When Maisy heard that Zach sounded normal, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Good to hear."After hanging up, Zach called Noah. "Bring your ID and pick me up at the police station.""Okay," said Noah.Zach got into the police car and looked out the window, his expression extremely calm.The police officer beside him looked at him and couldn't help but feel sympathetic. "Why did your dad hit you?"Zach blinked. "His woman was going to have an abortion. When he went to stop her, she said I was the one who told her that my dad wouldn't want the child, so she went to the hospital to get rid of the baby."The officers fell silent.One of them asked, "Isn't his woman your mom?""Of course not." Zach strained to make out what the officer was saying. "Back when my mom was still married to him, he was already secretly with this woman. She's a homewrecker."The officer continued, "So, did you actually tell her that?"Zach shook his head and said seriously, "Not at all. I just wan
When Zach heard this, his face turned even uglier. He took the medical report given by the doctor and snapped a photo, sending it to the head of Pearce Group's rival company and telling them the rest was up to them.The other party replied, "Alright."Shayne put away his phone.The police officers beside him felt sorry for Zach and tried to comfort him. "How could your dad be so cruel?""You're just a kid, yet he dared to hit you so hard. Didn't he even think for a second?""What if you go deaf?"Zach replied dejectedly, "Dad doesn't care about me. Right now, he only cares about the child the homewrecker is carrying. Maybe, in his heart, he hopes I'll end up disabled so he can abandon me without feeling guilty."The officers looked at his pitiful and humble expression, growing even more disgusted with Shayne.A grown man treating his son like this was truly outrageous."He has no shame!""We'll go find him right away."Zach cautiously asked, "Can I go home now? I'm really ti
"Shayne has poor judgment!"As time passed that night, the news gained more and more traction. Now, everyone who saw the reports knew what had happened in Shayne's household.As for the claims that Shayne had blamed Zach, accusing him of calling Luna to provoke her, Zach provided evidence to prove his innocence.It was the home surveillance footage from the past 30 days.The video showed that starting last month, Zach had locked his phone in a small cabinet at home.For all those days, the phone had remained untouched inside the cabinet.Because of that, everyone realized that the claim that Zach had pressured Luna into getting an abortion was completely false.People online began to curse Shayne."Oh my god, does Mr. Pearce even have a brain?""How can he be this stupid? He believes anything the homewrecker says without verifying anything.""Exactly! It's bad enough that he believed the mistress, but then he barged in without asking anything and just started hitting his own
Shayne was silent."You'd better find a way to fix this quickly, or we won't let you off!" said the executive.Shayne had a headache.The stock market was closed for trading right now, but people were already boycotting Pearce Group.Once the market opened tomorrow, Pearce Group's stock would likely plummet.That meant he only had one night to fix this.After much hesitation, Shayne decided to call Zach. The moment Zach answered, he asked irritably, "Now that things have blown up like this, are you satisfied?""I don't know what you're talking about." Zach was well aware that Shayne was recording the call.If he got emotional and said something he shouldn't, Shayne would immediately release it online to prove that Zach had brought this upon himself."Shayne, you're the one who's been causing trouble from the beginning," Zach said calmly.Shayne held back his anger. "That may be true, but do you have any idea how much Pearce Group's stock will drop tomorrow because of your i
"Then you can try," said Zach."Alright," Shayne replied firmly before hanging up.He knew that calling Aralyn wouldn't work, as she had already blocked him a long time ago.So, he dialed Julian's number.Seeing the caller ID, Julian found it a bit strange. "What do you need from me so late at night?""Could you pass the phone to Aralyn? I have something to tell her about Zach," Shayne said politely.…Julian looked at me.I took a deep breath but still agreed to take the call.Julian handed me the phone."Say whatever you need to say," I said indifferently."Aralyn, do you know what Zach did today?" Shayne's tone was harsh."No," I replied coldly.Shayne suppressed his anger. "You should check online first.""Later, I'll take Zach to the Hughes residence. You'd better understand the whole situation before deciding what's fair."Before I could refuse, Shayne had already hung up."You don't want to get involved in their conflict, do you?" Julian asked.I nodded. "I hate
Upon hearing that, I was stunned and looked at Zach in surprise.The evidence is right in front of your face, and you still want to throw dirt on me? Shayne, I'm not an idiot! And I'm not mute! I have a mouth; I can explain myself," Zach said disdainfully.Julian raised his hand, signaling Shayne to shut up. He gestured toward Zach and said, "Go on.""After Luna forced him to get a vasectomy, she was afraid he'd get mad, so she used the baby as leverage to threaten him." Zach didn't even need to think to figure out Luna's tactics."Then at the hospital, Shayne showed up right on time and stopped Luna. Luna cried in front of him and told him that I said Shayne didn't want the baby, which upset her so much that she wanted to get rid of the baby."Zach's face was full of unconcealed disdain. "Anyone with half a brain wouldn't believe such an excuse. But unfortunately, some people don't have a brain at all."Shayne took a deep breath.Zach didn't care how ugly Shayne's expression lo
After listening to the discussion between the two, Julian had a clear understanding of the situation. "From my standpoint, he isn't wrong. In order to prevent unexpected situations, he considers the consequences in advance and then prepares countermeasures accordingly. That's a smart approach."Julian admired Zach.If Zach had never harmed Aralyn, perhaps he would have brought Zach to his side and nurtured him.What a pity.Julian would never allow someone who had harmed Aralyn to stay around her.Shayne initially thought that since Julian was an adult, he would take his side. But Julian's response surprised him."But—""No buts," Zach cut him off."Shayne, whenever something happens, you only believe what Luna says. You don't use your brain at all. That's why you lost your wife and your stock prices dropped. All of this is the price you paid for your stupidity."The more Shayne listened, the angrier he became. Just as he was about to reprimand Zach, Julian spoke up."Actuall
Smiling, I said disdainfully, "Shayne, you're out of control and you lash out at others impulsively. And you think I orchestrated this? You're not even worth me wasting my thoughts on you."After saying that, I turned to Julian, who was beside me. "Take your time chatting. I'm heading upstairs to work."Julian nodded calmly. "I'll come find you in a bit.""Alright," I said before going upstairs.Julian then turned to Shayne and said, "Have you noticed that you always lose control when it comes to Luna?"Shayne thought about it seriously and eventually frowned.It did seem to be the case.Julian continued, "The way you act shows that you love Luna. Since that's the case, why don't you just admit it?""Admit it and live with Luna. That'd be best for the both of us because that way, we can each be with the person we love," Julian added in his thoughts."I don't know why I lose control, but one thing I'm sure of—I wouldn't call what I feel for Luna 'love.'"Seeing that after all
The more Robert spoke, the more he felt that the mistress was out of her mind.She had already stolen someone else's father, and she wouldn't even let his kid study properly."At the time, the whole school started looking at the first love differently, and some people even gave her a hard time. But the first love never paid them any attention. Not gonna lie, she had an incredibly strong mindset."She knew exactly what her goals were, so she wouldn't let external factors affect her grades because she understood that only through studying could she change her life."Robert sighed. "After looking into all this, I feel as if I'm starting to fall for the first love myself. Even after everything that happened, her grades didn't drop at all in the next exam. In fact, they improved significantly. During a school meeting, they even selected her to give a speech on stage."Suddenly, Shayne could understand why this kind of woman could become Julian's first love.She was smart enough. Her a
Willow shook her head without thinking and said, "No. When my parents had just passed away, no one was willing to take me in. But Daddy did and raised me himself."She added in a small voice, "At the time, there were a lot of important tasks that Daddy needed to handle."Afraid I wouldn't understand, she specifically explained, "The kind of work that absolutely required Daddy to do it. If Daddy didn't go, it wouldn't work. But he still pushed the work to others so he could take care of me."I heard that because of this, a lot of people in the company were complaining about him, thinking he was incompetent."The more Willow spoke, the quieter her voice became. "Back then, Daddy must have suffered a lot of grievances too. They all said that Daddy always put work first. But only I know that in Daddy's eyes, work was never more important than me."I felt happy for Julian. His daughter was smart and could see everything he had done for her. "Exactly, so you see—he loves you. It doesn't
"Mommy, you should go too. After you're done, we'll meet in my room."I smiled and said, "Alright."Willow bounced back to her room happily."Willow doesn't agree with us being together," Julian muttered.Seeing the conflict and distress on his face, I raised my hand and touched his face."Willow is a kid. She's used to the way things are now. If you suddenly tell her there's going to be a big change in her life, of course, she'll struggle to adjust. And of course, she'll worry. You can understand that, right?"Julian nodded.He knew Willow was a thoughtful child."So, we should take our time. One day, she'll be willing to accept us being together," I reassured him.Julian's mood finally improved. "You're right. I've waited so many years already. There's no rush."I asked curiously, "Waited so many years?"What did he mean?"I mean, I've been single for so many years already, so there's no rush to get married now," Julian rescinded, poker-faced.From his expression, I coul
Willow felt a bit nervous. "What is it? You look so serious. I'm a bit scared."I patted Willow's back, signaling her to relax. "It's not a big deal. You can make the decision yourself, so there's no need to worry too much."Only then did Willow let out a sigh of relief.In front of Willow, Julian took my hand, his expression solemn. "Our relationship has reached a new stage. After carefully evaluating everything, I think it's time for us to get married. But we're worried that getting our marriage certificate without informing you would be disrespectful to you."We're also afraid you might feel resistant to it, so we wanted to ask for your opinion first. If you don’t want us to get married, then we won't."Willow was stunned. "You're asking for my opinion on something this important?"Lilia and Gabriel exchanged a glance."Yes, because you're important to us. We both want to have your support," Julian replied calmly.Willow's mind went blank. "This is a huge deal! Since you ask
Even the employees responsible for compiling the reports had all finished their tasks.Alice had already familiarized herself with the situations of all the companies and had helped many of them secure collaborations.After receiving the money, she was in no rush to send it to her friends.Instead, she asked, "Would you prefer me to send you the money after taxes have been deducted, or do you want me to just send all of it, and you handle the taxes yourselves?"Her friends didn't really care about the money. Most of them just wanted to work for Alice to have something to do, so they wouldn't be too idle.Hearing Alice's question, they all responded, "After taxes, of course. Otherwise, It would be a hassle for us to handle the tax payments ourselves.""Got it. Then wait until I take care of the paperwork tomorrow," Alice replied nonchalantly."Alright."Given the situation, Alice felt that the company really needed an accountant. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about these
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Alice. The more she listened, the funnier she found everything. "Avery, did you forget about me?"Avery rolled her eyes at her. "Aren't you just doing this for Aralyn?"Alice smirked. "Wow, you really do have a bad memory. It hasn't even been that long, and you've already forgotten that you messed with me first? Of course, I'm not the type to just let things slide. Since you came after me, I was definitely going to get back at you. That's just how I handle things."After hearing Alice's explanation, Avery finally realized that everything Alice had done had nothing to do with Aralyn.She replied, irritated, "Even if I was stupid back then, did you really have to use such nasty tricks to get back at me?"Alice shrugged. "It's not nasty. His crush on you didn't even last a full day. It's not like it affected you that much. Besides, you already know the truth today."Avery fell silent.Alice suddenly sensed something off and cautiously asked, "You didn't
Joseph kept his head down and didn't look at Avery.Alice answered without hesitation, "We're eating here. Isn't that normal?"Although the restaurant was expensive, with a meal costing her an entire month's salary, both she and Joseph came from fairly wealthy families. It wasn't like they couldn't afford a meal, right?Avery sneered. "But Joseph has already been abandoned by his family. Does he even have money to eat?"Alice responded calmly, "Of course, he has the money to do so. Did no one tell you? Joseph and I are starting a business together, and the early stages have been quite successful. We've made a few million in just the past few days."Alice had intended to stay low-key, but Avery's disdainful attitude made her feel like she had to stand up for Joseph. Otherwise, people might start thinking Joseph was easy to pick on.Upon hearing this, Avery looked at Joseph, stunned. "If you're so rich, then why did you come to my house for food back then?""I hadn't started the b
Joseph was rather reluctant. "If we hire people, we'll have to share the money we've already earned with them! But if we don't, then all the money we make from these projects will be ours."Julian said calmly, "But you need to understand something. If people come to you and don't receive a response for a long time, they might just cancel their collaboration with you."Joseph lowered his head.Julian continued, "By then, you won't earn a single cent."Joseph was still unwilling to accept it, but in order not to lose these clients, he had no choice but to compromise. "Fine, then."At first, Alice was working with great enthusiasm, but after a while, she started to feel exhausted. She said, "Let's hire people right now!"She had work the next day and simply wouldn't have time to handle so much on her own, so hiring people seemed like a good option.Instead of posting a job listing, Alice first messaged a few of her friends to see if they were interested. They didn't have jobs to be
Alice and Joseph then continued working. Julian returned at that moment and sat down beside me, calmly reporting his progress. "I only managed to add a few people. There are still a few I haven't added."Alice looked up and asked, "Who are you trying to add? Tell me, and I'll send their contacts to you."Julian asked, "Are you sure you have the contacts of the people I want to add?"Without hesitation, Alice nodded and said, "Of course. I added everyone who was here today."It was only then that Julian realized Alice actually had her strengths. "And you remember all of them?"Alice said confidently, "Of course! They're my clients. When I added them on WhatsApp, I matched their faces to their accounts."Seeing this, Julian told Alice the names of the people he wanted to add. Alice immediately forwarded their contacts to him.After adding them, Julian expressed his interest in their projects and arranged for them to visit his office the next day.Once everything was settled, he n