Winnie raised her voice and shouted, "Lawrie, your Mommy is here." Lawrie still did not move. He was curled up into a ball, looking very lonely. Vanessa said, "Miss Ziglar, sorry to have troubled you with Lawrie lately. I will bring him to Chatterton Town today and take care of him during the weekends. You can deal with your own matters first. Once you come to Chatterton Town, contact me." Winnie nodded and said, "Have a good chat with Lawrie. He has been behaving that way for the past few days. He doesn't play with his friends nor talk to anyone. He just hides alone in the corner. It's really heart-wrenching to see him like this." "Okay," Vanessa came to Lawrie's side and squatted down. She tenderly took Lawrie into her arms and asked, "Lawrie, what's wrong? Why didn't you say anything when you saw me? Are you angry with me?" In the past, as long as Vanessa hugged him, he would definitely bury himself in her arms. His excitement would be reflected in his
Desperation, and despair! Frankly, it meant a complete loss of confidence in a matter... However, what Vanessa was going through was more than just losing all confidence. She had already experienced the despair of not having her prayers answered, as well as the fear that her newborn child would die in her arms during childbirth. The feelings of despair and fear were still lingering in Vanessa's mind after such a long time. She didn't want to experience it again. Hence, she was determined to make a lot of money, not only to ensure the cost of Lawrie's next two operations, but also to plan for his future. "Mommy... " Lawrie's childish voice brought Vanessa back to reality. She picked him up and put him in an electronic toy car, chiming, "Lawrie, this is the car I bought for you. Do you like it?" "I like it!" Every three-year-old would love a toy car. Lawrie sat in the car and looked around, temporarily forgetting about his beloved Mommy.
All these years, for Lawrie's sake, Vanessa had been gritting her teeth and swallowing the insults. However, seeing her bear it, those d*mned people thought that she was a pushover and asked her for money whenever they needed it, even while speaking ill of her from time to time. She didn't care what they said about her, but she wouldn't allow anybody to speak ill of Lawrie. Lawrie didn't get to choose the circumstances of his birth, so there was no reason for him to bear the name of being a b*stard. It was only because Fiona knew Vanessa didn't dare tell Julien about Lawrie, that was why she was acting so boldly. If provoked, Vanessa would take the initiative to tell Julien about Lawrie's existence. She would allow Julien to call the shots on whether he wanted her to stay or leave. Even after making such a decision, Vanessa didn't feel less relaxed as she didn't have much money. She didn't even have enough money for Lawrie's upcoming operations. If Julien reall
As much as Vanessa disapproved of Julien drinking coffee whenever he was tired, she couldn't change the habit. She made coffee for Julien very quickly and brought it to him. When she brought the coffee to his office, Julien was still deep in discussion with a few smartly-dressed men and women. Vanessa snuck in to leave the coffee on his desk and turned to leave without disturbing them. Just as she turned around, someone called out to her. "Vanessa?" The voice that had called out to her was somewhat familiar. Vanessa looked back and saw that one of the people in discussion with Julien was her college classmate, Sinclair Stark. They had been quite close back in college. Sinclair walked towards Vanessa and asked, "Vanessa, you're working in Rovio?" Vanessa nodded and replied, "Yes, I've been here for some time." Sinclair continued, "How is it that I've never heard from Mr. Kyle about this?" It was obvious that Sinclair and Julien weren't particula
However, not long after the meeting had started, Julien and Vanessa noticed an obvious error in a section of the documents before anyone else did. Vanessa looked at Julien, and their eyes met, but his gaze was too profound and complicated for her to understand what he wanted to express. She opened her mouth to explain, but she didn't know where to start. She was the last person to review this document. No matter what went wrong before, as long as she did not notice the mistake, it must be her fault. At this moment, Julien's assistant, Ethan Nelson, who was also in the meeting, noticed the mistake and whispered into Julien's ear. After getting Julien's consent, he said to everybody present, "I'm sorry, everyone. There is a mistake in the document. Please give us a few minutes and I'll send the correct one over right away." Before leaving the room, Ethan shot Vanessa a look and she hurried after him. When they exited the conference room, Ethan asked seriously, "Va
Although Julien had only glanced at Vanessa, she knew that he was warning her not to talk about personal affairs in the company. She said hurriedly, "Sinclair, it's been a few years since we graduated and a lot of things have changed. Let's have a good chat the next time we meet. You should go on with your own plans, and I also have a lot of work to do today." Sinclair was not an insensitive person. Since Vanessa had refused repeatedly, he said, "It's okay, when you're free, let me buy you and Julien a meal. I won't take no for an answer." "Of course, I'm fine with that." Vanessa had no problem with it, but whether Julien had any problems was none of her business. Based on Vanessa's understanding of Julien, it would be very difficult for Sinclair to invite Julien for a meal. However, she did not point it out. "Then how about you give me your phone number so that I can contact you?" Sinclair said as he took out his phone, "You've stopped using all the social media acco
Jules Young, Lena Lesley, Queenie Allen... There were more than 70 people in Julien's secretarial team. Vanessa was not close to all of them, but she had a basic understanding of the group. These three colleagues loved gossiping behind people's backs. Could it have been one of them who had tampered with the document? Vanessa immediately denied the idea. Although they liked to gossip, they were not bold and probably did not have the guts to secretly tamper with her document. Therefore, Vanessa was sure that someone else had tampered with her document. However, there were so many people and she had no clues whatsoever. How was she going to continue investigating? Vanessa hoped that she could find out who was hiding in the shadows before Julien dismissed her. Then only would she have a chance to stay in Rovio. The more time that passed, the more likely it was that Julien's men would notify her to pack up and leave. Even so, she still had no clue and no idea w
Yes, Vanessa admitted that her relationship with Julien was abnormal. She knew that she would be despised for making money by selling her body. However, she made the money on her own. She did not steal nor did she affect anyone's relationship with Julien. So why couldn't she do that? Tiana wanted to say something, but Vanessa had already left. Looking at Vanessa's receding figure, Tiana said with a disappointed look, "Vanessa, there are so many ways to make money. Why do you have to do this?" She really could not understand. To her, Vanessa was such an excellent woman but she was actually making money through such dirty means. She really wondered if Vanessa would feel disgusted having to sleep with someone she did not love. "Tiana Gibson!" As soon as Vanessa left, Ethan Nelson sat down. "Tell me, why did you tamper with the data in Vanessa's computer?" Tiana asked with a calm face, "What are you talking about?" Ethan said, "Vanessa's computer is secured by
...... Eight months later. Adrienne had given birth to a daughter, gathering the entire Yard family in Chatterton Town. Everyone was in high spirits but Jefferson had a sour expression on, as if that was the worst day of his life. Sierra found a moment and went over to Jefferson. "Hey, Jeff. Adrienne just gave birth but why do you have such a long face on? Did you want a son instead or something?" Jefferson responded rudely, "It doesn't matter to me whether it's a boy or a girl. That little girl is our daughter, and I'll love her no matter what." Sierra continued, "Why do you look so upset then?" "Must I have a reason for that?" Well, he was angry at himself. Adrienne had almost lost her life in the labor room earlier, but he hadn't been able to offer any help. Throughout Adrienne's pregnancy, Jefferson had done an enormous amount of research and found out that a C-section birth was relatively safer. Hence, he'd insisted that Adrienne und
...... Johan was still clamming up. Maxtor was so anxious that he couldn't stand still. "Johan, what happened between you and Sierra? Can't you at least explain the situation to me?" After a long silence, Johan looked up and out of the window. "There have been so many fights and misunderstandings between us in the past years and it seems that the past was a time that we can never go back to." Upon hearing this, Maxtor seemed to have put his finger on the crux of the problem. "Did Miranda make Sierra misunderstand you?" Maxtor said earnestly, "Johan, I've told you before that woman has a twisted psyche and you need to stay away from her. You pitied her for being an orphan, but look at what she has been up to." "It has nothing to do with Miranda. It's me. If I..." If he had explained everything to Sierra back then, she wouldn't have felt that insecure about their relationship. He knew everything, but he still got mad at her. Maxtor continued, "He
...... On the first day of school, Miranda was once again met with an unpredicted truth. She found out that Sierra was the top scorer in the entrance exam. She was the overachiever that every university was dying to recruit. Not only did Sierra come from a good family, but she was smart and beautiful to boot. Sierra possessed everything she could have in life. Miranda couldn't figure out why she had to take Johan away from her when she already had so much. What made Miranda even more disappointed was not her inferiority but Johan. On the first day of school, she was over the moon to see that Johan was at the gate to receive her. However, when Johan took her luggage from her and she was wallowing in her excitement to see him, He said to her, "Miranda, that is the girl I like, Sierra. She will be your sister-in-law in the future. You should get on well with her." She didn't want to be nice to her. Instead, she hated her. Mirand
...... Johan's words frightened Miranda so much that her face turned pale. "Johan, Mrs. Silas adopted me. I would have died a long time ago if it weren't for her. How could I have nothing to do with the Silas family?" Johan's face was somber, and his voice chilled Miranda to her bones. "You know that my mother was the one who took you in, but look at what you've been up to all these years?" "Johan, what-what did I do?" Miranda said, trembling with fear. Miranda was an expert at feigning a pitiful appearance and reaping sympathy from others. She even managed to tear up and gazed heart-wrenchingly at Johan at that very moment. However, Johan did not buy into her ploy at all. Not only did his eyes demonstrate her no pity, there was also a trace of disdain that Miranda had never seen before. He loathed her. Upon realizing that, Miranda's heart was broken. Johan had been her dream for those past years. She had worked so hard to do so many things in
...... Sierra wasn't able to refute because what Miranda said was the truth. It was indeed true that many could never compare with her background. However, although she was born privileged, that didn't spare her from putting in effort for her own future. Prestigious universities wanted her because she was the top scorer in the entrance exam but not because of her family background and connections. All of a sudden, Miranda smirked sinisterly. "I know you like Johan, and you want to be with him. Sierra, I like him too, and I want to be with him. You have everything so why do you still want to take my man away from me?" "Excuse me? Who took your man?" Displeased, Sierra said, "Miranda, you were the one who told me that you two were siblings, and that there was nothing going on between you guys. And mind you, you were also the one who encouraged me to go after him." Miranda shouted in a low voice, "Sierra, if I hadn't told you that, would you have remained fri
...... Averting her gaze, Sierra turned around with difficulty. However, just as she had taken a step forward, Miranda's voice sounded from behind. "Sierra, I didn't expect you to come to the airport to pick me up. Imagine my delight to be able to see you on the first day of my return." "You've misunderstood, Miss Attwood. I'm not here to pick you up." Sierra did not conceal her hatred for Miranda as she could not even be bothered to dole out the niceties at her. Miranda chuckled. "I haven't seen you for so many years, but you're still so adorable." It seemed that Miranda couldn't sense the despise Sierra had for her. She approached Sierra with a smile and wanted to give her a hug. Sierra stared at Miranda's outstretched arms and quickly dodged her. A single glance at Miranda and her eyes would be sullied. Sierra thought that she would even throw up should her body come into contact with Miranda's. Miranda was never good at reading between the
...... Stopping her car, Sierra quickly got off to check the situation. No sooner had her feet been on the ground that four men got off from the car in front of her and surrounded her. One of them pointed at her and barked, "Don't you f*cking know how to drive? If you don't, then don't drive. Say it, how much are you going to pay for the damage!" Sierra was driving in accordance to normalcy, but the other party had, so suddenly, cut into her lane without a signal. As hard as she had stepped on her brake, she still collided with the car. They were supposed to be the ones held accountable for the collision. However, they got out of the car and shouted at her, extorting compensation. Sierra suspected that these men had done so deliberately to scam her. She took out her mobile phone and was ready to call the police. However, before she could even unlock her phone, one of the men had already wrenched the phone away from her. "We have something important t
...... In the middle of cleaning the table, Rosie said, "He doesn't only come here to have meals, but he would also get one to go every time. No jalapenos on the one to go. He says that you can't take spices because your stomach doesn't handle it well." Sierra did have a stomach problem, but it wasn't till the point that she couldn't take spicy food at all. Moreover, Johan had never brought any tacos back for her. Sierra figured that he was probably getting it for someone else so she asked, "What did he say to you when he asked you to pack it?" Rosie smiled and said, "He said that he was going to bring it for his girlfriend. He's obviously talking about you, isn't he?" "Oh, his girlfriend." Smiling, Sierra did not put forth any more questions as she knew that Johan had never regarded her as his girlfriend. For him, she was nothing more like a leech that he couldn't shake off. Rosie looked at Sierra and said earnestly, "I know you two fought tod
...... "My ability to act coy?" Sierra said inwardly. She had no idea from where did his temper sneak in again. However, she knew that somehow everything she had done seemed to piss him off. If he didn't like her, then why did he come looking for her? Did he have nothing else better to do? She smiled and said, "Mr. Silas, since you don't like being around me, then let's not meet anymore in the future, nor have any meals together. I'm afraid your appetite will take a nosedive when you see me." "You shouldn't say that, Sierra." Rosie handed one of the plates to Sierra and said, "Every couple gets into fights, but you must know your boundaries. Some words are too hurtful, and you shouldn't just say everything that comes to your mind." Sierra didn't make a sound. She wasn't a fan of others poking their noses in her affairs. Besides, she was not close to Rosie either so she found her rather meddlesome. Rosie didn't seem to register in her mind that Sierra was d