“You don’t say!” Harold said cheerfully. He was feeling extremely pleased with himself. Earlier, he had sworn that he would not compromise on Ninian’s request. But those words were thrown in the bin as if he had never said those words in his life.Everyone knew that Harold never took his oaths seriously. Soon, Harold and Ninian arrived at the hotel where Raina stayed. They ran into her at the stairs, saving them the trouble of looking for her. “Hal! Ninian!” Raina said in shock, “Why are you here?”“Hey, Raina. What a coincidence! It has been so long!” Ninian stammered from the sudden bout of nervousness.Harold patted her head to comfort her. He then looked at Raina with severity in his gaze. “Raina, we came here to look for you.”“Me?” Raina’s expression changed. She became cold and vigilant. “What for?”“Why don’t we go somewhere else to chat?” Harold said as he pointed to the passersby who were watching them. Ten minutes later, they were in a cafe beside the hotel.
“At that time, everyone was in shock. Daddy was furious, and everyone else blamed themselves for it…”Ninian’s voice quivered as she recalled her dark past. Her usually lit-up bright eyes were now welling up with tears and looked dull. “George personally dealt with that man. He even… turned violent…“At that time, George was upset. Everyone… was also upset…”“Okay, Ninian. Enough!” Raina said out loud. She could not bear it anymore. “It’s all in the past now…”“I’d never once seen George work so hard. He blamed himself for the incident…” Ninian was deep into her memories. The shackles of trauma that kept her from moving on were not the incident itself, but instead, it was the guilt the family felt from the incident.Her face was pale and clenched her fingers as she said, “George and Alden barely slept, Mommy and Melody cried secretly, and Harold, the most cheerful person I know, did not smile for half a year…”“Grapie…” Harold looked at her pale face, her eyes couldn’t help b
“Alright, Grapie. Let’s get back to business,” Harold changed the topic, so she would not be left feeling awkward. “Oh, yes.” Ninian raised her head and smiled sheepishly. Her eyes lit up. “I’m sorry, Raina. It’s embarrassing to have you watch me act like this.”“No worries.” Raina smiled and shook her head as she returned to her seat. “Raina, we’ve now told you why George lost contact with you. Are there any other misunderstandings between the two of you?” Harold did not beat around the bush and spoke pointedly. Ninian blinked as she earnestly looked at Raina. When Raina showed how serious Ninian and Harold were, she could no longer put on a cold expression. She sighed helplessly and laughed, feeling amused.“What Ninian told me just now only lets me know that George didn’t abandon me to be the heir of the company. But this doesn’t change the fact that he won’t communicate and share certain things with me.“He either doesn’t trust me or he doesn’t find me that important. Mo
Raina took a deep breath as she quivered and said, “I might sound stupid for saying this, but even after half a month of heartbreak, I was still making excuses for George.”“He didn’t mean it, he’s just ignorant. If he had known about this, he would definitely be by my side. He’s not the kind of person who would leave me at times like this, even if he has no feelings for me. “Even during those times, I was still worried he had gotten into an accident. I resented God and wondered if he’d call it quits when he finally took all that I had from me.“But those thoughts stopped when I accidentally heard what the patient in the ward next to me said.” Raina’s gaze turned cold as she zoned out. “The VIP ward next door occasionally had bodyguards guarding it. One day, as I passed by the ward, I instinctively stopped when I heard them mentioning the Winters family. “A voice inside me told me to eavesdrop and listen to what they had to say and find out the truth. In the end, I now found out
Raina was stunned. She laughed at herself. “Did he say that? Did he say that he loves me? That’s impossible!” she laughed as her eyes gradually teared up. “If he did, why didn’t he come here on his own? If he loves me, why would he disappear without leaving a word to me? If he loves me, why would he be wary around me and avoid me at every chance he gets?“You said he loves me, but the way he looks at me, his words, and his actions never once showed that he does. She shook her head and smiled as her vision blurred. “Are you saying that true love means to avoid and hide from the person you love? I don’t believe you.”Her question also left Harold and Ninian speechless.George had broken Raina’s heart, lowering her self-confidence. She was certain that he did not love him, and that was determined to cut her off. They finally understood that she wanted to break up not because of a moment of misunderstanding or impulse, but instead, of an outbreak of suppressed feelings of disappoint
“Ninian, I’m done fighting for this relationship,” Raina said earnestly through misty eyes. “We are from two different worlds. We were never destined to be together.”After she finished speaking, Raina stood up and said, “It’s getting late, and I need rest. You two should go back and rest, too. You guys don’t need to come to find me anymore,” she said politely. As she was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of a figure standing by the glass window.George, dressed in a suit and tie, met her gaze.At that moment, the surrounding noise drowned down and everything became quiet.“George…” Ninian stood up when she also saw George. She was stunned and at a loss.Harold was not surprised. He was holding an inconspicuous black metallic object in his hand, similar to the Bluetooth earbud George was wearing.George had heard their conversation. After exchanging glances for a while, George approached her. He frowned, and a thousand words were written on his expression. Raina, who had
Ninian took out her phone and glanced at it. Many messages popped out. There were messages from Nerola, who was worried about her, wondering if she had reached home safely; messages from Lana, who shared pictures of delicious food and beautiful scenery on her vacation; and messages from Paul and her other colleagues on the crew set who were concerned about her.She replied to each of them. She also told Paul and her other colleagues that she took a few days off to attend to some personal matters. Her eyes widened when she reached the last message. [When are you coming back?]This question sounded vague and nothing out of the ordinary. But the sender was from her paragon, Everett’s agent, Zayn Barnes.‘How did Zayn notice me taking a leave and not visiting the cast? Besides, why does he care when I’ll be back?‘That’s strange.’She frowned and was perplexed. Even so, she did not hesitate to reply to his message. ‘I’ll be back in about five days.’After sending this messa
After Everett saved Ninian, his symptoms started showing. George saw it with his own eyes. Out of gratitude and courtesy, he helped Everett. He even sent him back to the Craig family’s mansion. Afterward, Everett entered the entertainment industry, and Winters Corporation established a good relationship with the Craig family as a way to show their gratitude.George had always thought that Everett rescued Ninian out of coincidence, and that they had remained as strangers. Little did he know that ever since then, Everett had long coveted Ninian.“If you two were to meet again at the upcoming piano concert, with George’s acumen, it’ll definitely give him a clue about your feelings for Ninian. At that time, it’ll be difficult for you to get close to Ninian again.”Everett became silent when he heard what Zayn said. Naturally, he had the same thought as Zayn. After a long pause, he said, “I’m only there to watch the concert. I don’t plan to let them know I’m there.”‘I’ve initiall