“Coco, why don’t we…” Minnie wanted to leave. After all, she had seen how badly Loke had hurt Coco. She didn’t want Coco to feel heartbroken again. However, Coco cut her off, “Sit down, Minnie. It’s fine.” “But…” Coco gave her best friend a reassuring look and gently squeezed her hand. Minnie sat down after Coco gestured to her to do so. After ordering the food, Minnie excused herself to go to the restroom and asked Coco to come with her. “Coco, you don’t have to stay because of me. I didn’t know that Anthony was friends with Loke. If I had known earlier—” “You definitely wouldn't have asked me to come along, right?” Coco finished Minnie’s sentence. “It’s fine, Minnie. Loke hurt me before, but I needed to move on instead of avoiding him for the rest of my life. Besides, why should I avoid him? He isn’t worth any of my time.” Minnie suddenly felt that Coco was a lot stronger than she had imagined. She knew that Coco didn’t love Loke anymore. “Yeah, he’s not worth it.” Minnie sm
Anthony chuckled. “Do you come up with the storylines yourself?” “Some cartoonists collaborate with others, but not me. I’m in charge of the storyline and the illustration,” Coco said. “Isn't it hard to conceptualize stories?”“It depends on the inspiration. It’s not hard when I’m inspired.” “Do you date around to get inspired?” Anthony asked. “That’s not necessarily true. I can get inspiration from movies and other cartoonists.” “Minnie said that you guys are coming up with a new comic?” “Yes. We have been discussing it the whole day, but it's not finalized yet,” Coco said. Minnie complained, “Yeah, it’s a headache to start a new story.” “Would it be easier for you to get inspired if you had a boyfriend, Ms. Souza?” Anthony asked and took a glance at Loke. Loke’s expression didn’t change much until Coco answered Anthony’s question. “I’m in a relationship.” “What? You have a boyfriend?” Anthony was surprised. Minnie hesitated for a moment before bragging. “Yes, Coco is in a
Coco thought that they would never meet each other again. After all, Solaria was a big city. The probability of meeting a stranger was small. She hadn’t expected to meet Lucas in this restaurant. “You… Why are you here?” Coco was surprised.“I just finished talking to the boss of this restaurant, and I noticed you. Do you need help?” “You have to help me since you’re here.” Coco took a deep breath and looked at Loke. “He’s my boyfriend. Are you happy now?” “Yes, I’m Coco’s boyfriend. Do you have a problem with that?” Lucas said nonchalantly and grabbed Loke’s hand that was still on Coco’s wrist. Loke immediately felt a sharp pain. “I don’t think you should touch my girlfriend. You’d better let go now, or else…” It was enough for Loke to understand. Loke had a feeling that Lucas wasn’t like any ordinary person. He finally let go of Coco after a pause. Lucas withdrew his hand too. Then, he looked at Coco. “Do you want to make a move first?” “What?” Coco was spacing out. “I’ll
“You… How…” “I’m sorry. I looked up some basic information about you. After all, I need to know your details since we’re dating,” Lucas said. Coco remained silent as she was shocked that Lucas had her information. That was why he could call out her name in front of Loke. “Who the hell are you?” Coco asked. They were in a Cayenne now. Not all people could afford a Porsche. She had only agreed to be his girlfriend yesterday, and he had already found out all her basic information. He wasn’t any average man. “I’m Lucas Gomez.” Lucas introduced himself. “You have a nice name,” Coco muttered. Lucas stole a glance at Coco. From her expression, he knew that she hadn't heard of him before. “You know what? Most of the male leads in romance novels have the same surname as you,” Coco said what she saw on a poll.Lucas was surprised to hear that. “Yes, many authors would use the surname Gomez in their writing,” Coco added.‘If life was a novel, I’m only the supporting character,’ Lucas th
Although Coco had some savings from all these years of hard work, the food here was still quite expensive for her. A simple dinner set would cost a few hundred dollars. Lucas handed her the menu and said, “Take a look.” Coco hesitated and ordered something light while Lucas ordered a few more dishes. After the manager left the room, she finally asked, “You’re rich?” “Yeah, kind of. In return for being my girlfriend, you can tell me what you want. I’ll fulfill your requests as long as they aren’t ridiculous.” “What you wanted was just for me to act lovey-dovey with you in public, right?” “Yes. Holding hands and hugging are the basics. I won’t do anything more than that. And of course, you can reject me now if you don't feel comfortable with that.” Coco fixed her gaze on Lucas and asked after a pause. “Last time I asked you why you are doing this, you told me that you just wanted a woman to act as your girlfriend. Why don’t you find someone you know to help you if you’re fine with
“Well, let me know when you’re available,” Lucas said. Coco only snapped back to reality when her phone rang. “Coco! Was the man today the scammer we were talking about?” Minnie squealed. “I didn’t say that he was a scammer.” “Anyway, that’s the man!” “Yeah.” “Are you really going to date him? Do you know his name? Did you get to know more about him?” Although Lucas was good-looking, Minnie didn’t want Coco to take the risk. “We’re just faking our relationship. I think he needs me for something. He promised that he wouldn’t do anything to me, and he told me his general information today,” Coco said. “Do you really believe a man that you’d just met?” Minnie didn’t want her naive best friend to get hurt again. “Alright, alright. I’ll watch out. If he does something bad to me, I’ll immediately cut ties with him. By the way, how did your blind date go after I left?”“Nothing much. We went our separate ways after that. It’s such a small world to see Loke there. Uhh… Do you think th
Coco regretted not calling Loke out or recording their conversation and exposing them. They should be condemned by the public. At the time, Coco still foolishly thought that Loke should have a little feelings for her. She went to meet him in hopes that he wouldn’t hurt her. Alas, she underestimated the evil of human nature and became the laughingstock of the whole school.In the end, she had been deeply hurt by Loke. Over the years, time had healed her. “Don’t worry, Minnie. I’ve moved on from Loke. I’m disgusted by him.” Coco had felt extremely disgusted when Loke had grabbed her wrist today. “That’s good.” Minnie was relieved. When they ended the call, Coco scrolled through her contacts and saw Lucas’s name. She still couldn’t believe that she had gotten a new boyfriend so easily, but she was happy because he could be her inspiration for the new comic. -Coco texted Lucas her schedule for the week the next day. They went on their first date two days later. “Do we have to p
The bookstore only charged their customers 15 dollars per hour with a free flow of drinks. Coco came here often to read the newest comics. Even though she could read it online, she still liked the feeling of flipping through papers. Coco brought Lucas to an empty couch and said, “You can go over to the bookshelf to look for something you’d like to read. Would you like to drink anything? I’ll go get it for you.” “Water will be fine.” Coco got Lucas a glass of water and a glass of orange juice for herself. She realized that Lucas was already reading a comic when she returned. She was shocked that Lucas was reading her comic. She remembered that she had never told him that her pen name was Alice Souza. But, on second thought, since Lucas could find out her basic information, he would know that Alice was her pen name too. Coco felt a little embarrassed to see someone reading her comic in front of her. The male lead of this comic was a little domineering, and there were a few intima
“……” 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