Feeling defeated, Lulu said, "He's basically using social coercion, isn't he?"Although Harvey said that everyone was going, that did not mean that Nicole must be there too."It's okay." Nicole smiled and looked at Lulu. "Perhaps there's something for me to gain out of showing up. You should come with me too.""Me?!" Lulu asked in surprise. "Are you sure it wouldn't be better for you to find a male companion?"Even if she did not wish to go to the event with Jared, Sean as her plus one would also be fine. Lulu believed her presence would not be of much help anyway."With so many shareholders and partners present, are you sure there's no one you'd like to get to know?" Nicole asked.Lulu blinked, starting to understand what Nicole was coming from.Then, she gritted her teeth and replied, "I guess that works too.""Hehe, alright. Gather some information when you're back," Nicole suggested.Knowing some background information about those people beforehand might prove to be handy
The car pulled up at a derelict building situated at the west of San Joto, where the kidnappers had instructed the driver to stop. However, they did not let him go. Instead, they knocked him out and left him in the car."Take her inside. Our job will be done once we're in. We'll take the money and leave," one of them said.The kidnappers wanted to leave San Joto right after they had gotten the money, which would be enough for them to start over.After entering the building, they tied Nicole to a chair and looked outside, seemingly waiting for someone to make an appearance.Nicole narrowed her eyes as a faint smirk crossed her face. 'Seems like Chloe won't disappoint me.'And as expected, Chloe arrived about ten minutes later.Nicole heard the scraping of a wheelchair on the ground, and that was when she looked up to see Chloe entering the building."Didn't expect to end up like this one day, huh?" Chloe mocked as she eyed a disheveled Nicole."Well, I'm not surprised," Nicole c
"Ah!"Following a shriek, the sound of a knife falling to the ground echoed crisply in the room.Everyone who was present was startled. None of them understood what had happened. It seemed that Chloe had just attacked Nicole with the knife, but it made no sense as to why she was in pain while Nicole seemed to be unharmed.Chloe, who was also shocked, looked at Nicole with disbelief. 'What just happened?'Nicole glanced at the knife on the ground and stood up, her gaze cold and dark.At that very second, everyone gasped. "What?! How did she escape?!"She was clearly tied to the chair, so how did she set herself free?Nicole flexed her wrists as she shot Chloe a cold, furious glare. "I've been injured, so my skills may not be at their peak, but a mere rope would never hold me down.""Hurry up! Go after her! Otherwise, we'll be screwed!"Chloe immediately retreated in a panic and ordered her assistant as well as the kidnappers to take care of Nicole.Everyone exchanged looks and
Jared gave her an affectionate look and shook his head after he had seen her smile. "Remember to tell me if you're going to do anything like this in the future."This way, he could assign a security detail to protect her and ensure that she would not be harmed.To that, Nicole replied, "You've already assigned Patricia to me. Don't you know the capabilities of the people you've chosen?"Moreover, she herself was not totally defenseless. Indeed, she was not as dexterous and strong as she was before, but she was still capable of holding her own against people who were not trained in martial arts."Yes, you're always right." Jared smiled softly and brought Nicole into the car.After giving Patricia a glance, Max got into the car and drove away.Patricia glanced back at the police station, understanding Max's gesture. They had to keep a close eye on the situation, even though they had succeeded in capturing Chloe. They could not give Chloe the chance to escape blame, and they could a
Benjamin looked at Nicole and said, "Sorry about this."After giving him a smile, she replied, "Grandpa, please don't say that. I'm fine.""You can't say that. You're only fine because you've got your wits about you. If something really happened to you, we'd all be heartbroken," Karen remarked dramatically.In response, Nicole gave her a blank stare without exposing her true intentions. She understood that Karen was just trying to bring Damien's family down, and so, she was determined to not pay any attention to any of these little schemes of hers. After all, they would not have any impact on the situation.Upon noticing Nicole's silence, Karen began to feel a little embarrassed and could only shut her mouth."Grandpa, I'm going home now if there's nothing else," Nicole said.She was not in the mood to stay here any longer. In fact, she was feeling somewhat tired."Go home and get some rest." Benjamin nodded, knowing by the look on her face that some rest would do her good."Ok
'She had indeed gotten carried away. What makes her think it's okay to treat past events as if they have well and truly been forgotten, and keep bringing them up? Does she wish to remind everyone about them?' he wondered.Karen swallowed and followed Dillion back to her room, too afraid to even breathe.Meanwhile, the butler had gone on to tell Benjamin, "Don't worry too much about Chloe."He figured that it was good that nothing worse had happened."I just don't know what they're still not satisfied with," Benjamin said, sounding absolutely despondent.Every single thing they had done thus far was tantamount to criminal offense. However, they had been let off time and time again, which had only emboldened them to the point that they would even dare to kidnap and harm a member of their family."Some things are simply beyond our control, and Nicole has already handled everything. I think you should stop worrying," the butler comforted in an attempt to soothe Benjamin. Following
"Did I disturb you?" Nicole asked when she saw him approaching her."Nope." Jared smiled, gently stroking her hair. "Just sleep. I'll watch over you."A warm feeling surged in Nicole's heart in an instant. She held Jared's hand, closed her eyes, and fell asleep, feeling content.Jared watched Nicole quietly, waiting for her to drift away before getting up and returning to the desk.His secretary had sent many files over to him, and so, he went on to get busy with his work.Meanwhile, Damien's house was empty and silent now that Damien was alone in it. Ever since he heard about what happened to Chloe, the air around him had been dark and oppressive.In the previous incident, Miley had taken the blame for Chloe, who was now arrested as well. Even Everett had fled abroad. This led him to wonder why his luck had been so rotten. It made no sense as to why he had been thwarted time and again.'Nicole is just a country bumpkin. Why is she so good at everything?' he fumed.He became li
"Forget it. Let's not talk about it anymore. We should be happy that we've finally caught the culprit who was trying to screw with me," Nicole said, slowly regaining her composure."That's right, and this deserves a celebration," Lulu agreed.She too had come to the conclusion that Chloe was reaping what she sowed."Mommy!" Nolan and Lana shouted as they pounced on Nicole, who went on to ruffle their hair."You're back," she greeted."Mummy, you came back so early today," they said, as they were used to arriving home before she did."Yep, I took half a day off," Nicole replied without giving them an explanation."Hi, Nicole," Tia came over to greet Nicole. "I'll get going then."Tia figured that since the kids had arrived home safely, she should return to her house at the back."Tia, please stay back and have dinner with us," June invited."Let's eat together. You should bring Mrs. Wallace Sr. along with you as well," Lulu echoed."No, I better get..."Tia was about to decl