"Okay," Yvonne said without hesitation, taking her back home.Nina fell silent, feeling an emptiness in her heart. Loving someone meant caring about their attitude and hoping they valued her feelings. In reality, the disparity was significant.Suddenly, Yvonne slammed on the brakes. Fortunately, Nina was wearing her seatbelt, but she was still startled."Damn it, who’s blocking the road with so many cars?" Yvonne's road rage flared up. "Scaring people like this in the middle of the night! Good thing my driving skills are solid."The headlights made it hard for Nina to see what was happening. She couldn’t make out what was going on.Then, the car door opened.Yvonne, ready to yell, bit back her words when she saw who it was."It’s late. Come back home with me. We can talk there. I’m back now," Nash stood at the car door, speaking to her calmly.Hearing his voice, Nina looked up to see Nash’s face close to hers. He seemed to have rushed over and his clothes were disheveled. Howev
Nina never wanted to hear those words. They made her uncomfortable, but she still said, "Do you think I can't survive without you? While you were with Miranda, I lived just fine. If you're worried about the baby, I have friends and parents. He'll be born healthy without you worrying."Her tone was resolute.Nash was worried about her future. Being with him now was happy, but what if one day he wasn't himself anymore, becoming a beast that could harm her? That would be the worst pain for her.Though reluctant, he had to consider the reality of their situation. Seeing Nina’s cold expression, he worried that his decision might be wrong, potentially causing her harm."Are you going back to your parents'?" Nash asked calmly."Yes," Nina replied.Nash glanced at her belly. "You can go back, but take care of yourself and avoid getting hurt. Don't wander around too much to avoid danger. I can't promise I'll be there when the baby is born, but I will ensure you both are well taken care of
"And besides, he doesn’t come home, he let Miranda out, and I’m angry. I vent my anger, which is within reason, right? But he always leaves. Even when he came to find me, he agreed to let me go back to my parents' house. Doesn’t that mean he’s giving up?" Nina's eyes reddened, on the verge of tears.She held them back, not wanting anyone else to see her cry. Crying alone in a corner was enough.Yvonne did not fully understand. "Go back for a few days and see what he says later. Maybe he’s just respecting your decision, afraid you’d resent him if he begged you to stay. Men and women think differently. But as long as there's love, these issues can be worked out.""Yeah, nothing is an issue," Nina said with a bitter smile. "But he needs to compromise for me just once.""Don’t think about it anymore. Let’s go home, get some sleep, and you’ll feel better tomorrow," Yvonne tried to comfort her.Nina fell silent, swallowing her sadness and accepting the reality. Just like when they first
Her parents had previously expressed their frustration about the matter. However, she was still their daughter, and despite their complaints, they cherished her deeply. Moreover, they were about to become grandparents, something they had longed for. They had always hoped Nina would have a child, so even when they were no longer around, she wouldn't be alone. Thus, they accepted it."No, Mom," Nina said to them. "At that time, I wasn't ready, so I didn't tell you. I'm really sorry about that."Zion, standing by the door, noticed Yvonne had brought her home and immediately guessed, "Did you have another fight with Nash?"He guessed right, but Nina did not want to face it. "Can't I come home without it being a big deal? It's not like I haven't stayed here before. You’re always jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst.""We’re just worried about you," Julia said. "We only want you to be happy. You’re pregnant, and if you’re upset, your father and I will be heartbroken. So we wan
"Is that so?" Nina could not be sure. Her memories were fragmented, recollections brought on by stress. She had no idea what she had truly gone through.Zion sighed deeply, his voice heavy with emotion. "I'm sorry we hid it from you. When you went missing, we reported it to the police. They said you disappeared from school, but they couldn't find you. After months of searching, you returned on your own. When we saw you, you were covered in wounds, curled up at our doorstep. You were mumbling incoherently, clearly out of your mind, and then you passed out. You were unconscious for a long time. When you woke up, you were back to normal, but you couldn’t remember anything that happened. You had even incorporated others’ memories as your own."Thinking back to that time, it was a dark period for them."You didn’t want to remember, so we didn’t want others to know, fearing it would hurt you again," Julia explained. "You didn’t want to remember, so we didn’t want anyone else to know eit
As her father, how could Zion not worry? Even though he did not mention it in front of Julia, he kept it in his heart, fearing Nina might repeat her past mistakes.Julia’s heart raced with anxiety over this matter. Nina comforted her, soothing her until she finally calmed down and went to rest. Zion remained in the living room, waiting for Nina. When Julia had gone to the bedroom, Zion sat there, calmly drinking tea, and asked, "What’s been happening lately?"Hearing her father's question, Nina walked over. "What is it, Dad?""You haven’t been home in a long time," Zion said. "Your mother already mentioned that you came back with a big belly. Have you even considered how long it’s been since you spent time with us? Have you been too busy, or has something happened? Is your relationship with Nash really stable?"His concern was primarily for her happiness and safety."Dad, you really don’t need to worry. I can handle it."Zion pressed on, "Have they come after you again?"Nina
"Yes, Miranda hasn't come to the office. She's gone missing," someone at the company remarked indifferently.Initially, Nina had planned to use her recovered memories to scare Miranda into revealing something. But learning that Miranda hadn't shown up at work for days was puzzling.She remembered Miranda being released from prison and participating in some events, although those events were lackluster. Miranda's reputation had taken a nosedive, and her career seemed over, but it shouldn’t have led to her disappearance. Maybe Miranda was using her disappearance as another publicity stunt?Given her past behavior, it was hard not to be suspicious. However, if the company was unaware of her whereabouts, it was probably not just a stunt."Miranda is missing, and she's still part of your company. Aren't you going to report it to the police?" Nina asked."We're not her family. Company policy dictates we can't act without higher authorization. We have to avoid damaging the company's im
Hearing her voice, Nash's cold face showed a hint of reaction. He turned his head in her direction and, sure enough, saw Nina standing there.Nina quickly walked over, afraid they would miss each other if he got into the elevator. Seeing Nash pause, she felt relieved."Mrs. York," Quincy called respectfully.Nina frowned, staring at Nash. He remained silent, his eyes questioning what she was doing there.Nina stepped into the elevator and commanded, "You come in. The rest, stay out. I have something to discuss with him."Her authoritative tone left no room for argument, and no one dared to join them except Nash, who, despite his puzzled expression, followed her into the elevator.The elevator ascended to Nash's private floor. Once the doors opened, Nina silently walked towards his office, knowing Nash would follow.Once inside, she closed the door and confronted him, "Did you kidnap Miranda?"In the confined space between the door and Nash, she left him no room to move. Nash na
As Caleb spoke, he looked at Vera with a hint of helplessness. After all, her hand had been injured because of Luna. “Don’t feel guilty about this. Honestly, it’s nothing to me.“And I’m not the type to carry burdens over things like this.“Besides, it’s been so long. If this had happened back then, I might have cared. But now? I just don’t think it matters anymore.” Vera’s voice was steady and sincere. But Caleb’s expression darkened. “Why would you say that? Why do you think it doesn’t matter? Do you really see me as just the same as everyone else?” For some reason, at this moment, Caleb took it personally. Vera couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course not. You’re different from the rest—so obviously, I wouldn’t see it the same way.“You’ve helped me so much. The least I can do is acknowledge that, instead of stubbornly nitpicking about what’s right or wrong, don’t you think?“Besides, whatever happened between you and Luna, that’s none of my business. It’s in
“I didn’t mean to just now. Besides, you’ve been acting all sneaky lately—so really, who else is to blame?” Seeing Yelena in tears, Liam, who had been furious just moments ago, felt a small pang of guilt. He was never good at expressing emotions. But watching her like this made him a little uncomfortable. “Go get your hand treated. Otherwise, people who don’t know any better might think I’ve been abusing you.” With that, he turned and walked away. Yelena watched his retreating figure, feeling a bit helpless. This wasn’t something she could decide on her own. Installing surveillance? It wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Liam was naturally suspicious. If he caught wind of it, the consequences would be disastrous. But she had no choice. She had a mission to complete, and there was more at stake than just this moment. Letting out a deep sigh, she finally decided to head to a clinic to get her hand treated. *“What happened to you? That’s a serious injury. You
And just like that, the conversation fell into a brief silence. Meanwhile, on the other side, Hunter received a call from Yelena. “What did you just say?” Yelena told him that her hand was broken, and on top of that, Liam seemed to be getting suspicious. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she called Hunter for advice. “I don’t really care what happens to you, but at the very least, take care of yourself.“Otherwise, if something else goes wrong later, I’ll have to step in and clean up the mess. Don’t you think so?” Hearing this, Yelena was a little taken aback. “It’s not just about my injury. The real problem is, I’m scared of what he might do now.” Sure, she had taken the two hundred thousand dollars, but she had to stay alive to spend it. At this rate, she wouldn’t even make it through in one piece. “I already told you—protect yourself. If you need anything else, I’ll try to provide it. But right now, I need you to do something for me.” Hunter had been look
“Yes, it’s in that mountain area. If you’re worried, you can go check it out yourself. But as for anything else, we don’t really have much more information.”Compared to everything else, this was the most baffling situation.“You make a good point. But given the current circumstances, I think it’ll be difficult to pull off.”Vera was speaking with the private investigator. Deep down, she was more worried than anything else.“Don’t worry,” the private investigator reassured her. “Aside from what we discussed earlier, nothing else seems too extreme. Plus, we’ve already looked into it pretty thoroughly.”By the time he finished speaking, his expression had grown more complicated.“Alright. I understand.”After hanging up, she anxiously looked straight ahead. If she had been mentally prepared before, now she was starting to feel uneasy. “What’s going on?” Caleb asked while driving, glancing at her. Vera hesitated, debating whether to tell him or not. But seeing the strange
“I only had one surgery today,” Caleb said as he drove, his voice calm but firm. “Now that it’s done, I want to know why this happened.” After that, he said nothing more. Vera sat in silence, her heart uneasy as the car pulled up in front of an upscale club. Even though her hand was already bandaged, she still felt a sting of pain every time Caleb showed concern. “So this is what it feels like to have someone care,” she thought to herself.Back when Vera had been stepped on, her only concern had been the contract—whether the deal would fall apart and if her suffering had been for nothing.If it had been anything else, she probably wouldn’t have cared as much.But Caleb’s concern made it impossible for her to brush aside.It kept lingering in her mind, refusing to let her feel indifferent.“Don’t overthink it,” Caleb said, his voice firm. “Whatever happened between Luna and me doesn’t change the fact that this concerns me too—and I owe it to you to make things right.”
“Oh? So this is the apology you wanted?” Vera’s forehead was covered in cold sweat from the pain, but the two women standing over her barely reacted. As if this was normal to them. As if humiliating her was just another game. “I asked you a question.” Vera remained half-crouched on the ground, her hand still pinned under Luna’s heel. Helena smirked. “Yeah, I’d say that’s good enough.” She hadn’t expected Vera to be this stubborn, but it didn’t matter. With an exaggerated sigh, she casually scribbled her signature onto the contract. The deal was officially secured. Vera didn’t waste another second. She cast one last glance at the two women. “I have no interest in getting involved in your personal drama. As for Caleb and me, that’s between us. We both made our choices.” Luna’s expression twisted slightly. “I won’t bother commenting on your relationship,” she said, voice dripping with disdain. “But don’t think for a second that this will ever earn
The moment Vera heard her assistant’s words, her expression darkened. Her previously calm tone turned firm. “If that’s the case, I understand. But I still have to go. This is my responsibility, and no one else can handle it.” If she didn’t take the lead, the other party would only grow bolder. However, the moment she glanced at the name on the negotiation list, she couldn’t help but frown. Because the person she was supposed to meet wasn’t just anyone. It was Helena Xander. Vera had encountered her before—back when her relationship with Caleb hadn’t yet escalated. Even then, Helena had openly mocked her, saying that since Caleb had been Luna’s devoted lapdog for years, he should know his place and never overstep. She had also thrown a few sharp words at Vera, telling her to recognize her own status—as if warning her that getting involved would only bring trouble. Back then, Vera hadn’t taken it seriously. She never thought she would cross paths with the
“Alright, enough of this. If you’re serious about investigating, you’ll need proper psychological evaluations,” Caleb said nonchalantly.“The best way to assess something like this is through clinical observation—watch for behavioral inconsistencies, memory gaps, or personality shifts. If you can, gather video footage of his daily life. That’s the only way to get a clearer picture. Otherwise, it’s just speculation.”Caleb made the remark casually, then swiftly issued a dismissal.“You came all the way here just to mess with me? What about your own situation? How’s that going?” Caleb’s sarcasm was dry and pointed. Hunter let out a long sigh. “What else could it be? Business as usual. Compared to others, I’m probably the only one with enough patience for this mess.” He was, of course, referring to his ongoing battle with Liam. Caleb gave him a small nod. “Alright, you should get going now. I need to rest. Don’t loiter around here.” Without hesitation, he waved his hand
Vera forced an awkward smile at Hunter before quickly retreating back into the bathroom to change. Hunter, watching her leave, couldn't help but smirk. “You’re really living the good life, huh?” he teased. “Didn’t expect you to have such luck.” Caleb rolled his eyes, clearly uninterested. “Enough with the nonsense. Why are you here? And who exactly were you talking about over the phone?” He didn’t want to entertain pointless banter, especially not about women. If he was being honest, even he couldn’t fully explain his feelings toward Luna. He wasn’t sure what was left between them—was it love, or just the remnants of something that had long turned sour? That pitiful look in her eyes earlier had shaken him. For a fleeting moment, he had wanted to pull her into his arms, to comfort her like he used to. But after so many years of being humiliated and pushed aside, he had forgotten how to even speak to her anymore. So instead, he did what was easiest—he change