Nicole could not help but smile when she saw how well everyone was treating Nolan and Lana. She suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. It felt as if she was once treated the same way as well; spoiled by everyone in her family.Nicole froze when that thought flitted in her head. Then, she tried her very best to recall the incident but to no avail. Instead, the more she thought about it, her headache worsened and her face blanched."Stop thinking. Just take things as they come," Jared said softly.He seemed to have noticed that Nicole was struggling with something, so he held her soft hand in an attempt to comfort her.His gentle voice brought her thoughts to a halt, and once she redirected her focus back to the present, her headache gradually began to taper off. The warmth from Jared's palm was giving her a sense of security as well.However, Jared's remark had prompted everyone to notice the odd look on Nicole's face. "What's wrong with Nicole?""I suddenly got a headache, but I'm
Jared's lips curled up into a warm smile. "Don't apologize. You're doing great already. Didn't you say you were going to follow your heart? It seems that your heart is telling you to come to me."Though he was frustrated that someone else was pursuing Nicole, Nicole's attitude toward Lawrence did not drive him into sorrow or madness. She had made the right choice by following her heart, and the results were very satisfactory to Jared.They might not be as fervent in their romance as they were before, but Jared was more than happy to give her space and time. He was willing to wait for her, and he believed that she would not disappoint him.At that moment, Nicole was pulled back into reality and realized that she was hugging Jared. Her face immediately flushed as she pushed him away, creating a distance between them.She could not believe that she had actually let her guard down and hugged Jared moments ago. 'It's so embarrassing. I feel like I'm going to die.'Jared flashed her a d
"Come here, Lana." Jared waved to Lana, who teetered toward him obediently."Hey, Daddy."Holding her up, Jared gently asked, "Why did you come here with your brother?""Oh, we're here to get you and Mommy down to have dinner."Their grandmother had initially gotten the servants to call Jared and Nicole, but as Lana and Nolan were worried about Nicole, they had volunteered to go upstairs."Well, then let's go down for dinner, shall we?" Jared smiled."Of course." Lana wrapped her arms around his neck. "Let's eat!"Jared shot a glance at Nicole before walking out of the room with Lana, leaving Nicole behind with questions in her head. 'Did they just leave it at that?!'It was Lana's first time giving up before getting the answer she needed. This would not have happened in the past.'How did Jared do that? Why is Lana so obedient when he's around?!' Nicole asked herself.Nicole suddenly felt that Lana was playing favorites. Back then, she always had a hard time answering Lana's
"Sure," Nicole responded.She did not further the conversation either, as she thought Nolan had understood her.When they got downstairs, everyone in the family had already sat down and was waiting for Nicole. Everyone was concerned about her, so they were relieved when they saw that she was looking better than before."Nicole, if work is getting too overwhelming for you, just tell Sean and Steve. They can share the workload with you," Gloria reminded her.She had undergone way too many hardships before she finally got Nicole back. All she wanted now was for Nicole to have peace and happiness. She did not really care much about anything else, as nothing was close to being as important as Nicole."Don't worry, mom. I'm fine," Nicole smiled as she comforted Gloria."Nicole's doing very well, and we'll look after her," Sean and Steve promised."Okay, pay more attention to your sister," Gloria reminded them.They chatted away while they ate, and in a blink of an eye, dinner was don
Fuming with anger, Mr. Walker stormed into Nicole's office and exclaimed, "Although you are the CEO, you should still act reasonably. How can you dismiss an employee without any solid reasons? Are you trying to eliminate dissenters?"In response to Mr. Walker's act of questioning her, a frosty glint flitted in Nicole's eyes as her voice became icy. "Are you implying that he's the dissenter? Or are you the dissenter?""What?! I-" he asked, not expecting to face such an accusation.In contrast, Nicole was not panicking; she had even turned the tables on him.'Why is this happening? In such a situation, shouldn't she try to calm others down to elude any difficulties in the future? Why did she shift the blame back to me? What am I even supposed to say now? Every reply I've got might as well be the wrong answer,' he thought.He could not admit that he had ulterior motives, and he could not say the same about the head of the Marketing department either. But by doing so, it meant that he
"Please leave. After all that has been said and done, it's best not to allow negative sentiments about the Riddle family to proliferate at this time." Nicole concluded, unable to bother with Mr. Walker anymore.As her words dropped, Mr. Walker stumbled back. They had chosen to let him leave with grace not because they wanted to spare him some dignity, but because he was a senior in their company. It had all been done for the sake of the Riddle family.Mr. Walker felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss. His body stiffened, and he had no strength left to struggle. After collecting the documents, he left Nicole's office with a dejected look."Pathetic," Steve muttered in frustration.They had all given Mr. Walker a chance, but as he did not know how to seize it, this was what he deserved."It's alright. Let's get back to work," Sean's gaze darkened as well.They had gotten wind that Mr. Walker was going to create a mess, so they were worried that he might harm Nicole. Fortunately
"Mr. Walker, you may leave now. I'll get my secretary to give you an office. Do get some rest." Everett came inside and said in a seemingly kind manner.However, his eyes were completely void of emotions."Sure," Mr. Walker said and exited the room."What's wrong?" Damien curiously asked, as he could tell that Everett was deliberately driving him away."Dad, it's not necessary for him to know our next course of action. After all, he has been kicked out, and might have been turned into a bait to lure us," Everett replied.His identity had been exposed, yet he still came crawling back to them. It was hard to believe that Nicole would not send someone over to track them, so Everett figured that Mr. Walker had become someone they had to be careful of. They could not trust him anymore.Upon hearing that, Damien realized what was happening and nodded in agreement. "You're right. We can't let him know about anything important."They would be the next to get into serious trouble if anyt
Thus, Jared was led to believe that those people were not from San Joto, but rather they were folks based in other countries, who would also like to see Nicole dead. Other than the organization that they had dismantled, he could not think of anybody else.He had not managed to discover anything about them yet, so the only thing he could do was to keep her safe while quietly searching for clues.Nicole shot Jared a glance, as she felt as though he was not taking it seriously, making her feel conflicted. 'Is he not concerned at all?'The car came to a halt when they were still in the midst of the conversation, snapping Nicole out of her thoughts.She looked outside the window and there, she saw an elegant courtyard located just outside.This confused her. "What is this place?""You'll know once we're inside." Jared grabbed Nicole's hand and led her out of the car.They ambled through a stone path into the courtyard while enjoying the fragrant scent along the way. Nicole observed t