Julian nodded. “Yes, that’s why I’ve never gotten married. I don’t have any sexual reaction to those women. I can’t just marry someone for dignity, right?“My family is also very anxious. They arranged countless blind dates for me. When I refused to go on blind dates, they brought pictures of girls, hoping that I would have a reaction to someone.“As long as I look at a girl a little longer or talk to her a bit more, my parents think I like them, making me extremely helpless. In the end, I had to stay away from women to avoid misunderstandings with my parents.“Quinn, I had resigned myself to being single for life. Who knew that at Wiltspoon Airport, I would find a keychain with a small photo of you? When I saw your photo, I inexplicably wanted to kiss you, my heart raced, and my face turned red.“This feeling is something I haven’t experienced in my over thirty years of life. I think that’s what they call love at first sight, a normal man’s reaction.“You are the destined woman f
“It’s not exactly an investigation, I just wanted to know who you are. After all, you are the only woman who has captured my heart. Even if I had to search the ends of the earth, I would find you.“Because I had your photo, it was easy to locate you.”At this point, Julian said everything, without further concealment. Learning from Zachary’s experience, he knew that when facing the woman he loved, some things were better said sooner. If concealed for too long, it would be difficult to handle.Zachary and his wife almost divorced because of similar issues.“After finding you, I didn’t want to casually introduce myself to you, fearing you’d see me as a pervert. So, I arranged for my subordinates to pretend to be a biker gang. On your way back to the hotel, they stopped my car, putting me in a dangerous situation, giving you the chance to save me.“That way, I could approach you, treat you well, and you wouldn’t suspect me.”Quinn stared at him. “So, everything was arranged by you.”
”I know marrying me could put you in the way of unpredictable dangers, but I will do my best to keep you safe and not let anyone bully you or harm you, not even a single bit.”Julian was the heir of the Buchams and as its future head, if he could not even protect his wife, he had no business taking that position.Quinn replied on instinct. “It’s not like I’m afraid that you’ll endanger me.”She could protect herself.“As long as you and your family don’t do anything illegal, the power you have is all due to your competence.”Julian hurriedly said, “We won’t do anything illegal like murder, arson, smuggling, or anything like that. We always consider the long-term, so how could we possibly be so stupid to do illegal things? Wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble?”“Grandma May said before that if we Buchams dared to do anything illegal, she would be the first to hold us accountable because we’ve gained connections from her.”The Buchams and the Yorks had such a good relationship
“Sure. I-I won’t rush you or force you. Think carefully about it. Even if you can’t accept my feelings right now, I can wait. It just means that I haven’t done enough to move your heart and satisfy you.“I’ll keep striving my best to make you fall for me and make you happy.”Quinn smiled and said, “It’s not that you haven’t done enough. It’s just—I saw you as a friend but you saw me as a wife. It’s too sudden. I need some time to digest this since this is a major life decision and does concern my happily ever after. I have to think carefully about this.“Julian, this is between the two of us. Don’t tell my parents about this before I’ve given you an answer. If they knew I didn’t immediately say yes, they’d probably yell my head off. Unfortunately, I am that person who’s been stood up countless times by my blind dates.“My dad doesn’t really care. It’s not like I’m that old either—I’m only in my twenties. But my mom’s anxious and keeps thinking that I might be able to defend myself
Before Julian could respond, Quinn’s voice traveled from the top of the stairs.“Food’s ready!”Zoey called from the kitchen.Everyone immediately entered the kitchen and clambered over each other to carry out the ingredients Zoey had prepared for the meat fondue.Apart from Dave, who was not around, everyone sat around the table and dug into the piping-hot fondue.Will even grabbed a bottle of good liquor from his dad’s collection and four small cups, asking Zoey, “Mom, is it okay if we have a bit to drink tonight?”“If you don’t plan on going out after this, I’ll allow you to have a small glass each. Any more than that is a no-go.”If they had too much and got drunk, their work tomorrow would be affected.Will hummed in acknowledgment and said, “Okay, just a small glass then.”A little was better than nothing.“Quinn is a girl, so you should drink less.”Will only poured half a glass for his little sister.Quinn was very dissatisfied with this. “Yeah, I’m a girl, but my a
After dinner, Quinn and Julian went out for a walk.After the two left, Mark asked, “Will, do you feel like Quinn was a little weird tonight? Like she was unnatural and kept blushing at the drop of a hat. It seemed like she didn’t quite dare to look at Julian either. She was really different from usual.“This is the first time I’ve seen Quinn embarrassed ever since she was born. So it turns out that even she gets embarrassed. That’s the only time she looks like a girl. Normally, she’s just like a boy—carefree and shameless.”Will poured a cup of tea for himself, not responding to his brother immediately.Zoey was in the kitchen doing the dishes.When she heard her younger son’s remarks, she suddenly came out of the kitchen and said to them both, “Come here, you two. I want to talk to you guys about something while Julian isn’t here.”“What is it? You’re being so mysterious, Mom. And your expression is really serious. Is it something bad?” Mark asked as he walked over to her curio
After a moment of thought, Zoey said, “You guys do have a point, but when Julian comes back, I still think you’d better ask to be sure and to ease my worries. Also, Julian might like Quinn and the two are a good match, but Julian is the heir of a rich family and there is still a gap between our family and theirs.“Who knows if his parents can accept her? Once your dad’s back, I’ll talk to him. Will, you should make a trip to Wiltspoon with him and see if you can find anything about Julian’s parents and their characters.”Will nodded. “I can go by myself. I’ll book the flight tickets tonight and head to Wiltspoon first thing tomorrow morning.”“Go with your dad. You’re still young and still lack a keen eye for people. Your dad’s old enough and has decades of experience in the industry. His eye for people is still pretty good and it’s his daughter’s marriage at stake. He should help his daughter find out if her future in-laws are alright and if they’re dependable.”Zoey would have go
Julian said indulgently, “If you like them, I’ll give you flowers every day from now on.“Why don’t I go to the gym with you now to grab the flowers?”Quinn said, “Let’s go and get them. You don’t have to give me flowers every day. Just occasionally as a surprise will do. It’ll lose its novelty if I get flowers every day.”Julian chuckled. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”He gave her flowers, but she thought of flower pancakes instead.Julian was afraid too that if he gave her a bouquet every day, she would only have flower pancakes on her mind and not think of how much he loved her.Women liked two things the most—having money and the freedom to spend it at will.He could give her money folded into flowers so that she had money to spend.“Let’s go shopping for clothes first. I want to buy an outfit for you.”Quinn felt that she had to give him something in return for the bouquet of flowers he had given her.Thus, she decided to give him a thick coat.“You want to buy an outfit f
Imogen had been really worried that Dylan’s reaction to the chili peppers would leave him suffering for several days.“Okay,” Dylan hoarsely replied.Imogen let him eat the porridge by himself. There was nothing else to go with it, but the porridge had a little bit of salt sprinkled in, giving it some flavor.Dylan was hungry, so he quickly finished the bowl of oatmeal porridge. “Do you want more? There’s another bowl’s worth in the thermos.”Dylan shook his head. It was late, and he did not want to eat too much, afraid of gaining weight and ruining his good physique. He still had not won over his future wife, so he had to take care of his figure and maintain his handsome and charming look.Once Dylan finished the IV fluids and took his medicine, Imogen finally left the hospital around ten o’clock. Having slept twice in the day, Dylan was not able to fall asleep again, and Imogen did not let him accompany her downstairs, so he stood by the window and watched her walk out of th
A few minutes later, Imogen took the thermometer from under Dylan’s arm and looked at it. She said to him, “It’s 100.4. Your fever hasn’t completely gone down yet, but compared to when you were admitted at 103.64, it’s come down quite a bit.“What time did you take your medicine? It should be time for your next dose.”Dylan shook his head, indicating that he did not remember when he had taken the medicine.Imogen thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s about time. Take your medicine first, then sleep for a while. I’ll have dinner brought over for you. In your condition, you can only have something light, maybe some oatmeal porridge.”Considering Dylan’s sore throat, Imogen knew he would not be able to eat much, so she called home and asked the housekeeper to bring over dinner, specifically requesting a bowl of oatmeal porridge for Dylan.Dylan could only nod in response.After giving instructions to her housekeeper, Imogen looked at Dylan, who could only nod, and said, “The
Kade had once been so gentle and kind. Was he really that kind of person?Imogen did not believe so.It was possible that the Butcher elders were simply being too pragmatic. Seeing that Maria’s family was on the verge of decline, they thought that Maria was not worthy of Kade and tried to stop them from being together.But wait—Maria said that Kade had never told her he loved her or anything of the sort. Maria had basically been secretly in love with Kade, waiting for him to confess, but she had waited in vain all this time.Imogen internally sighed. What a mess. She could not understand what was the problem between them. She would just have to wait until Kade came back, and then she would find a chance to get some answers from him. “Imogen…” A hoarse voice called out from within the room. It was not very loud; he could not speak loudly. Though it was better than this morning when all he could get out were moans.He had received several bags of IV fluids, which had had some eff
Imogen did not know that Dylan had woken up. She was still on the phone with Maria outside.Maria felt reassured when Imogen mentioned that the person she liked was a member of the richest family in Wiltspoon. All was good as long as he was not a social climber. Imogen asked, “Maria, when are you coming back? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. Kade will be back soon. Are you really not coming back?“Maria, Kade and I are like siblings. Please don’t misunderstand or overthink it. Actually, you should know this—the person Kade likes is you. You two are the real childhood sweethearts, you grew up together.”Imogen and her mother’s godchildren had known each other since they were young, but the three of them had not actually spent much time together as she had always stayed with her master while she learned the trade, only returning home during the summer and winter holidays.Once the holidays ended, she would leave again. Even her formal education was completed in th
There were so many other possible choices. Why were they so fixated on him?Leticia sighed. “Alright, just pretend I never said that. You youngsters will decide for yourselves anyway, we don’t have a say in it. Remember to fetch Kade from the airport on Saturday.“I’ve already told him and he knows you’re supposed to be picking him up. And remember to get some flowers too. You two haven’t met in ages and you should give flowers at a reunion.” She reminded Imogen.“Mom, I can pick him up, fine, but I’m not giving him flowers. Who said you’re supposed to give flowers at a reunion?” Imogen refused to give Kade flowers when fetching him from the airport. “Oh, Mom, I gotta go. Bye!”Imogen quickly hung up, not allowing her mother the chance to speak further. Then, after a moment of thought, she texted Kade to ask when he was expected to arrive at Huntington Airport.It took a while before Kade replied that he would arrive around eleven in the morning on Saturday.Imogen replied wi
“I know you only view Kade as a brother, but who knows, if you nurture the relationship, those feelings might turn romantic? Jen, before you agree to be with Dylan, give yourself another option.“Make Dylan nervous. He’ll get jealous. He was jealous when he overheard our conversation that day.“You need to make him realize that even without him, you can still marry well. The Butchers like you a lot, and our families have a close relationship. You and Kade have known each other since you were young, so you guys could be considered childhood sweethearts.”Imogen said weakly, “Mom, I’m worried that if I get too close to Kade, not only will Dylan misunderstand, but even Maria might misunderstand. Kade and she are a thing, after all.“I really don’t understand what’s going on with Kade. He and Maria clearly have feelings for each other, they just haven’t made it official yet. Don’t their families see this?”She did not have any romantic feelings for Kade, but both families were trying
Although Leticia was angry over how Dylan had treated her daughter previously, at least he was not two-timing. He made things clear to Imogen right after realizing his feelings and stopped her from loving him. He still had a decent character.Besides, Imogen had also kept secrets from Dylan and she tricked him. Dylan still did not have sufficient evidence to prove that Imogen was the Chameleon Fox he loved. Dylan would start pursuing Imogen again after some time. Leticia heard that it was Serenity who had given Dylan a hint that Sugar was Fox. After that, Dylan sought confirmation from Old Mrs. York but only received a vague answer. However, he decided to continue pursuing Imogen because he believed his nana would not bring him harm.After going in circles, Dylan still ended up returning to Imogen.Actually, Leticia already viewed him as her son-in-law.Since Imogen’s happiness was on the line, she was concerned about her future son-in-law’s condition.“Dylan’s hospitalized.”
“Please look after Dylan, Imogen. Message me when he gets better. I just need to know that he’s alive.”Grandma May knew Dylan would be okay with Imogen by his side.Imogen quickly said, “Don’t hang up yet, Grandma May. Where are you now? Wiltspoon?“If it’s convenient, please get his parents to come and take care of Dylan. I’m busy with work. I can’t stay in the hospital to look after him.”Grandma May replied, “His dad is home, but he doesn’t know how to take care of others. I think Dylan will meet his death quicker under his dad’s care.“My daughters-in-law and I are at the Johnson family’s place in Annenburg. We won’t be back that soon because we just came not long ago. We’ll head back closer to Seren’s due date. That’s why we don’t have time to look after Dylan.“If you’re busy, you can return to work once Dylan’s fever breaks, Imogen. You don’t have to care about him. He can take care of himself. It’s just like a bad cold. He’ll be fine once his fever subsides.”Grandma Ma
Imogen should have gone to stop Dylan earlier than she had. Since Layla was helping Imogen to get revenge, Imogen thought she would let Dylan put on a show to display his sincerity. She could only stop Dylan once Layla was satisfied.After handling the hospitalization procedures, Dylan lay on the bed and received an IV drip. Meanwhile, Imogen brought him water and told him to take his medicine.“Take this medicine for your fever. Your face is red from the heat.”Dylan’s temperature was close to 103 degrees Fahrenheit when they measured it at the hospital. He would cough constantly, and his face was flushed red from the fever. He looked tired and weak as well. Dylan sat up and accepted the glass of water. Imogen handed him the right dosage of medicine according to the doctor’s prescription.“Make sure you’re hydrated.”Imogen refilled his glass and told him to drink more water.“I don’t want to drink water.”Dylan lay back down.Perhaps because he was on an IV drip, his