"Jackson, do I have to conform to your desires, without having my own thoughts, my own concerns, and without ever making you angry?" Serenity asked. "You keep saying you love me, but have you ever respected me?"Jackson stopped his movements, and he looked up at her. It seemed that all emotions had receded from his eyes, leaving behind only a deep, cold emptiness. After a considerable pause, he finally responded, "Are you asking me to respect you?"His voice was chilly and resonated with desolation throughout the room.She smiled bitterly. "Never mind. That was foolish of me to say. If you truly respected me, you wouldn't have kept me locked up here.""I can respect you, fulfill your every desire, do whatever you ask of me... As long as you can love me and stop thinking about or missing other men," he murmured.For him, saying such words already meant he was in a subservient position.However, Serenity responded indifferently, "Your respect for me seems to come with the conditi
Her fear... was it because of him?He had just wanted to scare her, to teach her a lesson, and to demonstrate his kindness toward her. He wanted her to see what she would face if he lost respect for her.However, his chest hurt when he saw her in such a state. It was almost like he had committed self-harm. He reached over and gently wiped the tears from her face. “It’s okay. I won’t force you. Not now, and never in the future.” She stared at him dumbfoundedly, as if she couldn’t believe he was capable of saying such words.To be honest, she had never expected that she would lose control of her emotions and cry this hard. She had managed to convince herself that even if she was about to be raped, it wasn’t a big deal. She would just treat it as a blank chapter in her life. But… when she was placed in a situation where she had lost every semblance of control, images of her time in prison flashed through her mind. No matter how much she fought it off, she could never move on from
Looking at his son’s right hand that was still wrapped in gauze, Mr. Gomez told his son, “Breaking your hand over a woman, what a joke!” “So long as I can find her, so what if I break my other arm?” asked Lucas. “You!” Mr. Gomez was immediately angered by his response. At that point, Mrs. Gomez stepped forward to comfort her husband. She then turned to Lucas and reminded him, “That’s enough, don’t anger him anymore. Since Jackson has made it clear that she’s different from any other woman, why are you so adamant about going after her?” Although the Valor family was influential in Solaria, the Gomez family wasn’t any weaker either. Mrs. Gomez wasn’t afraid of a confrontation with them. However, she thought Serenity was just another woman. She wasn’t even the girl that her son had been obsessed with since he was a boy. In other words, there were so many people who could replace her. The one thing that the entertainment industry could never run out of was young attractive women!
It wasn’t like it had never crossed her mind. Maybe she could leave this place if she could pretend to love him. However, how long could she keep up this act? Unless she wanted to keep up the act for the rest of her life, if Jackson were to find out in the future that she had deceived him, it would only worsen her situation in the future.More importantly, she didn’t feel like lying or deceiving Jackson to get what she wanted. This mansion was huge and decorated with structures that reminded her of rich families in the movies she watched. There were plenty of lotus flower motifs in the architecture as well. For instance, the lotus flower reliefs on the pillars and beams of the house, or the carved motifs on the antique furniture, not to mention the lotus pond in the garden. The blooming season for lotus flowers had already passed, yet the flowers in the pond were still blossoming as if it was the peak of its season. The owner of this mansion had to be a big fan of lotus flo
“Yeah, even if they find this place, they won’t be able to do anything about it,” said Jackson as he pulled out his phone and handed it to her. This was his mobile phone, not hers!Thankfully, she was blessed with a good memory. At least, she could still remember both Lisa and Clara’s phone numbers. And so, she dialed Lisa’s number first. Lisa’s voice was so excited when she answered the call that Serenity almost dropped the phone. “Serenity! W-Where are you right now? Did you know who brought you away? It was Jackson! Oh, you don’t know how worried I am for you! Did he do anything to you? That b*stard! How dare he take you away without your consent?! This is kidnapping! A crime, I say!” Serenity’s face froze up immediately. She was worried that if her friend was allowed to keep talking, she might say something that offended Jackson, so she immediately said, “I… I’m fine at the moment. Lisa, I called you to let you know that I’m fine, and you don’t have to worry about me. As for
Jackson reached out and picked up the ancient sword. Serenity was taken aback by his action. This sword… had given her an ominous vibe from the beginning. “Do you remember what I told you before? That people from my family once locked up a woman here. She eventually fell in love with one of the men in our family. Despite that, she ended up taking his life with this exact sword,” said Jackson as if he were telling a tale. But… this was something that had actually happened! Serenity felt a shock in her heart. What he had told her before was a completely different version! The version he had told her was that the woman had ended up fleeing with the man from this place. She never expected that the woman had actually… taken that man’s life here using this very blade! But for what? Was it guilt? Self-blame? Or regret? Or perhaps she had fallen for another man? Was that why she had chosen to end his life?As for the brown spots on the blade, were they… bloodstains? Remnants fro
His unwavering confidence made her nervous.He could wager the rest of his life, but what could she wager?Clara spoke with Lisa on the phone and learned that Jackson had taken Serenity away. Lisa didn't know where he took her or when she would return.But Lisa said that if Serenity could make the phone call, she must be safe. "For now, all we can do is try to find where Jackson has taken Serenity. Don't worry about your lawsuit, Clara. If Serenity isn't back in a week, I'll have Terry help you find another lawyer," Lisa assured Clara. "Thank you," Clara replied gratefully."Don't mention it. I just want to see you and Yanny safe," said Lisa.When Clara went to pick her son up from kindergarten in the afternoon, she was still worried about Serenity. She wondered if being loved by someone like Jackson Valor was actually a lucky thing.After breaking up with Serenity, Jackson Valor now wanted her back. But how did Serenity feel about it? Was she really okay like she said on th
"I'm here to see Yanny; he's my son, isn't he?" Wilson Birch said nonchalantly.Clara's feelings were complicated upon hearing that. He said it so matter-of-factly, just like he did years ago when he said, even if she really was pregnant, he would make her abort the baby!However, that was a problem between them adults and she didn't want to drag Yanny into it, so she simply said, "Yanny, it's time to go." Clara had to go to work soon, so she had to quickly take her son home to let her mother take care of him."Daddy said he'll take us home today," the little boy said.Clara wanted to refuse, but Wilson Birch's next question made her hesitate. "Does Yanny want Daddy to take you home?" "Yes!" Yanny answered innocently with his sweet voice. When Clara saw her son's happy face, she bit her lip and decided to keep quiet.By now, many parents had arrived at the kindergarten to pick up their children. Many of them were stealing glances at Clara, Wilson and Yanny. Clara's cheap c