Vicky herself was shocked because she knew just how possessive Tyler was.He would get upset when passersby looked at her and get jealous when her childhood friend came to see her. His one and only wish seemed to be for her to know no man apart from him, so she did not expect him to accept such a condition.She only proposed such a term knowing he would not accept it, but Tyler surprised her by agreeing to it....Since Tyler had accepted the terms, Vicky knew just how to make him give up.One day after dinner with Noah, she stepped out of the restaurant to find Tyler leaning by the door with a cigarette lit between his fingers. The smoke hovered over his face and clouded his features.He put out the cigarette when he spotted her coming outside and ignored Noah to grab her hand. "It's getting late. I'll send you back.""..." Noah watched in silence.Vicky scowled. "I have something planned with Noah today..."Tyler pulled her toward his car as though he did not hear a single w
After a few moments, Tyler slowed the car down but remained tense and held onto the steering wheel stiffly.Vicky opened her mouth to speak but decided against it in the end.The car stopped at the entrance of a theme park that they had once been to before.It used to be a place filled with sweet memories, but there was nothing left but pain at this moment.Vicky unfastened her seatbelt and was about to get out when Tyler grabbed her and leaned closer to kiss her.She resisted at first but soon found herself lost in his kiss, and she started to respond in the end.Tyler tensed and deepened the kiss.Sometime later, he pulled away and stared at her with lights in his eyes. "Vicky, you're still in love with me, right?" he said with certainty; a confident smile appeared on his lips as the despair he felt had vanished completely.He planted a light kiss on her cheek and said, "Vicky, you're the one I love right now... What happened in that garden never really mattered to me. Even i
Vicky turned around. "We aren't exactly all lovey-dovey, Noah. You need to do me one more favor."Noah felt chills down his spine and said reluctantly, "Go on.""Let's walk out of here holding hands. He'll snap when he sees that.""..." Noah was rendered speechless at first. "Vicky, I can tell that you still love him, so why are you so dead set on breaking up with him? Did something happen—"Vicky interrupted him and said, "Here he comes, Noah." She took Noah's hand and whispered, "I'm sorry...but I have to break up with him."Noah shot the slender figure from afar and before he could hold Vicky back, he was punched and slammed against the ground once again.Baam!Tyler had struck much harder than before, and Noah could see stars before him.Tyler grabbed his collar and glared at him maliciously. "Who gave you permission to touch her?""Tyler!" Vicky hurried over to stop him. "Let Noah go!"He turned around to look at her, his eyes bright with rage.Throughout the year they
"I know," said Tyler calmly. "Don't worry. I'll handle it."When Vicky noticed that he did not regret his action at all, she gritted her teeth in frustration. "You know that I only made that request so that you'd give up. Tyler, we've broken up. Don't cling onto me again."He paled and grabbed her by the wrist. "Why are you breaking up with me all of a sudden? We were doing great—"She interrupted him. "Were we? Are you sure?"He narrowed his eyes and realized that Vicky had been depressed recently, but whenever he would ask her about it, she would refuse to talk."If it's because I mistook you for Gloria at the beginning, I told you...that's not a problem."She remained quiet for a moment. "That was just an excuse.""Why is it that you insist on breaking up, Vicky?""I told you that I don't love you anymore.""I don't believe you." He stared into her eyes and said, "You still respond to my kisses. This can't be because you don't love me anymore."She smiled mockingly. "There
Tyler had shown more restraint from that day onward and stopped taking Vicky away from her dates with Noah, but he would follow them wherever they went.His glare was so piercing that Noah felt chills down his spine.He had been interested in Vicky and planned to pursue her when she succeeded in breaking up with Tyler, but he gave up after realizing how difficult Tyler was.It was not that Noah feared Tyler because he was beaten before but because his instinct warned him that Tyler was a monster deep down despite his cool demeanor.At this very moment, Tyler was standing in the distance and staring at them.Vicky noticed Tyler as well. The man stood out no matter what he wore given his tall, muscular build and handsome looks.It was no wonder that Tyler had the confidence to question how Noah was better than him.While Noah was a handsome man, he could hardly hold a candle to Tyler in terms of appearance and demeanor.Noah's blood ran cold under Tyler's watchful eyes while he d
Vicky and Noah sat across from each other, so the chair next to Vicky was unoccupied. Tyler went ahead to sit next to her. "I'm sorry. I misunderstood your relationship and injured your hand."Noah glanced at Tyler pointedly and thought, 'What a great apology. Misunderstood our relationship, huh? He's saying that I'm not involved with Vicky to begin with.'Vicky scowled. "What are you going on about here?"'Has he forgotten about our promise already?' she thought."I'm here to...apologize," said Tyler calmly and turned to Noah. "Mister Canyer, I'm sorry."The more Noah looked at Tyler, the more certain he was that Tyler was a sociopath. He could feel chills down his spine as he thought, 'Have I crossed a psychopath? If he is mentally sick, he won't even need to go to jail if he kills me.'"Ahem!" Noah cleared his throat. "Forget about it.""Mister Canyer was injured because of my mistake and now he struggles to even eat, so I intend on coming over to make up for my mistakes," Ty
Noah immediately turned on his heels and ran.Vicky turned to stare at Tyler sharply, who then said to her, "I'm just here to apologize and make up for my mistake.""Are you making up for your mistake, or causing a misunderstanding?""What kind of a misunderstanding?"Vicky was rendered speechless and gritted out, "That the two of you are seeing each other.""Oh," he said carelessly. "Let's just eat."Furious, she shouted, "Tyler Hart!"He shot her a look. "Even if there's a misunderstanding, they're judging me, not you, so why are you all riled up?""..."He served food to her plate. "Noah left you behind, so it's not against the rules for me to stay with you."Vicky felt defeated as Tyler always seemed capable of finding a way to get what he wanted....Tyler had kept his promise and did not interfere with their dates after that, but he continued to watch them from afar every time.What confused Vicky further was that Noah would often make up an excuse to leave as soon a
"You are still in love with him, and you can't bring yourself to be cruel toward him. Besides, he isn't the kind of man you can just get rid of simply because you want to..." Noah studied Vicky sympathetically.Despite Tyler's cold demeanor, he was an obsessive man and only death could tear them apart for as long as he loved Vicky.'It's a good thing she loves him, too,' Noah thought. 'If she doesn't, he's going to be her worst nightmare.'"If there's some kind of misunderstanding, you two should sit and talk it out. If he cares this much about you, he's surely willing to make compromises."Vicky hesitated.Knowing that she was wavering, he said, "It's not that I don't want to help you, but if you can't bring yourself to be merciless, there are things you won't be able to do... Vicky, just think this through. If you have really made up your mind to get rid of him no matter the cost, come find me again."...For a long time after that, Noah did not see Vicky again, and just as he
[Alright.]Aurora sighed in relief. "Vicky, we've been out for quite a while. Shall we head back?"Vicky glanced at Aurora. "Can we finally go back now?""Yes, we can go back... Huh?" Aurora sensed something was amiss. "Vicky, do you...know something?"Vicky smiled. "Every time I go out with friends, Tyler always bombards me with questions about when I'll be back and insists on picking me up. Strangely, he didn't ask me anything today. Also... I remember that it's my birthday today."Aurora was left speechless as she realized Vicky saw right through her act....By the time they got home, it was starting to get dark outside. Inside the mansion, it was quiet and pitch-black. Suddenly, a warm, yellow candlelight gradually illuminated the darkness, revealing a handsome face."Happy birthday, Vicky," Tyler said.Vicky gazed at the flickering candles, feeling a bit dazed.It was then she remembered that during the early days of their relationship, he had prepared a birthday surpri
Tyler showed great disdain when his wish of getting a daughter was let down. What irritated him most was that this son looked remarkably like him.After recovering from childbirth, Vicky accompanied a newly pregnant Aurora on a shopping trip for baby supplies.Upon hearing Vicky's story, Aurora could not help but ask, "Men are usually happy when they have sons, so why does Tyler prefer daughters?"Vicky sighed. "Tyler says that a family is never really balanced and happy unless they have one son and one daughter."Aurora nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed. Now that you have a son, having a daughter would be perfect. Vicky, have you and Tyler considered responding to the national call and having a third child?"Vicky shook her head. "The last time I gave birth, Tyler wasn't around, so he doesn't know what it was like. This time, he was scared out of his wits and had no intention of having more children. A few days ago, he even underwent a vasectomy."Aurora chuckled. "Daughters may be s
However, everything spiraled out of control.Tyler knew his behavior was despicable, but he could not control his emotions.When he loved, every cell within him longed for her. Every time he came to see her, he told himself it would be the last time. However, he found himself appearing at her house more and more frequently.Tyler knew he was in trouble, and it would not be long before he returned to his former self.Vicky was like a drug to him. Even though he knew that contact with her was toxic, he could not bring himself to let go.He knew she was pregnant with his child, and his most primal desires began to surge, making it impossible for him to resist the urge to make her stay.Vicky listened quietly to his confession, and her heart ached.She could not fight off the urge to hold him; her touch was firm and comforting.He only mentioned a few words about the time he regained consciousness, but Vicky knew he had endured a lot of pain. The fact that he was alive was a miracl
Tyler's lips quivered as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he fell silent.What was there to say? It was not like he could apologize. The deed had been done, and his apology would not mean anything. Besides, he had no regrets whatsoever.Vicky stared at him. "You tampered with the surveillance, didn't you?""Yes.""And the servants and nannies. They're all under your control, right?"Tyler lowered his gaze. "Yes."Since all of this was real and not a dream, she must have been unconscious when Tyler returned. No matter how soundly she slept, she should have felt something. Since she had to take care of Lufian, she came home every day for meals, so she guessed that something was added to her food.For the past few days, she pretended to eat at home while secretly disposing of her meals. As it turned out, her suspicions were correct.Vicky repeated the question she asked before. "Why didn't you come to me?"Tyler remained silent once again."Did you come here just t
"Are you planning to leave just like that?"The man's body tensed.Click! The desk lamp was turned on, its warm, amber light illuminating the darkness."Why won't you look at me? Are you brave enough to do it but not to admit it?" echoed Vicky's gentle voice.Tyler snapped out of it and instinctively pulled his hand away from hers, ready to escape, only for Vicky's next words to pin him in place."If you leave now, I'll get rid of the baby in me tomorrow."He swiftly froze in place and turned back to her. "What did you just say?"Even though she prepared herself mentally, seeing the shock on his face made Vicky's eyes widen in shock. In an instant, her eyes welled up with tears. "You..."As Tyler met the shock in her eyes, he came to a sudden realization and turned his face away, looking anywhere but at her.When she learned about her pregnancy and knew she had not been dreaming, Vicky had a hunch about who it was that came and went freely into her home. The only one capable o
Vicky began to feel increasingly uneasy. She was pregnant without even knowing who the father was. That had to be one of the most absurd jokes in the world.Aurora, Noah, and the others were bewildered.They knew Vicky's character well, and she was not the type to casually sleep around. Besides, she still had feelings for Tyler, so she would never sleep with another man.Getting drunk was even more out of the question. After all, she was either working or taking care of her child. She had neither the time nor the inclination to go out drinking.Even Vicky herself was bewildered, and her thoughts were in disarray. "I... I don't know."The others exchanged glances, all noticing that Vicky's first instinct was not to terminate the pregnancy."Vicky, go home and think it over carefully. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us," Aurora said gently.Vicky nodded absently.Back at home, Vicky reviewed the surveillance footage once more.She had watched it numerous times, but
Just then, a dish that Vicky usually enjoyed was brought to the table by the waiter.The aroma filled the air, but Vicky paled instantly. Before anyone could react, she retched and rushed to the bathroom.Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.Cece blinked. "What's wrong with Vicky?"Jennifer furrowed her brow. "Vicky doesn't look well. Is she ill?"The concerned Aurora chimed in, "Ever since Tyler's disappearance, Vicky hasn't been in the best mood. She even suffered from postpartum depression. Let's take her to the hospital after dinner. We can't afford for her to fall ill again."Everyone assumed that something was physically wrong with Vicky, but Noah, who remained silent, spoke up."I remember when Vicky was pregnant last time... She seemed to be very sensitive to certain smells."All eyes turned to Noah.Jennifer's eyes widened. "What are you trying to say, Noah?! You don't mean to suggest that...Vicky might be pregnant, do you?"Under the curious gazes of everyone, Noah c
As Anthony and Jennifer grew up in Lovian, and their families had deep roots there, they had to stay at Lovian as well. However, whenever they had free time, Jennifer often returned to Stoneford City to meet her friends for gatherings and meals.Vicky's birthday was approaching in a few days, and Jennifer came back early for the occasion.Lufian, on the other hand, became the darling of the group, and everyone loved him. Thus, one of the highlights of visiting Zendonia was to see Lufian.On this day, Vicky had some free time and decided to go to the airport to fetch Jennifer.Harvey held Lufian and walked out of Vicky's mansion.He had also come back early to celebrate Vicky's birthday. Like everyone else, he adored Lufian. His priority the moment he returned was to see Lufian, even though Lufian resembled Tyler most uncannily.Harvey carried Lufian and settled into the back seat, preparing to bond with him during the ride. Vicky sat in the driver's seat.Just as they were about
"Lufian is usually very well-behaved. He doesn't cause a fuss and is easy to handle.""Is his name Lufian?""That's right. Lufian Hart."Gloria's gaze flickered briefly but quickly returned to normal. "Have you given him a nickname?""Not yet," Vicky replied.Gloria did not say anything further.After playing with the child for a while, she carefully placed the necklace she had prepared around Lufian's neck.The baby played for a while and soon fell asleep.Gloria then gently returned Lufian to his stroller.Leaving the nursery, Vicky and Gloria engaged in casual conversation. They had no deep-seated grudges, and over time, their past love and hatred gradually faded away.Vicky smiled and remarked, "You seem to really like children. How about having one yourself? A kid would make a good companion for Lufian.""I'd like to, but I haven't found the right person," Gloria lamented.Gloria had been single for years. It was not because she could not forget Tyler or was waiting fo