Samantha left Atkinson Group and drove alone to an isolated alley. Down the quiet alley, there was a small pastry shop. Due to its old and worn out sign, it was barely noticeable to anyone who passed by. Samantha stared at the glass door, as though something fierce and monstrous was hiding just beyond it. After a moment of hesitation, she finally gathered her courage and stepped into the shop.…Did Samantha really go to an ordinary pastry shop by herself?Stefan had been secretly monitoring Samantha's movements, and it was highly suspicious that she would go to such a place."I had someone follow her in. There's nothing special about the place. It's just a small shop that's been around for decades. The pastries were average, nothing unusual. I don't know why Mrs. Leach would go in there," the secretary reported."Keep watching... No, wait. Watch Millie instead, but try not to alert Pierce's men," Stefan firmly ordered.Just then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind—Samanth
"How… dare you hit me!" Samantha rushed forward to strike back, but Tobias was standing close by and quickly grabbed her arm from behind. He then twisted it and held her in place so that she couldn't move."Mrs. Leach, she's your brother's wife! You should treat her with more respect!" Tobias said.Upon seeing this, Millie slapped Samantha again. Now, both sides of Samantha's face burned with equal intensity.Millie rebuked, "Pierce treated you like his own sister. He even kept your adoption a secret to ensure that everyone respected you, afraid that people would gossip about your background and make you uncomfortable."He protected you for 20 years, and the life you have now is all thanks to him. But what have you done in return? You knew Pierce and Stefan had conflicts, yet you still chose to marry him! You flaunt your status as Mrs. Leach in front of him every day. And now, you even dared to hit Tobias!"She continued, "Do you know that Tobias and Pierce have been through lif
"She directly told Samantha that you're her man and warned her not to desire you. Tsk, tsk… I even made a copy of the surveillance footage. Take a look…"Pierce watched the footage, seeing Millie stand up for him, and his heart warmed."Pierce, don't tell Millie. I've betrayed her. I was just worried you didn't know how much she cares about you. You have to cover for me and pretend you don't know anything.""You're smart, playing both sides. You can leave now. I want to be alone for a while."Pierce dismissed Tobias and kept rewatching the video.Millie's unwavering defense of him deeply moved him.She always understood him.Yet, he had repeatedly let her down and worried her because of Samantha.Both Samantha and Millie were the family he had personally chosen.If Samantha proved unworthy, then she could be discarded.He logged into his business social media account and posted a lengthy statement, revealing that Samantha was an adopted daughter, not a biological member of th
Stefan knew Pierce had already blocked her.He must have seen her messages but still chose to cut ties so decisively.Pierce, I'm your sister! How can you be so heartless? After raising me for 20 years, are you really going to abandon me like this?"Millie, this is all your fault… You destroyed everything! I hesitated before, but not anymore. I'm going to kill you, either you die or I do!"Her expression turned maniacal as she grabbed her phone and dialed a number."You can start now. I want her to disappear from the Arbelton forever!"…When Millie returned home, she didn't immediately go online.She went into her study to paint and lost herself in her work. Two hours passed before she finally glanced at her phone, unaware of how drastically the world outside had changed.To her surprise, it was Pierce who had made the first move by publishing an essay.She quickly called him. "Are you okay? Why did you reveal Samantha's adopted status?""Did you just look at your phone?"
Samantha had been the only person Pierce had ever genuinely cared for as a family member. But now, even those feelings of concern had no reason to exist any longer.Pierce hugged Millie tightly and rested his chin on her shoulder. She could feel her shirt getting wet from his warm tears. This was the first time she'd ever seen him so broken.He was crying his heart out.A woman's heart would soften at the sight of a man's tears. The moment Millie realized Pierce was crying, her heart went out to him. She would do anything to cheer him up."You know, your sister is watching over you from above. No matter how bad of a situation you were in, you managed to pull through every time. It's all thanks to your sister," Millie consoled.She gently patted Pierce's back to soothe him. "I'm so sorry. I still can't remember what happened that day. Otherwise, I would've remembered her. Then, there would be one more person in this world who misses her."But I'm here, Pierce. You'll have me with
Amelia pointed at one of the boys.For the first time ever, Pierce got into a fight. He pinned the boy to the ground and landed punch after punch on him.In the end, Donald had to step in and apologize to the boy's parents. That night, Pierce wasn't allowed to eat dinner as punishment.But Amelia secretly brought him food."Can't you tell that I don't like you?" Pierce asked."Why don't you like me? Aren't I your sister?" Amelia innocently questioned. At such a young age, she didn't understand the grudges of the adult world. She simply looked at Pierce with clear, innocent eyes that showed immense confusion."All I know is I hate you," Pierce declared.Heartbroken, Amelia left. Pierce regretted his words almost instantly. But before long, Amelia came back and had completely forgotten about it. Once more, she happily followed him around.This time, Pierce found that he couldn't harden his heart against her anymore.He was a difficult person. From when he was young, he k
A fine drizzle began to fall from the sky. It was as if the heavens were crying on Pierce's behalf. Millie held his arm to support him as they descended the mountain. Every step Pierce took was leaden.At the foot of the hill, he turned back to take one last look at the darkened night sky behind him. Only after that did he get into the car.That night, both of their hearts felt unbearably heavy.Millie had expected Pierce to grieve for a few days, or maybe even for some time. But to her surprise, he went to the Atkinson Group office as usual the next morning. The weight he carried on his shoulders was so great that he couldn't even afford to take a short break.…At long last, the day when Millie could finally have the steel plate removed had come. She had endured and waited for this day long enough. Pierce had an important meeting in the morning, so he could only accompany her in the afternoon. Therefore, Millie decided to stop by Atkinson Group first and have lunch with
Millie estimated that the old woman paid around 30 thousand dollars. A mere 30 thousand dollars was enough to buy a woman, trap her in the mountains, and use her as a reproductive machine!Millie felt a chill run down her spine when she thought about this. In that instant, she finally understood why Pierce would never ever remove his uniform and resign from his position—crime never ends. After that, Millie was placed on a cart and pushed away. From the room she was locked in, she overheard the old woman remind his son to clean himself up well. After all, tonight would be the night of his consummation. The man chuckled. He was gleeful. Soon after, the woman entered the room with a bowl in her hands. Millie was cautious. "What are you guys trying to feed me? Let me go. As long as you let me go, I can give you a lot of money." The woman shook her head before saying, "We don't want money. All we want is to give my son, James Cooke, a bride. This is all to continue the bloo
Millie swiftly took some photos and handed the phone back to the guy."The photos you took look great, miss," one of them couldn't help but praise."Thanks for the compliment," Millie said with a smile.That person was so mesmerized that they stood there in a daze, unsure of what to do. Even when Millie had already walked away, he still hadn't snapped out of it."What's wrong? Do you like her?"Nathaniel Yates finally came to his senses. "N-No. Cut the nonsense. I just appreciate her photography skills."Meanwhile, Millie had gone over to sit by the water and noticed some fish in the lake. It reminded her of the last time she went fishing with Piercy. She was so lost in thought and didn't even notice that Nathaniel was secretly taking a photo of her from behind.He was using an instant camera, so the photo developed quickly.As Nathaniel stepped forward, Millie suddenly heard the noise behind her. She immediately turned around and saw an unfamiliar man, which startled her.
Millie quietly left the room so that Pierce could bid his gun a proper farewell. Then, she went downstairs for breakfast. However, breakfast felt tasteless.Pierce went downstairs after half an hour.Though he didn't have work that day, he dressed in formal attire to make the handover look more proper.The gun was wrapped in a paper bag. He casually set it aside as if nothing was wrong and began eating breakfast."It tastes delicious, you should try some," he casually uttered, serving Millie some food.Millie saw through Pierce's act but chose not to say anything.After that, Pierce remained silent the entire way to the CBP. The atmosphere in the car was heavy.Soon, they arrived at the police station, and Jason came out."Pierce…" Jason whispered, his voice slightly choked. He knew what it meant for Pierce to return the gun this time.Pierce looked at Jason's uniform and couldn't help but give him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Do your best. I have high hopes for you."Jas
Millie had once loved Stefan wholeheartedly, leaving herself no way out. But now, her love for Pierce was only six or seven on a scale of ten. She kept reminding herself that she shouldn't give anyone the chance to hurt her deeply again.Millie had even planned her retreat. If they broke up, she would be the one to walk away the most effortlessly.Once bitten, twice shy.Millie was well aware of her problems. Both she and Pierce had their fair share of flaws, and nobody was perfect. That was human nature."Pierce, you're way too extreme," Millie said."I know," Pierce answered.The most terrifying part was that he knew his flaws too well, yet he had no desire or intention to change.Pierce had suffered for his whole life. As an illegitimate child of the Atkinson family, he'd lost his mother at birth, and his father never loved him. The only place he ever felt a sense of belonging was with his grandfather. He was inherently a cold and unfeeling person, and the first time he bec
The call was quickly answered."Where are you?" Millie asked."I'm still on a business trip," Pierce replied."Then turn on the video. I want to see your face."There was a brief silence on the other end of the call. Millie knew Pierce was lying. "Are you still not willing to tell me the truth? Jason came to the house, asking to take back your gun. What's going on? What happened in the days you were away?""I'll tell you when I get back home." Pierce's voice was a bit muffled.He then hung up the call and removed the bandage from the corner of his eye.The wound was right beside his eyebrow. Since he had dark eyebrows, the scar shouldn't be that noticeable. He could only cling on to this wishful thinking.With that, Pierce returned to the villa.Millie hadn't seen him for days. She felt that he had lost a lot of weight and looked even more exhausted after the trip."How did you get injured again?" she asked.Pierce initially thought it would take her a long time to notic
Jacob eventually calmed down and said, "Do you still insist on doing this when you know it doesn't exactly benefit us?"Pierce replied, "I wouldn't dare to deceive you, neither do I dare to contact you in private. But this doesn't affect our operations, which was why I dared to do so. I want to find someone, but I can't no matter how hard I've tried, so I had no choice but to ask for their favor.""You… Are you still doing it even though we won't get anything good out of this?" Jacob asked.Pierce fell silent and clenched his fists. "Yes. I will resolve whatever problems I've caused. After that, I'll kill them in my own way."Jacob threw his cup at Pierce upon hearing this.With Pierce's skill, he could have dodged it. However, he chose to stand straight.The cup hit him right at the corner of his eye, causing him to bleed."You…" Jacob angrily stood up. "W-Why didn't you dodge?" he asked in a shaky voice."I did something wrong. It's right for you to punish me," Pierce simply
Gideon really admired Pierce's calm and composed demeanor."What's the matter?" he asked."I need you to help me find a lady who went missing. I have to know if she's still alive or not," Pierce answered. "I need her, dead or alive. I can't do this on my own, but with your help, it'll be much easier."He had used every legal method he could think of. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and there was only one option left—to enter the underworld."You're making such a big scene just to look for this one person? What? Is she like your lover or something?" Gideon asked."She's an enemy, the kind that I want dead more than anything."The way Pierce paused after each word made him sound eerily intimidating."Is she also like us, from the underworld?""No, she's just a nobody."Gideon felt chills running down his spine. Having dealt with Pierce for this long, he thought he knew his true nature well enough—a righteous police officer who always played by the book. But ri
Pierce felt like he was drowning, but if someone were to pull him out of the water right now, he would survive.Sometimes, Millie couldn't imagine what would happen if she left Pierce one day because of her disappointment in him. Would he still be able to move on?Pierce survived by clinging onto his sheer will. At first, it was the fixation on avenging his sister's death. But now, it was all because of Millie."What are you going to do now?" she asked."I can't tell you just yet, but I promise it won't take longer than three months."Since Pierce wasn't planning to elaborate, Millie didn't bother to keep on asking either.For the past few days, Millie had been carefully taking care of the wound on Pierce's neck. Even though a small patch of new pink flesh had grown over his wound, it still looked pretty hideous. Fortunately, Pierce always wore suits with collars that were high enough to cover his neck. Millie would always start tearing up whenever she saw his scar.She said,
Pierce was aghast. Mills! His poor Mills!Everyone around Pierce had accused him of committing a crime, but he didn't do it. He had been trying so hard to find out the truth, but in the end, he still got nothing.Did he really betray Millie? Did he really taint himself by sleeping with Sarah?Even if he truly believed that Piercy didn't do anything, he still couldn't find any evidence to prove it.Sarah and Piercy were nowhere to be found either.How was he supposed to prove his innocence? He felt like a trapped beast that couldn't find its way out.Just then, Millie made a subtle twitch. It startled Pierce, and he immediately withdrew his arm around her and pretended to remain unconscious.Millie didn't sleep well at all. The first thing she did after waking up was to check on Pierce. The monitor showed that Pierce's heart was racing.She then brought out a warm towel and gently wiped his face.She began, "Your hair has grown so much longer, but you didn't even properly
Millie rushed forward and saw the disconcerting look in Pierce's eyes.Pierce hadn't rested for two days, so his nerves were stretched to their absolute limit. His eyes were completely bloodshot too.The moment he saw Millie, he grabbed her like he was a drowning man who finally got his hands on a life buoy. His large hands clamped down on her arm with such force that it felt like he was going to crush her bones.Pierce howled, "Tell him to come out, please! He listens to you. Ask him to come out, Millie. I don't care if he takes over this body. I just need him to tell me the truth! Did I betray you? Did I mess around with another woman? I'm begging you…""Pierce, calm down please." Millie tried to soothe him."How can I calm down? I want to be with you, but if I really did betray you, then at least let me die knowing the truth! What am I supposed to do now? How long does he plan to torture me?"Pierce shoved Millie aside, frantically searching around the room. He even lunged at