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
"You're sorry?" He was so angry that he burst out laughing. What she did to him was far more than just making him worry.She would never know how panicked he was when he first saw Lucas carrying her on his back. His legs had turned so weak at the sight that they were almost unable to keep him standing. And how could she ever understand how unbearable it was for him to see her whispering with Lucas?! When he saw her thanking Lucas with a smile on her face when Lucas put her down, the words of his dead father rang in his ears, "Jack, if there ever comes a day when your joy, sorrow, and anger all rest in the hands of another person, you'll know what it's like to live a miserable… miserable life…"Miserable?Yes, it was indeed miserable. He could taste the bitterness in his mouth. If only he could just lock her up in a place only he knew so she could never go anywhere and see no one else but him. He wanted her to only ever smile at him, not at any other man!It was jealousy! He was
"Lynette," said Lucas, "you'll always be someone special to me unlike all the other women out there because you once saved my life, after all."Huh?!Lynette stared blankly at him, having no clue why he would tell her that all of a sudden.He then continued, "So, I promise you that I'll do whatever I can to give you whatever you want—a life of luxury, a good standing in society that enables you to hold your head high in pride wherever you go... I'll even fulfill your wish to become a superstar!"Lynette's eyes lit up when she heard this. She could not help but get excited.Yet the sight only filled Lucas's heart with a sense of disappointment that even he could not clearly explain.Could the woman of his dreams, the woman that he had been longing to meet again for so long, really be someone like this?"You really are so kind to me, Lucas!"Lynette was blushing deeply by now because of the excitement. She felt that the future she had always fantasized about was gradually becomin
His whole body had been exuding a frigid cold aura earlier, yet right now, all that had been transformed into an air of alluring charm that burst forth from his eyes."What if I do this?" he asked softly, his expression seductive and his gesture full of warmth and tenderness."N-No…" she replied stutteringly. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore."How could she still feel the pain now when he had captivated all of her senses?! He kept showering gentle little kisses on the red mark. She tried to withdraw her hand out of shyness since there were other people in the car, but he kept his hold on her arm very firm and would not let her go."Don't move!" he ordered."But…" she protested in embarrassment."Don't you dare move," he insisted, almost with a pleading voice. The hand that was holding her wrist was even trembling slightly. "You're not allowed to move. Just stay this way, or else I don't even know what I'll do to you."Serenity was startled. She sensed that Jackson had been act
A barrage of questions poured forth from his mouth with such an urgent curiosity that he had never displayed before!Serenity stared at the man hovering above her in surprise. It felt like everything he had suppressed in his strained silence in the car was now exploding all at once with these questions."Jack," she told him, "let go of me. I can explain everything."Yet instead of loosening his grip on her hands, he leaned down and showered her with kiss after kiss before saying, "Fine. Go on and explain it to me, then. I'm listening."No matter what, he just was not willing to let go of her.Serenity felt as if her thoughts were all muddled by his torrent of kisses."I… I went there to visit my grandma's grave, and when I was coming down from the mountains, I took a detour through a small path to a nearby mountain where I used to play when I was a little girl. I just wanted to see the place again, but I bumped into Lucas there."Serenity then went on, trying her best to recount
"But I am," he said.She felt her heart instantly enveloped by something. Her nose began to tingle, and her eyes turned misty.So, there really was one person in this whole world who felt her pain.Whatever pain she had to endure, Jackson would feel it too.It looked like falling in love with him might have been the best decision she could ever make in her whole life. He bundled her up in a bath towel and carried her out of the bathtub, then changed her into clean comfy clothes before carrying her out of the bathroom and applying medicine to her wounds."Tell me if it hurts," he said."Okay."He was very gentle when applying the medicine, so much so that it was as if he treated her as his most cherished treasure, a treasure that was even more valuable than his own life.In the end, when he was done applying medicine to the red mark around her wrist, he still would not let go of her hand but just kept staring at the red mark on her wrist that still had not faded."Tell me," h
Perhaps because yesterday had been a long day for Serenity, she was truly exhausted by the end of it, and after getting something to eat, she felt drowsy right away and fell straight to sleep almost immediately.On the other hand, Jackson sat by her bed for a while, staring at her sleeping face. She was right there, quietly sleeping on the bed as if she would never go anywhere, as if she could never leave him and must always stay in his sight. She was clearly right there in front of him, so why did he still feel as if she was slipping through his fingers?!She told him she was not disappointed today, yet why… did he feel like she was disappointed? For some reason, her words simply sounded unconvincing to him!The image of Lucas carrying her on his back flashed across his mind again, just as if it was a scene from a movie that kept on getting rewound and projected onto his brain. Nothing had ever frightened him so much before! It felt like the thing he feared the most was slowly
“……” 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