As she expected, William did not sign the share return documents. Instead, he set them aside.Subsequently, he looked at her with complicated emotions in his eyes.Cordelia was clueless. She had no idea what he was going to do and say next.The office fell into an awkward silence. William only lifted his head a long time later, asking her with his rather husky voice. “Are you so eager to cut ties with me?”She pursed her lips and said nothing.“Is your mom discharged from the hospital?” His stare was piercing. “Did she tell you that?”“No,” Cordelia said softly. “I found out about it by chance that we’re not related by blood.“So I’m returning these to you today…”Her palms were sweating. She secretly checked out William’s expression.He sat up straight and asked. “Why are you doing this?”“Because I’m not a Jenner,” she answered. “These don’t belong to me.”“Cordelia, you’ve been calling me dad for so many years. I’ve been treating you as my own.”‘Hah, have you?’ Cordelia
The loud thud gave a squeeze to Cordelia’s heart. She snapped her head up and happened to see William’s cold stare and a subtle smile at the corner of his lips.After leaving the office, Yelena pulled her from behind before she could get out of the building.“Stop!”She turned her head, and Yelena’s slap came to her face!Fortunately, she had come prepared. She dodged swiftly, and Yelena missed. As she was attempting to slap her again, Cordelia grabbed her wrist tight!Yelena’s stare was vicious, but Cordelia did not want to give in at all. She shook her off.The share return documents were scattered on the floor. The blank part where William was supposed to sign seemed extra ironic now.Yelena screamed as if she had gone mad.At that moment, Cordelia had a complicated feeling.She thought about it from a different angle. If she and Carter had the same father and different mother, she had been despising him since young, had tried everything to put him in trouble, and eventuall
“Okay, stop it!”Cordelia rejected softly. Her arms wrapped him.Zephyr smiled and gave a long kiss on her neck, pressing down the burning desire that was surging inside of him.He knew she was a conservative lady. She could not do it anywhere else other than their own bedroom.It seemed he would have to make her get used to it.“What are you thinking about, hubby?”Zephyr snapped back his senses. He smiled at her after licking his dry lips.“Do you feel much better now?”“Mm-hmm!”He said, “Wifey, what are you going to do about the shares?”She bit her lip, not knowing how to tell him.“The shares are worth nothing.” He played with her hair. “Take them if you want them. Don’t take them if you don’t want them. No need to struggle with it.”“They’re worth nothing?” Cordelia laughed out loud. “You’re speaking as if you're rich! You don’t even care about the shares that are “worth nothing” now!”Zephyr chuckled and said nothing.Cordelia’s voice was coquettish as she drowned
“Combining my savings and the return from my investment…” The lady revealed excitement at the corner of her eyes. “Hubby, guess how much we have now?!”Zephyr shook his head while chuckling.Cordelia whispered the number and could not stop smiling.“Hubby, I can finally get you a car!”“What?” Zephyr put down the cutlery and looked at her with slight confusion.“I’m getting you a car!” she repeated. “Didn’t I tell you that I wanted to get you a car so that you won’t have to use public transportation? It’s just that I didn’t have enough savings before.”Zephyr felt warm.It seemed her salary had doubled when she was promoted to sales supervisor at the previous company.She had said she would get a mortgage to buy a house, and then she would buy him a car for convenience.It seemed she never felt the pain of spending money on him…He held her hands softly and looked into her eyes.“You don’t have to buy me a car. Just save it for your mom and Carter.”“I’ve set aside money fo
It was an ordinary sedan—small engine capacity, fuel-efficient, not exactly roomy, and cost less than $15,000.Not even the Hamertons’ servants would drive this kind of car, but Zephyr liked it very much. It was because Cordelia’s eyes sparkled when she saw the car, and he liked the sparkle in her eyes.“Honey, what do you think?” Cordelia held his arm.Zephyr smiled. “As long as you like it.”“I quite like it, but this is for you. You’ve got to like it too!”Cordelia knew that men felt more for cars. Cars were like their other wives. She ought to pick one that he would like.“Linda and I browsed a lot of them and think this one’s the best from all aspects. Do you want to test drive it, darling?”“No need.” Zephyr looked at her. “We’ll take this one. I like it.”Cordelia grinned sweetly and began discussing the color of the car. Black was cool, but she hoped he could pick white. He was already barely smiling usually, so it would be scarier if he drove a black car. As she spok
“Uh, I didn’t want to come. Josiah insisted!” Frederic quickly claimed his innocence.Zephyr glanced at Josiah darkly.“No, Z, I…”“You didn’t just want to come. You said you wanted to go for a drive in Z’s new car!”“Fredric!” Josiah could not even win the argument.Zephyr asked sternly, “Didn’t I ask you not to hang around here? What if Cordelia sees you!?”“I…” Josiah was close to tears while Frederic tried to hold back his chuckle.“Never mind, Z. He hasn't been the brightest since we were young. Don’t get petty with him!”Josiah was rendered speechless.“Right, your new car’s beautiful!” Frederic grinned like a sly old fox. “Cordelia picked it?”It was only then Zephyr showed a hint of a smile.Frederic continued. “Cordelia has good taste. Z, your cars weren't too practical in the past. This car’s specs and model, its color especially, match you very well!”Josiah immediately loathed Frederic.In spite of it, Zephyr was in a good mood and even suggested driving them
“But…” That sentence was about to roll off Zennie’s tongue, but she could not do it. She could only gulp.Other than her brother explaining it to Cordelia personally, others were not able to intervene.“Alright.” Cordelia smiled and pinched Zennie’s nose lightly. “What’s gotten into you today? Is it because you haven’t gotten any cookies?”Zennie forced a smile and got the cookies out of the oven with her.The wind chime rang at the door each time customers patronized the café.Cordelia began another busy day. This day was like every other day—sunlight filled the porch while the interior wafted with the aroma of coffee. Patrons chatted and took photos here, leaving good reviews before they left.It was close to the start of fall now, but the irises were blooming prettily.Cordelia was filled with happiness. As Zennie watched her smile in contentment, she hoped she could stay this blissful.…Zephyr drove along the river very slowly and rarely made a bump.The passenger seat
Zephyr frowned and felt conflicted. Zennie had grown up sheltered from the world and had been a goody two shoes all along. However, it was easier for girls like this to run into people with ulterior motives.Zephyr took a deep breath and felt a headache. He spent some quiet time and drove back after a while.…Oliver had been waiting for seven straight days outside a private club in Centrolis. He came every day asking to meet Matthew, standing from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., but the bodyguards outside kept a straight face no matter how hard he tried.Matthew was annoyed just hearing his name, forget meeting him.Just when Oliver was growing desperate, the butler came out to inform him, “Mr. Jones, Mr. Yale invites you in.”Oliver perked up and hurried in instantly.There was a huge metal cage in the backyard of the club. Before Oliver went close, he could smell a decaying stench in the air. He was alarmed but could only brace himself and continue going.To his surprise, there