"What?"Immediately, laughter filled the room."Are you deaf?" Carl raised his voice."You're the one who's deaf!" Violet retorted, her face flushed.Carl egged her on deviously. "Go on, then."Whitney had never seen this side of Carl before. It was exhilarating for her.She switched on the laptop and found the dance video. After hitting play, she showed the video to her mother."You rascal!" Violet screeched.Whitney blinked. She blew a kiss in Violet's direction before pleading, "Come on now, Vin. Do it! I'm dying to see you do the dance.""I don't have that much time for you to waste," Carl interrupted as well. His tone was impatient.Violet clenched her fists. It was just a dance.Besides, she had seen people dance in the square before. None of them had been embarrassed in the slightest.This was all for the truth, she reminded herself."Please … don't tell anyone I ever did this." Violet's voice was almost inaudible.This time, even Carl laughed.Violet had never he
Whitney could only accept the cakes. The moment she did, Carl's expression darkened."A very important visitor is coming over tonight. Get ready." His voice was rough as he spoke. Then, he left for his study.Elle had gone up to the second floor as well. She wasn't there for Carl, however."You must be wondering why I'm back together with Carl," she began airily."I couldn't care less." Violet's tone was lazy.Needless to say, Elle must have baited Carl with crucial information he could not resist."Oh, you're jealous, aren't you?" Elle laughed. "Your reaction when you saw me with Carl just now is proof enough. Unfortunately for you, Carl is not interested in men.""Ms. Murphy." Violet's voice turned icy. "You've been by Mr. Walker's side for quite some time now. Besides money, what else have you gained?"Violet then left for Carl's study while Elle seethed.Her taunts had hit Elle's weakest spots, which made Violet feel triumphant.Whitney tilted her head. The tension betwee
As Carl approached, Violet could see her fear reflected in Carl's eyes.They were so close now, their lips on the verge of touching.Carl's warm breath fanned her lips. "Are you planning on leaving the door open all night?" he said eventually.As he spoke, his lips nudged against hers in the barest whisper of a touch. Even so, the tiny contact burned her.Violet bit her lip, if only to prevent herself from moaning.Hot … Everything was so hot …What was happening to her?Carl's eyes shone. He backed away from her and closed the door, the click of its hinges jolting her out of her dazed trance.She must have lost her mind!Why else would she have stood there like a mindless statue, frozen and completely under his mercy?She batted the unsightly thoughts from her mind. When Carl approached her again, she ducked immediately."What are you hiding from?" Carl asked, his voice slightly raised."Your dominance scares me," she replied vacantly. "I dare not get too close.""Have yo
Back at the villa, Violet's mood had improved drastically.She knocked on Carl's study door with a plateful of cakes she had bought from Artisan's Patisserie yesterday."Mr. Walker." Her smile was dazzling. "Are you hungry? I brought you some cakes."Carl did not bother to lift his head."It's really good!" she coaxed. "Whitney was foaming at the mouth when I snatched these from her. Besides, it's not easy to get them, you know. There's always an insanely long queue."To be fair, Whitney hadn't even batted her lashes when Violet took them all away. She had never intended on eating the cakes in the first place.As Carl continued to face her apathetically, Violet had no other choice but to cave in. "About this morning … I was at fault. I'm sorry."This got him to raise his head. "What are you apologizing for?""I shouldn't have taken your words at face value," she replied. Part of her still itched to irritate him on purpose despite everything.Sure enough, Carl's expression turn
Carl did not answer Violet's question immediately. Instead, he drew her attention to the folder on his desk. "Don't you want to see what's in there?"Violet approached him skeptically. As she perused its contents, she realized it was a DNA test."I collected the samples from you and Whitney," Carl informed her. His voice was frosty."Please! I can explain!" Violet cut in hurriedly. Now that Whitney was involved, she couldn't help the sharp fear rising within her. "I can assure you that it's not what you think."Carl sat down expectantly.Violet considered her options swiftly. If she admitted to Whitney being her daughter, she would expose Whitney's lie and, therefore, put her daughter directly in danger.After all, Whitney had told Carl that she was an orphan when she first approached him.Carl had always been merciless, especially when it came to those who dared deceive him.The thought of his ruthlessness was enough for Violet to shoulder the blame entirely in exchange for Wh
"Whitney!" Violet screamed. She immediately ran toward the house.A firefighter halted her advance. "Miss, this building has been temporarily sealed off. You can't go in there right now.""My house is on fire!" Violet stressed, her voice urgent. "My daughter is still inside!""We've already sent a team in. If you could just …" The firefighter had barely finished when Violet shoved him aside and rushed into the building.The firefighter attempted to catch up to her, but Violet was quicker than he anticipated."Whitney!" she yelled as she raced up the stairs. "Whitney, where are you?"Violet got to the eighth floor in no time. A few firefighters were in the process of extinguishing the fire, and there was no sign of Whitney in the bedroom."Where's my daughter?" The panic that surged within her was unprecedented. "Where is she?""We have checked the scene thoroughly, Miss. There are no casualties despite the damage to the property," one of the firefighters informed her.Violet l
Carl's roaming hands paused at Violet's waist. His grip tightened in a wordless warning.Violet understood him loud and clear.He was demanding her absolute cooperation or risk facing the consequences of her defiance."Carl …" Helen was dumbfounded.Carl was her childhood best friend. Yet, he had never even held her hand before, let alone kissed her.Helen might hold the title of Carl's fiancée, but that had never really amounted to anything beyond their parents' joint wishes.Now, Helen was forced to stand and watch as Carl kissed another woman in front of her. His enjoyment was evident in the way his eyes fluttered shut, as if there was no one he loved more deeply than Violet.Helen sniffed. She blinked before bursting into tears.Violet shook her head exasperatedly. If she cried as easily as Helen did, her tears could fill an entire ocean with all the bullying and exploitation Carl subjected her to daily."I am your fiancée!" Helen wailed. "Don't abandon me, Carl.""He
"How dare she!" Carl's mother, Elsa Hughes, roared. Her expression was icy. "What is it this time? The women around Carl are usually easy enough to get rid of.""Well, this Violet is different," Helen emphasized. "Did you know Carl actually smiled at her? He's never even smiled at me before."Elsa immediately reassured Helen. "Alright, alright. Calm down. When I'm done wrapping up my work here, I'll fly over and help you out over there.""Please hurry, Mrs. Walker!" Helen sobbed. "If you don't, I might be dead by the time you're here."It wasn't until Elsa promised to speed things up that Helen finally hung up.She then wiped away her tears. "Let's see how you can compete with me, Violet!" she snarled at her own reflection.On the other hand, Violet did not waste too much of her time worrying about Helen. Instead, she went down to the dungeons alone. Violet intended to search the area where she'd bumped into the traitor the other day. She had hoped that she might find some cl