"Damon." Leah gathered her courage just to take this risk. Hugging Damon tight, she reached out to untie the belt on his robe. Damon's expression turned cold. "Let go, Leah." "Why does Celeste get to do this, but not me?"Leah's face burned with embarrassment, but she wouldn't let go. "Damon… " She stubbornly loosened his belt. "Leah, don't make me repeat myself." Damon took a step back. Pulling Leah's arm away, he maintained a distance from her. Naked, Leah was thrown to the ground even though she had mustered up the courage to barge in here. At that moment, her face flushed with humiliation. "Are you rejecting me because of… Celeste?" Biting her lips, Leah couldn't stop herself from crying. "Leah, stop asking. I told you. I can be your friend, protect you, and even forgive you. But there can never be romance between us." There was no hesitation in Damon's voice. "This will not happen again!" He straightened out his robe, which became damp because of Leah. He then w
It was a little chilly at night. Smoking, Celeste turned around and looked at him. Her voice was hoarse. "Hmm?" She was jolted out of her reverie. Her mind was still foggy, so she didn't talk back to him. Damon took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. He then sat by her side. It was the first time they had sat next to each other in peace ever since they got divorced. For a moment, they both felt somewhat breathless. "Where did you get the cigarette from?" Celeste's cigarette looked unique. It seemed to be slightly thicker and longer than normal ones. "I rolled this with Grandpa's tobacco." Phillip enjoyed smoking pipes. His tobacco always had the best quality, so it wasn't surprising that Celeste would ask him for some of that. However, he didn't expect her to know how to roll the cigarettes herself. Looking at the paper Celeste rolled the tobacco with, Damon couldn't help but laugh. "Is that paper from the hotel memo pad?" This beauty really couldn't be
Celeste and Kenny agreed to meet at a barbecue stall, which was Kenny's idea. The place was called Summertime Diner. There were men who wore expensive T-shirts and denim shorts, and women who were even more gorgeous than celebrities. They were all sitting at the roadside stall. They enjoyed barbecue skewers which cost around three dollars each and drank canned beer. They didn't seem to fit in the background at all. "Welcome to Taverdale." Under the nightlight, Celeste raised her can of beer and smiled at Kenny. After dealing with the York family, the two became close. Both of them ditched the pretense of being a part of high society and revealed their true selves as commoners. She thought about how half a year ago, Kenny was still a legendary man in her mind. She had to think of ways to catch his attention and spend a few million dollars. But now, the two of them could actually be their true selves. Sitting on plastic stools, they enjoyed the food and beer. They even dropped fo
Celeste didn't remember how she got home. Lying down on the two-seater couch at her place, she could only think of her conversation with Kenny. Damon had done more for her than she had expected. When she needed him the most, he couldn't come to her. But when she thought about all the times she endured those hardships alone, he had always been there. She might have been too harsh on Damon. Her tipsiness gradually disappeared. Opening her eyes wide, she stared at her ceiling. She couldn't sleep at all throughout the night. The next morning, it was as if she was possessed by something. She felt like meeting Damon and talking to him. Celeste asked for a two-hour-leave from Spencer. After washing up, she headed straight to Damon's villa. When she reached his place, she checked her watch. It wasn't eight o'clock yet. Damon probably headed out. Celeste reached out to press the doorbell. The security at the entrance was the same one as before. When he saw Celeste at the door, h
"Ms. Holmer, we're not a good match." Damon saw right through her. He stopped poking fun at her. Instead, he poured her a cup of coffee and spoke in a serious tone. When Damon said that, it offended Sherry. "Damon, how could you think that I'm not good enough for you? How dare you turn me down before I do!" Her cheeks puffed up. She looked even more like a kitten now. The way Damon looked at Sherry in the same way he looked at his little cousin, Kayden. In his eyes, she was just a child who hadn't grown up yet. Damon then laughed. "Alright, I'm not good enough for you then. Why don't you turn me down instead?" Sherry didn't feel less annoyed after hearing that. She got so mad that she teared up. "Am I not as good as your ex-wife?" Celeste was Damon's Achilles heel. Right after she mentioned Celeste, Damon's expression turned cold. "I'm heading to work. Please leave, Ms. Holmer." He walked past Sherry and was about to head out. Sherry panicked. She reached out to pull
Sherry had pestered Damon and asked him to have lunch with her. She also told him about a fun cat cafe nearby which had just opened. Then, she dragged Damon over. Damon's time was precious. He hated spending time on meaningless stuff. But Sherry wasn't just any normal girl. He didn't show her any respect when he said all of that to her in the morning. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to turn her down again. He owed Jordan a favor because of Celeste's matter. He couldn't afford to mistreat Sherry. And so, Damon cleared his work schedule and brought her here. "Why are you here too?" For some reason, he felt as if Celeste caught him cheating when he saw her. But jealousy gnawed at him the moment he saw Spencer. For someone like Spencer to visit such a girly place with her, Damon wouldn't believe it if he said nothing was going on between the two of them. Without thinking, he demanded an answer from them. Celeste observed Sherry carefully. She looked a little childlike.
Damon had guessed correctly. That same afternoon, Sherry stopped Celeste at the entrance of Leo Jewels. Celeste had just got off work. "Celeste York, why did you lie to me?" Sherry was aggressive. Celeste was taken aback. "What did I lie about?" She had forgotten what she told Sherry. "You told me you were just Damon's employee in the past, not his ex-wife." Sherry remembered everything. "Uh, technically, I didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you the whole truth. Besides, I did work for him before. I was the designer of Prestige." Celeste couldn't help but laugh. She thought about how innocent this young lady was, coming all the way here to demand an answer. "Then why did you not tell me that you were his ex-wife? Do you see me as your enemy?" Sherry was shorter than Celeste. She lifted her head up as she spoke grumpily. "I was worried you might be bothered by my presence, which would affect your relationship with Damon." Celeste was telling the truth. With her family b
There were a lot of people in the banquet hall. After having a few drinks, Celeste felt a little stuffy. She headed out from the backdoor. She walked up some stairs and arrived at the balcony to enjoy the evening breeze. At first, she didn't notice that someone was walking behind her. It wasn’t until the sound of footsteps became clearer. She turned around. It was a young man who looked familiar. "Ms. York, I'm the vice president of Diamond Dreams, Zach Cox." The man had the typical face of an elite which was commonly seen in the industry. Behind his golden-rimmed glasses, his eyes were brimming with interest in her. She instantly felt repelled seeing the look on his face. "Do you need anything from me?" She asked. "Our booth was next to your company's. We met each other during the day." "Sure." "Ms. York, I've had my eyes on you ever since you became popular on Twitter last year. Can you be my girlfriend? I'll treat you well. Besides, I don't mind your past at all!"
He never would have imagined that the intelligent and aloof Celeste would have a day like this, appearing adorably naive and innocent.Damon used to like girls who were delicate and pure, but that changed when he met Celeste.She had a face full of charm and allure, but her expression and personality were always cold and unyielding. She was pale and slim, yet not childlike. On the contrary, she resembled a young poplar tree, proud and upright.Because of her, he began to like girls who sparked his desire to conquer, and he scoffed at those who were simply weak and shy.But now with Celeste like this, he didn't feel annoyed. In fact, not only was he not annoyed, he actually found it cute and interesting.“What's your name?” she asked again."Damon.""Oh, that sounds really nice."The initial confusion in her eyes was gone, replaced by a sparkling glimmer, and her tone carried a touch of a young girl's excitement."You are actually my husband… Wow, great job, me! I've managed to
"What? Aren’t you my husband? Do I still need to avoid you while changing clothes?" The confusion in Celeste's eyes didn’t seem fake.Damon was speechless and didn't know how to respond at that moment.When Damon didn't respond, Celeste suddenly felt a bit nervous."I'm sorry… I can't remember clearly. Aren't you my husband?"Damon raised an eyebrow casually and asked, "Why do you think I am?"Celeste innocently blinked, her eyelashes fluttering like fans. "The nurse said it. Besides, if you're not my husband, why would you sleep with me at night?""What did the nurse say?" Her reasoning was actually logical and undeniable. For a moment, Damon found it somewhat amusing."The nurse said that my husband is really thoughtful," Celeste responded seriously. Then she asked, "Aren't you my husband? Then why would you be willing to stay here with me so late?"This one sentence left Damon speechless.The reason he was willing was because he was a coward. He said that he didn't care abo
Damon frowned upon hearing the classic amnesiac questions being asked."Celeste, are you trying to act out a TV drama?"Celeste still looked at him blankly. "What do you mean?"Damon didn't answer and went straight to the director's office to get Nicholas.Knowing her, she wasn't the type to joke around, especially not with Leo still missing. She must have hit her head hard.Nicholas was equally surprised and hurried back to the room with Damon.Celeste was sitting up, hugging her knees and staring into space."You're awake? How do you feel?" Nicholas asked with a smile as he entered."Why am I here?" Her voice sounded hesitant, and she turned to look at them.Her confusion seemed genuine. Nicholas and Damon exchanged worried glances."Celeste… you don't remember?""Celeste?" She asked, "Is that my name?""Yes.""I don't remember. My mind is blank.""Do you remember… Leo?" Nicholas hesitated. After all, if she knew that her child had been missing for three days, he was wo
"Alright," Celeste said in a deep voice. "Let me see Leo first."They pushed open the hidden door, revealing a staircase leading to the basement."Have Leo come to the stairway corner." She stood at the dark staircase and negotiated with the kidnapper."Mommy!" Suddenly, Leo's desperate cry echoed from inside."Leo!" Celeste ditched everything else and rushed down the stairs.She ran ahead, and as soon as she reached the corner, there was a loud explosion, and a wave of heat hit her face."Celeste!""Celeste!"Damon and Winston's faces changed drastically, shouting in alarm.The basement was empty. It was a trap.Had they been more careful, they would have noticed that both the kidnapper’s voice and Leo’s cry were artificially synthesized. But Celeste, in her desperation to save her son, had been too frantic to discern this.The basement was rigged with landmines. Unfortunately, something went wrong. The mine exploded when Celeste reached the stairway corner, instead of when
What? Damon was also coming? Celeste felt her heart leap, and her voice became sharper as she said, "I can handle this. You can't come!"There was no response from his end.Observing Damon’s silence, Celeste quickly softened her tone. "Damon, listen to me. I can handle this alone. There's no need for you to get involved… because I'm their main target, and they likely won't harm Leo. You need to stay home and wait for him. You need to take care of him later on…""Celeste," Damon interrupted coldly. "Are you planning on not coming out alive?"Of course, coming out alive would be ideal, but she couldn’t guarantee that."Damon, I do have a chance of surviving, but when it comes to exchanging myself for Leo, there can be no room for error. We must follow the kidnapper's instructions to ensure Leo's safety."It was out of the question to provide a false sense of security and pretend to comply with the kidnapper, only to backtrack and get Leo killed.She needed to ensure Leo’s safety a
They checked all the surveillance footage near the Bishop residence and investigated every suspicious vehicle. They also had people keeping an eye on Henry, but after half a day, there was still no breakthrough.The kidnappers had taken Leo to threaten Celeste, and the lack of communication was meant to unnerve her. If it was according to predictions, she was supposed to wait for their demands. But, as a mother, she couldn't just sit and do nothing.Celeste remembered that Shannon had called her, so she found her contact in the blacklist and called."Shannon, did you and Henry kidnap Leo?" she demanded.Shannon laughed coldly. "Don't accuse us without any evidence. Your son is missing? Maybe it's karma. Hahaha!"Celeste hung up, unable to stand Shannon's smugness.Several teams searched for over 20 hours, even involving the police, but still had no solid leads. Celeste suspected Henry, but they couldn't just arrest him without any proof.She was extremely desperate. She didn't e
"Lester isn't as clever as Leo. He's just a four-year-old child, and he shouldn't have done anything like that," Serena instinctively defended Lester. Then, recalling the last time she had misunderstood Leo for similar reasons, she felt a pang of guilt and added, "I don't mean to imply anything… I'll have someone bring Lester here."Celeste nodded. "I'm not blaming Lester. I just want to understand what happened."Soon, the nanny looking after Lester brought him in. Unexpectedly, upon seeing Celeste, Lester burst into tears."Aunty Celeste, please don't hit me. I didn't mean to lose my brother!""Lester, I just want to understand what happened." Celeste was taken aback by his crying but kneeled down to speak gently. "I'm not blaming you. Can you tell me what you saw that day?""Aunty Celeste, don't hit me!" Lester kept crying, not saying a word about Leo's disappearance."Am I that scary, Lester?"At this moment, Celeste felt at a loss. She could communicate normally with Leo,
Celeste perfectly understood what Cedric's implied. "I mean, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to entertain me today."Cedric had indeed wanted to help her that day, but his identity was too special to admit it openly. The scratch on the paper was a subtle hint, and whether or not she could interpret it depended on her intuition. The fact that she could decipher such a subtle hint proved her intelligence and luck.Over the years, Cedric had developed a sense of respect for Celeste after learning about her. He felt she was deserving of assistance, but he couldn't make it obvious."However, be careful. I see that Henry is at the end of his rope and might act irrationally. You should be on guard," Cedric warned.Celeste nodded, having considered this as well. "Henry wants me dead."This was why she had her brother stay abroad and sent Leo to the Bishops. With only herself remaining, it was harder for Henry to use her loved ones against her."Take care of yourse
Celeste's deduction was correct. Cedric intentionally left the mark. As Winston dug deeper, he slowly uncovered a series of issues.It was a bridge project on a highway in a poor mountainous area. Not uncommon.The problem was that the person in charge of this project was a leader assigned from a first-tier city to oversee the development. Officially, he was recognised for his capabilities, but in reality, this task was one he had to succeed in without failure.He had offended someone, and this transfer was a disguised punishment under the guise of a major responsibility.If he had managed it well, the chances of him returning to a higher development role would have been slim. At best, he could stay in this position until retirement. If he didn't manage it well, his entire career could be ruined.Someone of such status naturally had supporters as well as opponents. In such a situation, it was impossible for anyone to sabotage and create pitfalls along the way."It seems the next