Samuel's voice was colder than the chilling wind.There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Steven's slightly drunken voice came through."Samuel, come to Merricks. I'm waiting for you."Samuel held the phone, his eyes devoid of emotion.Merricks BarSteven hung up and continued drinking heavily, his crisp white shirt now crumpled.He loathed men who looked pitiable over a woman.Yet now, he had become precisely what he despised.Deep into the night, the streets were almost empty.The city's nights, with their flashy lights and deep shadows, were a dazzling spectacle.The staff quickly attended to his car when Samuel parked at Merricks Bar.The bar's staff was helping out many drunken patrons.Samuel frowned slightly in disgust.At this time, the nightlife was beginning, noisy and lively.Merricks was upscale and noisy but not as foul as other bars so that he could tolerate it.The bar manager, seeing him, hurried over, seemingly relieved, "Mr. Garcia, Smith is
Kimberly was half-conscious when she was enveloped in a chilling embrace, the scent of alcohol overwhelming her senses.The icy touch made her shiver slightly. With furrowed brows, she opened her eyes to see Samuel, seemingly just returned from outside, pressing a kiss laden with the smell of alcohol onto her.Kimberly coughed lightly from the strong odor. "Samuel, where have you been?"He didn't respond, beginning to undress himself instead.Now fully awake, Kimberly sought to catch her breath and pushed him away, "What happened?"But the man buried in her neck seemed not to hear, his kisses turning to nips.His sharp teeth bit into her tender neck, causing her pain. Angered, Kimberly confronted him, "Samuel! What madness is this in the middle of the night?"With a 'rip,' the sound of fabric tearing broke the silence.Kimberly felt a sudden chill on her body and, incensed and somewhat hysterical, fought back, "Samuel, how dare you!"Her protest was met with his actions.……He brough
The man buried his head back into her pale neck, murmuring in a voice heavy with alcohol, "You can sleep with me, have my child, but you just won't love me. Kim, when will you love me?"Kimberly felt a scorching breath on her neck as if trying to dampen her heart. The man lying on her slender shoulder, his voice muffled and pained, sounded like a wounded beast. She never knew that beneath his seemingly indifferent exterior, he was repressing so much pain, repeatedly consoling her and then silently licking his wounds in the darkness."Who did you see tonight?" Her throat felt tight, though she already knew the answer.Who else could make him leave his lofty place in the middle of the night and return in such a state?Kimberly's slender, pale fingers dug into his dark hair, her nose slightly sour. She gently consoled him, "If I didn't like you, after all the scheming you did, I would've told you to get lost a long time ago."Hearing this, he lifted his head, his long lashes quivering, h
Kimberly stopped laughing and looked at the man in front of her, who was severe and tense. She fell silent for a long time as Samuel's expectant gaze stayed firmly on her, not missing a hint of her emotion. Even his breathing slowed down. After a long wait, she didn't respond.The man with narrow and cold eyes tried to hide his thoughts, his hands propping on either side of her head, tightened as if to comfort himself or her, "It's okay…""Okay." She interrupted him softly.Samuel's emotions visibly shook; almost unable to believe it, he murmured, "What did you say?""I said we'll get married." Kimberly looked into his gradually moistening eyes; her answer was firm this time.Samuel took a while to digest her words. A torrent of joy almost broke through his defenses, and it took him a great effort to suppress his happiness. The years of unrequited love he seemed trivial at this moment. He even felt it was surreal, afraid it was just an illusion.His voice tightened, "When shall we get
Samuel's eyes held a vortex of darkness, and his lips were tightly pressed together. He carefully embraced the fragile figure into his arms. In her tear-blurred vision, it took a long time for him to speak, "That day, our car happened to pass by Yunfu Road."His voice was low and deep, carrying a suppressed tone.He stopped there, but everything was already evident."So, it was you that day?" Her soft voice was clouded with mist.Before he could reply, Kimberly's emotions began to unravel.Her gaze fell on his long, cold white hand holding her wrist, the hand with its fine, distinct knuckles and a faint blue vein visible under the skin, so beautiful yet marred by an abrupt scar."Samuel, it was you!"Her voice trembled uncontrollably.She took his hand, gently caressing the scar.In her hazy consciousness, a hand was reaching in through the shattered car window, holding her, telling her not to be afraid.She looked up again, her tears overflowing, her voice barely a hoarse whisper, "I
With a long sigh, he turned to look at the small figure lying quietly on the bed.He instructed the secretary, "Stay here and take care of Kim. Don't let her know about her parents' situation for now.""Yes, Sir."In Kimberly's hazy consciousness, she heard her grandfather's heavy voice.The air was filled with the scent of disinfectant.She wanted to wake up but couldn't seem to rouse herself.In her deep dream, she snuggled in her mother's warm embrace, listening to her gentle voice telling stories from books, about to fall asleep on the stuffy summer night.A long screech of brakes froze time, and the intense sound of tires scraping the ground mingled with shrill screams.A loud "bang" tore the quiet night apart.The huge inertia and impact of the rolling car threw her into the air, bringing a piercing pain.In a flash, under the glare of passing headlights, she saw her once lively mother, holding her, telling stories.Her mother's face was pale, her body bent like a bow to protect
Kimberly listened to their intermittent conversations.She didn't understand what they were talking about, but she had only one thought: she wanted to find her mom and dad.The two waiting outside heard a loud noise and crying from the room and rushed in.They saw the exceptionally pretty little girl, her eyes covered in gauze, fallen on the floor, crying.Someone cooed, "Kim, be good. The doctor put medicine in your eyes. If you cry, your eyes won't heal.""I want mommy and daddy…" she sobbed.No matter how they tried to comfort her, she couldn't be calmed, leaving the two people looking at each other helplessly."Maybe we should call Mr. Old Wilson." one suggested."Mr. Old Wilson is dealing with something today… you know what? Oh, go call the doctor."Later, she cried until her throat was hoarse, and she was exhausted, not knowing when she fell asleep.When she woke up again, the world was silent once more.This time, she was brilliant.She would go alone if they wouldn't take her
Samuel held her tightly in his arms, gently kissing her fair neck, accepting all faults without regard for right or wrong, and softly cooed, "My bad, blame me."Kimberly's eyes were sore and stung, tears soaking his expensive shirt.Recalling everything they went through, she realized she had tried countless times to abandon him, attempting to humiliate him in various ways."Samuel, I'm sorry."She sobbed softly as if trying to pour out all the pent-up guilt in her heart.She was sorry for being too foolish to recognize and treat him that way.Hearing her sobs, Samuel felt his heart nearly breaking, his warm hand caressing her fragile nape, his voice suppressed, "Baby, you haven't wronged anyone; it was my choice; there's no need for you to feel guilty towards me."Kimberly tightened her grip around his neck, her clear, gentle voice brushing past his ear, tenderly making his heart flutter.It was he who brought her the only light in her darkest days.Holding a thick stack of documents
This time was different from before. Kimberly decisively separated the business dealings between the Smith and Wilson families as clearly as possible.Unexpectedly, he encountered Kimberly at Club in the evening.She was followed by another man, who was carrying her coat. The club manager’s obsequious smile and attentiveness made it clear what that man's profession was.Kimberly, behind his back, had actually hired a male escort. Yes, it was such a slick-looking pretty boy. This realization instantly swept away all his rationality.At that moment, he finally realized how much he cared. Just seeing another man standing beside her filled him with unbearable jealousy, let alone a male escort.What if he hadn’t bumped into them? He didn’t even dare to think about it."Kimberly, there's a limit to being willful!" he warned her sternly.Kimberly showed no guilt or panic; instead, she retorted, "What right do you have to question me?""Because I'm your husband," he replied without thinking.
On the night of the wedding, he deliberately alienated Kimberly and didn't go back. Instead, he went out to drink with Ethan.Right now, he didn't want to see her eyes, red and swollen from crying, looking pitiful.Even drunk, he didn't mention to Ethan why he was acting out of character that day. It would remain a secret buried in his heart, never to be spoken of again.During this period, he thought about repairing his relationship with Kimberly, but his pride and ego wouldn't allow him to grovel. He also feared her hatred if she ever discovered the truth about him taking Samuel's place. So, he threw himself into work, completing in two years what he had promised his grandfather to do in three, with outstanding results.He was promoted to the head of the Smith Corporation's technical department, a position he achieved through tremendous effort.As time passed, rumors and gossip about him inevitably spread in the social circles.At first, he thought of explaining to Kimberly, but the
He thought that would be the end of it.After entering university, he and Kimberly were seen as inseparable by others. He looked forward to them making their relationship official.He waited a long time for Kimberly to confess her feelings, tossing and turning every night, unable to sleep. Could it be that she didn't sense his feelings?Impossible. He had been obvious enough. If he didn't like her, why would he accompany her to study sessions on weekends?If he didn't like her, he wouldn't have bothered choosing elective courses in her major.If he didn't like her, he wouldn't have patiently comforted her during her nightmares.Finally, on the eve of graduation, the day came when Kimberly took the initiative to confess. He admitted it was the happiest day of his life. Before she could finish speaking, he wanted to immediately say, 'I want to be your boyfriend.'But his happiness didn't last long. From her confession, he gradually realized something.She talked about the hand he extend
From that day on, he began to subtly observe his friend's actions.More than once, he had seen Samuel's gaze linger on Kimberly.Today was a big basketball game between schools, and Kimberly couldn't come to watch them play. Samuel seemed normal on the surface, but he was caught several times glancing at the audience, seemingly searching for someone's figure.After the game ended, they headed out of the court.Lucas, who often played basketball with them, made a careless joke, "Why didn't we see Kimberly from Class 7 today? Isn't she the one who always likes to hang around us?"Lucas turned to him and said, "Steve, I've noticed that Kimberly not only looks good but also has a great figure. Why doesn't she join the school cheerleading team? She'd look hot in that outfit."After saying this, Lucas laughed at his own joke, but there was silence all around, and everyone instinctively looked his way.Hearing this, his brows furrowed tightly, "What the hell are you saying?"He was about to
Time swiftly passed, and the high school entrance exams arrived in the midst of summer. He ranked first in his school earning a spot in best private school.At the moment the results came out, what concerned him most was not his own score but hers. He immediately sent her a message to ask about her results. He simply wanted to see if her highly praised 'sea of questions' strategy was effective, and he was eager to see her fail.After repeatedly checking his phone with no reply from her, he grew increasingly frustrated. She had promised to get into the same school as him; had she really failed to qualify?During the final tests, she had only fallen out of the top ten once, so she should have been fine, right?The only message in their chat was the one he had just sent. His patience wore thin. He knew that nerd's method was useless, and she should have listened to him.The tall teenager, clutching his phone, rushed downstairs.Grandpa adored Kimberly, and though it was the best school,
Time flew by, and soon they were facing the high school entrance exams. Kimberly was determined to get into the same school as him.He naturally aimed for the best private school.As the most challenging school in the state, it only admitted the top students from each school. Knowing he was applying there didn't matter much; Kimberly's math was so poor, it was still uncertain if she could get in.However, since deciding to apply to the same school as him, she immersed herself in studying. She was no longer seen in various school activities and even used the short ride to school to review vocabulary, drastically reducing the times she spoke to him.She stopped watching him play basketball and quickly returned to the classroom after a hurried lunch.The girl, who always took care to look pretty, lost that meticulousness. Several times, he saw the faint blue under her usually fair skin, knowing she had stayed up studying.He had told her many times that studying overnight was ineffective
Originally thinking she really couldn't speak, things changed during a year-end performance.He told a fairy tale in front of the whole school, titled "Princess Marlin," chosen randomly from a fairy tale book.After the story, there was thunderous applause. He was satisfied as he left the stage, but unexpectedly, he ran into the little mute girl backstage.His good mood was instantly ruined, and he pushed her away fiercely, "Get lost."To his surprise, she spoke to him for the first time, "Was it you?"He was shocked that she could speak, and her voice was soft and sweet, revealing that she wasn't mute after all.After the initial shock, anger welled up in him. She had ignored him so many times when he tried to talk to her; she had been pretending to be mute all along.This realization made him even angrier."What do you mean, was it you?" She's really an idiot; I don't even understand what she's talking about."You promised to tell me the story of Princess Marlin, why didn't you come
This was Steven's first time accompanying his grandfather to visit the granddaughter of his grandfather's good friend in the hospital.The strong smell of disinfectant permeated the hospital as his grandfather and Grandpa Ruan talked in solemn tones."Is Kim being discharged from the hospital today?" Old Smith asked.Old Wilson didn't speak but nodded, his entire demeanor drained of vitality, looking much older.Seeing this, old Smith sighed, "Life must go on, Kim is still young, you'll need to take care of her more from now on."Steven looked at the little girl sitting on the bed, her skin porcelain white and exceptionally delicate, but her most beautiful eyes were dull and empty. Her long lashes drooped as she kept turning her head to look out the window, seemingly unaware of his grandfather greeting her, showing no manners at all."What did the doctor say about Kim's condition? Shouldn't she stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation?" old Smith sighed, seeing the onc
The crowd around them was packed with people watching the fireworks. The tall and stately figure pulled her into his embrace, discreetly protecting her. As a bunch of pink heart-shaped fireworks bloomed in the sky, the crowd erupted in waves of admiration, "It's a pink heart, wow, so spectacular." "Did you get that? Did you get that? So beautiful!!!" "It's so beautiful, today's fireworks show was worth it." Another loud bang followed, and suddenly someone exclaimed, "There are words!" The giant fireworks that exploded in the sky clearly cast several words against the black canvas of the night. ——Kimberly, Happy New Year After the words twinkled away in the night sky, another 'boom' resounded, and more fireworks burst forth. The giant heart-shaped display. The huge screen on the building across the river changed to ——Kimberly, Happy New Year ——Kimberly, I love you. The surrounding crowd started to get noisy and excited. "Wow, look at the riverfront!" "Holy moly, who is Kimb