It was past 11 pm when the three ladies were done drinking and started to leave. "Let me take you home," Cordy's vision was blurred as well, but she thought that she should give them a ride home considering that she brought them out here."Burp…" Zoe belched, and she was seeing stars as well. "It's alright. Quinn can take me home since we're going the same way."With that, Zoe dragged Quinn along and left the room.Cordy quickly followed them.Although they were all drunk, they were not at the level they would lose control—Quinn seemed especially sober as well.Cordy always had self-control, but considering that today was her first meeting with Zoe, she naturally had to play along since Zoe was a real alcoholic. She could not seem to stop after the first glass, but Quinn somehow remained controlled despite Zoe's crazy streak.Cordy walked with them until they entered a black sedan before returning to Walter's sedan. She reclined over her seat, her stomach a misery.She stared
After Jay put Zoe to bed, he did not leave immediately. He lowered his gaze, staring at her cheeks that were flushed from excess alcohol, and her red, moist lips. He suddenly remembered the scene of her filming that kiss…His Adam's apple bobbed, and he placed his long fingers on her lips, gently rubbing it as if wiping filth off it. He did so solemnly for a long while, until her lips were almost swollen red.When he lifted his finger, he leaned downward ever so slightly, but straightened himself at the very next instant and left.He shut the door behind himself, and therefore could not see a trail of tears quietly trickling down the sleeping beauty's face. -Cordy was feeling a slight headache.Going to work with a hangover was utter misery.Zoe was too good a drinker, whereas she had thrown up the entire night, the world almost turning upside down for her.As she drank some black coffee to clear her head, Vince was politely reporting, "Ms. Sachs? The contract is ready.
Cordy complained, "I was asleep.""Sorry for waking you." John apologized.Even so, she never did feel any sincerity from any of his apologies—as if he said it just for the sake of saying it."Is there a problem?""Just wanted to tell you that I'm back.""Got it," Cordy said coolly, adding when she noticed his exhausted appearance, "You could've texted me. You didn't have to come all the way here.""I thought your phone was dead," he replied, clearly accusing her of not replying to his texts."I've been busy." Cordy simply came up with an excuse. "Cordy…""It's late, go home," Cordy said, cutting him short right then. "I have work tomorrow."As John swallowed his words, she finished, "Goodbye."With that, she shut the door in his face, and he was left staring at the closed door. He was right—he was not imagining it.Cordy was deliberately avoiding him.But he never did anything out of line that other night… In fact, his intuition told him that Cordy was starting to acce
And with those words, Cordy strode out of the conference room without looking back, imposing as ever.Fabian did not expect that he, a man in his forties, would be threatened by a twenty-something brat!He quickly called Simon to report the situation."Ignore her. Just do what I tell you," Simon said, still thinking nothing of Cordy at all. "I'll cover for you if anything happens.""Yes, Mr. Sachs."Fabian smiled evilly then.He did not mind waiting and seeing how long Cordy would last!-Cordy brought Vince to Starstreams' production plant, even as she wondered why the workers would go on a strike out of the blue.The plant was in the outskirts of North City, and the journey was long—they only arrived in the afternoon.However, Cordy did not stop for lunch and went inside right away to meet Dean Longman, the factory chief.Like Fabian, Dean had no respect toward Cordy at all. It went without saying they were both in league with Simon."I heard that our new board chairman i
Meanwhile, Dean was smiling sinisterly as he stood before the second floor office window, watching as Cordy was being mobbed by those disgruntled workers.He quickly whipped out his phone to report the situation. "Mr. Sachs? The workers are mobbing Cordy Sachs as we speak. She's not getting away soon."On the other end, Simon Sachs was sitting at his giant office in Sachs Enterprises with a cigarette in his mouth. "Give her a lesson to remember," he said."Yes, sir. Don't worry. I know exactly what to do."Simon was grinning smugly as he put down his phone.In the end, age and experience came up on top.Cordy wanted to beat him? It was no different from trying to break a rock with an egg!Sitting opposite him, Noel asked in surprise, "Dad, did Cordy really go to the production plant?"She did not expect Cordy to have the guts to visit that place of lowlifes. Those people were uncouth, uneducated, and barbaric, which was why they deserved to be stuck in poverty."Ignore her,"
Over at the Starstream Group production plant, the angry workers were not listening to whatever Cordy had to say.She knew very well that someone had incited them, and that this was all Simon's plan.In fact, she could shout herself hoarse, but she would never calm them down.Cordy quickly made up her mind. Not wanting to waste time here, she told Vince quietly, "You need to get out of here somehow and call the cops.""But you'd be alone, Ms. Sachs—""Don't worry. I can take care of myself.""Alright." Not arguing, Vince slowly released Cordy while distancing himself. Cordy was the mob's target, and they naturally did not pay much attention to Vince, who squeezed his way through the crowd and called the cops.He was certainly impressed that Cordy could stay calm despite the danger, even though he did not expect them to leave without any problems—if anything, he felt like they were not making it home tonight.After he made the call, the cops soon arrived.However, the worke
Cordy hesitated momentarily, but she quickly followed John into his car too."Miss!" One of the police stopped them. "We need you to come to the precinct for a testimony.""Vince, go with the police. Walter will drive you back.""Alright. You should go, Ms. Sachs," Vince quickly said. Meanwhile, Cordy and Randy helped him into his Maybach. The car drove straight to the best private hospital in North City, with Randy riding shotgun and calling the Levines' family doctor.Cordy was glancing at John from time to time, who was reclining against his seat, his eyes closed and his face turning ever paler.Where did the steel pipe hit? Did it break bones? Rupture organs…? Cordy did not dare to go any further. She kept her eyes on the car's GPS, wanting to reach the hospital right then.Even so, it took them two hours to arrive. Still, there was a row of doctors in white coats waiting, and nurses quickly helped John out of the car.When someone touched John, Cordy clearly hea
Cordy's heart skipped a beat. She would be lying if she said she was not emotional.Even so, she composed herself and asked quietly, "But you'd do that for anyone, won't you?"As in, he would sacrifice himself readily for all his women!"Just you," John declared solemnly."Are you saying that I'm special?" Cordy asked.John raised a brow, clearly sensing that it was a loaded question.Before he could answer, however, she changed the subject since it was his private life. And she was in no position to ask. "Why did you suddenly show up at the production plant?" she asked."Walter told me that you were going. I was worried you'd get hurt, so I went for a look." John replied. "And I made it just in time."Otherwise… John did not want to imagine how terrible he would feel if it was Cordy lying in this bed instead.His gaze turned cool right then."My father put them up to this," Cordy admitted. "He never wanted me in charge of Starstream Group, and he gave me as much trou
Soon, another nurse emerged from the delivery room with a small bundle. "Is the mother's family here?""Yes!" John exclaimed loudly."The delivery was successful," the nurse said. "The baby weighs eight pounds—""How is she?" John asked in agitation, not caring about the child."She's fine. The doctor is just helping her clean up and she'll be out soon," the nurse replied.As John breathed a sigh of relief, the nurse reminded him, "Aren't you the father? Here's your child."John took the baby off her arms, staring at her for a moment as the others flocked around him. "Oh, she's so fair!" Zoe could not help exclaiming. "That's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen.""Are you saying that your son's ugly?" Bob teased."To be honest, yeah," Zoe replied without thinking.Jay cleared his throat—even if it was a subjective opinion, it still hurt to have his own baby called ugly."Let me carry her," Zoe volunteered just then, and John did not hesitate to hand her his baby.As Zoe
"What?!" Zoe exclaimed in shock.Beside them, John's face fell despite being usually stoic.Still, even before anyone could react, he scooped Cordy up in his arms and left.Zoe did not hesitate to follow, but Jay reminded her, "We're the hosts, Zoe.""Don't care." Zoe was completely unconcerned. "Ask my mom and your sister to handle the guests. I'm going with Cordy!"Jay hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow since there was no reasoning with Zoe.Sam and Quinn also realized that something was out of place.As they pulled away reluctantly, Bob shouted from below, "If you're done kissing, we're going to the hospital! Cordy's going into labor!"Quinn hurried after them as soon as she hurt, but Sam caught her. "Slow down. We can catch up."In fact, most of the guests were leaving as well—it was as if the banquet for Zoe's son was actually intended for everyone else.The poor boy was certainly unlucky to have such unreliable parents!-As everyone rushed to the hospit
"I'm swelling from my pregnancy," Quinn explained. "It's not your fault."Sam was left staring at her for a while before asking, "So, what should I do?""I'll put it on when I slim down.""Oh." Sam was a little disappointed, since he had always dreamed of having her put on the ring he had custom made.But this was fine—they had all the time they needed, and the most important thing for him is that Quinn was marrying him!He rose to his feet just then, and everyone was cheering as soon as he did. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"Quinn blushed right then, and Sam could see that she was embarrassed.He did not want to make things awkward for her, even if he was quite eager at the moment.Heaven knows how much he missed that night's drunken fumble they had. In fact, during the times he remembered it in dreams, he had to wash his pants when he woke up.Still, just as he took Quinn's hand and started to leave, he felt a softness on his lips—Quinn was kissing him! Sam's heart pounded thunderous
Everyone waited patiently for the final outcome.Quinn's eyes were welling up with tears, threatening to gush if she so much as blinked.She did her best to hold back her tears—to be strong!Sam pursed his lips in turn, his Adam's apple bobbing.A long while passed, and it felt like a century for Quinn when she finally heard him say, "Yes."Quinn's tears started falling in happiness as Sam declared loudly, "I'll marry you, Quinn—it's what I've always wanted to do! I won't let you go even if you regret it eventually! You only get to be with me, and I'll never let any other man claim you! I'll become very overbearing… eventually!""I won't regret it," Quinn said, determined.She certainly would not regret marrying him!Zoe walked up to them with perfect timing just then, and Sam did a double take.He finally remembered that Zoe was the host of this luncheon and was going to leave with Quinn when Zoe whipped out a small red velvet box."You know what's in here, don't you?" Zoe a
However, Sam had already pushed Quinn away before she could tell him. But even if he did not love her or did not want to be with her, she would never stay with Ryan.She had been disappointed in Sam, wondering why he would give up so easily.Was she that unimportant to him?Therefore, if it were not for Zoe and Cordy showing her that video or telling her so much, she would never have known that he loved her for years…Sam's heart ached even as he looked into Quinn's tearful eyes.He reached out a hand, but soon withdrew it—would he not burden her?Even so, it hurt to restrain himself as he watched her, and he was actually getting the feeling that Quinn loved him…But she already had Ryan's child…Well, he was fine with that, as long as the child was Quinn's.But would she not mind?"I will marry you, Sam," Quinn said slowly and clearly then. "Not because you're a good man, not because you prepared so much for me, and not because of how much you prepared for me, but because I
Everyone in the hall was staring at Sam and Quinn, while Quinn took center stage, staring fixedly at Sam.He stood in the middle of the crowd, watching her silently.She in turn felt fear that he would turn and leave, just as she did not know if she had the courage to stand before him again and to declare her feelings for him in front of so many others.Nonetheless, amid the deafening silence, Sam suddenly walked toward the stage.His pace was slow as if his feet were made of lead, but he was also unusually determined.Quinn's heart raced uncontrollably right then!Everyone else was watching them nervously, especially Cordy and Zoe, with the latter being especially concerned that the cowardly Sam would bail.Fortunately, he was a man who showed responsibility. He would not leave Quinn alone and embarrassed.Hence, as everyone looked on, Sam stood before Quinn, his gaze flickering as their eyes met.He gulped ever so slightly, his emotions clearly ruffled even as he did his bes
The guests were encouraging, loudly asking, "Why?!""Because of a woman," Sam's recording replied."Who is it?""Quinn Summer," the Sam on the screen said slowly and clearly, leaving the Sam who was in the hall stunned.What the hell?! That was the proposal video he prepared before! Why did it show up here? Did Zoe make a mistake?!He knew it—leave anything to Zoe, and she would mess it up!He started striding toward the stage, intent on stopping the recording, when John and Bob intercepted him with a look of utter guilt while the recording continued. "Quinn is my wife, and we've been married for years, but I've never really loved her—not because I don't, but because I'm afraid to. I feel too insignificant in comparison to the one she loves, so I'd always hurt her… painfully and childishly. I regret that so much now, Quinn. How could I have abandoned you for so long because of my own jealousy? I'd rather hold you in my sleep every night, but my damned pride denied me that for y
At the banquet hall, Jay and Zoe were thanking their guests with their children in their arms.Then, Zoe announced excitedly, "Please give my best friend, who is also my son's godmother, a warm applause as she comes on stage!"Sam stood at a corner of the hall, watching as Quinn walked up the stage, only realizing just then that her belly was clearly swelling despite her baggy clothes.Time flies—he had not left that long ago, but she and Ryan already had a child.She was not worried about giving him a stroke, was she?He watched as Quinn took the mic and looked around below searching, seemingly searching.After a while, he thought she was looking at him, but by the time he looked up, she had already turned away.Maybe she was looking for Ryan before remembering that Ryan was not there?Nonetheless, Quinn spoke into the mic, saying, "I'm honored to be chosen as the godmother to Zoe's son, and she's been saying he'd be engaged to my child if it's a girl. I already love my godson
As their eyes met, Sam turned frantic and averted his. "Of course.""Really?" Quinn asked."Would I lie to you?" Sam asked a little grumpily."And you didn't bring her back?" Quinn asked."I'm on a schedule, and it'd be taxing for her if I bought her along," Sam said, making things up as he went along. "I'll bring her along when things are less busy.""Is she pretty?" Quinn pressed."What, have I ever picked an ugly one?" Sam snorted smugly. "You know I prefer curvaceous types, and there are plenty of those abroad.""Do you have a photo?"Sam was silent for a while and eventually said, "Yeah.""Can I see it?""What, does she have to pass your assessment?""Just curious about the girl who can tempt you to settle down," Quinn replied. "You'd be humbled." Sam hastily came up with an excuse."I won't," Quinn said, determined."You'll see her when I bring her home." Sam refused nonetheless."I would like to see a photo now.""No, she's not that photogenic. It'd be slander a