After destroying Nina, Vans couldn't possibly have any relations with her.Lina was earnestly looking at her phone, and she didn't even attempt to hide her smile."Lina!" Suddenly, she heard a stern shout—it was Vans. He had caught sight of her phone screen, and wasn't blind to the smirk on her face."What did you do to Nina? Was it you who released that video?" he demanded."I'm sorry."Lina's demeanor shifted instantly, tears streaming down her face. "Vans, I just wanted to help Ms. Ashlee. I thought she'd want to go public with Marcus, given what a catch he is... If she's with him, she'd surely be happy! Did I do something wrong?"She clutched his hand, pressing it to her face. "If you think I'm wrong, you can hit me! Really, you can!"She closed her eyes, seemingly prepared for a rebuke.Vans knew she was putting on an act. But if she wasn't causing a scene, he struggled to pinpoint an argumentative angle against her. After all, the story about Nina dating Marcus ha
Something was seriously amiss.Just as Diana was about to contact Vans to see if he knew what was going on, Sean approached her with a grave expression, holding a laptop in his hand. "Mommy, Aunt's in trouble."He recounted the situation online to Diana, and showed her the video. "Should I step in now to clear her name online?"Nina was publicly being shamed on the internet because of this news.Diana's heart sank as she saw the blatant sharing of Nina's real address and various manipulated photos. "Sean, I'm counting on you!" she pleaded.Apart from shielding Nina from these harmful online messages, Diana was concerned about Nina's safety. After numerous attempts, she finally managed to get through to Nina."Diana, I won't be able to come see you today," Nina said."It's okay," Diana replied, "I've seen what's going on online. Just take care of yourself, and don't go home for now."Diana was worried about Nina's safety. "Does Vans know about this? Has he contacted you?"L
Marcus glanced at her. "Nina Ashlee."His tone was not heavy, but it carried a chilling undertone that made one's hair stand on end.Nina realized she had misspoken, and had angered Marcus.She quickly told Sean, "I need to do something with your godfather, so I'll hang up now!"Without waiting for Diana's response, she promptly ended the call."Do something?" Marcus leaned in so close that he was almost nose-to-nose with her.The assistant's eyes widened in alarm.He wanted to shout a warning, "Mr. Jensen, stay calm! You can't kiss her!"But he didn't.With an eerie tone, Marcus asked, "Do what?"His hand gripped her chin tightly, almost as if he intended to crush it, and he leaned in closer.Nina could practically see every detail of his smooth skin and the subtle tremble of his thin lips.Nina's heart skipped a beat—not out of romantic feelings, but because the man before her was undeniably captivating.Unlike Vans and Julian, Marcus exuded a chilling allure. Yet, his e
Marcus and Nina had come, too.The house they once found too remote before they lived in the far suburbs had now become their abode.“In other words,” Nina said, as shock grew in her heart, “Fanny didn’t really die?!”“She did. A spirit is living in this house,” Marcus said. Nina was stumped.The car ground to a stop, and both of them stepped out of the car. Before they got out, the assistant gave Nina a set of men's clothes. She felt rather embarrassed. “I don’t need it. It’ll be terrible if I dirty Mr. Jensen’s clothes…”“These clothes don’t belong to Mr. Jensen,” the assistant said, laughing. “Only his girlfriend has the right to wear his clothes!”Nina’s face flushed red. “I’m not…”She didn’t want to wear Marcus’s clothes. She had never worn any man’s jacket, aside from Vans’s. Wearing clothes that didn’t have his familiar scent felt strange for her.“She’s not my girlfriend,” Marcus piped up. “Ms. Ashlee, I know you’re taken.”It seemed this man had seen through thei
The two of them continued walking upstairs.Nina paid extra care when walking, and managed to avoid bumping her head again.The apartment Diana bought was on the fourth floor. When they reached that floor, the assistant swiftly pulled out the key to open the door.Nina looked at him in shock. “You have the key to this apartment?”The assistant nodded. “Yes, Ms. Smith gave it to me.”Fanny was in a very peculiar situation right now. Nina had no idea what exactly happened, but she paid close attention to the news and roughly knew that Oliver forced Fanny to pretend to be dead. He even confined her.She was truly pitiful.What’s more, she used to be Diana’s benefactor. The two had a good relationship.Nina didn’t pursue the matter, but asked, “Where’s Fanny?”She wanted to see Fanny first.“She’s not around now,” Marcus said. He entered the apartment first before letting Nina in. “If she doesn’t appear after one o’clock, I need your help to contact Diana Winnington to help us fi
“The best thing you can do to help me is to pretend to be dead,” Marcus said plainly, ignorant as to how piercing his words were.As they waited for news of Fanny, the assistant set up the equipment.Marcus was intending to make his statement through a video. The assistant was professional and worked efficiently, swiftly setting up a white background behind Marcus. He looked used to carrying these things around. When he opened his luggage, Nina could see that it was filled with all sorts of filming equipment.Her occupational hazard set in. Facing a superstar like Marcus, especially in such proximity, she itched for the chance to take some photos.Click!She pressed the shutter, and immediately saw the dark look on Marcus’ face.“Nina Ashlee!” he growled through gritted teeth.The assistant was stunned. Marcus Jensen rarely showed such emotion, but he was behaving so abnormally today before Ms. Ashlee. He had never seen such life on Marcus’s face, where signs of laughter and e
Nina thought it was a bad idea.“It’s true that I was the cause of all that happened, but we can’t just cover up the mistake like this,” she said, analyzing the situation for him. “Mr. Jensen, I haven’t clarified my end of the story. If you announced that we’re together, it won’t undo the damage on your reputation. In fact, it might even worsen things.”“It won’t,” the assistant said seriously, unlike his usual light-hearted demeanor. He had his glasses on, and began explaining meticulously to Nina. “Ms. Ashlee, take a look at this document.”It was an Excel sheet detailing the persona of every single celebrity in the industry. Marcus’s line described him as a gutsy yet tragic main lead persona. “We’ve discussed and decided that since public opinion is raging at this moment, why don’t we ride the waves and shift Mr. Jensen’s persona?”Competition was getting increasingly intense in the entertainment industry. Although Marcus was awarded the Best Actor award once, many produce
This job earned her a handsome salary, and allowed her to settle down in Richburgh. It could be said that her job was as important to her as Vans was.In fact, it might even be more important than Vans.Without her job, she wouldn’t be who she was today.But without Vans…She might still be herself.“Yes, you can,” Marcus said, his interest piqued by her sudden show of aggression. She had never seen a woman’s eyes light up like this at the mention of her job. “Do you enjoy being an entertainment reporter?”“Not really,” Nina shook her head. “I like the money that this job brings.”The assistant burst out laughing. He felt as though he had found a bosom friend. “Ms. Ashlee, me too!”As salaried workers, a shared sentiment and exchanged glances are enough for them to understand each other.Nina smiled, slightly embarrassed.The atmosphere in the room lightened up.A genuine smile stretched across Marcus’s face. “Ms. Ashlee, has anyone said that…”“Said what?”“That there’s
“Life is all about reconciliation.” Decades passed in the blink of an eye. Diana’s children had all grown up.Kate and Isaac had both passed away. Even Diana’s old friends, Fanny and Oliver, had left the world too.Fanny was never able to get pregnant again after that rainy night. She had gradually let go of her desire to get pregnant under Oliver’s persuasion.They stayed relentlessly by each other’s side, albeit childless. Over the years, having experienced all that life had to offer and being each other’s best friend, Oliver died on a peaceful night, never awaking again.Fanny held his hand while sending him off, and closed her eyes forever as well.Diana had seen too many people off in her lifetime.She had grown old herself, too. She could see her life slowly ebbing away.“Julian, I’m so happy to have lived my life with you.” She had transformed from a disgraced young woman to Mrs. Fulcher, respected by all in Richburgh. Julian even took care of her in person when she
He blurted those words instinctively.He had been waiting so long for a pair of daughters, yet when the doctor came over, he saw a pair of sons instead.Diana thought the hospital must have made a mistake and kicked up a fuss, insisting that she had a pair of daughters. She insisted for them to check the footage from the surveillance camera to see if there was a mix-up. The culprit, Julian, could only stand guiltily at a corner and mumble, “Actually…sons are fine too.”As long as it was their children, it didn’t matter whether they were girls or boys. Either way, Diana was the only woman he loved his entire life. Even his love for his only daughter Betty didn’t match up to that.After witnessing Diana giving birth, Julian’s love for Diana went up a notch, to the point of paranoia.For the rest of their lives, he made sure to never let her worry or touch cold water.He took great care of her.Kate finally appeared two years after Diana gave birth.When the mother and daughter
Nina mentioned the Jenningses. “The Jennings family is gone overnight, just like that.”Diana wasn’t shocked.She guessed that Julian had wanted to do that for a while. Not just for her and to seek justice for the Lemmington family, but also for Simon.Although Julian never allowed Simon to call him his brother, he had wanted to annihilate everything that was involved with the Hughes family since Simon’s death.Him making his move on the Jenningses indicated that the time had come.“Congratulations,” Diana said to Nina. “Has Vans come back to you?”“No,” Nina said with a shake of her head. “Lina Jennings isn’t the only thing standing in between us. We have problems of our own to overcome.”Diana sighed. “I think Marcus is pretty good.”She felt relaxed and comfortable around him.Even if Vans came round and worked with Julian to bring down the Jenningses, and had no feelings whatsoever for Lina, Diana wasn’t exactly eager to be with him.As if they had telepathy with each oth
“He doesn’t need to be jailed,” Fanny said, confused. “One word from him, and his lawyers will be able to exonerate him. I just don’t understand why he’d rather go to jail.”“He wants to pay for his father’s sins,” Diana said with a sigh.Fanny didn’t know what to think of that. Was Oliver innocent, or not? He even went to such great lengths to stop her.Yet, the moment she declared that she would never compromise and would rather be under the protection of Diana than to be involved with Oliver, he clearly looked like he was in a daze.Diana noticed that Fanny hardly smiled over the past few days, and rubbed her hand comfortingly. “He just wants a clean start with you.”Fanny’s heart shook. She couldn’t sleep the entire night.The next morning, she told Diana, “Today’s the day of his trial and sentencing. I want to see him.”Diana asked Julian to send a few bodyguards with Fanny on her trip there.When she returned, she looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoul
Fanny bet that he wouldn’t dare.That was equivalent to eliminating all chances he stood with Diana.Julian witnessed the scene unfolding before him. Instead of getting frustrated, he stood quietly there, ready to protect Diana, as he watched Fanny and Oliver fight it out with each other.Oliver was confused. “Why not?”He glanced at Diana, and went on, “I did like Diana in the past, but I have since given up on those feelings for her. Fanny Smith, is your heart made of stone? Can’t you tell who the woman I like is after all this time?”Fanny was stunned, feeling suffocated as if something was stuck in her throat. “Don’t tell me it’s me.”Oliver was dumbfounded. Who else could he be talking about? The stars in the sky?Fanny felt indignant under his glare. “If you like me, why did you say that I’m just a child-bearing tool for you?”“If I didn’t say that, would I be able to keep you confined in the villa? Would I be able to dash all your hopes and make you feel hopeless?”
Oliver would never let her go. “Fanny Smith, don’t even think about leaving me in this life!”That was when Diana and Julian hurriedly made their way.Sean located Oliver very accurately. Diana saw the scene unfolding before her, and couldn’t help but recall everything that happened in Jacroaof. She hurriedly told Noel to take Sean outside and wait. She couldn’t afford to gamble on Sean’s safety. She didn’t want Sean exposed to any form of danger right under her nose.Her actions made Oliver tense. “Diana, do you think I’ve gone mad?” He grabbed Fanny’s hand, as if he was holding onto the most precious treasure in the world.Diana didn’t answer him, but she threw her bag that Julian was helping her carry toward Fanny.She was exerting so much force for a pregnant lady, looking as if she wanted to fight with Fanny.Even Julian didn’t know what Diana was trying to do, not to mention Fanny herself.By the time he snapped back to attention and wanted to stop Diana from doing s
However, Fanny must let go of her hatred and past grudges first.The mention of children made Fanny waver. The hatred in her eyes grew even more intense. “Oliver Channing! The cheek of you to mention children!” What gave him the right to say that?!“We agreed,” Oliver said. He didn’t find anything wrong with that. “Fanny, if you want to leave that villa and be free once more, you must give birth to a child of ours.”“What about the child I lost just a few days ago?” Fanny demanded. She found him unreasonable. “Over the past few days, have you ever thought of him, or felt like you let him down? We haven’t even resolved the issues between us, and you want me to get pregnant again. Are you really ready to be a father?!”“I want you to get pregnant again?” Oliver said as he drew closer to her. His eyes were dark, looking as if he wanted to crush Fanny and put her in his pocket. “Weren’t you the one who tried to seduce me by wearing a revealing dress in my house? Fanny Smith, do
Julian stopped talking to the butler, but he was already making plans in his heart.He returned to the study, and told Diana, “Fanny and Oliver have been fighting for a long time, and it might be over something that might potentially destroy their relationship.”In fact… “Fanny might no longer love Oliver right now.”However, the fact that Oliver faked her death and confined her was enough to show that he still cared for her.If he realized that Fanny no longer loved him, he might do something even crazier.“Let’s hurry up and save her, then!” Diana said.“Wait,” Julian said calmly, “I’m not done with my prediction.”“What?”“Oliver really doesn’t like you now.” Julian’s mood lifted as he arrived at his final conclusion. “We can step in to help Fanny.”Diana was dumbfounded.She had thought that Julian went to such great lengths to analyze the situation for the sake of saving another. To think that his possessiveness took over, and he prioritized figuring out Oliver’s feeli
The three of them entered the study.None of them expected to see a portrait of Diana right in the middle of the study.The portrait was most likely drawn by copying a photo. In the portrait, Diana was eating something with a smile. It looked like the day when Diana encountered a pervert on the train and Oliver stepped in to help her and treated her to a meal.Did she smile so tenderly at him at that time?“You couldn’t have smiled so happily at that time when we were fighting over Kayla.”It was a portrait, not a photo. It was likely that the owner of this portrait added his own interpretation and features when he commissioned this portrait.“He still has feelings for you,” Julian said coldly.He no longer wanted to interfere with the affairs of the Channings.However, Diana disagreed. “If he really had feelings for me, he wouldn’t hang my portrait up so boldly right here.”The fact that Oliver could display the portrait for all to see proved that his feelings for Diana were