Ryan was a little surprised at my actions, but said nothing.I pursed my lips and said softly, "What happened on the night of our wedding?"I could still remember waiting on the balcony the whole night for him.Ryan abandoned his newly wedded wife on the night of their wedding and left without saying a word.I thought it was because of something important and worried about his safety. I even thought that he was unhappy with something I had done and hoped that he would come back home soon.Back then, I was only 23 years old. I somehow was able to marry the man that I had a crush on for years.How could I not look forward to our marriage?I only found out today that he was with another woman during our wedding night.Everything sounded like a joke.Ryan didn't keep anything from me. His voice was still soft. "She went street racing that night and had an accident. I was notified by the police to pick her up."'What a coincidence. She just had to have an accident on the night of
I didn't want to understand Tom's perverted joke, but I still did.Jane chuckled and said, "It's not, but it didn't really satisfy me."I looked at Jane in disbelief as if asking her what she was talking about."We slept with each other once. It wasn't a great experience." Jane didn't care if Tom was right next to her or not.Tom stomped his foot sulkily. "That was my first time. What do you know anyway!""Stop right there! I can't be held responsible! You're just a playboy, so don't talk about your first time with me. You've probably lost your virginity to these anyway." Jane interrupted and pointed to Tom's hands.I looked at Tom, who was usually the playboy and saw him blush. Only then did I figure out what was going on.The two of them had a one-night stand and Tom was probably pursuing Jane at the moment.Jane ignored Tom and led me towards a private room. "A senior in university has returned to the country. Tom and the others organized this party and asked me to tag along
Every move they made felt like a slap in the face to me.My heart ached more and more.I had imagined such a scene countless times.As I watched what was happening, I began to feel cold even though I was at home."Charlotte, you're awake!" Jessica said with a smile when she turned around and saw me. "Come and have a taste of Ryan's cooking. I promise you it's delicious."As soon as she said those words, she began placing dishes on the dining table as if she were the hostess of the house.I took a deep breath, walked past her, looked at Ryan, and asked, "Why is she in our house?"Ryan brought out the last dish, removed his apron, and said coldly, "She'll get lost after having lunch.""How can you be so heartless? Are you really going to kick me out of the house?" Jessica glared at him."That's enough, Jessica! I'll kick you out myself if I get any more from you!" Ryan's was dark and sounded like his patience had run out."You're so mean," Jessica mumbled as she dragged me over to the di
The date that my parents died was the following Saturday as well.I planned on going to the hospital in the morning and then going to my parents' grave after the checkup.It wouldn't take too long.I somehow had a bad feeling about my plan on Saturday, but I couldn't tell what was wrong. This caused me to be unable to tell Ryan about the baby.It also caused me to be unable to tell Jane if I was going to take Ryan to my parents' grave or not.Things might change at any moment.The relationship between Ryan and Jessica was like a time bomb in my heart.Seeing that my spirit wasn't really high, she glanced in the direction of Jessica's office. "Has Ryan taken care of that bitch?""More or less."The two of us chatted for a while longer before Jane returned to the Marketing Department.I didn't know if Jessica had come to her senses or something, but nothing happened for the next couple of days.I was worried that she wasn't going to pass my designs, but things went more smooth
Everything that I had been looking forward to disappeared. I was completely disappointed.I felt that it was probably the feeling of being hopeless.I held the phone and was at a loss for words for a long time.There were some questions that I wanted to ask, but there was no point anymore.It was obvious where Ryan had gone.But he promised me that there wasn't going to be a next time.Therefore, this was his choice.The answer was obvious.All Grownups knew that in order to gain something, they had to first give up something else.I was probably the person he decided to sacrifice after careful consideration.I subconsciously rubbed my stomach. I suddenly began to wonder if I really should keep the child.If I decided to keep the child, then it would be very hard to cut off my connections with Ryan.The custody of the child alone would be a big problem."Charlotte?" Ryan called my name on the other end of the line."Okay."I didn't say anything else, or should I say I di
It was the third time that day.I had tried to tell Ryan about the child three times, but was never able to.It seemed that Ryan was destined not to meet the baby in my child.I was glad that I didn't tell him. That way, the divorce would be much simpler.Jelaston was a big city. If Ryan and I got divorced, it would be almost impossible for the two of us to meet again.Ryan would probably never find out that we had a child.Jane agreed with me after hearing what I had in mind. "Your child won't want a scumbag for a father. You're doing the right thing for not telling him."By the time I finished the IV drop and left the hospital, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.Jane wrapped her arms around mine as we headed to the car park. "Your car has been sent to the garage for repairs. It was quite badly damaged and repairs would probably take a week. I'll go with you to collect your car when the repairs are finished. If you want to go anywhere for the next few days, you can j
"What?" I was dumbfounded.Ryan continued casually, "Jack Renolds. Wasn't he the one who gave you a lift back home that night? You went to see him as soon as he came back into the country."His voice was full of disdain and self-mockery.I furrowed my brows and locked gazes with him. I then asked in disbelief, "Are you saying that I have feelings for Jack?""Do you not?" He curved his lips into a sneer.To me, his expression was full of mockery.An uncontrollable anger that I had never felt arose in my head. I raised my hand and slapped him. "You're such a bastard, Ryan!"I tried my best to not cry, but tears still welled up in my eyes.After crying for a while, I couldn't help but laugh.It was hilarious. I loved Ryan for so many years, but in the end, all he could do was ask me if I had divorced him for another man. It was pointless to say anymore.Jane had arrived without me noticing and Tom was behind her.She dragged me out of the house, looked at Tom who seemed to be i
Ryan and I weren’t even officially divorced yet and Jessica was already in such a rush to get his things back.The shares were worth way too much, so I never planned on keeping them.I just didn’t want Jessica to get what she wanted so easily.I frowned slightly. "Who are you to ask me such a question?"Jessica chuckled arrogantly. "Are you trying to seize the shares? Those were given to Ryan's wife by Ryan himself. Once you divorce him, the shares won't belong to you anymore!""Have you still not gone to see a doctor?" I asked. "You need to go see a doctor as soon as possible. Otherwise, you might end up in a mental hospital and not just medication."Jessica squinted her eyes. "Charlotte, are you calling me crazy?!"I couldn't be bothered to argue with her, so I asked softly, "Have you received the letter of resignation? Please approve it as soon as possible.""Do I need you to tell me what to do? I submitted it to the Human Resource Department last night." She wished that I c
Jane didn’t answer, but asked, "Did you come to Nelana for work, or...?""For you."The answer to all her questions pointed in one direction.Jane stared at Zachary for a long time before switching to another question."Are you serious about what you said?"Zachary looked at her with serious eyes. "Every word I said to you, I meant it."Then there was nothing more to say.Jane kissed him on the chin and then turned over to sleep.Zachary embraced her from behind, his deep, attractive voice whispering in her ear."What does kissing me mean?""It’s exactly what you think." Jane nudged him with her elbow. "I’m really tired, stop bothering me."That night, the rarely active Zachary updated his social media.There was only one picture.A large hand holding a small one, and on her finger, was a diamond ring.Frank commented, "You two are back together?"Zachary replied, "Yep."Charlie, who hadn’t seen Frank’s comment, learned that the Greyson family was about to marry into th
"Alright, those two are already having a hard time. Stop watching the show."In a hotel room in Nelana.Jane stepped onto the sofa, trying to snatch her phone back from Zachary’s hand."I’m on the phone with my best friend. It has nothing to do with you! What right do you have to hang up my video call!"Zachary pulled her into his arms, and with a flick of his wrist, her phone landed steadily on the sofa.Jane realized that she was too close to him and could feel the heat from his body.She quickly struggled to break free from his embrace.Zachary tightened his arms around her. "Shall we talk?""I have nothing to talk to you about.""Aren’t you supposed to thank me?"Jane gritted her teeth. "My thanks is dinner. If you want something else, forget it!""Dinner works too."Zachary seemed to compromise, nodding slightly.Jane was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but then her thigh was grabbed, and she was lifted into the air."Zachary!"When she was set down on the bed, s
"Even if I have feelings for him, I still wouldn’t marry him.""His dad could easily destroy me if he wanted to."Charlotte had always known that Jane still had feelings for Zachary.The reason she had given up initially was because of Nina and Zachary’s indecision.Later, Zachary’s grandmother’s words had truly frightened her.She wanted to break up, and the main reason was to see if she could love Zachary enough to go against the whole world.But after visiting the Collins family, all that was left in her was fear.Someone who had always had to rely on herself since she was young was naturally someone who valued her own life."I only found out about Zachary’s trip to Nelana the night after the birthday party. But you had booked your trip to Nelana a long time ago. I’m not sure if it was because Zachary got the news and went, or if his trip to Nelana was already part of his work arrangement. I didn’t tell you earlier because I didn’t think it would be so easy to run into him i
Jordan was unhappy. "This has nothing to do with you.""We're not divorced yet.""We're about to be."Jordan tried to grab her phone, but Westley held it out of her reach.She pressed her whole body against his.Jane sneered.Men’s tricks—he could fool young girls, but she saw right through it.She tried to say something, but her mouth was firmly covered by Zachary.She had forgotten.There was someone here who was in on the trick.Westley locked his arm around Jordan's waist, his eyes darkening slightly."You owe me money now. Until you repay it, you can’t get a divorce."Jordan immediately became infuriated. She stomped hard on his foot and ground it back and forth."I can pay you back right now. You can go with me to get the divorce certificate."Westley was like a big bad wolf luring a little rabbit into his den."Jordan, I’m the creditor. How and when you repay, it’s up to me to decide."Clap, clap, clap—Jane couldn’t hold back and started clapping.But Westley
Jane slapped his hand away."Focus on the cards that you’re playing," she said.She turned around and told to her friends to start.Leanne handed her a lollipop and whispered, "This is the first time I've seen Zachary like this. He used to look at no one and was cold as ice. Now he's like this."Jordan agreed softly, "When he saved me back then, he looked down at me and coldly said, 'Fool'. After that, he never said anything to me again. Whatever I said, all I got was a simple nod."Jane had also seen Zachary during his cold period. Hearing this, she chuckled."You're exaggerating. Didn't he just talk to you a moment ago? That was only because of Jane.""Westley doesn't have that much influence. When he saved me, he didn't even know I was Westley's wife. After he found out, he went to Westley to ask for a favor. I can still remember the scheming look in his eyes. But I was pretty happy. Not many people can set Westley up."They were right next to the men, and it wasn’t hard to
Zachary glanced at him coldly. ‘He’s always fooling kids around.’He thought back to how Westley had disappeared for so many years, without a word or care. Now, the woman was divorcing him, and it was his own fault.Jordan wasn’t the little girl she used to be, easily fooled by a few words from Westley.“She’s familiar with Zachary. They’re already a couple, no need for me to accompany her.”A scheming look flashed in Westley’s eyes.“This collaboration requires some promotional photos. Since you’re so familiar with her, you’ll be able to work together more smoothly. You should stay and help her out—she’s not familiar with the area.”Jane was about to speak, but Zachary pressed his hand over her mouth.She cocked her brows, silently accusing him of collusion.Zachary sighed.“You don’t lack photo shoots.”Jordan seemed a little convinced, but she wasn’t about to just go along with whatever Westley suggested.“No one takes better photos than you.”‘Flattering, with a touch o
Jane’s attention was immediately piqued. Earlier, when Zachary had introduced Westley to her downstairs, her shock had been rooted in the fact that he was Jordan’s husband, a man ten years older. She hadn’t expected to meet him so soon.Her curiosity about their relationship, especially considering the "marriage first, love later" and their seemingly endless entanglement, was growing by the second. She couldn’t wait to hear the full story. But just as she was about to ask, the door to the private room suddenly opened.A familiar face stormed in, fuming. Without a word, she grabbed a glass of wine from the table and splashed it across Westley’s face.“You’re despicable!”Westley, a man in his 30s who had climbed to the top of the Howard family, was known for his ruthless methods and deep scheming. The authority he exuded was palpable, and everyone in the room, even the most powerful, dared not make eye contact with him, let alone throw a drink in his face.Yet Westley didn’t show a
She asked, "You said before that we should eliminate the root cause—there must be a way, right?"Eric sighed at her words."That was before. Westley can easily find a business partner. Jane isn’t the only person in the world who can take care of the business. Even if we do something behind his back, Westley won't openly confront us.""Yes, he would. If I’m not mistaken, he owes Zachary a favor."Rebecca was taken aback. "When? Why didn’t I know about this?"Eric raised a hand and patted her shoulder. "Calm down a little. I’m a bit hazy on the details myself. It’s not entirely clear.""It seems like Westley’s wife once went on an animal photography shoot in some remote wilderness and ran into some criminals. At the time, Zachary was in training and happened to be there."Rebecca thought back to the timeline of Zachary’s training. "Wasn’t his wife still a student back then? And at that time, she wasn’t even his wife.""But she is now." Eric gently pushed her to sit on the edge of
Jane couldn’t be bothered to respond to him. She pushed him aside and went over to Dominic to chat.Zachary had intended to go over, but Westley called him over instead. He had his secretary go over to Jane to have her sign a few documents.Westley clinked his glass against Zachary’s."You're quick-witted, aren't you? You knew to find me as your fiancee's shield. Aren’t you afraid your family will find out and get furious?"Zachary looked in Jane's direction, his gaze gentle yet firm."My only wish right now is to marry her."Westley had known Zachary for many years and had never seen him care about anything so much, especially to the point of going to such lengths.His expression darkened slightly. "You now have a weakness."Zachary replied indifferently, "She’s not my weakness."A weakness could be used against you by your enemies, manipulated, threatened, and become something that shackles you forever.He didn’t like that. He didn’t want Jane to ever be in danger."She is