His voice was cold.Shayne didn't respond directly. "I don't know. But my son is usually well-behaved, so he probably wouldn't say anything too outrageous." Then he added harshly, "Instead of looking for faults with my son, I think you should reflect on your daughter. Could she be that fragile that a few words from my son affected her so deeply?"Since Julian's brother passed away, he had treated and pampered Willow like his own daughter. Because of his status, most people never dared to say a word against Willow.But Shayne was an exception. Zach was the one who made a mistake, but suddenly Willow was at fault. Julian became furious as his face turned colder. "Is this really what you think, Mr. Pearce?"Shayne shrugged. "What else should I think? Kids don't understand much, so there are bound to be conflicts. But that's something for them to resolve among themselves. Adults meddling too much isn't good for the children's growth. Don't you think so?"Shayne smiled at Julian as
Shayne couldn't bear the consequences if Julian stood firm. He mulled it over, wondering if there was another way to resolve this without compromising. Finally, his gaze landed on me."Actually, I think Zach didn't say anything wrong. Aralyn left home because she was upset with me and Zach, didn't she? If I'm willing to divorce Luna and Zach is willing to reconcile with her, she'll definitely come back."Having found a breakthrough, Shayne visibly relaxed as he looked at Julian with a taunting expression. "What, is my son not allowed to speak the truth?""Did you ever ask Lyn for her opinion?" Julian countered, his voice colder.Shayne found the way Julian said "Lyn" particularly grating. He had been married to Aralyn for six years and had a five-year-old child with her. Yet, he had always addressed her by her full name. Julian had only known her for a bit, but he already had a nickname for her.The thought annoyed Shayne immensely. He glanced at me before quickly looking away. "W
As soon as I finished speaking, tears welled up in Zach's eyes and fell heavily to the ground.He shrieked, "No! You're not Willow's mom! You're my mom!"As he spoke, he moved toward me.I looked at his pitiful expression, but my mind couldn't help recalling the time he said he liked Luna and wanted her to be his mom. I felt no sympathy—only a sense of absurdity."Zach, you have to take responsibility for your choices. Since you chose not to have me and wanted Luna to be your mom, then no matter how she treats you, you'll have to deal with the consequences."Zach cried even harder as he shook his head. "No! I'm just a kid! I didn't know what the consequences would be when I made that choice! You're my mom, so you should always forgive me!"Watching his unreasonable tantrum, I realized that no matter what I said, he wouldn't listen. Walking over to Julian, I said, "I really don't want to deal with them anymore. You can handle the rest of the matter."Julian nodded, and I walked a
From this day onward, Shayne wanted to live happily with Luna. He wanted Aralyn to know that she would never return to his side, be his wife, or Zach's mother again.Upon thinking of this, his eyes curved into a smile. By then, Aralyn would surely regret everything she had done that day.…Once Julian got into the car, he handed his phone to me. "I figured since you weren't there, you'd want to know how Willow reacted after Zach apologized, so I recorded it for you."He then turned to look at me. "Take a good look.""Alright." I started the video and focused on Willow.She seemed very resistant at first, but she clearly seemed happy by the end of the video.I felt a sense of relief. "That's great.""Yeah," Julian replied calmly. "I think if we keep this up, Willow will get better one day."I nodded in agreement. "She definitely will."When we arrived at the company, Julian took me to his office just like yesterday. I stayed in the partitioned area, planning to continue colo
Julian was always strict and impartial at the company, handling everything with a professional attitude. There were never any women around him. There was even a rumor that he was a workaholic who had no need for love.But now, not only did he bring a woman to the company, he even let her sleep in his sacred office.On top of that, he even asked Mark to lower his volume for her sake.Mark looked at the partition and then he looked at Julian.The woman was drowsy in the morning. What did that mean? It meant she didn't rest well at night. Julian definitely put her through the wringer.Mark had the urge to laugh, but Julian's icy expression forced him to suppress his gossipy thoughts. He lowered his voice and continued reporting to Julian what he had to work on next.Julian listened patiently. Once Mark was done with his report, he handed him a file on the desk. "These events have been approved."Mark took the file. "Alright," he replied without flipping through its contents.
Julian had to stand his ground. Amber raised her voice. "Julian, you need to understand that you are no ordinary man. You have a large company! Who do you plan to leave such a large enterprise in the future if you don't marry and have kids? Willow?"Julian calmly replied, "Yes."Amber's head ached. "But Willow has autism! She doesn't even dare to speak to others. If you give her your company, then it won't be long before it shuts down!"Julian did not agree with her opinion. "First of all, her autism will gradually improve. Secondly, since I intend to have her inherit my company, I'll naturally work hard to train her. You don't have to worry about that." Amber saw that no matter what she said, Julian would always find suitable reasons to refute her, so she stopped making up excuses. "I won't allow it! Julian, as long as you still acknowledge me as your mother, you must get married!"She continued speaking at a rather fast pace, "I think Alice is rather good. I've asked her to
It would be good if this comic would be liked by many. That way, Willow would definitely be popular when she carried the merchandise outside.Other children would gather around her to talk to her. Perhaps her condition would become better under such circumstances.Julian walked up to me and said, "If the comic does become a big hit, selling merchandise could also bring in a significant amount of income."I stared at him in surprise. Perhaps I had left work for too long.Although I knew about merchandising, I had only thought about using it as a way to help Willow get better. However, Julian could see the hidden business opportunity behind it. I had to admit that he was truly an outstanding businessman.I smiled as I said, "That's true."Julian's hand pressed against my shoulder as he guided me to sit on the couch. He then stared into my eyes."I think I know what kind of new company I want to create. Stay here for a moment."With that, he quickly returned to his desk and star
I shook my head. "I haven't eaten yet."Julian immediately apologized. "Sorry about that. I was busy with work and lost track of time for a moment. Figure out what you'd like to eat, and I'll treat you to it as penance!"I didn't refuse. "Let's just have some pizza from the second floor.""You don't have to save money," Julian said. He understood that Aralyn rarely ate here, so she didn't know which places were good.He ended up taking her to a nearby restaurant.Once they sat down, a server handed them a menu.Julian ordered a few signature dishes and then calmly explained, "The food here tastes nothing like what they serve in the cafeteria. You should give it a try.""Okay," I replied as I nodded.If it tasted good, then I could bring Willow here after I got paid.Julian paused for a moment before asking, "Do you plan on getting a boyfriend anytime soon?"I stared at him in surprise. "Why are you asking me this question?"Julian chose his words carefully. "If you're thinki
"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
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