At six o'clock, Ava finished work and headed home. After a quick shower, a change of clothes, and a touch of makeup, she was ready for her date.At exactly 7.30 p.m., Ava arrived at the restaurant only to find Niel already waiting. Seeing Ava carefully dressed and made up, a sense of satisfaction flashed in Niel's heart.He understood women to some extent. A woman taking the time to bathe, wash her hair, and put on makeup for a date was the utmost respect for a man. It also reflected her fondness for him.Even if Ava's initial purpose in coming to the company was Chris, so what? In the end, she would still kneel before him, captivated by his charm.This proved that he was more charming than Chris. It brought a sense of pride to him, who had long been suppressed by Chris.Niel flashed his most charming smile as he looked at Ava. When she entered, he gallantly pulled out the chair for her."Thank you," Ava smiled and thanked him.At this moment, there was a hidden excitement and j
With that, Niel took a couple of steps forward, putting a bit more distance between him and Ava. They had just walked side by side, their clothes occasionally brushing against each other, creating an intimate atmosphere.Sarah, coldly staring at Niel, asked, "Why am I here? Should I not have come?" She shifted her gaze towards Ava.When she saw Ava's face, she was momentarily taken aback. The photos she had received earlier were not very clear. Having been taken sneakily, it only showed vague outlines. Now, seeing Ava's face, she realized how strikingly similar this woman was to Paige.In an instant, Sarah felt disgusted. Was Niel dating someone who looked so much like his sister? What was this about? Did Niel have some twisted desire for his sister, and since he could not have her, he settled for someone who resembled her?The combination of disgust and anger overwhelmed her. How could Niel think like this? Had he not been constantly hinting at divorcing Tina to marry Sara
Sarah was taken aback. She took a moment to calm down before realizing Niel was right. Both of them were engaged in clandestine affairs, always sneaking around with friends to divert attention. It dawned on her that Niel was so open because there was nothing significant going on between him and that other woman. She had acted foolishly.Sarah acknowledged her mistake, but apologizing was beyond her. Being with Niel meant she was already at a disadvantage. Although the Millers could not match the Jewells, Sarah was younger than Niel and still a single woman, while Niel was married. Even if Niel and Tina divorced in the future and they married, she would bear the brunt of criticism.Yet, she liked Niel. For the sake of being with him, she accepted the rumors and sacrifices. She believed that Niel should see and appreciate her sacrifices and efforts rather than angrily accuse her when she made a mistake.People make mistakes, so why could he not be gentler and more forgiving duri
Liam loved him and valued him a lot. Normally, their conversations were warm and friendly. Even though his dad would occasionally put on a serious face, mirroring the way dads could be sometimes, big, angry outbursts like that were extremely rare and almost nonexistent in his memory. This was the first time, and it left Niel stunned."Niel, listen up! Whatever you're doing right now, drop it and get back here immediately," Liam shouted.Niel finally snapped out of it, asking, "Dad, what's going on?"Unease settled in his chest. Could Liam have found out about what happened earlier? That could not be possible. How could it have spread so quickly?Reluctant to believe Liam knew about the incident, Niel wondered if it was something else. Had he done something wrong recently? Feeling a little panicked, he was about to head home when his other friends called, asking about the video incident. Niel did not understand at first, but after a few conversations, it became clear to him
Paige frowned as she looked at Chris with anger. "Can you tolerate this?"Chris gave Paige a nonchalant look.Paige was not usually that smart. Chris often hinted at things she could not grasp. However, at that moment, she understood from that glance that Chris was conveying, “Let this fool try to argue his way out of this.”Zander was the one who founded and grew the Jewell Group. With more experience under his belt, Niel's attempts were insignificant to him.Zander must know Niel was lying. Paige felt reassured. As she stared at Niel, she thought, ‘Keep talking, Niel. The more, the better.’The more he talked, the more mistakes he would make.Even someone not too bright like her understood that now was the time to apologize. When parents believed their child had made a mistake, they did not need the child's elaborate explanations. As a family, as long as the child realized their error and sincerely apologized, forgiveness would follow.Niel's desperate defense, in Zander's e
"You can’t bring yourself to reject her just because she bears some resemblance to Paige?" Chris asked.Niel frowned. "So, you were the one who placed Ava in the company?"Chris replied, "No."Niel scoffed. "You're just being evasive."Chris stated, "I'm not. After all, if I wanted a woman to seduce you, any pretty one would do. It didn’t have to be someone specific."Niel's lifestyle was not exemplary, especially with him often indulging in casual relationships. He was just good at keeping them under wraps.Paige gasped at Chris’ lethal comeback.Niel struggled to retort, temporarily lost for words.The other Jewell members exchanged glances, speechless."I've got things to do. Goodbye," Chris said nonchalantly and pulled Paige along.The second household sneered at those in the main household and then left. The people of the main household sighed, feeling embarrassed.Liam stared at Niel and hissed, "Upstairs."They had to address the issue. If they let it slide, it
More and more netizens, still in the dark about the truth, began to sympathize with Niel and Sarah and praised Sarah’s seemingly genuine friendship with Tina. Some even started conspiracy theories, questioning why that incident rapidly became a hot topic on major platforms, suspecting hidden manipulations, and so on. With the waters muddied thoroughly, some accused Sarah and Niel of being shameless, while others pitied them for being misunderstood despite doing nothing wrong. There were even conspiracy theories circulating. In short, it was quite a spectacle.Observing the online comments praising her and Sarah's friendship, Tina smirked. She thought, go ahead and praise away. The more lavish the praise now, the more devastating the fall would be when the truth surfaced. Once netizens found out that Sarah, who considered Sarah a close friend, was secretly colluding with her husband, the online backlash would drown both Niel and Sarah.They may be praised now, but in the fut
The situation escalated rapidly. As soon as Ava got home, relatives and friends started calling, "inquiring" about the incident. Ava was frightened.That was the first time she had encountered such a crisis, and it had blown up so quickly. She did not know what to do, so she turned to Randall.All of it was Randall's doing. He was the one who instructed her to get close to Chris, which eventually caught Niel's attention. Locked in her room, Ava called Randall in tears. In that short period, her personal information had been dug up by resourceful netizens, including her name, address, life experiences, and even her parents' names and workplaces.Ava feared she might end up losing everything like those individuals exposed on the internet. Online, she had become the target of public condemnation as the notorious third party. Despite statements from Tina and Niel, many netizens refused to believe the clarifications, bombarding her with insults and curses on various social media
The receptionist did not reply. Gloria: [You're in trouble. I can't save you now.]The receptionist: [No, I haven't eaten it yet.]Gloria: [Good thing you haven't. I'm coming down.]As soon as the receptionist received Gloria's message, Gloria stepped out of the elevator.Upon reaching the front desk and noticing the bag of strawberry laces opened on the desk, Gloria glared at the receptionist. "You said you hadn't eaten it!"The receptionist looked a little guilty. "I just opened it and haven't had a chance to take one yet."Gloria sneered. "Haven't had a chance? You sound like you regret it."“I don't.""You can't afford this cup of bubble tea. If you did take one, watch out… You might lose your job."The receptionist paused in surprise. "Is it expensive?"Gloria nodded. "It is."“Good thing I didn't take one," the receptionist mumbled. Gloria rolled her eyes. If they were not on the same team, she would not even bother saving her."Why is this bag of strawberry laces
Chris chuckled. "Really?"Paige's face turned slightly red. She felt embarrassed saying that, and it felt like Chris did not believe her. However, she bit the bullet and nodded. "Yeah, really."Chris smiled and said, "Well then, when you miss me next time, don't just think about it because thinking won't do you any good. When you miss me or care about me, just send me a message or call to check in. After all, I can’t read minds. Also, if you want to hug me, just hug me. Don't hold Hunter in your arms and say you want to hug me. That's just hypocritical."Paige faltered. Hug him when she wanted to hug him? Thanks, but she did not want to hug him. She could easily pick up Hunter, but could she lift Chris so easily? She was not that strong, to begin with."Remember. From now on, when you think of me, send me a message. Ask me if I've eaten, what I've eaten, if I'm tired from work, what I'm doing, or tell me what you're thinking about. Don't keep it all to yourself," Chris said wit
What did he take her for?Besides, what could a woman do with photos? She was not one of those perverted men who did some creepy stuff with women’s photos."Nothing worth admiring?" Chris raised an eyebrow.Paige nodded. "Yeah, they’re nothing worth admiring."Indeed, there was nothing worth admiring about the photos."Ha!” Chris snickered.Paige remained silent and thought, ‘Here comes the snickering again.’"You don’t mean what you say," Chris remarked.Paige frowned. "What did I say that implies otherwise? You're a strange one. You're right here in front of me. Why would I need to admire the photos?"Chris grinned. "So you don't want to admire the photos, but you want to admire me, a living person."Paige blushed slightly, feeling embarrassed. She did not mean that, but what she just said seemed to imply exactly that."How would you want to admire me?" Chris teased.Admire was such an intriguing word.Paige blushed harder. "How else can I admire you? Just by looking,
Before Hunter was born, Chris was the absolute darling of the family. His grandfather favored him, and his parents loved him dearly.However, Hunter's arrival had changed everything. The elders in the family revolved around Hunter all day long. Zander’s first question upon waking up each morning was about Hunter, followed by Ann cuddling Hunter, calling him her darling, and so on.It seemed like everyone had forgotten about Chris.How could Chris, who had always been so cherished, accept that?Chris's expression stiffened as if his thoughts had been unexpectedly revealed, his eyes flickering momentarily.Paige chuckled and said, "Are you seriously competing with a child for attention? Besides, you've been pampered by the family for so many years. Hunter has only been pampered for a few days."Chris retorted coldly, "I'm not competing with him."Paige did not buy it for a second. She smiled and said, "Sure, you're not competing with him. You're just afraid we'll spoil Hunter."A
Before, Paige could not understand people showing off their babies and wondered why they would go crazy posting their kids on social media. Now, she got it. She found her kid to be the cutest in the world and could not help but snap his photos and post them on her social media platforms to share him with others, hoping for compliments and praise for her little one.However, she also understood that posting too much could annoy people. Hence, she restrained herself to only posting once a day and made sure to fit in a couple of photos!That was her absolute limit!She felt uneasy if she did not post her baby for a day. Then, when she saw her friends' comments praising her little one, she felt happy and proud, like they were getting closer as friends.Indeed, becoming a mom had changed her mindset.Chris, who was watching Paige show off their baby on social media, was even more dissatisfied! They had been married for a long time and had a child together, yet his appearances o
After what felt like ages, Ava lay on the hotel's large bed, staring blankly at the ceiling as the sound of rushing water filled her ears. Niel was in the shower. After releasing his pent-up emotions, he headed straight for the shower. Meanwhile, she lay there, her body aching. She did not want to move a muscle because every movement brought pain.Niel was thrilled with the new experience, but Ava was suffering. She was starting to regret getting involved with Niel. He was going overboard with satisfying his physical needs, and she feared that if things continued like that, Niel might end up causing her harm or maybe even unintentionally ending her life. She had heard of such things happening before, so now, she was caught between a rock and a hard place.On one hand, she did not want to let go of Niel and give up on all the sacrifices and efforts she had put in when she was on the brink of marrying into a wealthy family and becoming a billionaire's wife. On the other han
Pierre fell silent, pondering Shelly's words carefully. Upon reflection, he found Shelly's proposal to be pretty reasonable and entirely feasible. If he were to wait until Shelly entered prison to serve her sentence, he could break up with her afterward. Once his relationship with Shelly ended, his parents would not be as angry. Even if there were some constraints preventing them from openly helping him, they could still assist him discreetly. After all, he was their son, who shared the same blood with them. His parents could not possibly abandon him entirely and let him fend for himself. By lowering himself in front of his parents, he believed they would not neglect him. By then, acquiring the five million dollars would not be too difficult.Shelly watched Pierre, not pressing him to respond. She believed Pierre knew what choice to make. Five million might seem like an astronomical figure, but for the second son of the Alfonsos, it was not much.After much deliberation
She looked at the evil smile on Chris' face, and it all came back to her.Did Chris Intentionally take Hunter to the guest room to hand him over to the nanny so that it would make it easier for him to do what he wanted? What a scumbag! However, since it was something she had personally agreed to, she would not back out.Paige did not resist Chris, and a long time later, she collapsed on the bed. She felt like she should have taken care of Hunter and not fallen for Chris' tricks.Taking care of a child was not as exhausting!She was too tired to even move her fingers.The next day, Paige slept until late morning and then got up to go down for breakfast.When Ann saw Paige, she asked with concern, "Paige, didn't you sleep well last night?"Paige looked really worn out."Didn't Hunter sleep with the nanny last night?" Ann asked curiously.Paige blushed with embarrassment and said, "Last night… I wasn't used to sleeping without Hunter, so I didn't get a good sleep."Ann smile
Even if she offered her sincerity, Chris would not appreciate it, so what else could she offer? "Is money the only thing you have? Do you have nothing else besides money?" Chris said.He thought she was truly clueless. Even after being married for so long and having a child together, did she not know what he wanted?However, Paige was indeed puzzled. Besides money, what else did she have? What else could she have?Chris looked her up and down, speechless. Paige might not have understood what he meant before, but she did now. He meant that although she did not have money, she still had a young body.It seemed all Chris lusted was her body."I’m still recovering," Paige said with a slight blush on her face. She knew Chris had been patient for a long time. They barely had any intimacy during the last trimester of her pregnancy, but there was nothing she could do. She did not want to refuse him, but her body would not allow it.Chris glanced at Paige and said, "We can try other