The intranet completely crashed after Elitos Corporation was hacked, and all employees had to put in extra labor over the weekend.The tender conference facing the entire Sea City scheduled for the day was also moved to the afternoon.Adina entered the lobby and saw that the staff were busy setting up the venue, and the site was even more grand and solemn than before.“Mr. Daugherty, this way, please.”Adina was guided into the conference room by the manager in charge of liaisons.The door of the meeting room was pushed open. There were already a dozen staff members seated at the round table. The person who wore a silver mask was sitting on the main seat. An assertive aura surrounded him.“Mr. Earley Wynters, Ms. Daugherty has arrived.”After respectfully reporting, the manager in charge of liaisons gestured for Adina to enter the meeting room.Adina’s lips pulled up into a light smile, “Mr. Earley Wynters, how are you?”Earley pointed to the closest seat at him and said, “Ple
Earley stood up and extended his right hand. “Ms. Daugherty, I hope we will have happy cooperation in the future.”Adina also got up and moved her chair aside. She shook hands with Earley. “Mr. Earley Wynters, may we have a happy cooperation as well.”When her hand touched Earley’s hand, she experienced a shiver that rose up her spine from her fingertips. The air was frigid. It was far more frigid than the cold air from a refrigerator.She only lightly touched Earley’s hand in a symbolic gesture and quickly withdrew.Earley pulled his hand back and inserted it into the suit pant pocket. He said coldly, “There will be a celebration banquet tomorrow night after today’s tender conference. Don’t forget to attend, Ms. Daugherty.”After saying that, without waiting for Adina to answer, he ordered his secretary to send Adina and Serene out.When they got outside and the sunlight shone down their shoulders, Serene let out a sigh of relief, “Ms. Daugherty, don’t you think Mr. Earley Wynte
Adina’s car had just stopped in front of the Winters family’s villa, and the four children were already running out of the yard.“Mommy, you’re finally back. I missed you so much!”Harold’s voice was always the loudest and most rowdy. He rushed over and jumped into Adina’s arms, climbing up on all fours and kissing her on her cheek.Melody, who had been led by Harold, also started acting up, grabbing Adina’s hand and pleading for a hug.Adina was forced to carry the two children inside, while the well-behaved George and Alden followed behind her.Duke frowned and came over, saying coldly, “Harold, how old are you now? Why do you need to be hugged?”While Harold was hugged by his Mommy, he behaved very conceitedly, sticking out his tongue and saying, “I just like to have Mommy hug me, and not you.”Duke’s face darkened, “Even if she had to hug someone, she should hug Al and Mel.”“Why?” Harold raised his chin, “I am also Mommy’s biological son. What’s wrong with wanting a hug fr
Duke glanced over with a cold gaze. “Just eat whatever that’s available. Why ask for so much?”Harold fell silent.When Daddy got a new son, he forgot about his previous son. He was very harsh.Duke did not bother to look at Harold. Instead, he bent down to look at Melody. “Tell Daddy. What do you want to eat for dinner?”Harold was speechless.It felt like another arrow shooting into his chest. He felt so sad.After asking Melody, Duke looked at Adina again. “What do you want to eat?”Adina had no particular preference for food. She said with a light voice, “Whatever, just eat whatever you can cook.”Duke let out a sigh of relief.If this woman proposed eating braised meat or something else, he would be in a difficult situation.However, steamed fish seemed to be a little difficult for him. But because all that was required was to steam the fish, he appeared to be able to manage it too.Duke entered the kitchen with a heavy heart.Mr. Brown knew Duke was going to cook, and
After Duke finished cooking dinner, he went upstairs to change his clothes and came downstairs again.Even though there were only three dishes, they included six steaks. When put all at once, they took up the entire table.Mr. Winters felt quite a sense of accomplishment as a result.Six of them sat down at the table. There was already a plate of steak that looked pretty excellent in front of each of them.Duke elegantly put the napkin on his knee and said, “Try it to see what it tastes like.”Harold was the first one who was excited to cut a slice of steak and put it into his mouth. After only tasting a bite, the little guy wrinkled his brow and said, “It’s so hard, too hard, I hardly can chew it.”Duke was speechless.According to the chef, the fire was just right for grilling the steak. Why was the steak so tough?Alden tasted a bite of steamed sea bass and said, “The fish meat is quite fresh and juicy, but it’s too salty.”Duke could not come up with any words.The chef m
Melody also drank half a glass of wine. Her fair face instantly blushed like a red apple. When Adina saw the kids drinking wine, she found it inappropriate if she did not drink any.She raised her wine glass. When she was about to drink, Alden reached out to stop her. “Mom, I’ll drink for you.”Duke frowned. “You’re just a kid. How could you drink wine? Let me do it.”He grabbed the wine glass.Mr. Brown quietly nudged Duke’s shoulder. “Master, Ms. Daugherty wants to toast to you. How can you drink on her behalf?”Duke seemed to have suddenly realized what was going on.“Young Master Alden, you’d better not drink red wine. This wine is very strong, so children can’t handle it.” Mr. Brown took the wine glass from Duke before he passed it to Adina again. “Ms. Daugherty, you can just take a sip as a formality.”Adina toasted to Duke before she took a sip of the wine.This wine was full of flavor. The taste lingered on the lips and tongue. She could not help but take another sip.
Adina lay on the bed in the guest room and closed her eyes.Alden put the blanket over her before he gently left the room.Right after he went out, he was dragged to the corner of the staircase by Harold. “Alden, we need to talk.”George and Melody were also there. They surrounded Alden.“George, Mel, and I have reached an agreement, which is to…” Harold announced, “Let daddy and Mommy get married. This way, we will have daddy and Mommy, and we can live together forever.” “I disagree!”Alden rejected it without thinking of it.“I know you disagree, so we are here to discuss it with you.” Harold patted Alden’s shoulder in a serious manner. “Brother Alden, you’re still young, so you don’t understand boy-girl relationships. Let me explain it to you.”Alden coldly glanced at Harold. “Are you sure you know?”Harold suddenly felt guilty before he puffed his chest. “Hmph! I don’t know, but George knows it. Am I right, George?”George found himself speechless.What the heck did he
George held Alden’s hand. “Let’s go. I’ll take you to my room. I have many good things in my room. I believe you’ll like them!”Harold looked around. “Mel, go with them to George’s room. I have something to do.”He smirked to himself before he turned around and went to the courtyard.…… Under the cook’s guidance, Duke finally made some tea.He held a cup of tea and knocked on the guest room door. He knocked on the door for a while, but the room remained silent.He turned the doorknob and pushed it open.Then, his breathing stopped.Adina had taken off her outerwear and was strewn out on the bed. She was wearing a chiffon shirt. Her sleeves were rolled up, showing her jade-like arms.She had taken some wine. When the alcohol dissipated off her body, her cheeks blushed like a glorious sunset.The redness extended from her cheeks to her neck, and her collar bones glowed pink.The blanket covered her chest, and it went up and down along her breath.He immediately looked away a