Cordy smiled slightly and gave Dicky both thumbs-up in encouragement, showing that she didn’t mind, let alone care about keeping up appearances.As the teachers arranged the groups, they noticed that one of the children didn’t have both parents with her—even though elite private schools like this usually insisted on having both parents attend school activities.Before things could get awkward, Dicky suddenly asked one of the teachers, "Can my mommy join us?""But your mommy's already here…""That's my mommy," Dicky pointed at Cordy on the stands. The teacher simply presumed it to be a child's innocent banter, and didn’t dwell on it as she said, "Of course."She went off to invite Cordy, who agreed to it since Dicky was so eager, and played mommy for the little girl.As the relay was about to begin, Cordy and Dicky were close enough to speak to each other although they were in different groups."Are you good at running, Mommy?""Of course," Cordy said proudly. "Where do you th
Jessica looked like she was in absolute pain, and John dropped to a crouch with his back to her. "Come. I'll give you a piggyback."Jessica felt a little upset at that—John always went to the gym, and he was definitely capable of scooping her up in his arms. And yet, he was only giving her a piggyback.Since there was no way she could reject it, she forced herself to lean on his broad back.John didn’t even hold on to her thighs, only allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck. To make things even worse, he barely walked a few feet and quickly put her down on one of the spectator seats, saying, "I'm calling in a chopper to take you to the hospital.""You don't have to," Jessica said quickly. "That's unnecessary. It's not that serious.""I'd rest easy if you go," John said firmly, so Jessica kept mum.Even now, she had no idea if John was actually worried about her. In fact, his unnecessary gesture only made them seem distant—as if he was just resolving some annoying issue at
After dinner, Cordy helped Dicky take a bath as usual. She then handed him a storybook to read by himself while she took a bath.When she undressed, she looked at the mirror to see a large bruise on her rear flank. It hurt from the slightest movement, but she gritted her teeth and finished her bath. She changed into her pajamas, then took a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit.She stood before the full-length mirror in the living room, pulling up her shirt and lowering her trousers slightly, baring her hip so that it was easier to apply the ointment.However, she blinked just as she was about to do it—she saw John in the mirror's reflection.He was suddenly approaching her from the living room, as if he had been there for a while without her noticing.Cordy promptly lowered her shirt and pulled up her trousers, scowling as she snapped, "What are you doing here?"She clearly recalled changing her door password to stop him, and therefore never expected him to enter anyway witho
Cordy had no idea how long had passed, or how much progress John made—or if he was done with applying the ointment.She had basically lost all patience when she suddenly felt the touch of his cool lips on her waist, away from the bruise.She wheeled on him right then, stumbling backward and shoving herself against the mirror, bristling as she snapped at John, "What do you think you're doing? You said you weren't interested!" "Can't help it.""Did you forget you're married?" Cordy exploded—could he be an even worse scumbag at this point?Nonetheless, John replied loudly and clearly, "No. I'm not married yet." "Even if you aren't, you're engaged. The wedding’s but a matter of time," she retorted. "Or maybe you think you can mess around all you like before your wedding, even when you have a fiancee? Are contractual agreements the only thing capable of making you restrain yourself?"John was actually left speechless by her rant.In the end, he was simply bewitched and failed to s
Cordy quickly turned towards Vince and said quietly, "I'll be going with the prosecutors, so you're taking over the rest. The invitation to tender is definitely going to be called off, but keep dragging it out until I can return and clean up this mess.""Yes, ma'am," Vinc replied quickly, but he could hardly hide his apprehension.He was genuinely impressed that she could remain composed even at a time like this.With those simple instructions, Cordy left with the prosecutors. Nonetheless, news of Cordy's arrest soon spread all over North City, leaving everyone in shock.She certainly had been making a lot of headlines lately; whenever one headline was cooling off, she would get another headline which was somehow more sensational. It was as if she existed on trending searches in a loop!John was having a meeting abroad when Cordy was arrested.Zoe called him to inform him of her arrest, but he hung up the first time.When she called him again, he already sensed something was w
Sam nonchalantly picked up a towel, wrapped it around his waist, and made a call in front of the hotel room's glass window. On the other end, Quinn Summer answered the call when she saw that it was him. "How much do you need?" Their parents were the ones who arranged their marriage, so they basically felt nothing for each other.However, Sam's parents liked Quinn so much that they tried to stop Sam from messing around with other women even after they married. Thus, Quinn was given full control of their bank accounts, and Sam wouldn’t contact her unless he ran out of money.In reality, Quinn wouldn’t set a limit to his finances. She would always give him a fixed allowance every month, and more if he ran out. After all, every cent she had was still the Saunders' property; Sam would ask for cash every time to ensure that his family never found out.After three years of marriage, they were certainly used to it."Actually, just send a set of respectable clothes and ask your lawye
Quinn and Sam left the hotel together, with the former driving and the latter riding shotgun.Along the way, Quinn said, "I asked a friend for a brief on Cordy Sachs' case, but it doesn't look good. They have material witnesses and physical evidence, and the charges are clear cut. Bribery and tax evasion—and with such huge amounts of capital involved? That's basically ten years.""Let's bail Cordy out for now," Sam replied. "Johnny will find a way.""Yeah," Quinn replied.Suddenly, Sam reached out and grabbed the steering wheel—a car zipped past theirs right then! If Sam hadn’t shifted the steering wheel, their car would’ve crashed into the car beside them.The driver even wound down his window and yelled angrily at them, "Where'd you learn to drive?! Just stay home instead!" Sam glowered as he yelled back viciously, "That's your own damn fault! You should be looking behind before you switch lanes!"Quinn pursed her lips in silence, since it was actually her driving skills t
Sam's expression turned somber, and he muttered, "Well, that doesn't look good."It was obvious the entire case against Cordy was so rock solid that it had to be set in motion by someone with powerful influence. If they did not have John's connections now, it would take a miracle for Cordy to escape a prison sentence. "I'll try to contact Johnny. He would probably want Quinn on Cordy's case anyway, so give her the details. Once he's back, we'll get right down to business and find the solution," Jay told Sam right then."Okay."-Within the detention center, Cordy was a little surprised to see Quinn, but she soon came to a realization—John must have arranged for her to be Cordy's legal advisor.She did not know much about Quinn, aside from the fact that she was Sam's wife and working at Saunderia. She only inadvertently found out later that Quinn was actually their legal advisor. "Ms. Sachs." Quinn greeted her politely and respectfully. "John Levine has tasked me to help you wi