Xavier fell silent once more.Jasper took a deep breath and lowered his gaze. "I'll make it up to her, little by little."…Jonah and Silas rushed to Alyssa's private villa that night when they heard of her business setback.Silas was drenched in sweat as he sat in the study. His fingers typed furiously on the keyboard to track down the user information from the leaker's account that Alyssa gave her.Meanwhile, Alyssa lounged on the couch and clinked glasses with Jonah, savoring the high-quality red wine he had brought along."Hey, that's too much!" Mouth dry, Silas protested, "Am I here at night to work for free? Look at you, drinking wine and enjoying life. Is this how you treat a prosecutor?"Silas realized they showed no sympathy, so he added meekly, "Please save some for me.""Silas, stay focused on your work. If you succeed, I'll reward you with everything from my wine cellar," Alyssa quipped."Hmph! I am a moral and principled civil servant. You'd better not attempt to
"Well, it's not 'The Ring' anymore. It's straight up some 'Insidious' shit." Jonah took a sip of the red wine, still in the mood for a joke. With him and Silas around, Jasper wouldn't dare pull anything—unless he wanted to be crucified."Is that bastard knocking on your door? Screw him! Grab your weapons!" Silas cursed but continued to type away on the keyboard, his eyes glued to the screen."What weapon? Your keyboard, you mean?" She shook her head and rose with a frustrated expression. "He's come for me, so I'll be the one to show him the door. I'll go downstairs and check out the situation."She went to the entrance alone and pressed the intercom button. Jasper's indifference immediately showed up on the screen."Why are you here?" Her eyes held no emotion, as though she was staring at a complete stranger. "Aren't there other places to visit in Solana City? Why do you keep coming to my place?""Alyssa, come out. Let's talk," he said, brushing off her taunt."Why can't we tal
"Good job, Silas, although it was a little slow," Alyssa complimented him merrily."This is pretty speedy, alright? Why didn't you get Axel to work on this? He's best at everything illegal. Got to find the right person for the job.""I reached out to Axel a few days ago, but he's on an important mission. I don't want to take up his time.""Lyse, you're pretty good at hacking—almost at Axel's level. You'd have settled this yesterday if you had worked on it," Jonah expressed his puzzlement.She merely yawned and explained, "I'm lazy."Silas was dumbstruck after learning that he had been used.Alyssa looked through the Twitter account he found and smirked. "A reporter with a strong sense of justice, isn't she? Instead of reporting on her own news, she goes ahead and leaks the photos of the wedding site at my hotel, sticking her nose into other people's business.""Are you saying that someone's behind her actions?" Jonah wondered."No. She wasn't working under orders or getting pai
Why was Jasper still out there? What was he trying to get at?Was that an attempt at winning her sympathy? Alyssa would never fall for such an off-putting move!Fueled by anger, she stormed into her bedroom, only to come to an abrupt halt.The rain in fall was not as mild as the summer showers. In Solana City, the nighttime temperatures during fall could plummet below freezing.She pondered. Jasper had been standing out there for hours in a thin outfit. If he stayed put …It'd be a huge hassle to deal with the police if he dropped dead at her gates!At the thought, she hurried back to her room and dialed his number. She was dismayed to learn that his phone was turned off.She was completely baffled by his move. She might not have felt sympathy for him, but her curiosity got the better of her. Hence, she left the villa with a large black umbrella.Jasper had been standing in hunger and the rain for too long. He even momentarily mistook Alyssa's petite figure as an illusion.He
As Alyssa was no longer in love with Jasper, she shed off any pretense of a demure lady and doubled over in laughter. "Why would I be upset over nothing? I'm a Taylor. It's hard to faze me. Don't you think you've underestimated me?""That's good to hear." Jasper looked glad."Why did you come all this way to tell me that?" Alyssa wondered, never once considering that he might have done so out of love for her.After all, he had had many chances to fall for her in the three years of marriage. It didn't make sense for him to suddenly develop feelings now. That would be a ridiculously delayed response."Alyssa, at the end of the day, I am indebted to you. Ours might have been a paper marriage, but that was no excuse for my poor treatment of you," he tried to explain his behavior. "So, if there's a chance, I'd like to make it up to you.""Make it up to me? Sure." She cast him an indifferent glance. "How about you promise to keep out of my sight and stay out of my business? That's all
The day after the KS World Hotel scandal, Betty dressed up nicely to meet with Ada at the presidential suite of Berenike Hotel.It was clear to her that Betty fell short in comparison to Alyssa in terms of fashion sense, class, and eloquence. In ordinary circumstances, Ada would never have considered associating with such a superficial person were it not for the fact that Betty was a Beckett."Madam Ada, KS World's contractual breach has led to the postponement of your wedding. Even I was worried when I heard the news. Their handling of the situation was amateur and careless."It was highly unprofessional of them to expose client's information online. This case will no doubt be the perfect cautionary tale in the industry," Betty indignantly bashed KS World Hotel, oblivious to the sullen look on Ada's face.She went on, "Had you chosen Berenike Hotel, you wouldn't have gotten into this mess.""Are you implying that I was bad at decisions?" confronted Ada, who took a sip of the bl
"You cannot allow the others to read your mind through your actions. It's a risky behavior," Javier cautioned Betty."Got it, Dad."Then, Javier made a video call to Jasper. Jasper's stoic face appeared on the screen.Seeing that, Betty clung tighter onto Javier's arm in an attempt to put on the act of a loving family.Jasper ignored her and asked, "What's the matter?""Your sister has secured the partnership with Ada Kingsley. We just need you to formalize the agreement," Javier instructed him. "Meet her as soon as you can and close the deal.""You won't need me at all if Ada is on board," Jasper answered with a smirk. "Congratulations in advance, Betty. You've won a project from Alyssa that will surely help your career."As you are a capable woman, I will leave the contract signing to you. I wouldn't want to steal your thunder."Betty smoldered in anger, but without Jasper's help, she could not resolve the awkward situation with Ada."Jasper, Betty is your little sister. She
After escaping from Landon that night, Lauren found herself unable to sleep. Upon returning home, she discovered her injuries. She had a severe scrape on her elbow that was bleeding and oozing pus. The stinging pain brought tears to her eyes.As she had hurt herself after sneaking out, she kept quiet about her wounds and quickly tended to her injuries with whatever was available in the first aid kit. Then, she snuggled with her teddy bear under the covers, but that didn't help. She ended up tossing and turning throughout the night.Between sleep and consciousness, a flood of memories inundated her mind.She remembered the degrading experience of being forced to eat lunch in a squalid restroom. She also remembered the humiliating incident of being dunked headfirst into a trashcan by a male student under Zoe's command. She recalled the shocking discovery of a dead rat hidden in her bag and her cherished novel torn into shreds by Zoe's cruel hands.And then there was the harrowi