Serenity looked at Jackson in a little daze. After a while, she said, "In that case, I guess I must have been through so much just to meet you and fall in love with you. If I hadn't gone through all these challenges, maybe I wouldn't have met you."The prison sentence had turned Serenity's life completely upside down. Otherwise, Serenity might have married Zeke and remained a lawyer. She might not fit in with the Shaw family after marrying Zeke. Maybe she would not even marry Zeke because of his parents' disapproval.Whatever the possibilities, Serenity would not have met Jackson that fateful night and brought him home. Serenity and Jackson might eventually cross paths like two parallel lines.Jackson's eyelashes fluttered slightly. He pulled Serenity into a gentle hug and buried his face in her neck, taking a deep breath as if to inhale her scent. "Yeah, you too... It must have been to meet me."Serenity was completely unaware that Jackson was partly responsible for the pain she h
Lucas could not resist looking out the window, wondering why he was staring at the couple. He thought he should have figured it out by now—Lynette was the one he had been looking for.It was Lynette who had saved his life. Based on all the information he had found, Lynette had not been happy these past few years. Lucas was determined to treat Lynette as well as he could to repay her for saving his life. However, his heart felt empty after finding Lynette, almost as if he had lost something—something very important to him."Lucas, what are you staring at?" Lynette's voice rang out.Lucas turned his head and saw Lynette walking over. He stepped forward and said, "It's nothing. I'm heading back now. Call me if there’s anything.""Are you leaving already?" Lynette seemed very reluctant to let him go. "It's late. Why don't you spend the night here and leave tomorrow? The guest rooms are ready.""No, I have something important to do at the office tomorrow. I’d better go back," Lucas sai
Lynette bit her lips slightly. "So, if I hadn't saved you, you wouldn't have been nice to me?"She meant for him to disagree. Instead, she saw his indifferent eyes staring at her quietly, almost as if looking at a stranger.Lynette immediately regretted what she had just said, her eyes fluttering with a hint of panic. "I-I just want you to be nice to me, not because I saved your life, but... Something else..." She stammered in defense."Alright. Don't overthink it," Lucas said plainly. "It's getting late. Go get some rest." As he spoke, he opened the car door and was about to get into the car. Lynette suddenly said, "Take care, Luke!"Lucas stiffened at Lynette's sudden cry. Hearing her call him Luke reminded him of his old memory. The scene of the little girl carrying him down the hill suddenly flashed before his eyes.The little girl had kept talking to him, afraid he would pass out because of the injury and bleeding."What's your name? If you don't tell me, I'll call you Luk
Lucas had drawn all these paintings. It was all the image of her carrying him down the hill or images of them relying on each other in the forest.All they could rely on was each other at that time.For the first time, he realized the little girl was so important to him. He might not have survived without her.Among these paintings, there was only one exception.It was not a painting of a child. Instead, it was an adult woman's portrait. The woman smiled softly, her eyes reminding him of water, gentle and strong. It was a very comfortable image. Her gaze made him feel calm and at ease.Lucas stood close to the woman's portrait, his dark eyes staring at the person in the painting, and a rare hint of pain flashed in his usually indifferent eyes.If Serenity had been here, she would have recognized the portrait immediately. It was her!"Why is it not you?" A cold voice rang in the studio, but there was no response.The woman in the portrait continued looking at him with a gentle,
Serenity Lewis? Who was she? She was just an ex-convict!People from a small town had a natural bias toward an ex-convict. They would point their fingers at her full of disdain. Many of them thought Serenity should not be at the wake. She was a disgrace to the family. The Walker family should throw her out instead!The Walker family shook in fear hearing such remarks, worried it would upset Jackson. If Jackson got mad, he could easily wipe out the Walker family.Lynette had Lucas' protection, but Lucas had never said that he would protect the Walker family! On the day of Emily's funeral, Serenity dressed herself in black and joined the funeral procession. Her eyes were slightly red. Clearly, she had cried again. Dressed in a black suit, Jackson stood by Serenity's side and accompanied her to the funeral home.The Walker family had reserved a hall in the funeral home to accommodate the memorial service. During the service, Serenity stood and listened quietly. Listening to Uncle Fr
Someone suddenly kicked the man to the ground before he could say anything else."Oh, sorry. I couldn't stop in time," Jackson said flatly, his left foot still stepping on the man's chest, crushing him.The man screamed in pain, his face red. He could not shake away the foot that was on his chest.Uncle Francis, Uncle Desmond, and Aunt Theresa saw the commotion and rushed over, trying to calm him. "Mr. Valor... W-Why do this at a funeral?""It would be disrespectful to the dead if something were to happen.""The man's just spouting nonsense. Mr. Valor, please don't take him seriously!"Jackson looked at the three siblings nonchalantly. "I think Granny wouldn't want to see someone slandering her granddaughter in such a manner. She might agree with me. What do you think?" His smile was cold and unfriendly, sending chills down the spine of the three."Of course! Of course!""Yeah. He's just trying to cause trouble because Serenity refused his marriage proposal!""People like him
Serenity stepped forward and quietly looked at Granny in the casket. Knowing that this would be the last time she would ever see Granny, she gently placed the flowers in her hand in front of Granny's casket and said her final goodbye. The kind Emily had given Serenity so much love after she had lost her mother. Emily had given her a happy childhood. Serenity did not join Granny's cremation. She was afraid that she would not be able to bear to watch the cremation. "Jack. Granny has left me," Serenity murmured. "She loved me. She was very nice to me, but she's gone."Jackson looked at Serenity and promised solemnly, "I won't leave you." He would always be there for her."Yeah. I know you won't leave me, and I..." Serenity echoed, "I'll never leave you too." Jackson was always there to assure her whenever she was down.After the cremation, Granny's ashes were placed in an urn.The Walker family buried the urn with Granny's ashes at the Walker family's ancestral grave in the villag
Serenity sat in the car and looked out the window, watching the landscape moving past her quickly. She hummed softly, filling the car with a soothing and gentle tune. Jackson arched an eyebrow. He waited until Serenity had finished humming before asking, "What song is this?""Walk of Life, a classic." Serenity explained, "Granny loved it. She was the one who taught me to sing this song. I used to sing it all the time, but I couldn't understand the meaning of the lyrics when I was younger. The older I got, the more I understood the meaning of the lyrics.""A nice song indeed," Jackson agreed."Yeah. It's a shame Granny can't teach me anything anymore," Serenity murmured, a tired look on her face.Serenity had barely slept for the past few days. She had spent most of her time sitting beside Granny's casket or busy with the funeral, only sleeping three to four hours because she did not have time to sleep."If you're tired, just close your eyes and rest. It's two hours away by car,"
“……” 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