Serenity was stunned. "It doesn't matter if he wins or loses the bet?!""Yeah. He dies if he loses, but… If Clara really doesn't care if lives or dies, that means he no longer has a place in Clara's heart. In that case, life or death is no longer important to him," Jackson explained.Serenity stared at Jackson, dumbfounded. It seemed Wilson had won his bet. Although Clara no longer loved him, she could not just watch him die.Wilson was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. Fortunately, the wound was not deep. Even so, the doctor gave him a blood transfusion just to be on the safe side.During the blood transfusion, Wilson held onto Clara's hand and would not let go. He seemed afraid. Maybe letting go meant he would never be able to hold her anymore.Silence filled the space as the blood transfusion continued. Serenity and Jackson left the room and waited outside, leaving only Clara and Wilson in the ward.Clara stared at Wilson. "You should let go. There's no point hol
"Yes," Clara repeated."And… It's Wilson's child?!" Mrs. Wells exclaimed."Yes," Clara said again.Mrs. Wells fell silent, and the mother and daughter looked at each other.After a long pause, Mrs. Wells finally said, "So, what is going on? I thought you had no love for Wilson? How could you be pregnant with his child?"Clara's smile turned bitter. "It was an accident. He came to me drunk, and I took him back to his hotel room." As for the rest, Mrs. Wells could guess without Clara having to tell her the whole story."So… Does Wilson know about the baby?" Mrs. Wells asked."Yeah. He knows," Clara answered and told her mother what had happened with Wilson today.Mrs. Wells listened, secretly blaming herself. She noticed Clara had been vomiting a lot lately, but as a mother, she did not even realize that her daughter was pregnant. Thinking about Clara's struggle for the baby, Mrs. Wells felt even more sorry for her."Since you've decided to give birth to this child, then… Let'
Yannick froze and stared blankly at his mother."Mom? You're pregnant?" Yanny asked, clearly surprised. A child of this age had only a vague idea of how babies came to be."It was an accident," Clara said vaguely. "But I hope this baby will be born as a legitimate child so that she won't grow up being discriminated against by others."Yannick listened and barely understood. Finally, he asked, "Is Mom afraid that people will call this baby an illegitimate child?"Yannick had often heard people calling him an illegitimate child when he was younger. People always looked at him with a kind of sympathy, pity, or despise whenever they spoke about him, but he never really understood these words until he grew up. As he grew older, he finally realized what it meant.Clara's heart ached at her son's question. She owed him so much. "I-If you can't accept it, I'll…""I'm fine with it," Yannick said. "I'll support you, no matter what you do. Besides, I don't want others to call my younger sib
Wilson's face flashed with ecstasy. Clara said she wanted to marry him! It was true. Did she still have him in her heart? Did she still have feelings for him?Joy spread through him, but not for long. Wilson heard what Clara said next, and his smile gradually disappeared. At last, he stared at her, his face pale."But I want us to be divorced sometime after the child is born. We're getting married on paper only. There won't be any wedding, and nothing will change. We'll continue to live our lives separately, like what we're doing."It turned out that Clara only wanted to marry him to give her child a legitimate identity. Clara had already thought of divorce in a year, even before they got married. Clara did not want to live with him after the marriage. She wanted things to stay the same and live separately. In short, he was just a tool to her.Wilson stared at Clara in a daze and remained silent for a long time.The atmosphere in the ward grew tense until Clara broke the silence.
"Did he agree?" Serenity asked."He did," Clara replied."Well… Anyway, good luck." Serenity gave her blessings."Thanks. I hope things will go well too," Clara said.Meanwhile, Lisa still had not recovered from the initial shock. She was in a daze until Clara started waving her hand in front of Lisa's face. Clara shouted at Lisa and finally snapped her back to her senses."Oh, well… I'll have to get you a wedding present." After Lisa blurted that out, she quickly realized she had said something wrong. Clara and Wilson were not getting married out of love, after all.Sure enough, Clara refused. "No need. This marriage is just a temporary solution." Clara glanced at Lisa's belly and asked, "How have you been lately? Are you still experiencing strong fetal movement like last time?""Not really," Lisa said. "But speaking of which… Something felt really weird. Remember how that little boy touched my belly and made the fetal movements calm down immediately? And that little boy was so
There was someone who had helped Clara a lot while she was in prison. Clara wondered if she would ever be able to return the favor, and the thought saddened her. She did not have the person's contact information, after all. Besides, it had been so many years, so the hope of finding that person had become even slimmer.-A few days later, Clara and Wilson arrived at the county clerk's office.Clara looked at the signs hanging on the entrance emotionally. Once upon a time, she used to look forward to coming to this place with Wilson after he proposed to her. Later, Clara went to prison and stopped thinking about this. She thought she would not marry in this lifetime. She never thought she would ever come here, but this time, she had come here to marry Wilson."Shall we?" Wilson's voice rang from beside her."Let's go," Clara said, taking a deep breath. She took a step forward, but every step felt so heavy.The two of them entered the office and received a queue number. Then, they s
Wilson was displeased. "What? Must we be in love to get married?""You both don't seem to be in love. Even if you get married, you'll get divorced sooner or later," the woman remarked, but she immediately felt a chill up her spine. The man was giving her a death stare with a touch of hostility in his eyes.The woman did not dare to say anything, but Clara knew Wilson was angry."She's just a stranger." Clara could not help but remind him. After all, this woman was a victim in her marriage, and it was just a casual conversation, so there was no need for Wilson to get angry at a stranger's comment.Wilson shifted his gaze to Clara and slowly regained control of his emotions. The hostility in his eyes started to fade until he eventually returned to his usual coldness.Wilson almost lost control and let his anger overtake him. Just because the woman had said Clara and him would have to get a divorce sooner or later.Wilson knew Clara was using their marriage as a temporary solution,
Clara's voice was faint and flat throughout the whole recitation of marriage vows. She was just following along like a robot. Wilson focused his gaze on Clara as he recited the vows. To Clara, these vows had no meaning, but for Wilson, these vows were his lifelong vows. Wilson wondered if Clara knew how grateful he was when she agreed to keep the baby. Did she know that this was the marriage of a lifetime for him? Maybe they would end up getting a divorce in the future, but at least when he was old, he could tell himself that she had been his wife in his lifetime and lay in his grave without regrets. It was already a great honor for him to be her husband, even if only in name. Even though this was not a marriage out of love and he was just a tool to her. Even so, he should be content, Wilson thought to himself.-Wilson and Clara left the county clerk's office, each with a red book in their hands. Before leaving, Wilson said, "I'll take you home.""No need. I'll take the publi
“……” Morgan suddenly found himself unable to retort. She... wasn't wrong. “But when you play house, you can pretend to be parents with one person today and another person tomorrow. Real marriage is different; you can’t choose someone else.”Renee widened her eyes, listening intently.“The only person you can choose is me. Do you understand, Renee?” he continued.She nodded vigorously. “I understand!”“Do you really?” Morgan asked, a little skeptical. He was already fifteen, so he could grasp the concept of marriage, but she was only eight. Could she truly comprehend it?“So, in the future, I can only marry Morgan and be your bride, right? I can't be someone else's bride, right?” she asked. “I don’t want to marry other boys anyway. I like you the most, Morgan. Of course I’ll only be your bride!” she happily declared, her worries fading away.So she could be Morgan's bride when she grew up! That's great!After finishing another piece of snack, Renee thought of something. She put o
Despite her unease, she couldn’t resist when she saw the sweet desserts. She indulged herself.However, as she ate, her eyes remained fixed on Morgan, clearly still waiting for him to clarify Lucy’s claims.“You want to know if you’re a child bride, right?” Morgan began.Renee nodded.“Do you know what a child bride is?” he asked.She blinked. She had a vague idea, but not enough for her to articulate it.“To put it simply, a child bride is a girl raised by a boy's family. The girl will marry the boy when she comes of age. In the old days, some families were too poor to raise their daughters, so they would sell their daughters to become child brides for richer families,” Morgan explained.Renee blinked. “But my parents aren’t poor, and I'm raised by them, not by other people. That means I’m not a child bride, right?”“Correct, you are not,” Morgan affirmed.She breathed a sigh of relief, and a bright smile spread across her face. “I knew it! My parents would never sell me! The
"Morgan!" Renee turned to Morgan, unease etched on her face."The Moon family, eh? I'll remember this," Morgan replied calmly, then lowered his head to meet Renee's anxious and confused face. "Let's go, Renee. I’ll tell you what you want to know later."He led her away holding her hand.Benson looked worried. "Miss Lucy, how could you say that?""It's the truth!" Lucy shook off her fear and spoke defiantly. "Daddy and Mommy said she’s a child bride. A child bride is a girl sold by her own parents!""But the White family is not like that. Those things only happened to daughters of poor families in the old days," Benson explained. "You really shouldn’t have said that, Miss Lucy. You shouldn’t do that again.""Why do I have to listen to you?" Lucy retorted, displeased.Benson was too ashamed to tell Lucy in front of others that the Moon family simply couldn’t afford to offend Morgan. Dealing with the White family was already a headache, and Morgan's background was even more formi
Benson and Lucy were also dumbfounded. Benson started getting anxious. He felt like things were starting to unfold in ways that he did not expect."Mr. Grimes, I..." Benson stepped forward, intending to speak to Mr. Grimes.However, Mr. Grimes moved past Benson without so much as a glance at him. He went up to Morgan and said, "Master Morgan, I apologize for the oversight!"Everyone was stunned to hear that, including the security guards who had been called over. They were secretly relieved they hadn't forcibly removed anyone yet. If they had offended someone Mr. Grimes was showing so much respect to, it would have been really bad for them!Morgan regarded Mr. Grimes with an unreadable expression. He calmly recounted the situation to Mr. Grimes.After hearing about what happened, Mr. Grimes responded, "This set of stamps was not pre-ordered. If you like it, please take it. Feel free to take anything else in the exhibition that catches your eye."This declaration shocked every
"Who are you?!" Benson exclaimed, astonished. The mysterious figure remained silent, simply looking at Morgan.Morgan calmly reiterated to Benson, "I said, wait for Mr. Grimes." He then pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "I'm Morgan Wood. Please have Mr. Grimes from Lazy Cat Culture come to the Sleepy Cat Exhibition in Solaria. He should be in the area, right?"After ending the call, the person on the other end stared at the phone in disbelief.The Sleepy Cat Exhibition? What's going on?Benson, Lucy, and the staff stared at Morgan in shock, but the look in their eyes quickly turned to ridicule."Ah, a young man's naive bravado – how impudent!" Benson scoffed."Sir, please don't cause trouble," the staff member warned. "Or I'll have to call security."Morgan simply lowered his head to say to Renee, "Looks like we'll be here for a while. If you're bored, I can ask someone to walk around with you."Renee shook her head. "Morgan, what if this stamp set has really been p
Benson's words were not only meant to exert pressure on the staff, but also to inform him that they were on the same side.As expected, when the staff heard what he said, there was an instant change in his expression. He turned to Morgan and Renee and said, "I'm sorry, but it turns out this stamp set has already been pre-ordered by this customer."Morgan saw through the so-called pre-order as nothing more than an act. "When I asked you to wrap it up earlier, I didn’t hear you mention it was pre-ordered.""We forgot to mention that. Our apologies," the staff replied.Lucy, wearing a smug expression, raised her chin at Renee, causing Renee to puff out her cheeks in frustration.Benson calmly observed Morgan and Renee. The White family's White Maple Group had numerous overlapping businesses with the Moon Group. They were often competing with each other. Originally, the White Maple Group’s business activities weren't concentrated in Solaria, so even though there was competition wi
But before Morgan had even finished speaking, a girl's voice piped up, "I want this stamp set!"He turned to the voice and, upon seeing who it was, narrowed his eyes slightly. It was Lucy Moon, the girl Renee mentioned earlier. At the sight of Lucy, Renee immediately reacted like an angry little kitten. "Lucy Moon, why do you always try to take my stuff away?""Your stuff? How is this your stuff? You haven't paid yet!" Lucy shot back, her eyes fixed on Morgan.Morgan was well-known in their class, admired by many girls who claimed he was even more handsome than movie stars. If only Lucy had a big brother like that! She would be the envy of all the girls in class... no, all the girls in school!Unfortunately, her own big brother was not as good-looking.Last time, Lucy had tried to give Renee Sleepy Cat toys, asking for Morgan's email address in return. However, Renee accepted gifts from everyone but her, which infuriated Lucy."But if you want, I can give this stamp set to Re
Unlike many wealthy kids, Renee was quite restrained with her spending. She had never spent recklessly and often saved leftover money. Of course, when she wanted something beyond her budget, she would act cute and ask her Daddy or Morgan to buy it for her.Lisa was the least susceptible to her charms, so Renee didn’t dare to bother her!When they arrived at the exhibition, Renee’s eyes sparkled with excitement. There were so many adorable Sleepy Cat merchandise! They're all so cute! She wanted a lot of them, but realizing her limited budget, she knew she needed a sponsor! The best one was right beside her: Morgan!"Morgan," she said, flashing him a super bright smile.Seeing her like this, Morgan immediately knew she wanted to ask him for something. "What is it? Do you want me to buy you Sleepy Cat merchandise?""You’re so smart, Morgan! No wonder so many girls in our class like you and asked me for your phone number!" Renee praised him.As soon as she mentioned it, Morgan'
"Okay," Renee replied obediently, snuggling up to Morgan and acting cute. "Take me to the exhibition, Morgan! I know you’re the best. You’ll definitely take me, right?"Morgan pursed his lips. At 15, he was no longer a little boy. Although Renee was only 8, she was his destined wife.He had been protecting her since the day she was born. At first, he thought that he would only marry her because according to the family prophecy, she was the one most suitable for him. Over the years, however, he realized that his feelings for her ran deeper than he had initially thought.He found himself wanting to help her fulfill her wishes, and would clean up the mess when she caused trouble. Things had become different from what he had expected, but he welcomed them. He felt grateful that she was the one who was destined for him!With her by his side for the rest of his life, he would never feel lonely."Will you get into fights again?" Morgan asked."No more fighting, I promise!" Renee quickly