Jackson's words made Serenity jolt in shock. She looked up, somewhat startled, and met Jackson's clear eyes.Liliana's face changed, and she let out a dry laugh as she said, "Mr. Valor, you love Serenity so much. I couldn't tell at all. Do you plan to get married?""If she wants to, I'll gladly marry her," Jackson said.Jackson's words had Serenity's heart thundering in her chest. She turned to Jackson in disbelief, almost as if she had heard something unthinkable."Seriously?! That's impossible!" Liliana blurted out.Jackson cast a listless glance at Liliana. "How is that impossible?"The coldness in his eyes made Liliana shiver, and a kind of fear rose in her heart."Alright, Serenity, time to go." Jackson took Serenity's hand and left the cafe. Serenity followed Jackson out without objection.Benjamin looked at Liliana disapprovingly. "Lily, why did you mention your friend's past in jail? Fortunately, Mr. Valor is aware of it. If not, it'll strain their relationship. They ma
"But what I said earlier, you'd better take it to heart," Jackson reminded her.Serenity was stunned. What did he mean by that? Take it to heart? What he had said earlier was...'If she wants to, I’d gladly marry her.' Did Jackson really know the meaning behind this?Serenity's thoughts were a mess, and it went on until the two got into the car and arrived at the Valor Residence.Serenity followed Jackson out of the car. Just as they were about to enter the house, he suddenly stopped in his tracks."Oh, right. I've also starved before," Jackson said, "I've had times when I was so hungry I thought I might die."His father had died when he was a child. After cremating his father's body, he had gone home and stayed in the small, dilapidated house holding his father's urn. He was ravenous, starving even. He was so hungry that he almost lost all strength and had a brush with death.He only survived because his neighbor had come and knocked on his door, offering him some food. Seren
"Serenity just doesn't want Aria to have good things, especially when she can't have them herself!" Catherine was indignant. "If she's ruining things for Aria and Lucas, I'll tear her apart!"Grayson said instead, "Could there be a misunderstanding?"After all, Serenity was also his daughter. To be frank, Grayson did not really care which of his daughters could be with Lucas as long as he got to be Lucas's father-in-law."Misunderstanding? How can that be? Serenity is just trying to climb the ladder!" Catherine said. "How else could she get involved with Lucas after meeting Jackson? She doesn't even consider this. She's an ex-convict. Will they even take her seriously? It's just for fun."Catherine spared no effort to slander her stepdaughter, fearing that she would rob her daughter Aria's great marriage."But Aria is different. Aria has a clean record! She's Lucas's official girlfriend. Aria will become the best actress and eventually marry into the Gomez family. It's just a matt
When Serenity spun around, she found Jackson leaning against the door where the two rooms were connected, his gaze fixed on her."Who called?" Jackson came to her and asked."My father," Serenity answered. "I'm going home tomorrow night. Tell the driver not to pick me up at the Sanitation Office."Jackson's eyes were thoughtful. "Do you need me to come with you?"Serenity looked at him in surprise. Did he just offer to accompany her home? In what capacity? Besides, she was going home to deal with her late mother's affairs."No, I can go back by myself." Serenity rejected. "It's late. I'm heading to bed."In other words, it was time for Jackson to leave.Jackson narrowed his eyes slightly. He leaned forward and twirled a strand of her long hair around his fingers. "Are you going to keep me miles away?"Serenity pursed her lips and did not answer."So, tell me, what do I have to do for you to treat me how you used to?" Jackson exhaled, his breath fluttering against her cheeks.
Did Serenity really know someone so important? If so, why would she be working as a sanitation worker? Why was she working as an extra to earn more money?"I-It's nothing. It's all in the past," Serenity answered vaguely. "Oh, Xyla. I think I'm not suitable to be an extra. I won't be doing this job again. Please apologize to Mr. Gray. I'll quit the group shortly."After all, many people had seen what had happened on the set yesterday. The entertainment industry was a small world. People from show business would always bump into each other in such a small circle.Continuing to work as an extra would make things more awkward. Serenity would rather quit. It was a pity that she now had one less way to earn extra money. She would have to think of something else and try to increase her income."I see." Xyla stopped asking. She could tell that Serenity did not want to talk about yesterday. Xyla said, "Well, I'll talk to Mr. Gray later, but you’d better talk to Mr. Gray before leaving the
"Come on," Grayson Lewis said, "sit down."Serenity took a seat and bluntly asked, "Where are you going to move my mother's grave?""Let's talk about that later," Grayson waved his hand. "Let's talk about what's going on between you and your sister. I'm going to be the peacemaker for both of you today. No matter what happened, you're still family, you know. As the elder sister, you should always protect your little sister.""All I want to know," Serenity insisted, "is where you're going to move my mother's grave."Grayson grew impatient."Didn't I tell you we'll talk about that later? Let's settle this problem between you and your sister first.""Sis," Aria spoke up in an apparently earnest voice, "please forgive me if I've ever done anything wrong. I'm truly sorry."This only made Serenity put her guard up even more. The more Aria acted this way, the more she could tell that there might be a problem.And just as she suspected, the next thing Grayson said confirmed her fears an
"All you ever think about is your mother!" Grayson growled. "You never thought about your sister at all! Fine! Let's see what a good daughter you are to your own mother!"He then stomped into his room and reemerged shortly after with a photo album in his hand.Serenity froze. That photo album... was her mother's! It contained the only photos she had of herself and her mother together!The next thing she saw was her father pulling out a lighter, which he then lit up and held under the photo album."Since you never thought of your own sister, I have no reason to give you this album! Even your mother would never want a traitorous daughter like you!"The photo album caught fire, and Grayson tossed it as it burned onto the tiled floor.Serenity shrieked before pulling down her sleeves to beat out the fire with all her might.She would never let the photo album burn no matter what! Never! It was the only memento she had left of her mother! It contained her memories! She would never le
Had Serenity been disfigured by the fire, it would have saved her a lot of work. At the very least, she knew that Lucas would never take a fancy to a deformed woman.What a pity!***Serenity had no idea how she got downstairs. All she felt was that each step she took seemed to be exhausting all of her strength. The two hands that were clutching the photo album kept trembling because of her flustered emotions. At the moment, she did not even have the courage to look through the album to see how many of the photos were damaged. These were all her memories—her memories of her mother!When she finally teetered her way to the gate of her apartment, a figure walked up to her, and suddenly, an anxious voice laced with heavy concern sounded above her head, asking, "What happened to you?"Serenity felt as if she was enveloped in a shadow, and following that, a pair of arms swooped up and supported her frail wobbly body. Who was it? Who had just held her up?She slowly looked up, and
“……” 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