As she spoke, she vehemently tried to pull back her hand from him, but he still held it firmly and would not let it go."Call me Jack," he said."That would be inappropriate, Mr. Valor. We…""Call me Jack," he insisted again. "Or else, do you want to stay here with me like this forever?"Serenity bit her lips. She scanned her surroundings and noticed a crowd of people staring at them. If they remained this way any longer, it was very likely that there would be a video of her with Jackson getting posted online."Ja… Jack!"She uttered the name with visible difficulty, but in the next moment, Jackson smiled faintly, and his eyes even shone with happiness, replacing the threat and hostility that had been there earlier…— Serenity watched as Jackson boldly strode into her rental room, contemplating whether or not she should move to another place. But then she thought that even if she moved, he would still follow her to her new place anyway."What exactly do you want?" she asked,
Jackson dove right in and started eating. After tasting a few bites, he looked up at Serenity and exclaimed, "It's delicious, Sis!"Her expression soured, and she told him, "I'm not your sister.""You're not?" he smiled. "But what's wrong with being my sister? You'll be the most highly esteemed woman in Solaria, and you'll get whatever you want in this city. Anything you desire, no matter how valuable, will be offered up to you on a silver plate.""And what if what I desire is for you to never show up anywhere near me again?" she asked.His eyes gradually turned gloomier. "So, you don't want to see me that much?" Even his voice had turned icy cold."That's right," she answered him firmly, her eyes meeting his.Only by never seeing him again could she truly forget him and forget all the feelings they had shared between them when they were dating.His face darkened, and a tense atmosphere began to fill the room. Just as Serenity thought Jackson might storm out in anger, he sudde
"Why?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.Because it was the only shred of dignity she had left. Although her dignity had been trampled on before and she was only beginning to piece together the broken fragments now, still… She did not want to be trampled on again."Because you're not the family that I want. For me, the current version of you can be the creditor that I'm indebted to, or you can be a boss lording over me, or you can just be a stranger, but you can never be my family!"The word "family" had always been special to her, and it had always been something that she achingly yearned for ever since she was a child. That was precisely why she would never let the sacredness of this word be trampled on!He scrutinized her with a piercing gaze. His eyes were filled with a coldness that cut through her like a blade. She endured every excruciating second of his stare and refused to avoid his eye contact, almost as if silently telling him that he would never become her family.Jackson w
The police posed another uncertainty in the equation. There was the question of whether they would reopen the case for investigation. “I’ll return to the police station to check things out later,” said Mr. Graham, who noticed the unmissable dark circles under Serenity’s eyes. “Thank you for your hard work. You look like you haven’t slept in days because of this case. Why don’t you head back and get some rest?” Serenity, of course, knew that Mr. Graham had misunderstood the situation. In truth, she had been unable to sleep last night because of Jackson. Still, this confirmed to her that Mr. Graham was more kind-hearted than she imagined, so she let out a relieved sigh. Since she had been given a day off, she decided to pay Clara and Yanny a visit. After all, they were leaving Solaria soon. However, she had barely stepped out of the building when an expensive-looking car rolled to a stop at the entrance. Out came a woman in high heels and designer clothes. It was none other than Ly
However, Lynette quickly changed the subject. “The reason why I came to see you today is because Lucas keeps thinking you’re the person he’s been looking for. To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings, I hope you can keep away from him. I hope you understand. We’re family, after all.” Serenity sneered immediately when she heard that. “Unnecessary misunderstanding? What misunderstanding are you talking about?” “Just like the time back at the filming set, you and him were flirting with each other. It’s easy for people to misunderstand your relationship with him,” said Lynette while pretending to be shy. “Although Lucas and I haven’t made it official, in the future…” Lynette deliberately stopped mid-sentence to leave some room for imagination. “I feel nothing toward Lucas Gomez, so there’s nothing for you to worry about,” said Serenity. “But wouldn’t it be better if you tried not to show up in front of him? Or… maybe if I paid you to work somewhere else? Maybe you can set up a shop?
“And that’s why you’ll have to choose your words wisely when talking to me in the future. For the sake of Grandma, I’ll remind you one more time that Lucas isn’t as easy to fool as you think. Often, you’ll end up with nothing when you get too greedy.” After she had issued her final warning, Serenity paid for her own coffee and left the cafe. Lynette remained seated in the same position. She wanted to take a sip of coffee to calm her nerves, but even that simple task became impossible because of her uncontrollable trembling.What should she do? Serenity’s memories had returned! If she ever spoke to Lucas about it…No, that must never happen! She had to find a way to convince Lucas that Serenity was lying even if she told him the truth. Somehow… she had to find a way out of this! ————After Serenity had left the cafe, she took a bus ride to the neighborhood where Mrs. Wells and Yanny were staying. When she arrived, she found that Clara was also present and that they were busy packing
“Mr. Hall lets me ride on his shoulder, and he always brings me fun toys!”Yanny began counting his fingers and explaining the fun things that he had done with Peter, most of which were popular games between father and son. A hint of sadness could be seen in Clara’s eyes when that thought surfaced in her mind. No matter how good she was at playing her role as his mother, it was hard to deny the fact that Yanny had never had a father in his life. She was well aware of the envy in his eyes whenever he saw his friends playing with their fathers. She knew that he longed for a father figure in his life. It’s just that… Wilson would never be a good father. In fact… in his eyes, the boy probably didn’t even exist. Serenity noticed the dejection in her eyes, so she quickly changed the subject. Before she left, she asked Clara, “How’s your injury?” “Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. It doesn’t hurt as much when I walk now,” replied Clara with a smile. “Has Wilson ever come to visit you?”
The look in his eyes changed immediately the moment he saw Lynette holding the dress up. “What are you doing with that skirt? Put it back now!” His voice sounded so cold and hostile that it startled her. “W-Weren’t you… going to give me this dress?” As soon as she said that, Lucas’ expression changed again. Still, Lynette technically wasn’t wrong. From the day he had paid for this dress, he had planned to give it to the little girl who had saved his life. After so many years, he still remembered his promise to her, that he would give her a purple dress decorated with little flowers. However, when he finally met Lynette, he struggled to draw a connection between her and the girl from before. For decades, he had longed for this person, only for her to feel like a complete stranger when they finally met. “If you want a dress, I’ll get you another one later,” said Lucas as he took the dress away from Lynette. Her face froze up immediately. She decided to play along as if i