me too, for having such an amazing mom like you."She then added, "I love you, Mommy
Maisy's cooking was almost the same as Aralyn's. It was delicious. Zach smiled faintly.Although he had made mistakes in the past, at least he still had family by his side even though his parents no longer wanted him.…Shayne woke up. He glanced at the time and reached out to the side of the bed, only to find that it was already cold.Had Aralyn gotten up already?He got up and walked to the kitchen, asking impatiently, "Aralyn, is breakfast ready?"The kitchen was empty.Only then did Shayne remember that they were divorced.He dejectedly returned to the dining table and sat down. He buried his hands in his hair, overwhelmed with regret.Why couldn't he remember they were divorced? Perhaps it was because his recent dreams were about his time together with Aralyn. This caused him to be confused about his dreams and reality.When Shayne regained clarity, he turned to look in the direction of the kitchen. It was still empty.He couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse. Had
"If others don't bother us, we certainly shouldn't go looking for trouble or bullying anyone else. However, if someone bullies us, we must find a way to fight back. Understand?"My expression was unusually serious.Willow replied earnestly, "Got it, Mommy. Ever since Mason left our class, all the other kids in my class have been genuinely nice to me."I smiled. "I know. I decided to remind you since we just so happen to be on this topic. I hope you can be happy every day and not be affected by others' moods."Willow answered seriously, "I'll remember that."She then added, "Don't worry, Mommy. I won't let anyone bully me!"I continued to remind her, "If you ever encounter a problem you can't solve on your own, don't force yourself to handle it. Always let your parents know. We'll help you solve these problems, okay?"Willow looked at me. The love in her gaze grew gradually. "Okay."As I looked at her, I suddenly recalled the times before I gave up on Zach. Whenever he faced any
Pamela heard Willow's voice. She turned around and immediately ran to her upon seeing her.They held hands, happily chatting for a while before heading into school fully satisfied.…I sat in the car and watched the two of them. I couldn't help but feel happy.Pamela was Willow's only friend. If it was possible, I hoped their friendship could last a long time.The two girls walked into their classroom.I looked away and happened to catch sight of Shayne who was nearby. This caused my expression to darken uncontrollably.Julian was seated beside me. He noticed the change in my expression and asked, "Did you see him?""Yeah," I replied calmly. "Didn't he already abandon Zach? Why is he here at the kindergarten?"Julian speculated casually, "Maybe he wants to mend his relationship with Zach?"I shook my head. "He and his mother prioritize Luna, and not long ago, they were obviously preparing to give up on Zach. I had assumed he would treat the child Luna is carrying as his futur
Mark answered methodically, "Didn't we completely retract our collaboration with the Wilson family a few days ago?"Julian nodded. "That's right."Mark handed a folder to Julian. "I reached out to a new company to collaborate with. I had just contacted them, and they pulled me into their factory to show me their latest products. They also mentioned that they've just made a breakthrough in their technology. "However, the companies they're currently working with can't handle such large orders. They were still worrying about finding a market for their products during their meeting a few days ago. In the end, we extended an olive branch to cooperate." Julian accepted the folder and opened it. "Have you tested their new products? How do they compare to the Wilson family's products?"Mark was full of praise. "So much better, Mr. Hughes..."He then praised their product immensely.Julian skimmed through the product brochure. Mark continued, "These past few days, I've been thankfu
Mark continued, "Ever since I found out how much money foreign markets make from merchandise every year, I started researching the types of merchandise they offer and how they operate and generate profits. "In the end, I discovered that their product range is more extensive than ours. Unlike us… We mostly produce flashy but impractical knickknacks, but they even have everyday items. So, since they have such advanced experience, there's no need for us to reinvent the wheel."My plan is to send someone from our company abroad to learn. That way, when they return, we can expand our merchandise to include more everyday items. That way, we can have higher sales and make more money. What do you think?"Julian didn't expect Mark to be working so hard in private. He looked at Mark and said sincerely, "That's a good idea, but I'm not the person concerned."He then looked at me and asked, "What do you think?""You're both doing this to help me earn more money," I said. Since working with J
Mark continued, "The solution her family came up with was to marry her off. They would then ask for money from her husband to treat her mother. She does want her mother to get better, but she doesn't want to sell herself. "She heard that our company was recruiting employees for overseas training and there would be a high allowance. As such, she volunteered."Mark didn't have the chance to share this earlier. Besides, when Serena was present, he felt it was inappropriate to discuss it in front of her. He thus waited until now to fill us in.He continued, "As for the allowance, the company has already disbursed it to her. She used it to pay the hospital fees for her mother and then lied to her family, saying it was money from her fiance. However, said fiance wanted her to move in with him immediately."She wanted to test her family's reaction. In the end, they told her to go and not upset him. When she saw that her family didn't care about her situation and showed no concern for her
Julian merely stared at me. He looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated to speak."What do you want to say to me?" I asked."Aren't you jealous?" he replied.I was even more confused. "Jealous of what?"Julian hesitated before saying, "If I'm going to mentor Serena properly, I'll interact with her more.""I trust you, and I trust her too," I said firmly. "Since you've chosen me, you won't suddenly fall for someone else. Besides, she doesn't even trust her own family, only herself. She's even less likely to believe a man can change her fate, so I don't think she'll fall in love with you."Hearing my answer, Julian still seemed a bit dissatisfied. "But I want to see you get jealous."I laughed and played along. "If I see you getting close to another woman... I might feel a little uncomfortable."Julian's gaze softened as he looked at me. "But the one I love is you."I was surprised.Julian stroked my hair gently. "I'm heading back to work now.""Okay."…I was
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