“Miss Lane,” North began. “I was surprised you’d brought gifts for everyone except me, Mrs. Howard, but I never really asked you to compensate for it. Still, you and Mr. Hampton… Ugh, this is all my fault. I shouldn’t have been so considerate of others.“The next time someone insists on giving me a gift, I shouldn’t worry about the gift being from someone’s dead grandmother and just accept it. That would help me avoid such a huge mistake.”The moment North finished talking, the room became eerily silent.Sharon’s expression soured. What the heck was North talking about?! What did she mean by “everyone except me, Mrs. Howard”?!What did she mean by her words? Since when had North been considerate toward her?!Gerald interrupted them calmly. “North never asked you to give her anything. Since you’re the one who gifted Madam Lane’s heirloom so casually, North isn’t the one who disrespected her. You are.”Joe became furious. “Have some morals, Gerald! Are you going to ruin our friends
His burning lips robbed North of every thought in her head, bringing her mind to a grinding halt.The kiss was chaste. It was simply lips pressing on lips, with no intention of deepening the kiss.Still, North could feel her face heat up and the atmosphere shift.Gerald was practically covering her lips with his as he mumbled in a low voice, “Mrs. Howard, please don’t take Joe’s and Sharon’s words to heart. She doesn’t have her own room here, and she’s not special to me.”North could feel the wetness on her lips. She did not even dare breathe too heavily. “I-I didn’t.”“You didn’t, but I did. I don’t want any misunderstandings to happen.”North’s heart skipped a beat. He seemed to be worried that she would be sad.Her family had never cared about her throughout her whole life. Even in North Aurope, North had mostly experienced the worst of humanity.Why did someone like Gerald exist? Why would he take the time to reassure her because he was worried she would bottle up her sadne
Roque continued, “The moment Abraham South came back, he didn’t patch things up with his old man or start a job at their corporation.“He didn’t even take over any of the companies his family owned or inherit Mr. South’s connections in the art world. All he wanted was a tiny luxury items shop which, coincidentally, is tied to your mother.”A luxury items store? Take over the companies his family owned?North froze. Wait a minute, why did she feel like he was not talking about Gerald?A terrifying thought crossed her mind and she interrupted to ask Roque a strange question. “Roque, does the South family heir share their surname?”Roque paused. “Obviously. What other surname would the South heir have?”North felt her heart sink. There was a problem she had never gotten into before, but was now at the forefront of her thoughts—What if Gerald was not a South?!After all, there was no way Roque’s information could be wrong. If that was the case…“Oh yeah,” Roque suddenly spoke up
The air seemed to freeze, and the suggestive atmosphere disappeared completely once she asked the question.Gerald’s gaze darkened. His smile did not reach his eyes, but it was still gentle and warm.“Why? Are you curious about my relation to them?” he asked.North blinked coyly. “A little.”Gerald narrowed his eyes. He knew North only married him because she thought he was the South family heir, and he also knew that she had married the wrong guy.But as far as he was concerned, there was no going back once you had made a mistake. If you were wrong, you were wrong for life.What did Roque say to North to rouse her suspicions?Gerald’s gaze shifted slightly. “There’s no need to be curious. I don’t value the South family at all, so I never show up at their parties. Are you satisfied with that explanation, Mrs. Howard?”North clicked her tongue. Roque did say that the South heir did not want any of the family’s companies, so that matched up with Gerald’s explanation.Had she bee
Madam Myers concluded, “That’s why North will be cast aside soon. Even if they don’t end up divorced, Mr. Howard will get sick of her sooner or later!”Henry’s eyes lit up.If that was the case… wouldn’t North still be under his control once she got divorced?“Good news, Madam. Good news!” The butler’s expression became joyful after he got a call. “Madam, Mrs. South and Miss South have invited Miss Melinda to try on some wedding dresses tomorrow!“Looks like the wedding will be happening any day now! Congratulations, Miss Melinda!”The Myers family froze.They did not expect that even after what happened with the Pierces, Eiger would still defy Mr. South’s wishes to marry Melinda!Surprise filled Melinda’s eyes. It did not if North married Gerald Howard.That woman was going to be abandoned eventually.But her? She was going to be the new Mrs. South!…The following afternoon, Gerald dropped North off at the wedding dress store.This was the first time she had set foot in t
Patricia felt a lump in her throat.Gerald paused for a second before continuing, “It seems that you enjoy raising someone else’s son, Ms. Patricia. What a shame that I’m not a fan.”“What insolence!” Patricia reacted like her sore spot had been touched on. Finally, she yelled while trembling in anger, “Gerald Howard, I am your mother! How can you say that?!”Gerald was fiddling with a fruit knife as he said casually, “Ms. Patricia, you know very well the kind of useless trash you raised. You might be happy playing house with him, but I have no patience to spend time with a fool as a form of charity.”“You…” Patricia’s face was red from rage. She threatened him loudly. “Whatever it is, you must give that piece of land in Southvale to your brother. I’ll make you regret it if you don’t!”Gerald replied languidly, “I’m not the only one who calls the shots when it comes to that land. If I let it go now, how do you expect me to explain things to the shareholders, Ms. Patricia?”Patric
Connor was already waiting outside the door. He went up to Gerald when he saw him. “Sir, the land in Southvale…”A hint of viciousness flashed in Gerald’s eyes. “Since my brother is interested in it, then I’ll gift it to him. Put out the news that I will put all my effort into getting that land.”Connor knew that Gerald had a plan in mind. “Yes, sir! Did Ms. Patricia make trouble for you?”Gerald let out a burst of laughter. What kind of trouble could Patricia even cause him? But since there were still some things that were not clear yet, he had no choice but to keep her around.Connor glanced at the time before saying respectfully, “Sir, the designer, Mr. Harlow, is already waiting for you. Also, the madam seems to be facing a bit of trouble.”Gerald straightened his suit. “Who’s giving her trouble?”“I didn’t have a good look. It looked like Mrs. South had gotten into a dispute with the madam because of a wedding gown.”A wedding gown, the South family…Gerald coldly narrowed
Everyone was taken aback as they instinctively looked at North.The wedding gown that North was wearing was the same dress that Thomas had promised to Melinda, Starshine.Lilac immediately reacted. She roared, “Don’t you have any shame? Do you get a kick out of stealing Melinda’s things all the time?”North looked up calmly. She laughed as she said, “It’s Melinda’s?”Fiona was annoyed. “Of course, it’s Melinda’s. You don’t know this, but this is Mr. Harlow’s apprentice, Mr. Thomas Mitchell! He’s Melinda’s friend, and he promised to give this dress to her!”Thomas said unhappily, “Miss North, I can ignore what you’ve done if you take the dress off now. But you’ll be done for when my master comes.”Melinda bit her lip and said, pained, “North, I can give you whatever you want at home, but this gown is a gift from Mr. Mitchell. I can’t give it to you without his permission. Can you do me this favor?“I know you’ve never seen such a beautiful wedding gown, but you can’t steal it. Pe