Things were finally going as what Serenity wanted. Lucas was finally convinced that Serenity was not the little girl he had been looking for, but for some reason, Serenity still felt a sting in her heart. It felt uncomfortable, maybe because the young Lucas was the first childhood friend who shared the same experience with her.Serenity had lived in this town for years, but she always felt a little disconnected from the town's children. In her dream, the little girl seemed close to the little boy."Okay. I won't come here anymore," Serenity promised. As she took a step back, she accidentally stepped on a branch and lost her balance, and she fell backward."Ah!" Serenity screamed, falling toward the cliff. She was about to fall, so she instinctively tried to grab onto something. Anything!Thud! The next moment, a hand grabbed hers. Serenity's body was close to the cliff. Luckily for her, Lucas dropped to the ground and caught her in time, or she would have rolled down the hill.L
"I must be very heavy," the little boy said, a little embarrassed."Yeah, quite," the little girl answered bluntly. Every step she took was so difficult."Sorry… You have to carry me… If you get hurt, I'll definitely carry you too!" The little boy sounded a little nervous, afraid the little girl would dislike him for being useless."How long can you carry me? You might not be able to carry me for long!" The little girl did not think much of the boy's strength. Although he was bigger in size, she had been the one protecting him the whole time.The little boy blurted out, "I can carry you for the rest of my life!"At that time, the little boy and little girl did not understand what a lifetime really meant. The fragmented memories constantly regrouped, transforming into distinct memories.Serenity felt dizzy. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were very heavy. She seemed to be moving slightly, like… Was someone carrying her on their back? Serenity thought, 'Who is it? Who's
Lucas had been searching for her, but she had forgotten him.Serenity looked at Lucas in a daze. Seeing how he was carrying her on his back, her eyes turned a little moist.The young Lucas had said that if she was hurt, he would carry her on his back too, but… There was no forever between them. He was not the one she loved!"Lucas. I won't come to this forest hill again. Whatever happened in the past is just the past. You shouldn't be so obsessed with what happened when you were young," Serenity said.Serenity did not want to see Lucas stuck in the past. Besides, Lynette was deceiving him. Unfortunately, Serenity was in no position to explain it clearly.Lucas sneered, "Serenity, who are you to be telling me this?"Serenity choked at his question. Lucas added, "I heard you don't get along with Lynette. She's the one who saved my life. Does that bother you?"Serenity knew he had misunderstood her. "I just don't want you to be deceived," she said."Deceived? Do you think your c
Lucas had not expected Serenity to be here. He had not expected the shocking incident either.Lucas's mind had almost gone blank when he saw Serenity fall off the cliff. He had instinctively rushed forward and grabbed her wrist, forgetting that he might fall with her if he was not careful.Lucas panicked even more when Serenity could not reach him because of her headache. He was afraid he would not be able to hold her long. Afraid she would end up falling. Afraid because she was struggling with her headache.He was scared to death!Lucas had never experienced such fear in a long time! The moment he managed to pull her up, she was already unconscious. His back was covered in cold sweat. His hands were shaking, and eventually, he was trembling in fear.When he came back to his senses, he was holding her in his arms tightly. It was as if she was someone really important. He was reluctant to let go!Why? Why had things turned out like this?! He already knew she was not the little gir
'Serenity, please be okay! Don't get hurt!' Jackson thought. He would find her no matter what."What about the nearby surveillance? Did you find anything?" Jackson asked."We're still working on it. We should have results soon," Connor answered hastily.Fortunately, the roads near the hills were monitored by surveillance cameras. If Ms. Lewis had left the area, she would have been caught on camera.Connor soon received the surveillance feedback during this period. Only 13 cars had driven in and out, and a few pedestrians around the area.This area was a remote part of the town. Not many people would have crossed here.They had investigated the car owners of these 13 cars. They were all innocent town residents, having no criminal records or ties to Ms. Lewis.Ms. Lewis was not among the pedestrians who had passed by the road.In other words, there was a good chance that Ms. Lewis was still in these hills. However, all the hills here were connected. It was going to be a little tr
Although Jackson knew about the hill, it was the first time he had ever set foot here.As he followed the search party and walked through the forest, the painting he had seen in Lucas' studio flashed before his eyes.In the painting, the little girl had carried the little boy on her back, walking through the dense forest. The little girl seemed to be bending forward. The little boy seemed to be too heavy, crushing her. Even so, the little girl kept on walking. Every step she took became harder. When Jackson saw the painting for the first time, he felt nothing. However, he panicked after putting Serenity and Lucas into the picture.What was he panicking about? Was it fear? Was it because the bond between Serenity and Lucas would not break despite his underhanded tactics? Or was it something else? Jackson feared Lucas would always be in her mind. Serenity had forgotten him for now, but she might remember everything one day…Maybe he was worried about her love for him? Did she lov
Right. She had been up on the hill for a long time. Jackson must have been worried and came to look for her. Serenity's first instinct was to run to Jackson's side. Then, she realized Lucas was still carrying her on his back. She hurriedly told Lucas, "H-Hey, put me down.""Looking for Jackson?" Lucas's cold voice rang."Yeah." Serenity gave an affirmative answer."Serenity. Once I put you down, anything that happens to you will be none of my business. From now on, you're just a stranger to me. Don't call me Luke again. It's not for you to say." What Lucas said sounded like a warning and farewell.Serenity felt a little sore on her nose. A strange feeling rose, weighing on her heart. Was it because… Because she had lied to him? Or was it due to losing a friend? Because the friend she had made as a child would become nothing more than a stranger? "I understand, Mr. Gomez," Serenity said softly.Both of them spoke so softly that only they could hear each other. After that, Lucas
Good thing she was not, or else… Lucas felt a sting in his heart again. He pursed his lips tightly and swore to erase his feelings for Serenity and leave nothing behind!Serenity finally approached Jackson, but he was strangely quiet. His beautiful eyes seemed very dark at the moment. An air of silent despair surrounded him.Was Jackson angry? Was he mad seeing her with Lucas? Or was he worried because she had been on the hill for so long?There were many people around them. It was inconvenient for her to explain. She would have to wait until they were alone before explaining everything to him."Sorry! You must've been worried!" Serenity explained, "I wanted to give you a call, but… I couldn't reach you because I accidentally dropped my phone and broke it."It was not just her cell phone that had broken. Lucas had accidentally stepped on his phone in the process of saving her and cracked the screen.Both of them were unable to make any calls. With their phones broken, they had
“……” 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