Vicky tensed and started panting.She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she did not notice Tyler had arrived.Gently hiding the medicine bag in her palm, she slowly turned to find Tyler standing at the kitchen entrance, quietly observing her.Sensing something was amiss with her, Tyler took a step closer to her side. "Why do you look so upset?" he asked in a low voice. "Are you unwell?"Vicky's gaze flickered, and she replied softly, "I'm fine.""You don't seem fine." He pressed on."I was just lost in thoughts about work," she lied.Tyler reached out to check her forehead's temperature and was relieved she was not ill. "What's bothering you?" he asked, looking at her intently. "Are you uncomfortable with the new studio?""No, it's not that. We recently hired a few new people, and Cece and Jennifer seem uncertain about some decisions," Vicky said.After a moment of silence, Tyler said, "You can go and check on them if you're worried."Vicky raised her head, surprised.
Vicky stored the medicine away safely. "Thanks."Harvey leaned against the sofa nonchalantly. "Glad to be of help."After chatting for a while, Vicky's phone rang. Her eyes lit up with glee when she saw who was calling. A few seconds later, she answered the call."What are you doing right now?" came the voice from the other end of the call.Vicky's expression softened in delight. "I'm working," she said softly. "Are you done with your meeting?""Yup. Where do you want to go for lunch later?" Tyler replied."I don't know. Do you have anything you're craving for?""A new restaurant just opened near your studio. Let's go give it a try."Checking the time, Vicky noted that it was an hour away from lunch break. "Are you going to pick me up later?"Tyler was silent for a few seconds before answering, "I'm already outside your studio."Vicky was shocked. "What? You're already outside?""Yup."Vicky silently glanced at Harvey before looking at her phone again.Noting her silence,
Tyler looked at Harvey coldly. "I trust Vicky; I just don't trust the people around her. She's just too trusting for her good, so it falls to me to protect her from people with impure thoughts."Harvey's smile never faltered. "I'm curious, Mister Hart. Just what kind of impure thoughts are you talking about?""For example, feelings that one keeps deep inside his heart because he knew confessing them would bring trouble?" said Tyler while looking straight into his eyes.Harvey's eyes widened with shock.Sensing the tension in the air, Vicky hurriedly said, "Hey, aren't we going for lunch? You say you want to go check out the new restaurant, right?"Tyler glanced at Vicky's panicked expression and smiled. "Why don't you join us, Mister Sparks? It's not every day I get to bump into you."His invitation was so unexpected that it surprised both Vicky and Harvey. Vicky looked at Harvey, praying he would turn down the invitation."Don't mind if I do. After all, it's not every day I get
"I never expected the suave Mister Sparks to be a big baby who doesn't even know how to order his food." Tyler passed the menu to Vicky. "If that's the case, we should do our best to take care of this overgrown baby. Right, Vicky?"Harvey was not offended at all. "I might be a big baby who doesn't know how to order my own food, but it's better than someone who insists on keeping someone else tied to him every hour of the day. Even kindergarteners have some time away from their mommies. I pity Vicky; she can't seem to take a breather at all.""That's because the relationship between them is that of a mother and child, whereas Vicky and I are wife and husband. I pity the fool who can only do some passive-aggressive things to attract attention," remarked Tyler callously.Vicky was so worried they would end up fighting each other that she hurriedly cut in, "I'm just going to randomly order another two dishes since Harvey doesn't know what to get!"Functioning under the pressure, Vicky
"He was under someone else's hypnotic control? What does that mean?" asked Vicky, stunned.Jennifer's eyes reddened even more as she explained everything to Vicky."I sensed something was off with Anthony a long time ago. We grew up together, and he's never mistreated me before. But, he became like a different person whenever Lily was around; he'd always take her side unconditionally."Whenever I fought with Lily, Anthony would always make me apologize to her no matter who was wrong or right. His preferential treatment toward her was so obvious. But then I found out…"Jennifer balled her hands into fists and gritted her teeth, an expression rarely found on her beautiful face."Someone hypnotized Anthony when he was kidnapped, and Lily…was the mastermind all along."Vicky had heard this story from Jennifer before. Both Anthony and Lily were kidnapped when they were young. Their bond became stronger after they spent a few days together as hostages. One day, when the kidnapper decid
Jennifer wiped away her tears. "Anthony is so good to me when Lily's not around. Thus, even though I knew he'd forget me once Lily came back, I still can't help but have feelings for him…"Last time, after Anthony helped me and Cece leave the city, he told me his feelings for Lily weren't what everybody thinks it was. He doesn't love her, yet he'd be unable to control himself whenever he sees her in trouble."Jennifer's eyes dulled by then."I'd always forgive Anthony 'cause I can't bear to see him sad. That was, until that one time… We went to a yacht party, and he chose to save Lily instead of me when we both fell into the sea. I gave up on him after that, and I blocked him out of my life."But it wasn't long before I heard from my parents that Anthony decided to cut ties with his family because of Lily."My dad also said the Yavners are loyal people. Anthony's dad nearly went mad because of a woman, and it seemed like Anthony was following in his dad's footsteps."A new client
However, Jennifer's eyes dimmed swiftly."But Lily will never let me get close to Anthony now that she knows I've overheard what she said. Besides, it'll take some time to undo the hypnotization effect," she said with a frown. "He's been hypnotized since he was young, so I imagine it'd be very hard to undo it.""I did some research on hypnotization before," drawled Harvey. "It will be quite hard to undo the effects when he had been hypnotized for so long. In fact, I'd reckon it'd take at least a year or so if the hypnotist is a very good one. And there's one other thing…"Anthony won't be that easily hypnotized now as compared to when he was younger. What Lily is doing now is just driving in the message she planted in his head. In other words, she's not trying to plant new ideas. It'll be hard to undo the effects."Harvey looked at Jennifer. "I suggest you team up with Anthony's parents on this to have a higher chance of succeeding. Make sure he's not spending time with Lily while
Vicky continued, "My parents wanted to marry me off to another family to gain business favors. So, instead of letting them decide my life, I thought I'd be better off marrying—""Marrying someone you like?" interrupted Tyler.After a few seconds of silence, Vicky sighed and said, "No. Harvey was trying to chase Gloria at that time. I knew he didn't like me, nor would he ever. My family had a lot of business dealings with his family back then, so to cement their business relationship, my family and his family persistently tried to set up Harvey and Gloria together. However, Gloria put up a fierce struggle, and the two of them never ended up together."I went to find Harvey to put forth my proposal." Vicky glanced at Tyler. "By the way, did you decide to chase Gloria after finding out she turned down so many excellent men for you? Were you moved by her gesture?"Tyler was speechless. It would take them more than three days and three nights to talk about who wronged who if they insist