“Ryan told you about the project, right? It’s the one where the eccentric old French man is coming to Crosavia for an inspection.”Silvia detested Ryan and had the same attitude toward Julian.Julian really wanted to protest. After all, he had always been helping her to keep an eye on Ryan whenever he was out socializing for so many years. Even though Ryan actually didn't need anyone to keep an eye on him.When Silvia heard him mention this, she became irate. "Are you here to lobby on his behalf?"Julian shook his head. “I'm here to lobby for myself, not for him.”Silvia was puzzled. Julian explained with a pained expression, “This project is a collaboration between the two of us so I will also suffer heavy losses if it fails.”Julian looked miserable. “Silvia, could you pretend to be his wife for my sake?”He was a man but he was pleading so pitifully. Silvia felt Julian was really willing to go all out.As Julian spoke, he cursed angrily at Ryan. “Ryan is a scum. He i
Why did Silvia feel sorry for Julian, a friend, but not for Ryan, her ex-husband? It was merely because Ryan was her ex-husband, and Julian truly did have a humble and pious attitude.Ryan was less persuasive compared to Julian because of this relationship, and it was easier for Julian to persuade Silvia.When Julian saw Silvia wanting to flee, he thought that his efforts were probably futile.She wouldn't have hesitated the way she was now; if she could help, she would have consented to it right away.In most cases, when one was hesitant to make a decision, their final decision would typically be unfavorable once they have calmed down and given it some thought. Silvia’s cell phone on the table suddenly rang when Julian was about to send Ryan a text message. Julian never had the habit of spying on other people’s privacy but he happened to look when her cell phone rang. He suddenly spotted the message displayed on her phone's screen.It was a text message from Mr. Alberich that r
The two of them had been having continual, extremely heated tit-for-tat arguments ever since she brought up the divorce. He now understood that she had been patient with him in the past, which prevented them from fighting.He had taken her patience for granted for so long, and every time there was a disagreement, he was always the one with the worse temper.The two of them had grown accustomed to it over time, so he also spoke aggressively to her at one point, but she no longer tolerated him. As a result, their arguments became even more heated. He also discovered a reality following the frequent arguments some time ago: If two people argue, there always has to be a tolerant party.He was the accommodating party now. After he calmed down, he sent a text message to Julian: “I’ll treat you to lunch at noon. Same time and place as above.”He was curious about the kind of man she was meeting. After Julian, who was at the other end of the line, received the text message, he grinne
She then approached the man and took a seat in front of him.Even after she sat down, Silvia did not anticipate the two persons behind them to persist. They stared at them unblinkingly, forcing the man she was going on a blind date with to turn to look up at them in confusion and ask her, "Who are they?"Silvia had no choice but to say, “My friends.”This was all Silvia said to introduce them. Even if she had already disclosed her divorce to the other party, if her ex-husband was present when she went on a blind date, the other party would undoubtedly be somewhat upset. She simply tried to dodge the question by introducing them this way.The other party ignored them, and the two started conversing. After a few brief exchanges, Ryan's cell phone rang. When the call came through, he said, "Hello, Autumn."“You want to speak with your mother?”Silvia felt something wasn't right the moment she heard him mention their daughter's name. When he mentioned that their daughter wanted t
Silvia wanted to use this saying to sarcastically infer that he was not a wise person if he wanted to pursue her and that she would never go back to him.“I’ve never heard of that saying before.”As a result, he gave her a rogue answer directly. Silvia was furious.He added, “I just know that I want to give my child a complete family.”The only thing Silvia did in response to his pestering was to sit down and look at him as she said faintly, “I’ll do you the favor.”Even Julian, who was sitting there bored and fiddling with his phone, looked up in astonishment when he heard her. Ryan, who was sitting opposite her, assumed he had heard incorrectly.“But I have one condition.”Silvia looked at Ryan and said word for word, “After helping you this time, you will get out of my life completely. The farther, the better, okay?”She did not lose her temper, but instead used this cordial discussion tone, which was even more ironic. Ryan’s expression turned gloomy, and he gritted his teet
Julian was obviously the one introducing their client to her with enthusiasm. Ryan kept quiet the entire time. He was not a very talkative person, and it would already be excellent if he could say ten sentences even back when they were together. However, he did not just sit around. Aside from eating, he simply watched her eat or chat with Julian. Silvia sensed that he was gazing at her and felt like she would suffer from indigestion later, but she found it difficult to ask him to stop, so she could only stare back at him.Julian vehemently objected from the sidelines.“Can the two of you quit flirting with each other? Can you consider my feelings here as a single man?”Silvia was annoyed.“Who’s flirting with him?!”Julian spread his hands. “You’re looking at him and he’s looking back at you. Isn’t that flirting?”Silvia retorted angrily, “Is this how you interpret flirtatious glances? Did a math teacher teach you English?”How was she flirting with Ryan? She was clearly gla
He then turned to face Silvia. “What did he just say? Something about the lion?”Silvia gave Ryan a quick glance, then replied to Julian, “If I heard correctly, he said, ‘A lion does not turn its head when a dog barks.’”Julian suddenly had an epiphany.“Oh, I see, that’s the phrase.”He then said to Ryan, “Why don't you hurry up and tell Silvia how much you love her now that she’s asking you to speak? Yet for some reason, you’re suddenly saying this sentence. Will you still be able to engage in a pleasant conversation then?”Silvia: “…”What did Julian mean when he prompted Ryan to express his feelings for her?Ryan looked at Silvia with a serious expression. “She is aware of what it signifies.”Silvia immediately knew what he meant when he stated this.This adage was one she was familiar with. A lion does not turn its head when a dog barks.It meant that the lion will not turn around just because a vicious dog is barking. The broader implication was that someone who is
The three of them paid and departed. Silvia declined to go with them and got a taxi back home on her own.Julian also introduced their client to her just now—a Frenchman named Brown who was in his fifties. The finalized dates for his arrival were a few days before and after Independence Day, so she did not need to ask for too many days off when she requested leave from work since the entire country would be on holiday. She would only need to ask for one day off before and after the holiday. During that time, she would only have to play the role of Ryan's wife for a total of five days.The holiday for Independence Day would fall on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, which was a total of three days. Silvia needed to ask for a day off on Wednesday, and also on Sunday when it was adjusted to a working day.She planned to ask Mr. Snow for a leave of absence after going to work on Monday, then utilize Monday and Tuesday to finish her work ahead of schedule. She would then take her own comp
Evelyn was worried about this, but Rowan did not take it seriously as he said, “This small amount of snow is nothing.”Evelyn was extremely worried. The temperature was so low now, so the road must be icy. The snow was too heavy and would block his sight. Evelyn did not want him to be in any danger, so she suggested in a low voice, “It’s better if you don’t go back.”Rowan looked at her in surprise and smiled as he asked, “Where will I stay if I don’t go back? Do you want me to stay in the car all night?”Evelyn shook her head and said, “Y-You can go home with me.”She had just taken the initiative to invite a man to spend the night at her home. It was truly embarrassing for a shy girl like Evelyn to say these words, but she was willing to do so for his safety.“My mother should be asleep now, and she wakes up later in the morning. We can just leave before she wakes up in the morning.”She explained with a red face, “Don’t misunderstand me. I just don’t want you to be in danger o
She held her cell phone and said hurriedly, “I’ll go down right now.”She ended the call and hurriedly put on her down jacket. She was wearing warm and soft polar fleece home clothes. She did not have time to change, so she simply put on a down jacket and went out. She opened the door and walked out stealthily, out of fear that she would wake Helena up, and Helena would find out that she was going down to meet Rowan in the middle of the night. Helena would surely think that this kind of behavior was inappropriate. When passing by the living room, Evelyn glanced in the direction of Helena’s bedroom. The lights had been turned off, so she was probably asleep. Helena’s physical condition was not as good as it was before the surgery. After all, she was getting older and had undergone craniotomy, which was a major surgery, so she could not keep up mentally and physically. She would go to bed very early at night and wake up late in the morning.After Evelyn left the house quietly, sh
Cassie’s expression turned ugly when she heard Helena’s words. She was shocked and humiliated as she asked in disbelief, “Is it Rowan Pierce?”Cassie knew that it was the Pierces and Matons who were maliciously targeting the Sullivans. Julian and Nora had just gotten married, and it was said that Julian loved Nora very much, so it could not be Julian.As the person in charge of the Pierces, Ryan was a married man as well, and the couple usually kept a low profile and rarely displayed their affection. However, Cassie heard that Ryan’s wife had just given birth to a son, and it was widely known that Ryan was a family man now.Rowan was the only single man, so could it be Rowan?Cassie recalled the scene when she saw Rowan shopping with them in the mall that day. At the time, she wondered why Rowan would be willing to go shopping with them, but now, it seemed that he was there for Evelyn’s sake. Cassie was so stunned when she thought of this that she felt like she would choke on a m
In the end, Natalie was pushed to a dead end and had no choice but to hold a press conference in a hurry. During the press conference, she cried and apologized for the plagiarism and the fact that she had looked for someone to draw a design for her, and announced that she would be quitting the design world.However, few people accepted her apology or showed sympathy for her even though she apologized and admitted her mistakes. The general public opinion was still scolding her in various ways, so Barry simply drove Natalie home and asked her to stay at home to avoid the limelight. One night after Natalie’s incident, Evelyn was accompanying Helena on a stroll in the neighborhood when they ran into Cassie.Natalie’s life had been completely gloomy and dark in the past few days, but Evelyn’s life was stable and practical.Rowan insisted on picked her up from work every morning. If Rowan was at the company at noon, the two would have lunch together. Considering that Helena would be at
Natalie never expected that Rowan would play these dirty tricks behind her back. She did not know that Rowan was best at these tricks. She had cried and begged Barry to plead for mercy on her behalf, but when Barry came back, he told her that there was no room for redemption. She was desperate and was filled with hatred and resentment. Over the years, she had tried every means possible to trample all over Evelyn, but in the end, she was the one who suffered the most and could not turn her life around. Natalie clenched her teeth angrily in hatred as she dug her nails into her palms and tried to calm her emotions. So what if her career in design was ruined? She never truly liked this industry anyway. She had only learned it at the beginning in order to crush Evelyn. She could still do other things even if she did not do design, right? There were so many different industries in this world, so she did not have to make a living in jewelry design. Besides, she was a Stewart, so s
She laughed loudly when she was happy, shed tears when she was sad, never hid her true self, and was a frank and sincere person. Why wouldn’t men like such a girl?Rowan laughed. He did not mean to slander Selena; he was simply analyzing Selena’s current situation from his perspective as a man. Selena might indeed be a good girl in Evelyn’s eyes. After all, Evelyn was a woman who only cared about Selena’s personality, but men paid more attention to a woman’s temperament and charm sometimes. Everyone naturally had their own preferences. For example, Rowan preferred someone simple like Evelyn, whereas some men might prefer someone with a stronger personality like Selena. Evelyn had to call Charles after she could not reach Selena. “Charles, is Selena home? I can’t seem to reach her on her cell phone.”Charles frowned when he heard Evelyn’s words. “She’s not back yet. You can’t reach her on her cell phone?”“I can’t. I tried calling her several times, but her cell phone is switch
He was wrong. He was really wrong. He treated the person he wanted to protect so coldly and harshly. It seemed that he had not been in a relationship for too long that he had forgotten how to love. Fortunately, it only took him this once to understand the crux of his problem. Therefore, he stroked her cheek gently and reassured her in a deep voice, “It won’t happen again.”Evelyn chose to smile slightly in relief in response to his apology and assurance.When two people are together, they need to understand and accommodate each other in terms of personality, temperament, and living habits. Since they had only officially been together for a day, this was even more essential for them. As he said, he was an ordinary man, and she was an ordinary woman. Their relationship was that of an ordinary couple, so it was normal for them to quarrel, have disagreements, and lose their temper. Evelyn felt that there was nothing that could not be solved as long as it did not involve principles
“Getting dinner!” Rowan announced angrily, then he placed her in the passenger seat, got into the car, and drove away. Evelyn had no other objections since they were going to eat. Anyway, she had already called Helena earlier to tell her that she would not be going back for dinner tonight as she would be having dinner with Selena. Not long after the two had gotten into the car and driven out, Selena called and asked Evelyn worriedly, “Evelyn, how did it go? Did you manage to coax him yet?”As Rowan was sitting next to her, Evelyn could not answer whether she had managed to coax him. Therefore, she hesitated without saying anything.When Selena heard this, she knew that they must not have reconciled yet, so she gave her advice on the other end of the line. “It’s fine. There’s no man that can’t be coaxed. Just one kiss will do. If he still can’t be coaxed, give him two kisses. If that doesn’t work, just kiss him all over until he’s no longer angry!”Selena’s voice was loud enough,
Selena’s tone was full of annoyance as she said, “I initially thought of giving Evelyn a surprise, but it turned out to be a shock!”Selena had good intentions as well; she just wanted to introduce the most handsome, stylish, and reliable man that she knew to Evelyn, but it turned out to be self-defeating. As for Shane, who was to be introduced to Evelyn, he simply stood there leisurely the whole time, looking at the three of them as if he was watching a good show. He watched as they got jealous, explained themselves, and felt depressed. Even though both Evelyn and Selena had explained the whole story entirely, Rowan still felt angry and annoyed.After glaring angrily at Evelyn, he simply turned around and walked away.Evelyn and Selena could only exchange glances as they were at a loss for what to do.In the end, Evelyn said to Selena helplessly, “I’ll go and see how he’s doing. You two can enjoy dinner together. I’m sorry.”Evelyn chose to pay attention to Rowan this time an