Coco blinked. "I'll accompany you to the study later. You can focus on your work while I draw you," she suggested.Lucas arched an eyebrow."Don't worry about it," she reassured. "I can work with this much. You don't have to stay still while I draw you. Besides, you won't move much when you work, and… It's not like I'm taking the art to a competition or anything…""I just want to draw you," Coco said pleadingly."Alright. Do as you please. Just don't tire yourself," Lucas warned."I know," she replied.After dinner, the couple went into the study together.Lucas sat at his desk, busy with his work. Grabbing her drawing tools, Coco set up her easel in front of the sofa as she got ready to draw Lucas.Coco had not studied art in college. Only when she began to draw comics did she start going to classes, learning to draw systemically. As a fast learner, Coco was especially talented and learned quickly. The teacher who had taught her sketching thought it was a waste that she had
Lucas wondered if she knew she was the most tempting woman he had ever met. He got up and walked over to her. "Don't look at me like that. I may lose control.""I-I'm not looking at you in any particular way," Coco stammered. She swore she did not mean to seduce him. "The way you're staring at me now… It's a test for me," Lucas explained. "If you want me to wear less, pick another time, okay? Not when I'm working.""You can draw me any way you want. Even if it means dedicating myself to art."Coco's heart started to pound so loud and hard in her chest, her face turning hot and red. Just imagining Lucas doing whatever she wanted made her heart flutter like crazy.Dedicate himself to art? Could it be what she thought it was? "D-Do you mean… You'll let me draw you in… Your naked form?" Coco asked literally."If you want to. There's nothing wrong with that," he replied, almost giving Coco a nosebleed.Coco's eyes lingered on his beautiful torso, firm muscles, chiseled chest, an
In her sketch, Lucas saw how much Coco loved him. The way she drew him, the way his eyes were full of love. So, this was what he looked like in her eyes. She seemed to realize how deeply he was in love with her.Lucas would keep every picture she drew of him. He carefully took the sketch off the easel and stored it safely. As long as she wanted, he would model for her til their hair turned grey.Her drawings of his would be the proof of their lifelong love!-Coco and Lucas spent their New Year's Eve together. Coco invited Leia to the villa, and Lucas' parents came too. They spent the night together, partying and celebrating.During dinner, Jared and Carmen lifted their glasses in the air in a toast, thanking Leia for all she had done. Jared and Carmen had always treated Leia with respect. Leia had saved Coco's life, indirectly saving their son and the Gomez family.Many outsiders said Leia was unworthy of the Gomez family, especially since she was uneducated and came from the vi
"I'll come with you," Lucas agreed readily, and the couple returned to their room.When they got back to the room, Lucas spoke again. "Okay. Let's talk."Coco suddenly wrapped her arms around Lucas' waist, burying her face in his arms."What's wrong?" Her strange behavior made him a little nervous."I felt an urge to cry while watching the TV show," Coco whimpered. She did not want her in-laws and Leia to see her crying, so she had made an excuse to go upstairs instead of worrying them. Lucas cupped her face in his hands although startled by her tears. "Thinking about your parents?""Yeah, but not just that," Coco sniffed."When I was a kid, my parents used to watch the TV with me on New Year's Eve. Later, when I stayed with my uncle's family, I had to grab a small stool and sit far away to watch the TV with them. Their TV was in the master bedroom, so all of them would sit on the bed and watch it except for me.""I wasn't happy. When I became independent, I moved out and live
Carmen guessed she was right. "Well, I'm warning you not to do it again. If anything happens, I'm going to kick your ass."Lucas helplessly nodded as he listened to his mother's lecture. When he came back to the room, Coco looked at him curiously. "What did Mom ask you?""She told me to hold back," Lucas grumbled, leaving Coco puzzled."Because we spent half an hour in the room earlier, Mom thought my desire got the better of me, and I made you stay with me," Lucas explained.Coco finally understood what it was all about, her face turning bright red."Did you explain to Mom? About what happened?" she asked quickly."How would I have explained? That you wanted to cry?" Lucas mused, making Coco feel embarrassed. Telling Carmen the truth would only make things complicated."Whatever they think," Lucas shrugged, not caring about what others think"But… Will Mom think… I'm risking my health just for momentary pleasure?" Coco stammered while worried about leaving a bad impression o
"If not four, I want at least two kids," Coco swooned, imagining two toddlers surrounding her, calling her ‘Mommy’."You have to keep trying after this one, then," Serenity teased."By the way, did something happen to Jackie?" Coco asked, noticing that Jacqueline was acting really strange. Jacqueline was the most outgoing among the kids, constantly chattering. Her usual smile was gone, and she was exceptionally silent, merely interacting with her youngest sister and watching cartoons on the TV."She's had some problems with her friend. She's been sulking for some time," Serenity sighed."Is she mad at her friend? But she's not the kind who holds grudges. Did they get into a fight?" Coco wondered, thinking about how serious a conflict between children could be. "It's a little different this time. Adults are involved too," Serenity lowered her voice, telling Coco about Morris and his family.Coco listened, bewildered at the story. Humans would always be greedy, especially when l
"Is that so?" Jackson said with a playful smile. "I’d like to see how you handle it if Coco gives birth to a girl this time.""In any case, if it's a daughter, I'll protect her well, making sure she never faces any hardship. For her future boyfriend, I'll make sure he never dares to betray her," Lucas replied."And if it's a son?" Jackson asked."If it's a son, he'll need to be toughened up. I won’t spoil him too much," Lucas said.It was clear that he had double standards for his children."What if your son resembles Coco? Would you still not spoil him?" Jackson asked with a teasing smile.Lucas was at a loss for words. If his son looked like Coco... Well, he might need to reconsider his stance.-Morris absentmindedly watched his parents frantically pack their belongings, stuffing everything they could into suitcases."Daddy, Mommy, are we leaving?" he asked in a small voice.Everyone was happily celebrating the New Year, but a new wave of debt collectors kept showing up
Marissa resented the Valor family deeply. If they had been willing to help pay off her debts from the beginning and hadn't distanced themselves from her family, she wouldn't have been forced to borrow from loan sharks."I'll beg Jacqueline for help! She... she’ll help me!" Morris said urgently."The Valor family has clearly cut ties with us. Stop dreaming!" Marissa shouted. "Now, everyone knows the Valor family has kicked us to the curb. I told you to please Jacqueline, but what happened? You didn’t do enough to please her, and she’s upset with us because she overheard a few things!"Marissa had always blamed everyone else but never considered her own mistakes.Morris lowered his head, clutching the hem of his shirt tightly. That day, he had wanted to stop Jacqueline when she left heartbroken, but in the end, he was too scared to do so.It had been so many days, and Jacqueline still hadn’t visited him. Although his piano teacher told him he could continue his piano lessons, it wou
“……” 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