Dinner was ready soon.Adina brushed off the thoughts from her mind. She took Duke’s hand and led him to the dining room to eat their dinner.Harold made a face and stuck his tongue out. He said, “Daddy, Mommy, both of you are too lovey-dovey. Daddy, you steal Mommy away from us every day now.” Duke pretended to be angry. “Do you mean that?”Harold quickly hid behind George. “After Mommy comes back home from work, she doesn’t play with us anymore. Daddy, it’s all your fault for being too domineering!”Melody nodded in agreement. “Daddy, I want to sleep with Mommy tonight.”“I also want to sleep with Mommy!” Harold said happily. “I want Mommy to shower me and tell me bedtime stories.”“Childish!” The corners of Alden’s lips twitched. “Are you still a three-year-old child? Why do you need Mommy’s help to shower?”“I’m only four years old. I’m still a child,” Harold said matter-of-factly. He went up to Adina and pouted. “Mommy, you only spend time with Daddy. Can you spend some t
Harold was shaken. Tears welled up in his eyes when he saw the anger and disgust in his mother’s eyes directed towards him.“Mommy, don’t hate me,” Harold’s voice trembled. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I will try not to be so clumsy anymore.”He slowly approached Adina and held her hand. But Adina swung his hand away.“I told you not to touch me!” Adina was agitated and restless. She raised her hand and knocked the chocolate strawberry cake to the ground. Everyone in the dining room was stunned, especially her children.Harold’s tears streamed down his cheek. Melody bit her bottom lip. She dared not cry out loud.“All of you, go back to your rooms,” said Duke carefully. He placed a hand on Adina’s shoulder.“Don’t touch me!” Adina pushed his hand away. “All of you, get out now!”She cradled her head and charged outside. Her head was going to split. It hurt too much!A voice rang in her mind. ‘Leave them! Get out of there now!’She had no idea where she was heading. She rushed outside wi
Harold cried.“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so clumsy. Mommy looked very angry. What should I do?” Harold felt hopeless. “Why is Mommy so angry? Why was she so scary?”When he remembered the way his mother had looked at him, with anger and hatred, his heart felt heavy.George pursed his lips. “The dress is a gift from Daddy. I suppose Mommy likes that dress too much. Maybe that’s why she was angry.”“Even if that’s the case, she never gets so angry.” Alden sat by the window. His eyes were troubled, no one knew what he was thinking about. “There has to be something that we don’t know.”Melody sobbed. “Alden, I’ve never seen her like that before. I think I saw…’She saw her mother bite her father’s shoulder. When her father had carried her mother into the mansion, his shoulder was bleeding.‘Mommy loves Daddy so much. Why would she bite him like that?’ Melody could not say all this aloud. She was afraid that her mind was playing tricks on her.“Mommy is not scary. Don’t be li
“Mommy, I made the pasta specially to ask for your forgiveness,” said Harold sadly. “Last night, I—”“Harold, go out for a minute,” Duke interrupted him. “I have something to talk to your Mommy about. In private.”Harold looked up at his father, annoyed. “Daddy, I haven’t finished my sentence. Could you please let me finish my words? Then you can talk to Mommy all you want.”“It cannot wait. Go. Now.”Duke took the plate of pasta from his hands and placed it on the bedside table. He then lifted Harold up and carried him out of the bedroom.“Daddy, you’ve gone too far!”Harold shouted fiercely. Duke glared at him before he closed the door and locked it. He turned to Adina. “I’m certain that Harold’s pasta is not as tasty as mine. Are you sure you want to eat it?”Adina looked at him. “Why did you drive Hal out? What exactly do you want to tell me about?”“Ahem, nothing.” Duke rested his gaze on her collar. “It’s not good if our children see that.”Adina looked down. The neckl
“Mommy, I forgot what I wanted to say to you.”Harold scratched the back of his head, pretending to remember what he had wanted to tell her.Adina laughed. “Let me know if you remember it, okay?”Harold nodded. He sighed in relief.Mr. Brown called them downstairs. “AI, Georgie, Hal, Mel, get ready for preschool!”George obediently took his siblings downstairs. When the children left the mansion, it was very quiet.Adina was instructed to rest at home for at least three days. She was worried about her own health, so she heeded the instruction and stayed in the study room, reading books.Duke did not leave for his office either. He worked inside the study room and stayed at Adina’s side. The sound of his fingers tapping on the keyboards calmed Adina.She found an interesting novel and shared it with Duke.The sunlight was warm, and the snow had melted. It was a very quiet and peaceful morning.Buzz! The call disturbed their serene moment. Duke glanced at his phone. “I ha
Duke laughed. “Go to bed. Take a nap. I’ll put you to bed.”“I’m not Melody. Why do I even need you to put me to bed?” Adina snorted. But he looked at her so tenderly that she could not resist.She leaned against his chest., “Do continue your work. I’ll read some books, instead. Reading does make me sleepy.”Duke nodded. He wrapped his arm around her waist and tapped the keyboard with the other.Adina could not stand reading any more of the books. She took out her phone and browsed through the news. She saw something that shocked her. She wondered how she had made the headlines yet again.“The Sea City’s former most beautiful woman personally went to the site. She fainted because of tremendous working stress. It was teary to behold.”The corners of Adina’s lips twitched. ‘Why did the news make it sound as if she was very weak and pitiful?’She clicked on the comment session and scrolled down. She was caught by surprise. Whenever she was mentioned in the news in the past, the net
Zhenny and Jasmine left the study room. The mother and daughter looked furious.“Mother, Grandpa is biased!” Jasmine clenched her teeth. “Adina is his illegitimate granddaughter! Does he have to back her up to this extent?!”“Jas, that’s why you have to work harder.” Zhenny suppressed her anger and said calmly, “Your surname is Yackley, so it’s only normal for Grandpa to not side with you. You have to be hundred times more capable than Daniel or Adina in order to inherit Jones Corporation.”Jasmine raised her chin smugly. “We are definitely winning this contest with the petrochemical project. I’ll trample Adina under my feet!”Zhenny shook her head. “Adina re-planned the resort project. If her proposal is implemented, the resort project’s profitability and influence will be comparable to that of our petrochemical project, so we don’t know if we can win the contest yet.”“They have to invest capital first for the tourism project. They must continue to invest in capital before they
Jones Corporation headquarters was a skyscraper. It was a landmark within the commercial arena. After several decades of steady development, the foundation of Jones Corporation now was deeply rooted in the Sea City. The succession contest kicked off. The internal management got even busier. Daniel went to the finance department with the documents.“Young Master Jones, what brings you here?” The Chief Financial Officer grinned and flipped through the documents Daniel had passed to him. “So, it’s about the investment funds for the resort. Mdm. Zhenny mentioned it to me this morning. I’ll stamp the document and release the funds now. Young Master Jones, please wait for a while.”Daniel waited patiently. The moment he received the funds, he frowned. “The preliminary investment funds required for the project is at least $1,500,000,000.”The Chief Financial Officer smiled. “The initial proposal stated the project required $1,000,000,000. I am doing my work according to the company’s p