Luna never expected that the man who always stood by her side no matter what would hurt her like this.She bit her lip and took a long time before shouting, "Rowan, your family has already gone bankrupt! You don't even have a penny to your name right now. The fact that I'm willing to stay in touch with you is already a blessing! I hope you know better than to be ungrateful!"Rowan couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. "Well, you don't need to waste any more time blessing me in the future. That's a good thing for you, too."Luna's mind went blank. "You useless man! You can't even handle such a small matter, Rowan—"She wanted to keep insulting him, but Rowan hung up the phone.Furious, Luna stared at her phone and threw it onto the ground. "What the hell!"Shayne had money, so she went after him. When Shayne realized he didn't love her and ignored her, she could accept that.Now she wanted Julian, but she couldn't win him over, as he didn't take her seriously. And
Shayne wasn't sure, but if he were asked to spend money on Aralyn now, he thought he probably wouldn't hesitate.…Rowan felt that, as Luna's ex-husband, he shouldn't tell Julian about this. But just thinking about Luna's schemes made him feel that she had gone too far.After weighing it for a long time, he decided it would be better to give Julian a heads-up.That way, if something really happened, he wouldn't regret it.Rowan dialed Julian's number.Julian had just finished discussing work with Ximena and was planning to go upstairs to find Aralyn.When he received the call, he was a little surprised. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"Rowan was silent for a moment, not responding.Julian assumed it was a mistake and was about to hang up."Luna asked me to kidnap Willow today and then trick Aralyn into coming out before forcing her to be intimate with me," said Rowan.Julian froze mid-step. He glanced toward Aralyn's bedroom in the distance, then at Ximena sitting
Julian looked at me with frustration, as if hoping I could do better than this.I tilted my head, not understanding what he was thinking.Julian tried to be patient. "Even if you're certain that we're both trustworthy, you should still be cautious. What if something inappropriate happens between us? What would you do then?"I blinked.Julian placed his hands on my shoulders and said seriously, "I hope you'll get jealous because that proves that you love me.""Does not getting jealous mean I don't love you?" I wrapped my arms around Julian's waist, my tone gradually softening."I don't think so, Julian. In my view, the best kind of relationship is one where we know what we both want and can trust each other.""But isn't love about jealousy and possessiveness?" Julian asked, confused."The love others talk about is between them. In their relationships, there may have been some instability, which triggered their possessiveness and jealousy. But there's never been any of that betwe
There was no trace of worry in Aralyn's eyes anymore, only happiness.Zach forced a small smile and muttered, "Mom…"But Aralyn turned and went back inside. Reluctantly, Zach withdrew his gaze and then said to Noah, "Let's go back.""Alright."…In the living room, Willow held my hand and bounced forward with each step. Without looking back, she asked, "Mommy, can you sleep with me tonight?" I remembered what Pamela had told me and felt it might be a good opportunity to have a proper chat with Willow. Hence, I didn't refuse. "Alright."Julian slowed his steps, and his usually cold tone now carried a faint hint of jealousy. "What about me?" Willow stopped and turned her head in confusion. "Daddy, you want to sleep with us too?"Julian didn't answer. Willow was five years old, the perfect age to foster independent sleeping habits. If he suddenly said he wanted to sleep with her, he worried it might make her reliant on adults, expecting them to stay with her every night
I was stumped by her question and honestly didn't know how to respond."If I guessed correctly, Pamela was the one who told you, right?""Yes," I answered, not denying it."It's true," Willow said. Seeing that I already knew, she didn't plan to hide it."But ever since I started exercising, my physical fitness has really improved. I've slowly stopped caring about what those irrelevant people say about me. If they insult me, I insult them back exactly the same way. And if they fight me, well, they can't beat me."Willow's tone was full of pride. "I've already taken care of all these problems on my own, so I didn't feel the need to tell you. But I definitely didn't mean to hide it from you, Mommy."I hugged her tightly. "You're amazing, Willow! You already know how to handle these things at such a young age."Willow smiled bashfully."Do you mind that Pamela told me?" I asked.Willow shook her head. "Of course not. If the same thing happened to Pamela, I'd do the same because we
The phone rang the moment the door of the bedroom closed. Julian took a look at the screen, seeing that it was a call from Shayne. With a blank expression on his face, he picked up the call and said, "What do you want?" Shayne sounded nervous as he said, "Give the phone to Aralyn. I need to tell her something." Julian replied in an icy voice, "She's putting Willow to sleep now. I don't think she'll have time to reply to you." Laughing, Shayne asked, "Aren't you in love with Aralyn? How could you let her even lift a finger?" "I don't love Luna, but I still hired someone to take care of her." Shayne was elated at his displeasure. "It seems that your love for Aralyn doesn't run that deep." Julian knew that Shayne was mocking him for not treating Aralyn well. However, he paid him no mind as he merely said, "Don't you know that Aralyn loves children? She'll only work after Willow has been to school. Then, when school ends, she'll devote all her free time to stay with her." S
If Shayne had given her even a bit of money, Aralyn wouldn't have been so miserable. Julian continued, "When Aralyn is with us, she doesn't have to do a single thing with her child by her side. She gets 80 thousand dollars just for that."Yet, back then when she had to do everything for you, how much money did you give her every month?" Shayne became upset and frustrated. "Does this have anything to do with money?" "Of course, it does," Julian slowly said. "When she was in your home, she didn't ask for anything, not even money. In the end, she ended up with nothing to her name. "Aralyn is an adult who managed to gain experience after losing so much. I'm sure she understands that giving so much to someone is useless. So, I know that she wants her efforts to be reciprocated in the future." Then, Julian asked, "How many people do you think are willing to pay my price?" Shayne mulled it over before coming up with nothing. He felt even more disturbed. Julian confidently said,
Shayne went quiet. Julian persistently snapped. "If you were more generous and spent more money on her, she would've felt your love for her. She wouldn't have abandoned you. You wouldn't regret it as much as you do now, and you definitely wouldn't be so upset." Shayne grew even more uncomfortable. He wanted to tell Julian that he was wrong, but there was a small voice at the back of his mind telling him that the latter was telling the truth. Aralyn had been disappointed in him, but she had given him another chance for her child's sake. If he had treated her decently, she would've forced herself to stay together with him. She would do it just to give Zach a complete childhood. So, Shayne merely pursed his lips, unable to formulate a proper answer. Julian then slowly replied, "There's nothing else we can talk about other than work. Why don't you call back tomorrow morning? Or…" Shayne felt a small glint of hope. "Or what?" Julian calmly said, "Or you could just tell me
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