Before Shayne finished speaking, Luna firmly pulled him into her embrace. Her beautiful eyes were full of disdain, yet she remained patient. "It's probably because you were married to her for six years. Even after the divorce, you still see her as family subconsciously. But now, Aralyn is treating you like a stranger, so you feel like she has betrayed you."Luna gently patted his back, soothing him. "That's why you're feeling uncomfortable."After Shayne heard her analysis, he asked blankly, "Is that so?"Luna offered him her conclusion. "Of course."Shayne's unease disappeared. Luna gently stroked her stomach once she was done soothing him. It seemed that despite him constantly claiming he didn't love Aralyn, he had unknowingly developed feelings for her during their six years together. He just hadn't realized it yet.However, Shayne wasn't a fool. Even if she repeatedly emphasized to him that his feelings for Aralyn weren't love but something else, it wouldn't be long befor
Alice opened the door with a cheerful voice and entered the office.Julian casually tossed the document he was reading aside. His usually expressionless face appeared even more indifferent. "Ms. York...""Why are you so formal?" Alice pouted in dissatisfaction. "Julian, when we first met, it was with the intention of dating."Julian didn't have any time to spare her. "Do you want to leave on your own or should I have security escort you out?"Alice stepped closer, planting her hands on his desk. She tilted her head and asked, "Do you have to be so heartless?"Julian ignored her. Instead, he took out his phone and was about to call security when Alice immediately tried to hold his hand in place."I've thought about what you said yesterday!"Julian reacted swiftly, avoiding her touch with disgust.Alice was disappointed she hadn't managed to grab his hand. "If you're willing to date me, I can allow Willow to live with us."Everyone knew Julian was a workaholic. His focus was on
I thought of the day when Willow might stop calling me "Mommy" and start calling me "Aralyn". It made me feel sad.I returned to my cubicle in low spirits and stared at my computer screen.…Julian's gaze lingered on Aralyn's retreating figure for a long time before he finally looked away. In truth, there was a way for him to get married and still have Willow continue calling Aralyn "Mommy".She would have to marry him and become his wife.Unfortunately, he had proposed to Aralyn before, but she had rejected him.Julian picked up the documents on his desk but couldn't focus on them no matter how hard he tried.…Shayne stepped out of his car. He was about to head to the office, but Luna blocked his path. She grabbed his wrist. "You lost your composure in front of me just now because of Aralyn," she said. "It made me very uncomfortable."Shayne leaned down, intending to kiss her and offer some comforting words. But just as he was about to do so, Aralyn's face appeared in his
Luna's smile disappeared in an instant. She had already considered Shayne's money as her own. Hence, to her, buying things for Zach was like cutting into her own flesh.Though immensely dissatisfied, she dared not let Shayne notice how she actually felt, so she looked down while pretending to pick out items.After a long time, she suddenly thought of a solution. "Shayne, we've already spent so much today. I know you're working hard alone, and making money isn't easy."Luna walked up to Shayne. "Why don't we just give Zach the things we bought for Mason?"Shayne stared at Luna, not saying anything. He suddenly felt Luna was being hypocritical.When she picked out the biggest diamond in the mall and bought the heaviest gold lucky charm for Mason, she didn't think about his struggles to make money.In the half-month they had been together, she didn't think about how hard he worked when she swiped his card and lived a fancy life.But when it came to buying something for Zach, she su
She only took a very small suitcase. After receiving the divorce certificate, she left. Shayne sat on the bed in a daze.If not for Luna's extravagant spending habits, he probably still wouldn't have realized just how much he had wronged Aralyn in the past.A sudden pang of guilt struck him. He took out his phone, intending to call Aralyn. But no matter how many times he tried, the calls wouldn't go through.Shayne then opened WhatsApp, wanting to send Aralyn a message. But he didn't know what to say, so he only sent a sticker in the end.However, his message only had one check mark. Only then did he realize he had been blocked.…"This is the result of our project team's hard work over an entire year."Aaron Mitchell, the leader of the project, handed the phone to Julian.Julian took it. The primary business of Hughes Group had been developing smoothly in the past two years. To expand it further, they decided to venture into other industries.However, Julian had no intention
"Focus on meeting the needs of the female players," I quickly answered.Julian looked at me intently, and I met his gaze. "What? Am I wrong?""Not at all," Julian replied with a faint smile. Then, he raised his hand and stroked my hair gently.I stared at him in surprise."It just so happens that this project is short of illustrators. Would you mind helping out?" I had been quite busy lately. Julian knew I didn't have that much free time, so he quickly added, "You just need to draw small items in the game, like gifts and flowers."Those things weren't challenging to draw, so I didn't refuse. "Sure.""I'll give you a bonus once you're done." Julian sounded unusually gentle."Thanks," I said, smiling.After that, I focused on coloring the third chapter of my comic.For me, aside from taking care of Willow, my most important work was creating comics. Once I got tired of drawing, I took a break and started sketching roses.The vibrant bouquet of flowers turned out beautifully
Shayne looked guilty and regretful, which baffled me. What was going on with him?He approached me slowly. "Can we talk?"Julian also looked down at me.Shayne had been acting strange lately. In the past few days, every time he saw me, he would always say weird things.Even though I no longer had feelings for him, he was still convinced that I was hopelessly in love with him. Today, he was asking to talk to me."We have nothing to talk about." I declined without even thinking about it.I shifted my gaze from him to the little kids walking out of the kindergarten. "We've already said whatever needed to be said.""I just wanted to ask. Did I treat you badly when we were married?" Shaye asked, his tone heavy.What a pointless question. Had he treated me well, we wouldn't have ended up divorcing.Without waiting for my answer, Shayne continued, "When I'm with Luna, as long as she acts sweet and tells me what she wants, I always buy it for her. "After I bought the things she want
Shayne's heart ached as well. He patted Zach's back gently. "You have Mama Luna."Zach's crying came to an abrupt halt.Thinking he had comforted Zach, Shayne continued, "She'll treat you even better than Aralyn did.""No, she won't." Zach pulled away from Shayne's embrace."Dad, stop lying to me. I may be a kid, but I understand everything," Zach added seriously.Shayne wanted to say more, but Mason interjected, "Dad, can we go home now?"Shayne turned to look at him.Mason frowned. "I'm hungry.""Let's go, then. We can't have you going hungry," Shayne uttered without hesitation.Zach stayed rooted to the spot, watching as Shayne walked away with Mason hand-in-hand.Without realizing it, his dad had become someone else's dad, too.But when… did it turn out this way? Zach didn't understand.…The instructor arrived early.As we reached the entrance of the house, we saw a stranger standing in the yard uneasily."Why didn't you let him wait in the living room?" Julian aske
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
Luna had endured their bullying for so long.But Luna and his parents' relationship didn't improve, not even a little.If his parents had come to their senses back then, things wouldn't have turned out this way."But it's too late now. You should just head back," said Rowan."We haven't even done anything yet. How do you know Luna won't forgive us?" Shannon objected."Because she's decided to settle down and build a life with Shayne," Rowan responded dejectedly."She went through a lot when she was part of our family. Now that she's finally found a new life, I hope you won't disturb her. Let her live peacefully."Shannon immediately refused, "We can't do that. Mason is our only grandson. She can marry someone else, but our grandson absolutely cannot have another dad!""You sure weren't saying that before."Shannon's words made Rowan feel as if he had stepped into an alternate reality. Had they said this in the past, he wouldn't have thought anything about it.Luna and Mason's
Charlotte decided that when the time came, she would go show off in front of Aralyn.She wanted Aralyn to see just how happy Shayne and Luna were now, and she would simultaneously make sure Aralyn gave up on Shayne just in case Aralyn still harbored any thoughts of getting back together with him.Shayne lowered his gaze.Only now did he realize that it was impossible to stop thinking about the woman he had once truly loved.But to make his mother happy, he still smiled and said, "Don't worry. I won't think about her anymore.""You'd better not!"…By the time Rowan's parents arrived at the airport, it was already past 11:00 pm.They called Rowan and told him to come pick them up.Rowan was a little surprised, but he still did as they asked.Seeing his parents coming out of the arrivals gate, he suddenly felt a headache coming on. "Mom, Dad, why are you here? Are you trying to convince me to go back? That won't happen."Patrick kept a stern face but said nothing.Shannon kne
Shayne smiled and replied, "Alright, I'll call you when the food's ready.""Okay," Luna responded before walking into the bedroom and closing the door behind her.The soundproofing in the room was excellent. She was certain that Shayne wouldn't be able to hear anything she said. Picking up her phone, she hesitated for a long time before finally dialing Rowan's number.Rowan was busy at the moment, and he was a little surprised to get a call from Luna. "What made you think of contacting me all of a sudden?""I just wanted to remind you that no matter what, you absolutely cannot tell anyone the truth about the baby, understand?"The happier and peaceful her days were, the more anxious she felt. She was deeply afraid that this good life could be ruined at any moment."Don't worry. I won't."Luna breathed a sigh of relief.Rowan understood what Luna meant. "So, you're planning to stay with Shayne for good?""If nothing happens, yes. In the past, I always thought about climbing hig