A few women in the restaurant stole glances at Lucas. Serenity was starting to regret bringing him here.Maybe she should have taken him to a restaurant with private compartments so that they could avoid prying eyes.After ordering, she told Lucas. "I heard you helped look for me after I went missing yesterday. Thank you.""But I wasn't really any help, was I?" Lucas said softly. "Still, I appreciate it. But..." Serenity paused and looked straight at him. "Yesterday, you said you would wait for my answer. I'll give you my answer right now. I don't love you, so you should stop wasting your time on me."Lucas' eyebrows raised slightly. She was the first woman to reject him so thoroughly.She rejected him once when he mistook her for the little girl, and once again now when he fell in love with her. "Is it because of Jackson?" he asked calmly, seemingly unaffected by her rejection. "No," she replied, shaking her head.Even if Jackson never said anything, she would have rejecte
He suddenly stood up, leaned over the table and took her hand. "Ah!" She gasped and reflexively tried to pull her hand free.However, his grip was firm. He pulled her hand and placed it on his chest. "Can you feel it? My heart is beating faster than usual," he said softly, his thick, dark eyelashes fluttering, "Do you have any idea how fast my heart was pounding yesterday when I watched the surveillance footage and saw the man following you out of the camera's range?" He chuckled quietly. "My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would explode. I couldn't even breathe. My hands were shaking so hard that I couldn't even hold a glass of water."Each word he spoke weighed heavily on her heart. "Do you still doubt my love for you?" She could see the reflection of her shocked face in his piercing eyes that bore into hers.She never expected him to say something like that to her.And her hand that was pressed against his chest felt like it was slowly heating up. "You… I…"
One of the bodyguards immediately went to talk to the restaurant owner while the others forced the guests out of the restaurant, telling them that everything they ordered would be paid for. Some of the guests were unwilling to leave, but when they saw a bunch of people in black suits walking in one after another, they got scared and quickly left.Lucas and Serenity had noticed Jackson standing at the restaurant entrance by now.Serenity was surprised to see Jackson there, but Lucas appeared to expect him. "Would you like to join us?" Lucas asked. "We've already ordered but the food's not served yet."Jackson walked to their table with pursed lips.Serenity instinctively tried to pull her hand back.This time, Lucas didn’t stop her. "Is our food ready?" Lucas asked the stunned restaurant owner.The owner jolted back to his senses and replied, "Ah, yes, I think so!" With that, he hastily went into the kitchen and brought over the food that Lucas and Serenity had ordered."Le
When he saw them looking at each other earlier, he felt like his world was collapsing.It looked as though Serenity and Lucas were in a world of their own, as if in Serenity's eyes, there was only Lucas! Meanwhile, Jackson was left outside, unable to break in! "Unfortunately, she doesn't love you," Jackson told Lucas coldly."Not now, but who can say she won't one day?" Lucas said optimistically. "By the way, who are you to tell me this, Jackson? You already broke up with Serenity."Anger crept into Jackson's eyes."I've given you plenty of chances, Jackson. I've backed off more than once," Lucas continued, "You chose to break up with Serenity. This time, I won't back off." Jackson laughed menacingly. "You won't back off? Haha... Are you prepared to risk the Gomez family?"Lucas raised his eyebrows and asked, "Are you prepared to risk the Valor family?" The intense gazes of the two men made the air tense.The restaurant owner fearfully brought the extra food Lucas ordered t
She wondered how the public would react if they found out that she treated Jackson Valor and Lucas Gomez, two of the most important people in Solaria, to a $378 meal.It sounded ridiculous even to Serenity!By the time Serenity reached her apartment, she was exhausted.She quickly took a shower and went to bed.It wasn't her body that was tired, but her mind.She never expected Lucas to tell her that he loved her. Unfortunately, she couldn't reciprocate the love.Besides, even if Lucas truly loved her now, who knew how long it would last? A few months? A year or two?She didn't want to fall in love anymore. The pain of falling in love and then being dumped was too much to bear.Serenity was able to get back on her feet twice, but she didn't know if she could do it a third time.She closed her eyes and emptied her thoughts. She eventually managed to fall asleep.Suddenly, she was jolted awake by an urgent knock at the door. She checked the time and saw that it was past 10pm. S
Serenity glared at Connor, expecting him to take Jackson back.Connor, however, looked back at Serenity with a wry smile and said, "Umm... I'll have to trouble you to take care of him for the night, Miss Lewis. I'll pick him up in the morning. If you need anything during the night, feel free to call me."Connor placed his business card on a low cabinet by the door before thoughtfully helping Serenity close the door.Serenity immediately felt a sense of powerlessness. It appeared that Connor was determined to keep Jackson here for the night.But... she had to stay with him alone all night? She didn't know what other choice she had. She gritted her teeth and brought him to the bed...Connor got into the car, took one last look at the door, and let out a long sigh.He hadn't seen Mr. Valor get drunk in years. Mr. Valor had always been a disciplined and rational man.It was for this reason that he was able to endure Master Zack's harsh training and eventually take over the Valor fam
And later, after she fell in love with him, the wish to protect him became even stronger.Even though she knew that he was a powerful man and that his abilities were far superior to hers, she still wanted to do everything she could to protect him.If he felt insecure, she would do everything she could to make him feel safe. She would love him wholeheartedly and let him know how much he meant to her.But what happened afterwards made her realize that everything she did was nothing but a joke.He never needed her protection.To him, she was nothing more than a pawn.With a bitter smile, Serenity bent down and took off the shoes from Jackson's feet. She would just sleep on the couch.She reached for the blanket to cover him up. Because the bed leaned against one of the walls and the blanket was currently pushed against the wall, she had to reach across his body to grab the blanket.While she was doing that, Jackson suddenly opened his eyes.His pitch-black eyes were flooded with
"You... don't want me too?" He seemed to be having a hard time saying those words.Want him? Serenity found that word funny.He was Jackson Valor. Who was she to want a man like him?"You're drunk. Let me up, it's getting late..."He suddenly moved his face even lower, cutting her short. The tip of his nose was almost touching the tip of her nose now. "Drunk..." Serenity couldn't tell whether he was smiling or crying."Serenity, I'm not drunk, my mind is crystal clear..."His scent was all around her. He said he wasn't drunk, but if he wasn't, he wouldn't be saying something like that."Please don't abandon me," he murmured, his voice hoarse. His dark, pain-filled eyes looked like they were pleading.It was as if her promise meant the world to him.Knowing full well that he was drunk at the moment and that he might not even remember what she said tomorrow morning, Serenity still couldn't help but say, "Why are you saying these things to me, Jackson? You're asking me not to a