Serenity pursed her lips and took a deep breath. "Where is he now?" Serenity asked Connor."If you'd like to see Mr. Valor, you can come downstairs in a few minutes. I'll take you to Mr. Valor," Connor said.Serenity was stunned. She had not expected Connor to come. Was her reaction within Jackson's expectations? Jackson had figured that she would beg him to get Clara and Yanny out after knowing where they were. Was that why he had sent Connor to wait downstairs first?Serenity was trapped in the net, she realized, and she had no hope of escape!"Got it," Serenity said and put her phone away.When Serenity returned to her desk, her colleagues had begun to leave one after another as it was time to get off work. Serenity hurriedly packed up and left the office. Fortunately, it was already the end of the day, so she did not have to ask for a leave from work.Serenity went downstairs and spotted a gray car waiting across the street. Connor got out of the car, greeting her.Serenity
Serenity was stunned. The whole place? Serenity could not fathom why Jackson would go to such great lengths to reserve the place for himself. She did not think many restaurants would accept any request to book out the entire restaurant, especially an exclusive place like this. Even if they were wealthy, only a select few in Solaria could afford to reserve a top-notch restaurant like this.Serenity followed Connor to the third floor and saw only one table in the spacious hall. Jackson sat on one side, browsing the menu in his hands. When he heard the footsteps, he tilted his head up and glanced over in her direction.His dark eyes, sparkling with light, met hers, and his lips curved into a smile. It was mesmerizing and unforgettable. Was this the most perfect smile Serenity would ever see in her life?Letting out a deep breath, Serenity walked over to Jackson. "Hey. I was wondering if you could help me get Clara and Yanny out of Wilson's place." Jackson chuckled. "Have a seat."
What about him? How much did he mean to her?! Jackson felt uncomfortable thinking about this. Was this a kind of jealousy?"If this hadn't happened to her, you wouldn't have come to me at all, would you?" Jackson asked, staring intently at her.Serenity remained silent, but the look on her face said it all.A tense atmosphere filled the room. Fortunately, the restaurant staff started bringing out the food, serving the table with many gourmet dishes.Serenity had no desire to eat at all. She was worried about Clara and Yanny. Wilson might take Yanny away. If he did...Serenity thought of the last time Clara had gotten herself injured and hospitalized. Wilson had still been unaware of Yanny's existence at that time. Clara had hurt herself just to draw the line between her and Wilson. She did not want anything to do with Wilson. Serenity did not dare to imagine what would happen this time."Let's eat," Jackson's cold voice rang. He grabbed the cutleries and put some food onto her pl
Jackson had once told her that one day, she would beg to be his sister again. Sure enough, everything he said had come true!Serenity drew a deep breath and exhaled. "I-I'll be your Sis. Can you get Clara and Yanny away from Wilson right away? Send someone to protect them! Don't let Wilson hurt them!"Serenity made her choice. She was willing to be Jackson's Sis again if it was what it took to keep Clara and Yanny safe.Clara had pulled her through her difficult times, and Yanny… Yanny was such a pure child. She had to protect that child!"Sure." Jackson smiled, satisfied by her answer. He drew his phone out and started dialing. After giving Connor the orders, he turned to Serenity again. "It's done.""How long will it take to find out if Clara and Yanny have left safely?" Serenity asked."It shouldn't take long. Okay, let's eat first, Sis." Jackson called Serenity affectionately. The gentle smile on his face seemed the same as before.Serenity visibly stiffened at the way Jacks
Serenity stared at him in surprise. "You're moving in?""What's wrong with that? Didn't we live together before?" Jackson asked, amused.'But it was different,' Serenity thought, unable to answer him for a moment. She pursed her lips tightly.Jackson leaned down, his face close to her cheek. He questioned, "You don't want to live with me, Sis?" Serenity could feel his breath against her face. His perfectly chiseled face was so close to her that she could see every lash. She could even see the flutter of his eyelashes.Serenity tried to turn away from his gaze, but he took her jaw between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at him."What? Is it hard to answer?" His voice was clear and cold, his dark eyes staring at her with a sharp, scrutinizing gaze as if to read her thoughts. "Are you regretting it? Regretting your promise to me for Clara?""I… won't regret it," Serenity said, a tinge of pain in her voice. "Our roles have changed, but I just can't shift my mindset as
Clara was already somewhat familiar with the story of how Serenity and Jackson had met each other. In fact, the first time she heard it, she had even marveled at the magical way fate had brought together two people of very different backgrounds. Yet now, she began to wonder if it was not actually destiny that had brought them together but cruel tragedy instead."You shouldn't have sacrificed yourself just for me!" cried Clara, her heart heavy with guilt."It wasn't entirely because of you," explained Serenity. "There's no need to feel guilty, Clare. Jackson had long made up his mind to make me his sister again, so I know that even if your incident hadn't happened, something else would've arisen that would urge me to make this kind of decision."As long as it was something that Jackson Valor had set his mind to, he would always find a way to get what he wanted. Even if she was able to refuse him once or twice, there was no guarantee that she could do it indefinitely. In fact, it wa
"In that case," said Serenity, "I'll help you. We should be prepared for whatever that's going to happen now, but there's no need to be too pessimistic."Clara gratefully replied, "Thank you, Serenity!"If it had not been for Serenity, Clara could not even imagine what she would do now. In fact, it was likely that she would never have been able to leave Wilson Birch yesterday!Afterward, Serenity parted ways with Clara with a heavy heart. She did not tell Clara that if Wilson really did decide to take it to court and fight for custody rights, it was very likely that he would win. After all, Clara's life was not that stable right now, and she even used to be in prison. As for Wilson, he was a well-known entrepreneur from San Marco with a spotless history and background. With his almost unlimited resources, he could give his child the best possible life.Moreover, there were even rumors now that Wilson Birch and Sandra Cooper were about to get married. A normal family would have fa
Jackson's eyes suddenly turned stormily gloomy. Contradictory… She was certainly right. He had indeed been self-contradictory! He was afraid that he would love her too deeply—that the same fate that had befallen his father would befall him. He was afraid that he would discard his dignity, even his life, for love, and all his happiness and sorrows would be completely in her control!But after they had broken up, he still could not suppress the urge to see her and the desire to keep her by his side no matter what.Staring at her with burning eyes, his lips parted slightly as he told her, "Do you know that you're the only one in the world who could make me contradict myself like this?!"Serenity was taken aback. She stared back at him in confusion.What on earth could those words mean?!His gaze was a mix of extreme desire and extreme restraint—the perfect embodiment of contradiction!***The next day, Serenity had just walked out of her office building after work when she was ap
“……” 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