"No... no need. It's the beginning of the month, and there are many reports to finalize. See you in the afternoon," Calla hurriedly said, then hung up.After dropping her phone, Calla glanced around her small room.The bed was in a mess, and clothes were thrown on the floor, completely ruined. There was a lingering masculine scent in the air.Calla quickly looked around her room and saw that he was gone. She finally let out a sigh of relief.She struggled to get up and found that her lower body hurt. In fact, her whole body ached. Looking down, her face instantly turned red. Her neck and chest were covered in purple love bites.Calla cursed Mercer in her heart again. How was she supposed to go out looking like this?Annoyed, Calla wrapped herself in a towel and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and stayed under the running water for half an hour.Fortunately, the hot shower made her body feel much better. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she dried her hair with a t
Hearing this, Mercer's face hardened. He warned, "You didn't know Calla was mine before this. Now that you do, I hope you stay away from her in the future!"Mercer's final words were uttered through gritted teeth, showing how much he cared about Calla.Pierre hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Aren't you divorced? Seems like you can't let her go. No wonder you haven't married Sophie yet. So this is the reason.""You're talking too much today," Mercer said, his face turning grim."Alright, alright, I'll stop." Pierre quickly waved his hand.Mercer's expression was solemn when he said, "I know what you're up to. Your relationship with Wanda is on and off. If you need someone to fill your emotional void, that's none of my business. But that person cannot be Calla!" Hearing this, Pierre rubbed his nose. Then, he said somewhat flippantly, "Don't worry. I won't take what you don't want.""That's better." With Pierre's assurance, Mercer's face relaxed a little."I'll go now. I hav
In the afternoon, Calla sat in her chair and started working right away. During this time, she called Faith into her office."Ms. Sherman, what do you need?" Faith knocked on the door and sauntered in, swaying her hips. She was always like this, acting high and mighty in the company. Calla learned she had connections, but she hadn't figured out who she exactly was tied to. As long as Faith wasn't too out of line and completed her work properly, Calla wouldn't cause her trouble—even though she didn't like Faith's attitude."Have you finished last month's report?" Calla asked."Not yet," Faith answered.Hearing this, Calla frowned. "Didn't I tell you yesterday that we need to close the accounts today? I did ask you to hurry up with it."Faith replied confidently, "Ms. Sherman, you didn't come to work this morning. I thought the report wasn't important anymore."Hearing this, Calla was so angry she was speechless.Faith's point was clear: the responsibility was Calla's. She empha
"You're having quite a few drinks tonight. Is there a reason to celebrate?" Pierre glanced at Mercer beside him.Mercer shot Pierre a look and smirked. "Are you in a bad mood?""Neither good nor bad," Pierre said, downing his drink.After a while, Mercer broke the silence. "I'm going on a business trip in a few days. I was hoping you could keep an eye on Casper for me. Simon is coming with me. Besides you, no one in Riverford knows about Casper. I don't want anyone else to find out."Hearing this, Pierre patted Mercer's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll check on Casper every day while you're away.""I've given your phone number to Hazel. She'll contact you if anything happens," Mercer said."By the way, where are you going on this trip? How long will you be gone?" Pierre suddenly asked."Thaylen. I'll be there for about a week," Mercer replied."Don't worry. I'll take care of Casper and Hazel," Pierre said, patting his chest.Mercer rolled his eyes at Pierre and teased, "Hazel is i
Damn it! Calla was only wearing a thin nightgown, without any underwear underneath. So she could only cross her arms over her chest. Unpleasant memories from last time flooded Calla's mind, instantly tensing her up. She was sure Mercer's visit tonight meant nothing good.At this moment, Calla made up her mind. If he dared to mess around again, she would fight him to the bitter end."I don't want anything. I'm going on a business trip early tomorrow morning, so I'm here to see you," Mercer said, his deep gaze fixed on Calla."See me? Is this how you go about it? We have nothing to do with each other now. You should knock first, and only enter with my permission, understand?" Calla shouted at him."Would you have let me in if I knocked? I didn't want to disturb your neighbors because even if I knocked the door down, you wouldn't open it." Mercer stared at Calla with a serious expression.Hearing his words, Calla was furious. She looked around, then turned and walked into the kitch
This time, Calla could not let Mercer pull the same trick on her again.So, in the next moment, she pushed Mercer's hand away and sprang to her feet. Her tone brimmed with self-righteousness as she said, "Mercer, we're strangers now. Please leave!"Mercer's eyes locked onto Calla. This time, there was no anger or annoyance in his gaze, but rather an indescribable deep affection.This look made Calla's heart tremble. She then turned her face away, refusing to look at him any longer.The next moment, Mercer withdrew his gaze. "It's getting late. You should get some rest."With that, he turned and walked toward the door.As soon as Mercer opened the door, Calla called out, "Wait!"Hearing this, Mercer paused and looked back. He saw Calla quickly walk into the bedroom.A moment later, Calla returned holding something in her hand. She walked up to Mercer and extended her hand. "You left this at my place last time!"Mercer looked down and saw the brooch with the lustrous pearl lying
With a bang, Calla shut the door. The door now separated her and Mercer. He was frowning outside with the brooch in his hand, while Calla was silently crying inside her home. It wasn't until much later when Calla could no longer hear any movement outside did she open the door once more. The hallway was empty; he had already left. That night, Mercer stood downstairs for a very long time, until the lights in Calla's home went out.…Three days later, Pierre was reviewing a case when his phone suddenly rang. He looked at it and saw it was a call from Hazel, so he quickly answered."Mr. Pierre, I'm in a bit of trouble and I don't know what to do," Hazel said anxiously on the other end.Pierre immediately tensed up and asked, "Hazel, is something wrong with Casper?""No, Casper is fine. It's me... I've caught a bad cold and have a high fever. I'm afraid of passing it to Casper, but I don't know who to ask to take care of him. Mr. Pierre, what should I do? Children have weak immun
"You can! You definitely can do it!" After saying this, Pierre stepped forward and snatched the report from Calla's hand. He tossed the folder on the desk and pulled her by the hand toward the door."Hey, where are you taking me?" Calla asked in surprise."You'll see when we get there." Pierre turned back and smiled at Calla, then led her out the door.Calla was pulled downstairs by Pierre and into his Land Rover. Then, they sped off in one direction.The car drove to the southern suburbs of Riverford. After several turns, the Land Rover stopped in front of a small, exquisite villa."What is this place?" Calla asked in puzzlement, glancing out the car window at the villa.After parking the car, Pierre finally explained the situation to Calla. "Calla, I have a good friend who's on a business trip now. He hired a nanny to take care of his son. But now the nanny has caught a cold and is worried about passing the virus to the child. "So I need someone temporarily to look after th
Seeing Pierre's expression, Calla realized that a few words wouldn't dispel his suspicions. She reached into her bag, unzipped it, and pulled out the knife.Pierre's eyes widened as he noticed the gleaming knife Calla was pulling out of her bag. He furrowed his brows in concern. "What are you—"Calla explained, "Mercer told me that Casper is my son, that he wasn't stillborn as I was told. I didn't believe him at first, but I was afraid he might be telling the truth, so I went to his house to see him."But I was afraid he might have ulterior motives toward me. As a woman, I'm naturally no match for him. In a moment of desperation, I had to grab this knife from the kitchen for protection. If he dared to do anything to me, I wouldn't have hesitated to use it on him."Her expression was intense, reflecting her genuine fear and resolve.Pierre looked deeply at Calla, then gently touched her cheek. He took the knife from her hand and placed it on a nearby table.Calla then rushed into
Suddenly feeling Mercer's hand on her shoulder, Calla instinctively recoiled. She swatted away his hand and shouted, "Don't touch me, Mercer!"The harm he had caused her was too profound. Even though she now understood his desperate reasons, she still felt immense aversion toward him."Fine, I won't touch you." Mercer retracted his hands and left them suspended in the air."Don't think you can use Casper to threaten me, Mercer. I will never be manipulated by you!" Calla shouted at him.Mercer's expression turned pained at her words. He took a step back, and his eyes filled with profound anguish. "Do you really see me as someone who would use my own son as a bargaining chip?""Yes," Calla replied sternly.Mercer's body swayed slightly, then he turned away in dejection. "If that's the case, then you should leave."Seeing his forlorn figure, Calla felt a pang of sadness, but she couldn't bring herself to trust him again. She turned and walked out of the house.She stumbled out of
At this moment, Mercer clenched his fists. Even with his resolute nature, his eyes seemed misty."This is where I feel most sorry toward you and Clover. Clover is my daughter too. Of course, I wanted her to come into this world healthy. But I couldn't let Casper disappear from this world either."His condition worsened so severely at that time. I was afraid he wouldn't make it to your due date, so I had to take drastic measures..." Mercer struck his fist hard against the wall.Seeing the despondent and remorseful Mercer before her, Calla felt a twinge of compassion, but she still couldn't accept all his explanations.Glancing at the reports in front of her, Calla placed her hand on her cheek. She could feel her fingers trembling.Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "You kept searching for me in Greendale to get me pregnant so you could use the baby's umbilical cord blood to save Casper?"From the timeline Mercer had explained, Casper's condition must have been severe by then.Cal
Mercer smiled bitterly. "I knew that you wouldn't believe me, so I prepared a copy of Casper's medical reports. You can take a look." He pulled out several thick envelopes and set them on the coffee table. Calla frowned upon seeing those envelopes which were all an inch thick. She opened one of them and flipped through the documents inside, frowning as she read. The envelope held reports of Casper's hospitalization in both the city and state hospitals, spanning two years, starting from when Casper was a year old. They were records of Casper's illness and his recovery process.Calla couldn't help thinking about his adorable, chubby face, and she felt her heart clench. She wondered how Casper had managed to triumph over his illness after two years. She couldn't even fathom how painful and difficult the process must have been.Suddenly, Calla noticed something in Casper's surgery reports—a note about how a newborn baby's umbilical cord blood was miraculously compatible with Casper.
"My heart is already in pieces because of you. So what if I hit, cursed, or even stabbed you now? What's the point of doing all that? I beg this of you, Mercer, please let me live my life quietly and stop bothering me!"Stop making up all these ridiculous justifications too. I'm tired—exhausted! I don't want to deal with you anymore," Calla sobbed, tears running down her face.She knew that she shouldn't have cried in front of him. It wasn't just a sign of her weakness, it might also fuel his assumption that she still cared for him. However, she couldn't control it. Whenever she thought of the suffering she'd gone through in the past couple of years, tears ran uncontrollably down her face."I want nothing more than for you to let me tell you the truth in its entirety. I want you and Casper to not miss out on the chance to reconnect as mother and son. "I promise that I'll respect your choice once I'm done telling you everything, and I won't bother you again in the future!" Mercer l
Calla's eyes widened as she remembered everything that had happened in the past. She stumbled over her words as she said, "B-But we were going to get married after we were back on good terms with each other, and I'd already met Casper at that point. Why didn't you tell me about him back then?"Mercer looked at Calla meaningfully. "Do you remember when I told you, on the day we were about to get our marriage certificate, that I had a big surprise for you?"Calla thought about it, then nodded. He had indeed said that he'd prepared a big gift for her. Could the gift have been Casper?Facing Calla's doubtful look, Mercer nodded. "Yes. I wanted to tell you after we received our marriage certificates, but I didn't expect something else to happen on that day."Calla sneered. "'Something else' is a nice way of putting it. You didn't go to get the marriage certificates done with me, because you chose to hold a press conference with Sophie instead, announcing your marriage with her."When
Mercer's face fell. He sat on an armchair before asking Calla, "Do you dislike me that much? Are you not even willing to stay by my side for one minute?""I don't dislike you—I hate you. Also, one minute is too long—I can't even bear to stay by your side for one second!" Calla replied without hesitation.As memories—filled with love and resentment alike—flashed in Calla's mind, she felt an intense hatred for Mercer. If not for Casper, she would never have stepped inside this place again, much less take a seat across Mercer to have a conversation.Calla's words hurt Mercer. He sat there for a while with his head lowered before lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag.Calla couldn't help coughing when the acrid smell of smoke entered her nose. Realizing that he'd made her cough, Mercer quickly stubbed the cigarette in his ashtray. Calla didn't want to waste any more time with him. She asked impatiently, "Why did you have me come here? Who is the woman you had Casper with?"
Calla finished getting ready, slung her bag over her shoulder, and walked over to Clover. She gave her a quick peck on the cheek and then turned to Fiona. "Fiona, I'm going out to meet a friend.""Okay," Fiona replied with a smile, then continued feeding Clover some water.Calla left the apartment and was about to press the elevator button when Pierre emerged from the opposite door."Hey, aren't you supposed to be off work today? Where are you going this early?" Pierre asked, noticing Calla was heading out."Oh, I'm meeting Alicia. She's going back to work tomorrow, so we're hanging out later," Calla replied hastily, avoiding eye contact with Pierre. She had never been good at lying."She's going to be your bridesmaid. It's only right to express our gratitude," Pierre said with a smile, walking into the elevator with Calla."Where are you meeting her? I can give you a ride," Pierre offered."We're meeting at the department store. It's not on your way, so you should get going. I'
Calla was initially certain that Mercer's goal was to use Casper to ruin her marriage with Pierre.But as the night wore on, Calla's doubts grew. She couldn't shake the feeling that maybe—just maybe—Mercer was telling the truth. Perhaps Casper was indeed her child, the one she had given birth to all those years ago.She couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. What if her child had not died? What if he was still alive and well?As the first light of dawn crept into the room, Calla made a decision. She would go see Mercer, no matter what his motives were. She had to get to the bottom of it.Calla gazed at Clover, who was still fast asleep. She gently stroked her daughter's cheek. "Clover, don't you think it would be wonderful to have an older brother to share your toys and adventures with?Clover's chubby face didn't move. Calla's eyes lingered on her for a moment before she spoke again. "I have to get to the bottom of this no matter what the outcome is. I have to find out if Casp