Zeke walked away from the conversation with so many questions.The engagement ceremony began not long after that. Jackson Valor looked on as Zeke Shaw and Janet Hall exchanged engagement rings and gave their engagement speeches on stage. A smile flashed across his face.Tomorrow, after the engagement party photos were released to the public, there could no longer be any possibility of Serenity and Zeke reconciling.The engagement ceremony concluded. While the guests were offering their congratulations, Jackson Valor left the venue.His silver Bentley was parked outside. Connor respectfully opened the door for him. He got into the car."Do you wish to go back to Miss Lewis' apartment?" asked Connor."Yeah," answered Jackson as he leaned back on the seat and closed his eyes.Today, Lucas Gomez gave him a surprise. He did not expect Lucas' latest girlfriend to be Aria Lewis, Serenity's half-sister.That woman, in his opinion, had no redeeming qualities. He had no idea what Lucas s
"I like it." Jackson smiled and put down the logo he was holding. "Sis, I'll buy you a thousand sweaters in the future so that you can wear them anytime you want, okay?”"That's too many. I can't wear them all," Serenity chuckled and said, "Oh, right. I have to measure your hand."She grabbed his hand and started to measure it with a roll of measuring tape.Jackson frowned slightly. He could feel how cold her hand was through the skin contact. "Stop knitting. Your hands are so cold," he said."It's fine. Hey, don't move your hand, or I won't get the right measurement," she muttered. She pulled his hand back and once again positioned his fingers so that she could get the measurements she wanted. "We're indoor, so it's not that cold. Sweeping the road late at night or early in the morning, now that's cold. Even in gloves, my hands would sometimes go completely numb from the cold.”A layer of mist swept across Jackson's eyes as if to cover up the guilt in them. Actually... he could e
She did not notice his body stiffening slightly when she said that."Do you want to see Jackson Valor?" he asked."Not really. He and I are simply two worlds apart," she said, "But speaking of Jackson Valor, his back in a suit looks a bit like yours. I think if you wore a suit, you would look really good too."He pursed his lips and kept quiet.She continued, "Let's save some money and buy you a suit when spring comes so that you can wear it when you're looking for a job. Some interviews require you to wear formal clothes.""If you see Jackson Valor one day, what would you say to him?" he suddenly asked.Serenity fell into silence. After a while, she said with a wry smile, "I would beg him to leave me alone."He was stunned. "That's it?""Yeah," she said."Don't you want to tell him that you're innocent? Don't you want his help to overturn the case?""There's no use. When I was on trial, Lisa went to his company and begged to see him, but he simply refused to see her. In pris
Serenity had lost count of the number of times she had to explain that Jack was not her boyfriend, but her younger brother. However, after the old lady found out that they were not related by blood, she went back to thinking that he was her boyfriend."He might not be right now, but he will be in the future. A sibling relationship like yours isn't real.” That was what the old lady said.Therefore, Serenity did not bother to explain anymore.But whenever the old lady called Jack "the boyfriend", he would smile and respond.Jackson put Serenity on a stone bench in the park and said, "It's colder today than it was yesterday. I'll go get you another piece of clothing to put on.""Okay," she replied.When he came back with the clothes, he saw the neighborhood aunties surrounding Serenity and telling her something while she blushed profusely and waved her hands repeatedly.Jackson slowed down. She looked so cute when she was blushing, like a harmless little kitten. It made him want to
"Are you going, then?" asked Jackson.Serenity nodded. "But... " She hesitated for a moment, "Do you want to go with me?"He pondered for a moment and said, "I have to work overtime on New Year's Eve. My boss said he would triple the pay. Why don't you give me the address? I'll go on New Year's Day.""Okay," said Serenity. But after that, she bit her lip and said hesitantly, "But some of my relatives might give you attitude. Just ignore them.”Jackson smiled, "Don't worry, I don't care."She was the only one he cared about.The closer it got to the New Year, the fewer people there were on the streets. Many people had gone back to their hometown to spend the New Year with their family.Serenity's mother's maiden home was in a small town outside Solaria. It was not very far from the city, only about an hour and a half away by bus. Therefore, tickets were not that big of a problem.When Serenity booked the tickets, she told Jackson, "Jack, give me your ID. I'll book a ticket for y
After Serenity left, Jackson felt a sense of emptiness as he looked around the small rented home. He picked up the scarf she had left on the table and wrapped it around his neck with a slight smile.By the time Jackson walked out, Connor had been waiting outside for a long time. Connor was dumbfounded to see his boss with the scarf. Mr. Valor had never been fond of wearing scarves, but he wore a plain scarf around his neck this time.As Jackson approached, Connor managed to get a better look at the scarf. Judging by the yarn and pattern, it was certainly a hand-made scarf.Why would Mr. Valor wear a hand-made scarf? There was only one answer to it. Serenity must have hand-made the scarf for him!"Mr. Valor, where shall we...""To the hospital. I'll have dinner with Zack for New Year's Eve today." Jackson ordered."Yes," Connor responded and drove Jackson to the hospital.***The bus stopped at an elevated exit near the town.Serenity got off the bus. It had been three years, a
Theresa had been trying hard to persuade Emily. After all, her father and brothers had promised to give her thirty thousand dollars out of the three hundred thousand dollars.Thirty thousand dollars was a year's salary for her!However, Emily would not agree to whatever Theresa and Henry said. Finally, Theresa left a harsh warning, "Mom! Fran and Des have spoken. If you ruin this, Micah and Myran won't be able to afford a house or get married. They'll resent you for the rest of their lives!"Emily was furious and anxious. "How could you... Do you all even have a conscience?! Have you forgotten how Serenity treated us?!"Theresa laughed. "Mom, that's all in the past. Things have changed. You can't let her ruin our family and the children’s future. Besides, it's partly Serenity's fault that Micah and Myran can't get married. When a girl from a good family hears that someone from our family was in prison, would she want to marry into the family? If they don't even have a house ready,
Serenity smiled. "Aunt Theresa, I’ve quit drinking. You should know that I got into a car accident and was charged with drunk driving. How would I dare to drink again?"Theresa choked at Serenity's reply and laughed twice awkwardly.Francis urged, "Serenity, it's New Year. Let's have a couple of drinks. It's not like you're going to drive today.""Yeah! Drink with respect for yourself, the family, and the evening!" Desmond chimed in."Enough!" Emily suddenly raised her voice. "All of you are truly wicked! Do you really want to force Serenity into trouble?!"Everyone immediately sank into silence, and Serenity looked at Emily in surprise.Emily explained to Serenity, "Serenity, your uncles are ill-intentioned. They're trying to marry you off to the moron from the Foster family. They took three hundred thousand dollars from the Foster family, and they..."Henry cut Emily off before she could finish speaking."What's wrong with letting Serenity get married into the Foster family?
“……” 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