Jane accompanied me as we took Grandma and Ben back to the Shaw family's old residence.Ben was in a daze and was very clingy to Grandma. He would occasionally glance at me and smile foolishly but didn't say anything. He would call me "Sweetie" from time to time, and when he saw my mom, he called her "honey." My mom managed to suppress her urge to roll her eyes thanks to years of practiced composure.He also didn't ask for Simone or Bethany, and he never mentioned their names."Madam Shaw, you're back."As we brought Grandma into the old residence, someone came to greet us. She appeared to be a bit younger than Grandma but was clearly from the same generation. Taking care of Grandma would be no problem, but Ben was another matter...I suggested, "Grandma, let me find someone else to help you out, to share the burden."The Shaw family's residence used to have many servants, each with their own duties. Now, due to whatever trouble Simone caused, not a single servant could be seen
Across the ocean.Alan received a phone call and hurried to report to Frank. Frank was about to pick up his phone and dial my number when he saw Alan and frowned slightly."You'd better have something very important.""It's very important." Alan was sweating. "The place where Jack was kept has exploded."Frank cocked his brows. "Exploded?"Alan didn't was very nervous and said honestly, "The explosion was quite big, turning the area into ruins and has affected the surroundings. I need to go back and handle the relevant matters."Frank leaned back in his chair, and something flickered in his brown eyes. He tapped his fingers on the table twice."Even if it's in ruins, you still need to confirm whether he's really dead.""Yes."Alan hurriedly turned to leave, but just as he reached the door, he heard Frank's typically casual yet chilling voice from behind."Find out the details, and then you know what to do."Alan didn't dare to argue. He had previously assured Frank that ther
Jane was enjoying herself on the dance floor. Feeling her bracelet vibrate, she was about to check who was calling when she was suddenly pulled out of the dance area by an unseen force. She stumbled her way into a private room and managed to steady herself.Looking up, she saw a familiar yet cold face.Before she could say anything, her bracelet vibrated again. Seeing that it was Charlotte calling, she immediately answered, "Why are you calling me repeatedly? Is something wrong?""Can you get in touch with Zachary? I can't reach Frank."“Oh, what a coincidence...” Zachary was right in front of her. Jane raised her hand. "Did you hear that, Mr. Collins?"At the sound of her voice, Zachary took out his phone and made a call.Jane then thought of something and asked, "Have you made contact with Alan?""No."Hearing this response, Jane felt a bit more alert. Alan's phone was supposed to be on 24/7. She had always thought he was like a droid, a never-stopping one. Now, there was act
There was a moment of silence. I was even more certain of my guess, sniffing as I said, "If you keep hiding this from me, I'm going to worry." Frank felt a headache. If he talked about it, she would worry. If he didn't, she would worry even more. Thinking of this, he imagined his cold gaze, like a knife, piercing through the clumsy Alan on the other end. Alan also felt wronged, but there was nothing he could do. After bandaging his wound, he silently stepped back to stand aside. Frank glanced at the wound on his abdomen, pinched the bridge of his nose, and said, "The negotiations didn't go very smoothly, but you don't need to worry. I'm fine." I kept waiting for him to say something. In that minute-long silence, I was sure something had happened to him. And now, I couldn't fly over there to check on him. Otherwise, he'd be distracted worrying about me. "Can you just be honest with me? Otherwise, how can I not worry?" Frank let out a light laugh and s
They couldn't even think about what he meant by those words. Frank raised his hand, and Alan stepped forward to pull up an intruder. Frank poked the camera in front of him with an taser, lifting his chin slightly, exuding an air of reckless arrogance. "The price for this lesson is steep. I trust you understand, right? Senno Valin." On the other side of the camera was Senno Valin, the head of the Valin family, one of the local mafia groups. Initially, he had agreed to Kevin's request to eliminate Frank. Now, things were getting interesting. He looked at Frank's defiant image on the screen. "I want to win him over. If I can use a person like him, I can take over other territories and become the king here." Kevin was already furious that Frank hadn't been eliminated. Hearing Senno say this only made him angrier. But he was just leveraging a little bit of gratitude here, not powerful enough to confront Senno. "Frank is very dangerous, cunning, and hard to win
I also wasn't clear on the specifics, so I couldn't just say anything. "Did Zachary really not say anything to you?" Speaking of this, Jane seemed to get angry, grinding her teeth. "No, I asked him nicely, and he just turned and walked away." "I called him again, but he didn't answer. I sent a message, and it was like throwing a peddle into the ocean." "What? Frank hasn't called you back?" "He did." But I still felt restless and anxious. "He said there was just a problem with the collaboration, but I know something has happened." After hearing this, Jane thought for a moment and said, "It's true that it's not as safe abroad as it is here, but it's much better than before. Your man is smart; he'll be fine." "Don't overthink it; maybe it's just that he doesn't want to keep the partners waiting. He can't be treated the same way abroad as he is here." "Alright, stop worrying." Seeing me downcast, Jane pushed the cake in front of me. "He said he'd be back fo
Frank laughed. "So the condition he proposed is this." "But I'm more curious about how he blew up the place where I was holding Jack." That place was abandoned, and almost no one knew he was keeping people there. Kevin had fled abroad for the Shaw family's assets, abandoning Simone. He didn't have time to arrange this. For some reason, he just felt that someone like Jack, a rat in the gutter, wouldn't die easily. "I'm still investigating this, but Jack definitely can't be alive. That chemical factory is a complete ruin; the guards you arranged didn't survive, and he was locked up there unless he's a god or they found his body and confirmed his DNA." Frank set aside this doubt for now. "You need to come here." "I promised Charlotte that I'd be home for Christmas. Otherwise, she'd definitely come over regardless." Zachary agreed, "I'll bring Simone and Bethany with me." He couldn't help but tease him a little. After all, opportunities to see Frank in a tough
Jane tossed her hair and, while booking a plane ticket on her phone and said, "Since you're worried about Frank, I'll go check on him for you." I didn't really need that. I admitted I was worried about Frank, but I couldn't let my good friend get into danger. "You..." Just as I was speaking, a video called came in. Seeing it was Frank calling, I answered, "What's up?" "What... is... up?" Frank repeated my words very slowly. Then I remembered. "I didn't hang up on purpose; Jane wants to go with Zachary to your side, and I'm trying to stop her." Frank's voice became a bit heavier. "Don't let her come." Before I could reply, Jane said, "Mr. Smith, I'm an adult..." Before she could finish, Frank abruptly hung up the video call. I sent a question mark in response. He replied, "Someone will stop her. You don't need to worry." I replied, "Got it, I'll wait for you to come back." With Frank's words, I watched Jane leave. Worrying didn't help, and I
“Why?” asked Jane.“Because such an opportunity is rare,” replied Zachary.Westley indeed cherished the opportunity tonight.Regarding potential rivals, he had investigated a lot.Oliver was the only person who was a little close to Jordan.So tonight, he was confident he could remain emotionally stable and have a proper conversation with Jordan.But he hadn’t expected to encounter a problem as soon as they got off the plane.“Jordan!”Leanne, holding a large bouquet of sunflowers, immediately passed the flowers to Jordan upon seeing her.“If I hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have been able to catch you. It’s been so long since we’ve gathered together.”“No matter what happens between you and my brother, we can’t cut off our relationship, right?”Jordan had always had a good relationship with the members of the Howard familyNo one treated her poorly or like an outsider.During her school years, any troublemakers had been dealt with by the Howard family.Especially Leanne, who h
Zachary was rendered speechlessFrank teased him, "Family status."Zachary ignored him, as if Frank's family status was any higher."Dominic is keeping an eye on things over there, which is reassuring. The finished products have already been produced, and Jordan helped take some photos. The promotional effect has been good.""Dominic is reliable. It's just a pity I can't model for the later set of the clothes' promotions. Honestly, I really wanted to wear them, the patterns in the later designs are even more intricate."Charlotte glanced at her belly. "You're not showing yet, so you can wear them. I had Dominic send them over. I was in a rush to come back today because of Jordan and didn't bring them, but when the package arrives, you can wear them for the shoot."Jane sighed. "I wonder if the girl will still have time to help me take photos in a few days. I want her to take my maternity photos too.""Whether or not she gets divorced, if you ask her, she’ll definitely come. You
“Let’s go back to the the Howard family’s residence.”“It’s too late, I don’t want to disturb them.”Jordan gritted her teeth. “Then let’s go to your house. It’s so big, we can each take a room and not disturb each other.”Westley calmly took a sip of tea. “It’s not very convenient.”Jordan’s temper flared. “Let’s just stay in a hotel!”Westley replied, “There are too many people watching me in Nelana. I don’t want to be misunderstood.”Jane and Charlotte exchanged a look.They both understood each other’s thoughts.Before, they had thought Westley was calculating and manipulative.He had always been clever at using tricks to handle Jordan.Now, they realized it wasn’t just that.This man had a thick skin—he could say anything without blinking.But they didn’t fully understand Westley’s intentions.He clearly had the chance to spend time alone with Jordan, perhaps to explain some things and clear the air.Yet he kept refusing.If he felt it was inconvenient, if he didn’t
At that moment, someone under Westley came to report.“Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Howard flew to Jeswood. They’re likely going back to celebrate Mr. Collins and Mrs. Collins’ wedding.”Westley immediately booked a flight as well.When Jordan saw Jane, she started venting her frustrations.As she spoke, her voice gradually faded, and she apologized, “I’m sorry. It’s your big day, and here I am talking about this.”Jane poured her a cup of tea. “It’s alright, I understand. I invited you to celebrate, which is sudden of me, considering you’re in the middle of a divorce.”Jordan shook her head. “I could use the good vibes. Hopefully, it’ll help me get the divorce finalized smoothly.”Zachary and Frank exchanged glances, wisely choosing not to get involved in the conversation.What they didn’t expect was for Westley to show up at such a critical moment.He even handed Zachary a gift. “Congratulations.”Zachary instinctively looked at Jane and saw her smiling faintly. His scalp tingled wi
Zachary had already planned for today.He didn’t take Westley’s words to heart.He assumed Frank would explain things to Charlotte.Who knew Charlotte actually accompanied Jordan to Nelana?“It’s not that, it’s just a coincidence.”Jane chatted with Charlotte and asked about Jordan’s situation.Charlotte said, “Westley didn’t show up, so the young girl is very angry right now. I’m taking her to get some photos taken.”“Then after you’re done, come back. How can I celebrate without you here?”Nelana and Jeswood weren’t far from each other. Charlotte checked the time and agreed.“If you’re hungry, just eat something first. Don’t keep waiting. Once I’m on the plane, I’ll let you know. You can roughly estimate the timing.”“Alright!”Jane hung up the phone and looped her arm around Zachary’s. “I want to eat a strawberry cake.”Zachary helped her into the car and instructed Ross to drive to a cake shop.He got out of the car himself to buy it.As Jane ate, she asked, “So if We
“I don’t care! I must go back and put on some makeup!” Jane declared.Ross, who would rather face Zachary’s wrath than make Jane unhappy, immediately prepared to turn the car around.But Zachary stopped him. “Keep driving.”He gently patted Jane’s back to calm her down.“I know you’re excited about getting the certificate, but don’t get so worked up—think about the baby.”Was that what he thought this was about?Jane grabbed Zachary’s ear. “Are you getting old and becoming deaf? I said turn the car around! If you keep pretending not to hear me, don’t even think about me taking a photo with you to get the certificate when we get there!”In the end, Zachary had no choice but to compromise.Jane hadn’t done her makeup in a while. With the sudden pregnancy, she hadn’t had the time to prepare maternity-safe cosmetics.So they went to the mall, where she bought what she needed and applied a full, flawless makeup look.Feeling beautiful and confident, she finally went to the Civil A
Jordan planned to return to Nelana right after breakfast.Yasmin tried to persuade her to stay a few more days.But she was eager to return and finalize her divorce.Charlotte decided to accompany her since she hadn’t had the chance to visit Dominic and look at the finished products after Jane’s recent accident.Frank wanted to tag along, but Charlotte stopped him. “You stay here and handle things.”Frank sneered. “You’re just tired of me and keep coming up with reasons to stay apart.”Charlotte had been hearing this from him a lot lately and was immune to it by now.She patted his shoulder, linked arms with Jordan, and walked away.Frank was rendered speechless‘Fine.’Westley had never drunk so much alcohol before.Although he wasn’t completely wasted, there were still some things he remembered clearly.However, his headache was intense.Buck brought him some water, asked about his schedule, and reported on the events of the night before.Westley paused while drinking t
She could say nothing more.Moreover, even if she said something, it would be useless.Zachary achieved his goal and turned to leave.After the door to the ward closed, Rebecca picked up a piece of yellowing apple to eat.The old lady of the Collins family sighed, “We didn’t raise him in vain.”Rebecca wiped away tears, she still couldn’t bring herself to like Jane.But Zachary was her only son. At this point, there was nothing she could do to stop him.She could only look the other way and let it go.She said to Eric, “Jeswood is too cold. Take me to Clisfield. This is what you’ve promised me.”Spring had already arrived in Jeswood, it wasn’t cold at all.But Eric still immediately arranged for tickets to be booked.There were still several months before Zachary and Jane’s wedding.In the meantime, she could relax and gradually come to terms with things as time passed.Eric looked at the elderly couple. “Mom, Dad, come with us. The weather there is warm year-round.”Zach
If this were Jane, just a single cough would send him into a panic.Rebecca felt that Zachary now cared more about Jane than her.“Even if Jasper isn’t her biological father, how can you be so sure her real parents are good people? What if...”Zachary finished slicing the apple into small pieces, placed them on a plate, and handed it to his mother.His tone was unhurried. “I can accept anything. As I said before—I will marry no one but her.”Rebecca didn’t take the plate, so Zachary set it aside.The apple, left untouched, began to oxidize and turn brown.Zachary lightly tapped the apple with the fruit knife and said, “There are more than one path in front of me.”Rebecca opened her mouth to speak, but Zachary interrupted her.He pulled out a photo and handed it to her.“The Collins family doesn’t only have me for the official route. There is a sister who can take my place.”Rebecca was stunned. “What sister?”Zachary produced a document. “A recently acknowledged goddaughte