"Carson?" Austin stared at the closed door and said, "Where are you right now? I think… we need to talk."…Under the dimmed light in the private room of the Dawn Bar, Carson sat quietly on the couch with a glass of liquor in his hand. The door to the private room opened, and Austin walked in.Carson's hand froze on the glass for a brief moment, but he did not look up. He hid his face under the shadow cast by the dimmed lighting so that his expression was hardly noticeable.Creak!Austin closed the door but did not walk over immediately. Instead, he stood still and stared at Carson from afar.It had only been a few months since Everly returned to this country. It was merely a short period of time to Austin when he dealt with family issues. However, everything seemed to have changed drastically.For as long as he knew, Carson's status in their community had always been incomparable. Everyone, including Austin himself, had never thought of holding a candle to Carson's status. All
"She hates you!" Austin shouted, "She doesn't even want to have anything to do with you! Do you think that she came back to look for you? You are wrong! She only wants Oliver's custody! She doesn't think anything of you! She remembers all details about how you have hurt her, and no matter what you try, you won't be able to heal your wounds! You will never understand the pain she has suffered through, so there's no hope for you ever to be forgiven by her!"Austin stared at Carson, red-eyed as memories of how Everly behaved earlier appeared in his mind. Instantly, it felt as though his heart was set aflame.'Why? How could she still love Carson after all the things he did to hurt her? What about me, then? Can she not see all the things I've done for her so far? Why doesn't she love me? Am I not worth it?' he thought.Carson was still drinking the liquor, one glass after another, with no apparent change to his expression, while Austin was enraged. He reached out and snatched the glass
It was bucketing down in Cannesville to the point that almost the entire city could sink into water.Following the sound of the keys turning in the door, the door to the Baxter residence was pushed open. Carson stepped into his home, drenched from head to toe."Sir!" The butler hurried over when he heard the noises and was startled when he saw the state Carson was in. He immediately had the servant bring dry towels over while he went over to help Carson. "Sir, what happened to you? Why are you all drenched?"Carson shook his head in silence and continued to walk inside."Here, Sir, dry towels. You need to dry yourself. I've started a bath for you. Get a good hot bath and don't catch a cold!" The servant came back with the dry towel, but Carson ignored him.Instead, he slowly walked through the long corridor and into the screening room at the end. He switched on the projector and sat alone to watch the footage over and over again without a word.The servant and butler could only s
"I must have seen something wrong because of how fast everything happened…" Alice muttered to herself repeatedly, "or maybe it's because =Carson mistook Violet as Everly… Right! That has to be it! We were at the greenhouse, and Violet's figure resembles Everly's so much, so that has to be it! Carson loves Everly so much that it's impossible for him to move on so easily! Violet has only been in this country for a few months and I've been by Carson's side for so long. Even if he is to fall in love with someone else, it has to be me!""Violet…" Alice's eyes were instantly filled with hatred. "Violet! I won't go easy on you!""So you have your connections with Austin Samberg, which means these were all planned!" Alice said while wiping away her tears.She saw Austin kicking Carson out of the way and was dragged back into the greenhouse by Robbie shortly after, so she had not managed to hear and see anything."Violet, you are imitating Everly on purpose. Carson might not know about this
The lights in the screening room repeatedly dimmed and brightened while Carson let go of Oliver.Oliver looked at him and reached his chubby little hand to touch Carson's forehead before saying, "Dad, you are sick."Carson did not respond and simply looked into Oliver's eyes."Dad, I'm going to call our family doctor." Oliver said while holding Carson's hand, "Be good, Dad, okay?"Carson's expression remained blank as he continued to stare at Oliver's eyes."Dad!" Oliver called out again."Mm," he responded and closed his eyes.The Baxter residence fell into chaos with the butler and all servants leaping into action while Oliver led Carson to clean up and returned to his room.The sky outside the window was gloomy, marking the day with poor weather condition."…yeah, Grandma, we probably won't go over there today. Dad got sick." Oliver stood on a stool with his phone in hand and said, "I will get him to take me visiting once he gets better. Nothing, you don't have to come over
He needed to show up in person in order to proceed with his following plan.Robbie was slightly amused. He had originally planned to give out a few envelopes of cash in Oliver's name. Since Oliver mentioned that he would do it himself, Robbie had no problem with letting him."Alright," Robbie said.Oliver had his own number and his own bank card, linked to an account where Carson transferred a fixed amount of allowance into each month so that Oliver could buy whatever he wanted. However, as Oliver rarely wanted anything at all, his allowance remained untouched in the account until it accumulated into an enormous amount.Inside the Baxter Group chat group.Robbie invited Oliver into the group and sent out a message that said, "This is Mister Baxter Jr. It's New Year's Eve today, so he said he wants to come in here to send out some gifts."Oliver sent a message to the group that said, "Happy New Year, everyone. I'm Oliver Baxter. Thank you for your hard work for the past year!"Be
For the past year, Carson had stared into Oliver's eyes so many times because it felt like he was looking at Everly.Apart from that, Oliver liked her."Can I go?" Oliver clenched his fists nervously and said, "It won't take long. I am just going there to give her a new year's present, and then I will come back to be with you.""Go, remember to come back," Carson said.Oliver beamed at him and planted a loud kiss on his face before jumping off the bed and saying, "I'll be back soon!""Okay," Carson said as he gazed upon the gloomy sky.Back in the living room, Oliver told the butler, "Uncle Benny, can you send me to Orchid Garden?""Sure." The butler smiled and patted Oliver on the head before they headed towards Orchid Garden.…Meanwhile, in Orchid Garden. The rain had stopped, but the sky remained gloomy.A Benz stopped in front of the door, and Annie spotted it from afar. She glanced at the room on the upper floor and shook her head before sighing.The door to the Benz o
"Okay," Annie whispered in response.Oliver walked towards Everly's bedside by himself. He glanced at her worriedly before reaching his chubby little hand to touch her face. He realized Everly's skin was burning hot.She appeared to be severely ill.Perhaps it was because of Oliver's touch, Everly turned slightly and opened her eyes. Oliver immediately retreated and stared at her, only to find that her eyes were shut once again.Relieved, he tip-toed his way back to Annie, and the two closed the door behind them gingerly."Sigh… I wanted to wish Aunt Violet a happy New Year in person, but I guess that's not an option now." He said while heading downstairs with Annie, "I had those gifts prepared for her… for both of you. Tell her I was here when she gets better.""Of course. What a great kid you are, Oliver!" Annie studied Oliver's adorable appearance with eyes filled with endearment.Oliver was just too adorable."Right, Violet prepared some new years gifts for you as well, Oli
Everly wondered, 'Why does he look so pitiful? Is he going to ask me to be with me as he did before?'Meanwhile, Carson moved his eyes from her to the sunset on the horizon and said, "It's late."She looked across at the sea and the sky. The glorious declining sun gilded the sky.The salty sea wind swept over them.They gazed at the sunset until the fish suddenly struggled and startled Everly.It had been quietly staying in her hand for a while. She had forgotten that she was holding the fish. Thus, she subconsciously let go of the fish and shook Carson's hands off.The fish flopped back into the water and waved its tail to flee away."Oh, no. The fish has escaped. Dad, hurry up and catch it!" Oliver yelled. He had been squatting on the side so as not to disturb his parents. Carson and Oliver then chased after the fish.Everly slowly got up and stood there. The father and the son in white T-shirts were surrounding the big puddle. Everly felt strange while watching them.She wa
She was a little embarrassed. After all, they hadn't been so close to each other for a long time. She felt a bit uncomfortable.So, she found a random topic. "Oliver still hasn't come back?""Maybe he couldn't find the bucket," he said, his chest vibrating. Not knowing how to pick up the conversation, she just looked at him. "Put the fish down," he said again after about three seconds. "But it will slip away," she blurted out. He paused, nodded, and hummed.Actually, she could place it somewhere dry rather than in the water... Then it couldn't slip away...She found herself so stupid. But she couldn't take back her words...She wondered, bit the bullet, and awkwardly held the fish. Should she say anything to defuse the awkward situation?She thought for a moment and asked, "What's your plan? I mean your career.""I haven't laid it out yet," he replied frankly. "I've been working for too long, and it's time to take a break. In the past, I didn't have time to hang
Everly immediately put the crab into the small bucket.At this time, the bucket was filled with many crabs. Oliver looked inside and wore a bright smile."Wow! We got a lot of crabs today! My bucket is almost full!" Oliver said and looked back. When he saw the bucket in his dad's hand, Oliver took it and dumped all the crabs inside his own bucket into it. He then pushed it to Everly and said, "Wow. Aunt Violet caught so many crabs today. You are awesome!"Everly froze. She looked at Oliver's smiling face and understood what he meant.Oliver wanted her to take all the credit for catching those crabs."Oliver...""Aunt Violet! Look over there. There are bubbles coming out of that small hole. Let's go over there. There must be something in there!" As he said, Oliver carried his bucket and a small shovel and trotted over in his slippers. He ran to the hole and exclaimed, "Aunt Violet, come on! It is a big fish!""Go ahead. He likes playing with you," Carson said to Everly when she w
"How do you know if they have contact in private?" The man asked as their car was waiting for a green light. The man's consecutive retorts annoyed Lisa. She looked in the rearview mirror at the man with chill eyes. "What do you mean? Are you trying to deliberately piss me off?" "No." The man replied. Then he paused for a few seconds and changed the subject. "So what are you going to do next?" 'Let Everly crash down to the hell!' During these days all their tactics were covert. They only took some subtle moves to test Carson, to see what was in Carson's mind. Now that Lisa had learned about it, then the next step she was up to was to put Everly through hell! "What's going on with Violet's studio now?" Lisa asked. "According to the information we got, it won't be long before Violet Studio and Baxter Group's collaboration on 'The Angel' is finished." The man replied. Before Lisa was about to respond, suddenly, her phone vibrated. Buzz--Lisa picked up her phone to check t
Everly, Carson, and Oliver were playing on the beach. Meanwhile, Lisa came out of her villa to a car and talked to someone on the phone.She got into the passenger seat, smiled at the man in the driver's seat, and said, "I've just heard that the opposition faction of the Baxter Group changed their minds. They want to get Carson back."The man started the car without speaking. Lisa made up her face, smiled contentedly while looking into the mirror at her delicate figures, and continued, "I knew that the Baxter Group couldn't do well without Carson and that they would give in!"The car's tires squealed.The man suddenly braked."What are you doing?" Lisa growled at the man with a frown, hurriedly grabbing something to steady herself."Lisa, what the hell do you want?" the man said resignedly, "didn't you say that you just wanted to help your family out of trouble? I don't understand what you're thinking. Do you love Carson? Are you proud of him?""What's the problem with this?"
While waving at her, Oliver murmured and walked in with Carson.Everly nodded with a smile. With the clothes in her hand, she got into the car and changed her clothes.The clothes were very simple, which were just a big white T-shirt and a pair of casual shorts. Looking at the clothes, she couldn't help wondering what Carson and Oliver would wear.She walked out, with her mind wandering. She saw Carson and Oliver not far away, both of whom were wearing a white vest and a pair of shorts to their knees. The color and style of their clothes were the same, except for the size.They two seemed to be talking about something, with buckets in their hands. Carson held a big bucket while Oliver held a small one. There was another bucket on the ground, obviously prepared for Everly.Noticing her coming, Oliver turned around and looked at her. "Aunt Violet!"Carson also looked up at her.Her heart was thumping faster inexplicably.‘He seems to be closer to me these days.’Maybe it was bec
The shopkeeper felt embarrassed. He looked at Oliver and replied, "What? I couldn’t do that. Don’t talk nonsense."Oliver pouted and didn’t say anything. Carson patted his head and then looked at the shopkeeper.The shopkeeper already understood his meaning. So then he handed three sets of clothes to Everly and Carson, "You can rinse over there.""Thank you." Everly nodded, then they went there together.After lifting the curtain of the outdoor shower, Carson and Oliver both frowned slightly and looked at her at the same time.Everly was a little confused, so she asked, "What’s wrong?""You can change the clothes in the car." Carson opened his mouth.Oliver nodded and explained, "Right, Aunt Violet. This place has some leaks. It’s okay for me and dad, but it's not okay for you, and there’s no mud on you. It's just me falling into the mud puddle."Everly looked at him and then at Oliver, understanding what they meant.She nodded and pinched Oliver's face with a smile, "Okay,
She immediately quickened her pace to rush over and snatched Oliver from Carson's hand."Hmm..."Before Oliver jumped into her arms and complained to her, Carson's cold voice sounded, "Stop. You're covered in mud."Oliver stopped immediately, looking down at himself, then he glared at Carson. Just a few seconds later, he sat down on a small rock and pointed to the big mud puddle beside him. "Aunt Violet, I just fell into it."Everly glanced in the direction that Oliver pointed to. There was indeed a mud puddle and a human shape was still there. Oliver's father just wiped his face. Otherwise, he could not be recognized.Looking at him sitting on that small rock and his aggrieved look, Everly thought he was so cute and couldn’t help laughing out loud, "Puff..."Hearing her laugh, Oliver turned his head. Everly immediately tried to hold back her laughter, but she failed."Ah! Aunt Violet, you laughed!” Oliver directly came down from the rock, sat in the mud, and childishly showed
Yet the meeting room was quiet. No one spoke.If there had been a way to settle the matter, they would have dealt with it many days ago.And if they gave advice but failed in the end, they might have to take the blame."Why do you all keep silent? Didn't you have a lot of ideas at the very beginning?" the leader roared, slapping the table.However, no one answered.After a minute, someone trembled and said, "Then ... shall we find Carson and make him the president again?""What are you talking about?" The leader was even angrier.But another person said, "I think he's right. The share price is falling. We have less and less money. If it goes on like this, none of us can stand it. We'd better get Carson back... When he managed the company, the share price was rising.""You're looking down on yourself and flattering Carson!" the leader growled, "and the share price is falling. Their losses must be bigger than ours. They should be the most anxious!""But..." the person who had be