9George's face was flushed red, and his eyes were staring at me as if he was going to glare a hole through me.I remained calm, meeting his gaze head-on, and didn't avoid looking at him.However, George still didn't give up on the idea of hitting Lucian.He switched his crutch from his right hand to his left before he lifted and swung it with all his might at Lucian's left leg.I heard a dull thud.Lucian didn't budge even an inch as if he couldn't feel any pain."George!" gasped Clara in shock as she held George's arm.I stood by Lucian's side, holding him up.The two of them were in a stalemate. They stared at each other amid the tense atmosphere. In the end, Lucian gave in and said in a deep voice, "Are you done?""Get out!" yelled George, who was becoming more irritable by the minute. Upon seeing Lucian still stand by my side, George could only stomp his feet in anger, showing his utter disappointment at Lucian. As George held on to Clara's hand, it was unknown whether i
10I stepped on the floor barefoot and heard the dense sound of the rain. Interwoven within that was the pattering sound of the rain washing the large, broad leaves of the plants. On that rainy night, everything was silent, and a strange sense of satisfaction came into being.It was a sign of evil thoughts getting attached to the heart, the shadowy excitement those thoughts brought before they bloomed fully. It was despicable, with traces of arrogance.A chill spread from my toes and buzzed like electricity until it reached my scalp, making my body shudder all over.In my haziness, I felt like I was being dragged into hell by a ghost that was slowly walking toward me.I stood in front of the door until the earsplitting horn of the car pulled me back to reality. My legs were wet, and the translucent raindrops dripped down my legs, wetting the brownish-red floor, turning it even more brightly colored.I pulled open the door wider.Lucian held a black umbrella, and his grim express
11Yvonne hesitated. "The child... What did George say?"She looked at me and imagined the appearance of my child with Lucian. Her eyes were filled with so much amazement that her pale face became brighter. "He will be very good-looking.""Really?" I lowered my head."It doesn't matter. This is Lucian's child. He will love it."However, the truth was that George didn't even look at me. I was like the poor daughter-in-law in movies. I was treated coldly, and even the housekeeper of the Gardner family didn't take me seriously.Cecilia Carter was in charge of cooking. According to her, she had watched Lucian grow up. According to her seniority, I had to call her "Ms. Carter."Cecilia didn't look at me seriously because George didn't like me.Lucian would send me to the Gardner residence at dawn these days and pick me up after work at night. All he wanted was to let me please George and try to ease the relationship.Despite that, it was not going well.His stepmother's name was C
Author: Tian Lang Shao Nü 1Everywhere was dark. It was dead silent.The surroundings were so quiet that I could only hear the beating of my heart.I widened my eyes, but I couldn't see anything. I struggled to escape, but my limbs couldn't move at all. The only thing that could move was my panicky eyes. I wanted to look for the monster in the darkness and then flee away.The cold sensation slowly slid up my body, from my feet to my legs, then to my abdomen and my arms. I knew it was that monster. It approached my body and explored every corner of me.I wanted to scream in fear, but I couldn't make any sound. Only in my heart could I hear myself crying for help.The monster was getting closer and closer. I could even feel its breathing. Its breath falling onto my neck was warm.Then it stuck out its tongue and did something nastier.I was breaking out in a cold sweat and constantly crying for help in my heart, but no one could hear my cry.I fell into infinite despair.2
6Suddenly, there was light in the darkness.It had been a long time since I was exposed to light. When the blindfold was taken away from me, I saw the incandescent light. Trembling, I shed tears. In my blurry vision, I saw a man's worried face.I hid in the corner. I didn't dare to believe the person in front of me, fearing that it was some sort of psychopathic game. The man gently comforted me and told me not to be afraid. Then he helped me calm down.He tugged at the iron chain and found some tools. The thick iron chain didn't break, nor did it loosen. If we continued to stay there, both of us might die when the psychopath came back.Yohannes immediately decided to go out alone to call the police for help. He asked me to pretend that nothing had happened, so as to prevent the psychopath from finding something wrong when he returned.I begged him not to leave and not to let me stay in the dark again."I promise I will come back to save you. Hold on a little longer, okay?" Yoha
9Having nothing to do, I stayed at home and was extremely bored.Half a year had passed since the kidnapping. Recently, except for still having nightmares, my normal life had basically been unaffected. Perhaps it was time for me to return to society and be a normal person.So when Yohannes took me to the restaurant for dinner in the evening, I excitedly proposed that I wanted to look for a job."You look good today. Did you dress up deliberately for me?" Yohannes let out a naughty smile. "I don't want other men to see such a pretty woman."That day, I wore a light blue dress and some light makeup. I was going to take that day as an important day to express my love and gratitude to Yohannes.After saying some sweet words, I mentioned that I wanted to look for a job. "I've been feeling much better. I can't stay at home the whole time. I'm planning to start looking for a job..."Yohannes' face suddenly changed. It was a cold expression I had never seen before. But it disappeared s
12In the second half of the meal, Yohannes was absent-minded. Although he still listened to me, smiled, and said funny things from time to time, I could tell he seemed to be pondering over something.I was keenly aware that Yohannes was worrying about something."What's wrong? Did something upset you?"Yohannes replied innocently, "No. What makes you say that?"I shrugged and didn't say anything more. The atmosphere became a little quiet.I suddenly realized where the silence came from. In the past, Yohannes always talked and laughed cheerfully at the dinner table. In addition, I was immersed in my pain and sadness back then, only enjoying Yohannes' warmth and not paying attention to how he was at all. I didn't care if he was chatting or silent, or if he was really happy or just behaving that way to cheer me up.Ah, I just realized what a scumbag I was.I decided I had to treat Yohannes better.There was really a huge difference between a 9 to 5 job and a 10 to 5 job.Althou
15Jasper said that he appreciated my enthusiasm for art and hoped to promote me so that I could have the opportunity to participate in foreign art exhibitions, get in touch with more artistic works, run some projects with my own hands, and get in touch with outstanding people in the art circle within and outside the country.I subconsciously refused. I could not even draw a portrait. Compared with professionals, my insights into paintings were just based on inadequate information, let alone go deep into the upstream and downstream of the art industry. How could I do that?Nevertheless, Jasper told me very seriously that he believed in my perception of the work, and this empathy was exactly what the creative industries needed.To be honest, his suggestion was not untempting. I could go further on the career path and be exposed to a lot of creative things. Unlike sitting in an office building and thinking about how to take advantage of the users, I would have more opportunities to s