Shayne knelt down and looked at Zach who stood before him. He smiled and explained, "Mama Luna said the baby in her belly was making her feel unwell the past few days, so she was in a bad mood and neglected you. But today, she realized her mistake after reflecting on it. Zach, can you forgive her?"Zach raised his head to look at Luna.Luna gave him a gentle smile. "Zach, give me another chance, okay?"Zach lowered his head. He wanted to refuse. But he also understood that since his dad had taken the initiative to make excuses for her, it meant that he really looked forward to them reconciling. If he refused, his dad would definitely scold him for being immature and then force him to agree.Although he was young, he wasn't stupid. He nodded and replied, "Okay."Luna took his hand. "What do you want? I'll take you to buy it."Her tone was light and cheerful. It was as if she had never mistreated Zach before.Zach didn't know how to respond.Luna tried guessing."Do you want a
However, Luna still wanted to buy him a game console. She definitely hoped he'd get addicted to it and turn bad. That way, his dad wouldn't like him anymore.Zach was about to speak, but when he saw the hopeful look in Shayne's eyes, he ultimately stayed quiet and nodded. "She's great.""Really?" Shayne rubbed Zach's cheek. "Since you like Luna as well, then let's live happily as a family of four from now on."Right now, Luna could still pretend to be kind to Zach in front of Shayne. But what about the future? Zach was very worried that Luna would mistreat him again in the future. As such, he didn't respond to Shayne's comment.…When Willow got home, she put down her little backpack and excitedly ran up to me.She gestured enthusiastically as she spoke. "Today, Zach apologized to me in front of the whole class!"I pretended to be surprised and asked, "Really?"Willow nodded enthusiastically. "That's right! I'm so happy."After she finished speaking, she burrowed into my embra
Many parents seemed to like having their daughters learn how to play the piano or dance. That way, their children would appear more elegant and refined.Was Julian like that too? Did he think that learning martial arts was too rough?Willow's good mood suddenly turned into sadness."How could I?" Julian quickly denied it. "I'm very happy."Willow stared at him blankly.Julian explained, "If you learn martial arts, you'll still be able to protect yourself even if I'm not by your side. This is exactly what I've been wishing for."Willow was so excited, she cupped his face and planted several kisses on his cheeks. "Daddy, you're the best!""Well, now the question is—do you want a private trainer to come to our home or would you like to register for a class?" asked Julian.Willow didn't know how to choose, so she turned her head to look at me.I was rather conflicted as well. "If we register her for a class, there will be many kids her age there. Perhaps the interaction would ma
Since that was Julian's mother, that meant she was here for Julian, and it was a matter between mother and son. It wasn't my place to get involved."I don't like her," Willow said softly after her grandmother had gone inside. "She doesn't want Daddy to raise me. She wants to dump me at my maternal grandparents' place. I love them, but their health is poor."Although Willow was very young, she knew a lot. She didn't have a chance to say so in the past, so they stayed bottled up inside her. It left her very unhappy.She was better now, and her grandmother's appearance gave her a chance to vent everything that was on her mind.I felt heartbroken as I listened to her complaints. She was only five years old, yet she had experienced so much. That was no easy feat.I held her tightly. "It's okay, Willow. You have me from now on.""Okay."…Amber strode up the stairs and pushed open the door to Julian's study. "Julian!"Julian set his work down when he heard her familiar voice. He r
The housekeeper had interacted with Amber before and knew of her knack for finding faults, so she didn't bother explaining herself. Instead, she calmly turned off the TV. She then stood up and said, "She's already asleep."Amber turned and headed toward Willow's bedroom....Willow was a very well-behaved child. She went to bed every night at nine.Tonight was no different. Once she was tucked in, she stared at me with wide eyes and said, "Mommy, I don't want to hear any more princess stories."I was a little surprised. "Why not?"She used to love hearing stories about pretty little princesses."Because the princesses in fairy tales always need someone else to save them," answered Willow.Today, she had begun to realize that waiting for help from others meant that she had to suffer more grievances. She also had to wait for someone else to notice her unhappiness.However, it would be different once she learned martial arts. She could live freely and happily. She could protect
Julian's voice was low. It had a mesmerizing quality to it on this quiet night. I nodded and replied, "Okay."…I went back into the bedroom. When Willow saw me, she mumbled softly, "She's always like that. She insists on coming to talk to me when I'm already asleep. I can't speak, so she scolds me and calls me a little mute…"The more she spoke, the sadder she got. "She even says I'm a burden, that if it weren't for me, Daddy would be willing to find a wife."Tears rolled down her cheeks in large drops.I gently wiped them away. "Your Dad doesn't want to get married simply because he doesn't want to."Willow looked at me, stunned. "Really?""Of course," I replied with a smile as I comforted her. "Once he meets someone he likes, he'll be more eager than anyone else to get married. So, don't blame yourself, okay?"Willow nodded.I picked up a storybook and resumed reading to her.Perhaps the story was too nice to listen to or the weight had been lifted off her chest, but W
I didn't avoid his gaze. Instead, I met it confidently.Julian smiled. "Thank you.""You're welcome," I replied. "I'm doing what I should do."…Once the toys were brought home, Zach sat in the living room. He didn't have the chance to open them yet.Mason hid behind Luna, staring intently at the toys in Zach's arms.Zach could tell that Mason wanted them too, but he had no intention of giving them to him.Mason whispered to Luna, "Mom, I want those toys too."Luna told him patiently, "We bought these for your brother..."Mason fell silent.Luna could sense his unhappiness, so she quickly reassured him, "I'll buy you some tomorrow when the store opens, okay?"Mason reluctantly nodded. "Okay."Seeing that Luna had treated Zach well, Shayne naturally had to treat Mason well in return. As such, he bent down and looked at Zach. "Why don't we play with your brother together?" All three of them looked at Zach.Zach could sense their expectations. They expected him to give in.
Zach would never hear it again.…The lights were still on in the living room. Luna watched as Mason happily played with the toy. Her mood was pretty good. She glanced toward Zach's bedroom.Feigning concern, she asked, "I noticed Zach doesn't seem in a good mood. Shayne, shouldn't you check on him?"Without hesitation, Shayne replied, "There's no need to do so."Luna raised a brow. She then propped her chin on one hand as she studied Shayne.In the past, she had been openly unkind to Zach, often showing him her displeasure. It seemed that she was indeed wrong. Luna's smile deepened. Like today, the toy was meant for Zach, but once they got home, Mason had expressed interest in it. Zach then had to hand over the toy to Mason. If he didn't, Shayne would have to scold Zach in the name of maintaining family harmony."Dad," said Mason. He sounded sleepy, but he still stared longingly at the toy. "I want to sleep, but I still want to play with the toy..."Shayne replied patien
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