Although his eyes were looking at her, his gaze appeared to be looking through her. Just who was he looking to substitute? There was a time when he kept imagining what the little girl would look like after she had grown up. The women that he dated would more or less bear some semblance to that imaginary woman. However, Serenity wasn’t the one who had saved him all those years ago. It was actually Lynette, the lady sitting before him. He had seen her photos from when she was around 8 or 9. Sure enough, she looked a lot like the girl from his memories. However, the grown-up Lynette was completely unlike what she used to look like. She shared similar facial features with Serenity, especially their eyebrows and jaw, but he could still easily tell these two people apart. What’s more, the aura they gave off was completely different. “Lucas?” The sound of Lynette’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “You’re not a substitute,” he said. “Then... were you really looking for a
Perhaps when that day arrived, she would meet a terrible demise. Lynette’s heart trembled at the thought of that possibility. However, now that she had embarked down this path, there was no turning back. No matter what, she had to cling to Lucas firmly. As long as he didn’t discover the truth, she would continue to have someone as strong as him backing her up! ***Jackson brought Serenity to the detention center, where they met Yuri Volkov. He appeared to be a slightly overweight man in his 40s. To her, he was a complete stranger. A stranger he may be, but he had caused her so much misery!If it weren’t for him, she would not have had to spend three years behind bars and endure so much agony. She would have still been an attorney with a bright future, pursuing a career that she had fought tooth and nail for! Serenity thought that she would never be able to see this man even when she arrived at the courthouse. After all, he had run off to some foreign land. To her surpri
Jackson’s eyes glimmered. “It may be true that he hurt you, but he’s having a hard time too. If it wasn’t for his cooperation, we wouldn’t have been able to catch him so soon. He returned from abroad and surrendered himself to the authorities after learning that the authorities had resumed their investigation on this case.” Of course, he deliberately left out the extreme measures he had taken to ensure that Yuri surrendered himself to the authorities. “A hard time?” sneered Serenity. “So what if he’s having a hard time? Am I supposed to feel bad for him now? It’s like asking a murder victim to forgive her murderer. Don’t you find it absurd? It’s a miracle that I survived my prison sentence. Had I died in that place, I wouldn’t have been able to stand before him today!” Every word she said hurt his heart like a whip. For a moment, he found it hard to breathe. “So... you will never forgive him, is that right?” murmured Jackson. “That’s right! I will never forgive a person who h
“Mr. Valor, I... I did as you instructed, so please let me live!” pleaded Yuri nervously. Jackson’s gaze was dark. This man was one of the main culprits behind Serenity’s wrongful conviction. “As long as you don’t say a word about what happened, I’ll let you keep your life.” Upon hearing that, Yuri let out a sigh of relief. If given a choice, he would have stayed abroad and never surrendered himself to the authorities. He had only done so under Jackson’s coercion. Even when it came to someone who was hiding abroad, Jackson had many ways to assert his influence. “Then, my family...” Yuri spoke with a panicky tone. “Your family doesn’t know what you’ve done, and I won’t lay a finger on them. However–” Jackson’s abrupt pause brought back Yuri’s fear. “You’re gonna have to pay a steep price for Serenity’s wrongful conviction all those years ago.” Yuri was about to protest when Jackson rose from his seat abruptly as if he couldn’t be bothered to hear what he had to say. “Mr. V
“What’s the matter with this place?” asked Jackson, whose voice had grown hoarse all of a sudden. “When I was young, I often came here to play!” said Serenity. “Although the adults said this place was dangerous and forbade us from playing here, I still snuck up the hillside. At the time, I felt like I was a true adventurer!” Compared to her, Lynette wasn’t particularly fond of playing here. “You were a kid, after all,” said Jackson. “Back then, I thought I’d come across some ground-breaking secret here, like a treasure chest, a UFO, or maybe a time machine. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?” she asked. Perhaps in an adult’s eyes, the woods beyond the hill were not that big. However, to a child, it was practically a whole new world to explore. “No, I find it incredibly adorable,” said Jackson. “But now that you’ve grown up, you realize that this is just another hillside. Let’s go. It’s getting late. I’m worried that it’ll be quite late by the time we return to Solaria.” Serenity n
“But even if they’re applying for the conviction to be overturned, it doesn’t happen that fast! According to how it normally goes...” Before Jenny could finish speaking, she was interrupted by her father. “Don’t forget who’s on her side now!” Jenny went silent immediately. Right... There was Jackson! The normal process was only reserved for commoners. “Okay, no matter what, once this news breaks out, we’ll have to come up with our view on the matter. You mustn’t offend the Valors because of this matter, do you understand?” asked Quinton to his daughter. Jenny almost snapped her phone in half when she heard that. When the charges had initially been read out, she had deliberately insulted Serenity and made a lot of noise while accusing her of murdering her sister. And yet, her father seemed to be asking her to issue a public apology to Serenity. How embarrassing would that be?! “Do you hear me, Jenny?” Quinton’s tone was surprisingly serious. “Don’t drag our family down!
Jackson lowered his head and gazed at her leaning on his shoulder. If she knew the truth, he wondered... if she would still think the same about meeting him. Probably not. When Serenity was sound asleep, he gently picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. After placing her softly on the bed, he gently stroked her face and ran his fingers through her hair. “Serenity, everything ends here, okay?” The truth of the case shall end here. As for her past with Lucas, that too ends here. No more pursuing these two matters. It was for the best. ***The sudden overturning of Serenity’s conviction caught the internet by storm thanks to the reporters. For a while, a heated discussion went on. Back then, Serenity was merely a rookie attorney who was falsely accused and convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. The discussion focused more on her ex-boyfriend, Zeke, and his current girlfriend, Jenny. The reporter who had broken the news had gone and interviewed Jenny about it, yet
“What are you saying? I thought we agreed that we’d be friends for life. From now on, there’s no need for you to hide things from me. I don’t want to be a friend who gets updates about you from the news rather than from you in person,” said Lisa. “Got it,” answered Serenity, who was on the brink of tearing up. Lisa had always been like this. Once you were chosen as a friend, she would be loyal to the end. The next day, when they met up, Lisa got to know the details of Serenity’s wrongful conviction, including how Yuri was the mastermind behind this. “I never thought that someone could frame another person just because they didn’t want to be implicated,” said Lisa with a gasp. “But I’m thankful that you’ve finally proven your innocence. So, what are you going to do next?” “I haven’t thought about it yet.” Serenity looked forward to the next chapter in her life, but she still hesitated. “Are you going back to being an attorney?” asked Lisa. Serenity smiled wryly. “I’ve be
“……” 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