"Michelle," Mariah hissed.Michelle shut her mouth but remained defiant.Mariah looked at Griffith and said, "Don't bother with your sister's words; she's just ignorant."Ignoring the situation, Griffith simply mentioned that there were matters he had to attend to."Get going now, and take Charlotte with you as well," Francine said.Griffith nodded and bid farewell to Francine before heading out. Charlotte followed suit after exchanging a few words with Francine. Outside the courtyard, Charlotte quickly covered the bracelet on her hand when she noticed Griffith was looking at her."It's a gift from Grandma."Griffith ignored her and walked away on his own. Both of them got into the car and remained silent all the way. Charlotte had to work at the art gallery that day, so she got out of the car nearby. She watched the jet-black Bentley drive away, cussing at Griffith inwardly simultaneously.Thankfully the clothes at the resort were decent enough to meet her work's requirements.
Charlotte never knew it was possible to say such words with sincerity. She struggled for a moment, took a deep breath, and managed to resist the temptation of money."I won't accept the money. Let's be friends instead," she said.Benjamin looked at her, somewhat puzzled."If you don't like cash, I can write you a check," he suggested.Charlotte was rendered speechless. She found him quite amusing."What's your name?""Benjamin."Then she pulled out her phone and exchanged numbers with him."We're friends now, so don't give me a check next time we meet," she added.Benjamin did not respond. He just gazed at her intently.Charlotte smiled and said, "It's getting late, and I must get off work.""Can we meet again?" he asked."Why yes, of course. I'll be here every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday."Suddenly, two men approached them. They were excited when they saw Benjamin. However, their expressions turned hostile when they saw Charlotte."She's my friend." Benjamin's voice
It was Griffth. Seeing his name on the screen, Charlotte had an ominous feeling. When she answered the call, she intentionally remained quiet.Surprisingly, Griffith spoke first. "Has the lawyer contacted you?" "How did you know?" Charlotte was taken aback. "Did you help me find one?""Yes," he responded.Charlotte went to a nearby cafe and sat down, waiting for him to continue."Remember what we talked about last night?" he said.It dawned upon her that he was now reaching out to her for help.She leaned back and replied, "Of course, I remember.""I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself.""Griffith, let me make it clear. We still have half a year left on the contract, which has just begun. I can't do anything too extreme for you. If I offend the Scott Family to the point of no return, I won't be able to survive.""I have your back, so they wouldn't dare lay a finger on you," he said casually.Charlotte hesitated before saying, "Go ahead, I'm listening.""Your family own
Griffith was having dinner with Eli. He walked outside upon hearing Charlotte's response."What is your plan?" he asked."I can't approach my uncle directly; that would backfire. I need him to come to me or force me to approach you," Charlotte calmly replied."My uncle has two food companies in Everton. They're his private assets. Due to a problem exposed recently, they are being shut down for rectification. You should find a way to have the banks freeze the funds of those two companies, cutting his resources."Griffith smiled and said, "Charlotte Scott, are you truly a daughter of the Scott Family?"Charlotte rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, "No matter how close we are as a family, it can't be comparable to my relationship with you. We used to be husband and wife, my dear ex-husband."Griffith was rendered speechless.Charlotte continued, "My uncle is very self-centered. If he can't save his assets, he'll try to take money from the family to make up for it. He'll prob
Marcus went on and on and eventually mentioned the patriarch. Charlotte pretended to be helpless and gave in before she hung up the phone. Then, she immediately called Griffith."Marcus just called. He'll probably contact you soon.""Got it."After a pause, Charlotte hung up the phone.She felt a bit anxious playing a trick on her family for the first time. She lay down, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. She fell asleep without realizing it. It was already seven in the morning when she woke up. She went downstairs and realized someone was sitting in the living room."Griffith?"The man turned around. Charlotte was startled to see a total stranger."My name is Ash Winslet," he said.Charlotte nodded in response."Master Griffith instructed me to come and deliver the contract to you. When you think the time is right, give it to Mr. Scott," he said.Charlotte took the contract and glanced at the quoted price. It was exactly 525 million dollars. She put the contract away a
Charlotte knew she was in trouble. She immediately called Griffith, but no one answered. Then, she called Arthur."Mr. Wilson is attending to some personal matters, so I didn't go with him," Arthur said.Various possibilities of what might have happened flashed through her mind.It seemed highly likely that Griffith intended to discard her after he had used her. After all, the Scott Family did not have much trust in her. They would never give her a second chance if they learned she betrayed them.Feeling restless, she did not immediately go to the Scott Family's mansion. However, she received a call from the nurse."Miss Scott, what's going on? Two burly men suddenly appeared at the entrance of the ward."Charlotte's heart skipped a beat. She quickly drove to the Scott Family's mansion. She kept calling Griffith on the way but still could not get to him. In the end, she sent him a voice message out of frustration."Do you have no conscience? How could you do this to me?"Then s
"Go kneel at the balcony until you figure out what you did wrong. Think about William if you can't think of anything," Owen said.Charlotte kneeled under the scorching sun. She was drenched in sweat and completely disheartened. Griffith never liked her to begin with, but what bothered her the most was Owen's changed attitude. The old man used to dote on her and William when their father was still alive. Yet everything changed right after his demise.Charlotte was filled with anticipation when she heard the sound of a car pull over in front of the residence. After a moment, the glass door behind her slid open. It was Faith, pretending to care about her."Grandpa is really heartless for making you kneel for so long," she said.Charlotte ignored her and stared straight at the pot of flowers nearby. Faith thought she was in a hard time anyway and left after saying a few words. Charlotte sighed and closed her eyes as the balcony quieted down again. She could only hope for Griffith to ch
As night fell, a cool breeze swept across the balcony, causing the pear blossoms to scatter and fall at Charlotte's feet. Griffith helped her up, but her legs were too weak, so she stumbled into his embrace. She was so hungry that her heart raced.Griffith guided her downstairs and passed through the living room where Owen was still seated. She was led into a car with a girl in the front passenger seat. She did not know who the girl was, and before she could say anything, Griffith returned to the residence."Big Brother, Brother Griffith is gone again," the girl exclaimed to Ash in the driver's seat.Hearing her soft voice, Charlotte could not help but look up. The girl seemed to have reached adulthood, but her demeanor was childish. When the girl caught her gaze, she smiled at her. And Charlotte returned with a smile as well.The girl was delighted and rummaged through her bag and handed Charlotte a piece of chocolate. Charlotte's eyes lit up, but Ash intervened."Julia, eat it y
Tanya's previous full-length mirror was still usable, but because it was small, she had to walk a bit farther every time she used it. Eli had long wanted to replace it.Little did he know, she got rid of many things in the house to make room for the new large sofa for him, including that old full-length mirror."How do you like it? Surprised?" He patted the mirror.Tanya smiled wryly and pointed to the large sofa. "And you? Surprised?" Only then did Eli notice fewer small items in the living room and a large new sofa. He suddenly chuckled. It was quite nice.He thought of her, and she thought of him. This winter was truly warm.Tanya abandoned the egg tart and hugged him again. "Oh no, this mirror is so big. There's nowhere to put it."Eli carried her with one hand and moved the mirror to the corner with the other. Sitting on the sofa, he thought for a moment, then hugged her and said, "Tanya, let's move to a bigger place."Tanya knew he had been thinking about this all along.
Eli found it amusing. He pushed the head of the small money jar and couldn't help but say, "You gold digger! You love money so much, then why did you give the check I gave you to Soraya?"Tanya blinked and chuckled. "I only acquire wealth in the proper way. To be honest…" She pondered for a moment, then turned to look at him. "Probably because, at that time, I was just too fond of you like I am now."Hearing this, Eli felt a pang of heartache and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Tanya smiled, moved the gifts aside, and made some space for him.Just as they were about to talk, Eli's phone vibrated continuously. It turned out that Bridget was sending over the detailed preparation process for the wedding.Tanya scrolled through it and suddenly felt overwhelmed. Eli looked at it and also felt a headache coming. The two glanced at each other, sighed simultaneously, and leaned back.After they publicly disclosed their relationship, life continued as usual but became busier due to the w
Eli being married was shocking enough, but then his wife was hiding right in the office. In the next half hour, Tanya heard wailing from all around.The atmosphere in their office was quite good, and everyone got along well. After coming clean, everyone joked around and teased each other."Nia, don't forget Mr. Ted, he's been cursing at you all along!""Yeah, he's been calling you a fool!""I heard it, I can testify!"Ted was furious and rushed out to hit someone. Tanya followed with laughter.Before leaving work, Amy indeed brought the cake and candies, sharing them with everyone in the building. Thus, the entire group gave them their blessings.From the office to the parking lot, Tanya received blessings. When she got into Eli's car, her heart was still pounding.Eli was happily eating his candy, feeling good. Especially now that he didn't have to sneak around anymore, he even turned the steering wheel effortlessly.Tanya, holding the cake, asked him in surprise, "Were these
Tanya walked out of the room with her guard down and came face to face with Ted's sneaky expression. She paused.Ted gasped, his brain instantly turning blank.He looked at Tanya, covered his mouth with his left hand, and placed his right hand over the left with his eyes gradually widening.God! This was insane!Tanya regained her composure and glanced in Eli's direction. Eli remained calm, glanced at the fruit plate on the table, and said, "Should we take some down to share with your colleagues?"Tanya nodded. She glanced at the still-disheveled Ted and kindly handed him a tangerine."Sir?"Ted swallowed, looked at Tanya, then at Eli. Finally, he settled his gaze on the tangerine in her hand, mechanically accepting it.Tanya turned to look at Eli. 'Look, you've scared my superior.'Eli shrugged."I'm leaving," she said.Eli nodded and escorted her to the door.Ted followed them out and was sent into the elevator by his boss. As the elevator doors closed, he let out a long
The deep blue bedsheet was neatly spread out. But the two pillows lacked pillowcases, exposed in a sorry state.Eli placed his hands on his belt and turned to look at Tanya. "Is this also your doing?"Tanya leaned against the door frame, only poking her head in, smiling sheepishly."I accidentally drooled while sleeping that day and dirtied the pillowcase. Knowing that you're a neat freak, I took them all off to wash," she said. She raised her hand and swore, "The pillowcases have been washed and are in the cabinet at home."Eli wasn't interested in the pillowcases' whereabouts. He remembered when Amy called him, saying Tanya missed him and wanted to touch the sheets and pillows after waking up.Nonsense!He took a deep breath, then turned his head to Tanya with a frightening smile. Tanya realized the danger and tried to run, but he grabbed her by the waist."Hey, what are you doing?" she said.Eli tossed her onto the bed and followed suit."What are you doing?!""Collecting
Tanya sat upright in the office. Eli stood before her with his hands behind his back. "Come on, explain."Tanya's eyes darted around. "Do you believe me? It's because I missed you too much. When I came to your place, I couldn't help but take away everything related to you." Eli scoffed. "Including the toilet paper?"Tanya pondered seriously.Eli tapped the coffee machine and pointed to the plug that had been pulled out, saying, "If the coffee machine wasn't too heavy, would you have taken that too?"'This brat has no conscience at all. Does she even understand what a cold shoulder is?'While he was reminiscing in her room, she made a fortune in his office!Tanya blinked and gave him an embarrassed smile. "If you think about it from another angle, I love you deeply. If we couldn't reconcile and you came back to see all this, you would hate me. Hate represents love, and love means you can't forget me. My obsession is so deep; I want to stay in your heart forever."Eli fell silen
"You should buy something while visiting. Do you have enough money in your account? If not, I will transfer some to you," Mrs. Moran said on the phone.Tanya didn't want money; she just wanted to hear some advice. She knew her parents' financial situation wasn't good. Due to illness, her stepfather had retired from his position as a butler of the Sterling family. Although the Sterlings provided a retirement package, Mr. Moran was getting old, and he had a son. She heard that his son's business had lost a considerable amount of money in recent years. As a stepdaughter, she had already received enough help from them, so how could she ask for more money?During her university days, she didn't ask her family for money. If she could find a part-time job, she would, and if not, she would endure it just to avoid causing her mother trouble."Mom, I don't need money. I have enough."When Mrs. Moran heard this, she felt even more sorry for her.Since her ex-husband was useless, Tanya suffer
After breakfast, Eli called Bridget."Why did you send her a check? Do you have nothing better to do?"Bridget had just arrived home and begun playing poker with a few old friends.She threw out a card, rolled her eyes, and said, "It's the first time I've met my daughter-in-law! What's wrong with giving her some money!"Eli was speechless."Madam, you came up and threw 500,000 dollars just like that. Aren't you afraid of scaring people?""What should I do? Throw 50,000 dollars instead? That's too stingy."Eli was speechless. Holding onto the railing, he glanced downstairs and saw Tanya ironing her coat in the living room."I almost got dumped because you caused a scene," he joked.Bridget threw the cards while chuckling. "It's good to be dumped. With your unruly behavior, someone should make you suffer a bit.""Are you really my mother?""If you still want to be a good son, hurry up and go through the procedures, live a proper life with Tanya, and try to give me a grandson n
"What did Her Majesty tell you?"Tanya nearly lost her composure, fighting back laughter.Bridget said nothing more as she left with Benjamin, leaving Tanya and Eli to return to the apartment. The journey back was silent, with Tanya deep in thought. Upon entering, Eli halted her at the entrance.Exhaling deeply, Tanya reached into her pocket and withdrew a check. Eli's gaze fell upon it, noting it was only for $500,000. As he moved to take it, Tanya tucked it back into her pocket. On the bar, a spread of breakfast awaited them - fried eggs, sausages, fruits, and vegetables. Despite the inviting display, Tanya's attention was on Eli."Don't you want breakfast?"With the situation still unclear, Eli's appetite waned. Nonetheless, knowing Bridget's nature, he remained calm. Seating himself opposite Tanya, he nibbled at a sausage, noticing her lack of interest."Is everything alright?" he asked, concerned.Tanya shook her head.The oversized sandwich Bridget had ordered had already