The Winfreds were a prestigious family in Oceanvile.Oceanvile was renowned alongside Casier, and if Casier were considered the aristocracy, then Oceanvile would be a rising star.The Winfreds were involved in the mining business and made a fortune in previous years. Although they had a tough time in recent years, they had a solid financial foundation.A few months ago, they acquired a rare mine in South Apridon, which attracted envy from the whole industry.Now, they unexpectedly let go of this lucrative opportunity for the sake of an illegitimate child, which was a generous act.It was no wonder Sean didn't value family ties. The Scotts also used to be a prestigious family, and there was a lot of scheming and deceit among the wealthy. He had seen it all.When it came to profit, parents and siblings were all considered trivial matters."Cassie, is this a trap?"Catherine always thought Sean was reliable in his actions, and indeed he was. He never did anything without certainty
A black car slowly pulled up in front of the Winfreds'.This wasn't the Winfreds' primary residence, so the home wasn't magnificent.Before they arrived, someone had already gotten in touch with the Winfreds. Therefore, as soon as the car pulled up, someone was there to greet them."Greetings, I'm the butler. Mr. Winfreds and the others are waiting inside. Please follow me."Ronin nodded and walked in front.Erick was in the middle, and Catherine strolled along at the back.The butler locked his eyes on Erick as soon as the three of them got out of the car. It seemed that he had recognized Erick at first sight.Ronin found it odd and slowed down to walk beside Catherine."Hey, Catherine, why's the butler so fixated on Erick? Does he know him?"Catherine stayed silent, and Ronin didn't push it when he realized she didn't want to discuss it.Once they entered the Winfreds' digs, Ronin finally understood why the butler had been staring at Erick."Sir, Miss, the man at the foref
Catherine had just settled into the car when Ronin couldn't contain his curiosity."Catherine, what was Erick up to just now?"What made Ronin wonder was when Catherine casually reached out and touched Erick's hand at the end.They'd only met a few times, but they seemed really tight, which made him jealous!Catherine decided to brush off Ronin's question. She knew him too well.Every so often, Ronin would do something like this.Ignoring him was the way to go.Catherine adjusted her seat and told Ronin, "Give me a heads up when we arrive!"Seeing that Catherine wanted to take a break, Ronin understood that she didn't feel like talking. He stayed quiet and let her relax with her eyes closed.At the Duncans'.With the latest information in hand, Paxton knocked on the study door.He opened the door and entered the study only after hearing a "coming" from inside."Mr. Duncan, I have a message from the Winfreds!"In the dimly lit study, Branden was completely immersed in a cru
Catherine had just scolded Johnathan and given a little warning to the mischievous Liana.The house had become surprisingly quiet in the past few days. After a significant setback, Korbin was wary of picking fights with Catherine. Rachael was also busy looking after Johnathan to keep him out of trouble, leaving her with no time or energy to deal with Catherine.In Class 8, the atmosphere had changed significantly.Even after class, there were no more rowdy noises.Students mostly sat quietly, chatting in their seats, and the chaos was a thing of the past.Noticing that Catherine wasn't resting or playing games, Ronin brought a chair and sat close to her."Catherine, did you really send Johnathan to Dentler Academy?"Catherine casually nodded.Ronin believed sending Johnathan to Dentler Academy was a fitting punishment, but he couldn't help but worry.Dentler Academy was renowned for its life-and-death waiver agreement, which required all students to sign it.Although the
Catherine and Ronin had taken a temporary leave from school to visit a relatively unknown hospital in Casier.Based on the information Ronin had received, Erick had been brought to this hospital.He needed a series of tests, and once they were completed without issues, he would be taken to Oceanvile.Oceanvile was where the Winfreds had their roots. If they waited until Erick was brought there, it would be much harder to get close to him.At the far end of the top floor's corridor, Ronin and Catherine waited near the stairs."Catherine, the room at the very end is Erick's. There are guards at the door, we should be in the right place.""Ok," Catherine replied tersely.Ronin hesitated for a moment before asking, "Catherine, are we really going to save him?"Their prior deal with the Winfreds included an agreement not to interfere once the deal was completed.While the Winfreds might be unethical, it was their business, and they didn't need to get involved.In terms of a busine
The reason Erick said there was not a single good person among the Winfreds dated back to the relationship between Xavier and Erick's mother many years ago.While the Winfreds had wealth, it had dwindled in Xavier's father's time.To revive the Winfreds, Xavier married Jeremy's mother and used her family's money and his business skills to turn the Winfred Group into a successful company.Erick's mother and Xavier were originally college sweethearts.However, they separated after graduating.When they met again later, Xavier lied about being married and got back together with Erick's mother.When Jeremy's mother found out about Erick mother's pregnancy, she confronted them.As a result, Erick's mother had a tough delivery and passed away shortly after giving birth to Erick.To prevent Jeremy's mother's family from withdrawing their investment, Xavier abandoned Erick and left him to be cared for by his grandparents.Erick's grandparents were devastated by their daughter's sudden
The Winfred Group's Subsidiary Company.When Jeremy got the phone call, he got incredibly angry that the veins in his neck were bulging.He clenched the phone firmly and scolded angrily, "You bunch of morons! How can you screw up so badly? Can't you even watch over one useless guy?"The other end of the phone remained silent, and Jeremy's anger grew to the point where he slammed the phone against the wall."Bang!"With a loud crash, his state-of-the-art phone shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. At the same time, the office door was pushed open from the outside.Xavier entered with a cold expression.When he saw who it was, Jeremy didn't even have time to hide the anger on his face.Xavier's leather shoes thudded heavily on the wooden floor as he walked, each step feeling like a punch to Jeremy's gut. He just stood there, unable to say a word.Xavier slowly sat down and scolded in a cold tone, "You have quite the temper."Jeremy kept his head down, too scared to lo
Sean looked at Catherine in confusion. "Catherine, didn't you send Erick back to the Winfreds? Why did you bring him back?"Catherine leaned against the wall, appearing indifferent, and didn't respond to Sean at all.Well, Sean had to turn to Ronin, who was standing nearby.Ronin, clearly irritated, chimed in, "Xavier, that old brat, plays dirty. Catherine doesn't like him!"Sean finally grasped the situation, Xavier must have crossed a line.Otherwise, Catherine, known for her laid-back attitude, wouldn't bother getting involved.Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, Catherine nonchalantly took it out and checked the message, [Are you coming back for dinner?] Catherine glanced at the message, put her phone back in her pocket, and without turning around, she casually told Sean, "I'm leaving him here for now." Sean, looking visibly alarmed, glanced at Ronin next to him and asked in disbelief, "Did I just see Catherine smiling? Who on earth has the magic touch to m
In the end, Branden couldn't stand it anymore. He took the initiative to snatch Catherine back, only then did the scene come under control.Now, no one dared to continue touching Catherine's belly.Once he snatched Catherine back, he held her tightly in his arms and prevented anyone from touching her. He thought in his mind, "Since these people like this brat so much, I'll just give the brat to them when Catherine gives birth. Saves one more person from sharing my wife with me."Triston smiled and watched the crowd as the birthday party began exactly as it should.The big screen began to show all the images of Audrey from her debut until now that were outstanding or worthy of recording. Some of the images weren't even in Audrey's possession, but Triston had found them and made a video of them.As the images flashed by, Audrey's tears couldn't help but fall from her face. She cried not only because she remembered the hardships she had endured in showbiz for many years, but also bec
Since Triston brought Audrey to meet his family, he had worked non-stop to put their marriage on the agenda.Audrey was a popular actress, and to not affect her career, Triston chose to propose in a low-key manner.Triston arranged a party on Audrey's birthday and invited many of Audrey's friends.Audrey originally thought Triston was too high-profile, but Triston insisted. "I didn't participate in so many of your past birthdays. I finally have a chance to participate this time."He persuaded Audrey repeatedly. Audrey couldn't resist him and could only agree to let him arrange the party.Luckily, he only invited Audrey's close friends and did not send out invitations widely, so she could take this opportunity to have a gathering of friends.Audrey was surprised to see Catherine when she arrived.Catherine was now eight months pregnant. Normally, she would be rejected by Branden if she wanted to visit Catherine.Branden was now very careful with Catherine every day, and Audrey w
Sure enough, only after Audrey said those words, Willa's face completely darkened.Seeing that Willa was about to explode, suddenly...Triston applauded happily, which instantly attracted the crowd's attention.Triston calmly met everyone's gaze and looked at Audrey gently. "Good. You're worthy of being the woman I love. I'm most annoyed with those women who stay at home day in and day out and like to gossip when they have nothing else to do. You have your own career and I'm very supportive of that."Triston said this with a proud look on his face and raised his eyebrows at Audrey, full of smugness.Willa's face instantly turned gloomy.Her son had demeaned her by calling her a gossipy woman just to please another woman, and it made her furious.Egbert kind of realized that his son was totally in love with Audrey. He thought it was good because Triston used to be a playboy and was always surrounded by messy women. At that time, he was really worried that Triston would marry an u
Although Audrey was born into a wealthy family, Triston's mother, Willa Lambert, had always been prejudiced against showbiz and therefore did not approve of Triston's pursuit of Audrey.In Willa's opinion, female celebrities in the showbiz industry had always appeared in public, which was not like the demeanor of a lady from a wealthy family.It was only after learning that Audrey and Triston might be together that she eagerly introduced Triston to girls in the first place. She didn't realize that after all this time, her son still hadn't given up on Audrey, and this was the first time she'd seen her son so attached to a girl.If it weren't for that, she wouldn't agree to appear at today's dinner party now.Triston led Audrey into the door, and everyone from the Lamberts had already arrived.The scene of everyone sitting in the private room made Audrey feel a bit guilty. She looked guiltily at the crowd and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm late."Triston's father, Egbert Lambert, had a
Audrey never expected to be so suddenly arranged to meet Triston's family.She couldn't react when Triston talked to her about it. Looking at Triston with disbelief in her eyes, she said, "Pardon me?"Triston's handsome face carried a gentle smile. "I've inquired with Kim. You don't have any work arrangements since this afternoon, and you can also take a day off tomorrow. It's just right for us to have dinner together in the evening."Audrey frowned and asked inwardly, "Is that what I care about?"What she cared about was who Triston had just said she would have dinner with tonight. "Why are you suddenly asking your family to have dinner with me?"The Swanns and the Lamberts were both in Casier and they were also considered to be friends. For Triston's family, although Audrey was not familiar with them, she had seen them at major parties.But in the past, they used to meet as ordinary friends.Now that she and Triston were in a relationship, his sudden proposal to take her to di
Audrey hesitated for a moment but still answered the phone with a nervous heart.She believed that Catherine definitely had a way to get her to answer the phone, but things would be troublesome if she made Catherine take her actions.She put her phone to her ear and inquired in a low voice, "Morning, Kathy. What's the matter?"Catherine's voice remained as cold as ever, without any emotion. "Tell me, what is it that you haven't told me?"Audrey had already figured out a strategy to deal with it and how to excuse herself, but as soon as she answered the phone, Catherine asked her so directly, which made her suddenly unable to react.Audrey had no choice but to tell Catherine the truth.After listening to her trembling narration, Catherine only asked coldly, "Are you sure you want him to be your boyfriend?"Audrey was a bit hesitant. Everyone blessed her and Triston after they found out they were together again, but Catherine was the only one who asked her to calm down and think i
Faced with Triston's questioning, Ronin looked arrogant. "Catherine and Audrey are sisters, so Audrey is my sister. You can bully anyone, but you can't bully her. Or else, we can't even be friends."Ronin's words sounded childish, but there was seriousness inside his eyes when he said those words. He grew up with Catherine and regarded Catherine as his most important family member. To him, Catherine's sister was his sister.After listening to Ronin's words, Triston faintly laughed out. "I see."Ronin thought that Triston didn't take his words to heart, and immediately felt a burning anger. "What do you mean? You don't understand my warning, do you?""Easy!" Triston gestured for him to calm down, then said calmly, "Even death row inmates have a chance to explain, right? You should at least hear me out.""Hmph!" Ronin snorted disdainfully. He secretly thought in his heart, "If Triston says any more asshole words, I'll definitely not show him any respect."Triston put away that cyni
They had an appointment at a recreational manor, a new property Zobber had just bought. Zobber had invited them to come along for the experience.Since Catherine's pregnancy, the entire Hacker Alliance had had much leisure time. Even though there was less to do, they had earned no less money and were basically in a dominant position.Zobber enjoyed the current situation too much becasue there was still money to be made easily. They might only have one business per year, but the profit from this business was already enough for them to spend for a year.After wandering around with her friends, Zobber excitedly looked at everyone. "How about this place? It's not bad, right? I bought it at a high price!"This was Casier, and Triston was aware of any changes in the real estate industry.He had indeed received the news when Zobber auctioned off the manor, and he also knew that Zobber had given an above-market price to take the land. But he knew that Zobber had plenty of money. It was fi
Since that dinner, Audrey had been in a special kind of relationship with Triston.Although they didn't make it clear, Triston could feel that Audrey had slowly accepted him.The number of times they met increased, and most of Audrey's work this year was in Casier.Whenever Triston had free time, he would stay alongside Audrey.Whether on set or during recording sessions, one could always catch a glimpse of Triston.Everyone kind of knew deep down that Triston was the man behind Audrey.But nobody ever exposed this whole thing, mainly because of Triston's identity.Neither he nor Audrey wanted too much attention paid to their relationship right now. If he didn't spill the beans, who else would dare to report on it?Besides, the reason Audrey and Triston's dating didn't cause much jealousy was they were a good match.Among the Four Noble Families in Casier, the Lamberts and the Swanns each held a seat, and the Swanns' power was not weaker than the Lamberts.Plus, now that Cath