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
"What kind of place is it?" Serenity's curiosity was piqued.Lisa covered her mouth to hide her cheeky smile and said, "You'll find out soon enough."Serenity thought Lisa was smiling like a cunning brothel madame in a movie.When Lisa finally took her to the "cool spot", it turned out to be a simple basement bar. The place was mostly filled with young people ranging from 17 to their early 20s.The two of them looked really out of place among the youngsters.Serenity, not understanding the appeal, asked, "What's so great about this place?""You'll see!" Lisa answered with a wink.At 8 pm, a band with five members took the stage. The atmosphere in the bar became electrifying.The band seemed pretty ordinary to Serenity, but Lisa was very excited."Here they come, here they come!" "You brought me here to see them?" Serenity asked. "They've been very popular recently in certain circles. All five of them are good looking. When they dance, they're smoking hot!" Lisa grew more e
“……” 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