Her fair skin was exposed to the air, glowing with enticing redness.He smiled menacingly and said, “We should have consummated our marriage five years ago.” A moment ago, he was on the verge of rage, but she remained calm, unflustered, and unafraid.But now, the man in front of her made Harmonia feel as if she did not know him at all. A burst of sudden panic for no reason made her feel desperate. She kept struggling and begging for help. “No! Don't touch me!”Tears welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let her tears fall. His movements stopped. He looked at his own hands—the hands that had torn her clothes.‘Absalom Terran, what the hell are you doing?!’He stood up, took off his suit jacket, and covered Harmonia with it.His rationality, which had been momentarily devoid, returned completely at this moment. He turned around and punched the wall hard. Bang!Just then, the door to the ward burst open. “You scoundrel, damn it! What are you trying to do
Madam Judd’s expression was solemn as she held Harmonia’s hand with one hand and Dimas’ hand with the other, muttering to herself continuously.The last time when Dimas didn't return home late at night, Madam Judd was also muttering like this. This was a prayer in the ancient civilization language for safety.“Grandma…” Harmonia called out. Her voice choked even though she tried to suppress it.“It’s okay, Harmonia. It’s good that you’re not hurt,” Madam Judd patted the back of Harmonia’s hand gently. Harmonia took a deep breath and looked at the butler, Mr. Jeet, and Rio.She maintained her composure and asked, “How was the explosion in the mine handled?”Mr. Jeet said, “As soon as Madam Judd heard the news, she made a decisive decision, publicly announcing that it was a worker's operational error that caused the mine collapse, concealing the malicious event of explosives hidden in the mine and providing substantial compensation to the families of the workers who died on the s
She wanted to pray for him.Even though she didn't know if it would help, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, she was willing to do it for him. Harmonia took a deep breath, and she almost fell from the edge of the bed because of her shaky body. She opened the booklet and pronounced each word following the phonetic annotations. Her voice was trembling as she read the unfamiliar words. She had a talent for languages, and she repeated the words over and over again.The meaning of this ancient civilization language and its corresponding annotations were naturally engraved in her mind. She didn't even need to stare at the annotations to recite them.However, there was no sign of Dimas waking up. Harmonia’s curled eyelashes trembled, and her tears glistened. She blinked, and tears fell on the back of his hand, hot and scalding, slowly spreading little by little. ‘Dimas, I will not break my promise about giving you privileges. Please wake up soon, okay?’-Meanwhile, in the w
The Xander family’s house was on fire! Not a single person from Nathan’s family of three survived the raging inferno! Was all of this really just a coincidence, or was there someone else orchestrating the mine explosion behind the scenes? Had Nathan just been a pawn in this person’s hands?Now that things were about to be exposed, was he worried that Nathan would rat him out, so he had taken preemptive action to ensure his silence forever?Who could it be?Harmonia clenched the small booklet, biting her lower lip tightly, but she had no clue.-However, Mr. Duncan’s confession and the conclusion that the mine explosion was due to improper operations had also been thoroughly confirmed. Everyone’s attention was focused on the Xanders now. The Xanders had been acting arrogantly in Janloon for many years. Who could have imagined that unexpected things would happen and that everything would change overnight and be turned to ashes with no one left alive?Harmonia knew in her hear
Although the last sentence sounded like a question, it was actually full of certainty.Harmonia was waiting. She was waiting for her father to tell her the truth, and to give her the answer himself.She felt as if all her strength had been drained away after being caught between the reality of Dimas’ unconsciousness and the truth of her grandfather's death.She collapsed onto the edge of the bed. She was unable to hold back her tears which flowed like a dam bursting.Safan, who was on the other end of the line, fell silent and tried to change the subject. “Harmonia, listen to me. This matter…”“You just need to answer me, yes or no?! Do you still want to keep me in the dark? Dad, you know me well. I wouldn't have called you without being completely sure.”There was another moment of silence.Safan sighed heavily and replied, “Yes.” At the moment when Harmonia received an affirmative answer, the air around her quickly solidified, and it felt as if oxygen was slowly being suck
Dimas was awake!Her eyes were watery, clear and pure with long, curly eyelashes fluttering slightly as glistening tears fell, landing on the back of his hand.Dimas frowned and said, “If you cry like this, others will think that you’re widowed, but I’m doing fine, right?” His injuries were severe, and it was difficult for him to even move his fingers, but at the moment, he leaned against her fingertips, occasionally moving them lightly with a hint of provocation.Harmonia wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. Even though he was severely injured, he didn't forget to take advantage of her! What kind of widow was she supposed to be?! They clearly had no relationship whatsoever!Harmonia pushed his hand away and immediately reached out her hand to press the bell.His gaze followed her and settled on her body. He seemed to smile mischievously at her as he said, “It's rare to see you cry, but I didn't expect you to look so good even when you cry. Aren’t you going to continu
“Honey.”The affectionate term paired with the tender voice seemed just right, but Harmonia found it extremely grating.“Do you need something?” She maintained a calm expression to prevent Absalom from noticing anything unusual.“I’m sorry for what happened that day.” He lowered his head toward her.Harmonia turned to look at him and saw the sincerity in his apologetic expression. She knew his apology was genuine, but—he owed her too many apologies. Moreover, her father owed her a life! “I accept your apology, so can you let go of your hand now?”Harmonia furrowed her delicate brows, immediately breaking free from his hold. Absalom quickly released her hand, appearing cautious.Harmonia’s stomach growled conveniently at this moment. “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I'll go buy whatever you want to eat.”“I want to eat the best burger in Janloon. Do you know which one it is, Mr. Terran?” Absalom was taken aback.“Don’t you want to remarry me? I'll give you this
“What do you want? I'll get it for you.” Harmonia then looked around. “My privilege,” He replied. Harmonia was stunned and momentarily speechless. He smiled playfully and said, “You said that you will give me the privilege to pursue you. I heard it.” Harmonia met his gaze, feeling overwhelmed for a moment.He chuckled softly, “Are you going to go back on your word already?”“I only adopted that method out of urgency! I said that because the situation was urgent, and I didn't want you to give up on yourself…”Knock, knock, knock.Just then, there was a knock on the door, and the door to the ward was opened.“Honey.”Absalom appeared at the door with a conspicuously out-of-place thermal bag.Dimas’ eyelids twitched.Harmonia gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, looked at Dimas, and said with much difficulty, “Mr. Martinez, the so-called privilege was just something I said in a moment of desperation. I was thinking about your life, and I was trying to give you hope as m
Quinn was startled. “W-what?”“I wasn't locked up here because I ruined your father's business and he is seeking revenge on me.”“Why are you locked up here, then?”Absalom frowned and replied, “It's complicated. It's not something that can be explained in a short time, but if I'm rescued, it means that there will be one more piece of evidence against your father.”Quinn bit her lower lip. She understood.If he were rescued, her father's actions of injuring him and imprisoning him would no longer be a secret.“You're his daughter, and once he falls, you might not be safe either.”Quinn hadn't thought about it deeply before, but now, Absalom's words weighed heavily on her heart.Even though her father had never cared about her and was always distant and cold toward her, and even though her sister bullied her since childhood, every word and action showing contempt toward her, they were her family, and that was something she couldn't change.Moonlight shone into the cellar throug
Absalom froze in place while holding the snacks at the sound of those words. “She… She answered the call?” His heart felt a sharp pain that hurt a million times more than the wounds on his body.That one word ‘aunt’ was something he didn't want to hear but couldn't deny. They were together, weren't they?Quinn continued to disinfect his wounds, not noticing his expression as she went on and said, “Yes. I've already told her about you. Don't worry, they'll definitely come to rescue you!”“I'm familiar with the paths at home. If conditions permit, I'll guide you when the time comes.”He snapped back to reality, rejecting her without a second thought. “No need. You've done enough for me already by saving my life.”Quinn looked at him and said, “No. I have to see you alive and rescued before I can feel at ease.”“Why?” He asked.She was puzzled. “What do you mean why?”“No one cares about my life,” His eyes dimmed with sorrow.He even wondered if it would have been better if he
Castell looked at her. His gaze was devoid of warmth but rather, it was as indifferent as cold water.“Tomorrow is your sister's assessment day, and I've been invited to Snow Manor.”Quinn nodded softly and asked obediently, “Is Nara confident that she will win?”Upon hearing this, Castell snorted with great dissatisfaction, “There's no such thing as losing among the Kenwoods! She will definitely be the winner!”Quinn shrank back in fear when she saw the ferocity in his eyes, and she did not dare to say another word. She simply nodded, forced a smile, and said, “In that case, I’ll stay at home and wait for Dad and Nara to come back victorious.”Only then did Castell nod begrudgingly.“Okay, go to sleep now.”Quinn waved to him and then turned to leave.The helicopter slowly ascended, gradually disappearing into the night.After Castell left, Quinn entered the room under Mrs. Clint's watchful eyes.After about an hour, Mrs. Clint entered the bedroom, made sure Quinn was asleep
Madam Judd's tone was gentle yet firm.Nara was stunned.“That’s impossible! How could I get it wrong?! You must have made a mistake!”She gritted her teeth at the last sentence.Madam Judd chuckled and said, “All three of these are fake.”Nara had an incredulous expression as she shone the flashlight on them again.“The jade has been soaked in strong acid, impurities washed away, then injected with glue. The methods of counterfeiting are becoming more sophisticated, reaching a point where it's hard to tell real from fake. To discern the authenticity of jade, one needs keen eyesight and extensive experience to make judgments. Just because you've seen more and possess more jade doesn't mean you understand more. Do you understand now?”The proud Nara was embarrassed by Madam Judd and couldn't find a way to save herself from embarrassment for a moment. “Understood,” Harmonia nodded.Nara had to reluctantly say, “Understood.”Madam Judd then immediately began the lesson.Though
She had an uncontrollable nosebleed as blood kept dripping from her nose. She hurriedly bent over, and the drops of blood fell into the sink. Despite the flow of water, it was still extremely alarming.Harmonia did not know what was wrong with her, but after about a minute, she managed to stop the bleeding. She frowned, suspecting that it might be due to heatiness. With about fifteen minutes until nine o'clock, she quickly changed her clothes and hurried toward the appraisal room.Even before the training began, Jenell had already made arrangements for preparations at Snow Manor in advance. The tools in the appraisal room were already prepared.Harmonia and Nara arrived successively.At nine o'clock, Jenell appeared.However, the person who appeared with Jenell shocked Harmonia! It was actually her!Jenell introduced, “This is the jade appraisal expert, Madam Judd.”Harmonia and Nara greeted her. “Madam Judd.”Madam Judd nodded, pretending not to recognize Harmonia.“Let
Both Jasper and Nancy were dumbfounded. Dimas simply stood there with a strong, calm, and intimidating aura, which made people tremble with fear even without him losing his temper. Jasper and Nancy obediently admitted their mistakes. One was in his early twenties, and the other was about to become an adult, but here they were, behaving like kindergarten kids, loudly promising to be model siblings in the future.Harris laughed heartily, his face showing an expression of ‘even these two rascals have their days’.Coincidentally, Mac walked out.“What’s going on?”Harris immediately explained, “The siblings were quarreling, but their father isn't here right now, so the elder brother stepped in as a father figure to educate them properly!”Mac burst into laughter, “I don’t want to say too much, but you should quarrel less with Nancy. She's not in good health, so you should be more considerate toward her.”After Jasper calmed down, he also realized his mistake deeply. He was born w
“Two people, two favors.” Two was two and could not be less. Harris failed to play dumb. “You’re really good at calculating!”However, he had no other choice. After all, he could not handle these two people on his own! His head would ache whenever they argued. “Okay, two favors it is, then!” Harris agreed. Dealing with those troublemakers really gave him a headache.“Tell me, what two things do you want me to do for you, then?” Dimas said calmly, “I’ll leave Monia’s safety in your hands in ten days.”Harris was taken aback. “Huh? Isn't that girl at Snow Manor? With your mother there, her safety should be absolutely guaranteed.”“I’m still worried.”“Why don't you take care of her safety yourself, then?”As he spoke, Harris counted his fingers. He suddenly came to a realization.“In ten days? Wouldn’t that be the day when Harmonia and Nara will be taking their assessment together?”Dimas nodded.“You're leaving the base?” Harris understood and asked.“Yes.”“Where are you
‘You’re really killing me.’Harmonia whispered goodnight to him again, then stuffed her cell phone under the pillow as she prepared to have a good sleep.Dimas, who was at the base, also put down his cell phone at the moment. He looked at the simple layout diagram carved on the bottom of the box and turned on his laptop immediately to reconstruct it. At the same time, he called Mac to investigate Castell's second daughter.At first, Mac thought Dimas was joking. Everyone knew Castell only had one daughter, Nara. How could there suddenly be another daughter? Dimas then told Mac about the content of the phone call Monia had received. Mac immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. Before confirming whether Absalom was really in the wine cellar in Kenwood Mansion, he needed to confirm whether Castell really had a second daughter.After hanging up the phone, he acted quickly. Since she was a living person, there was no way she could not be traced.Mac's efficiency was
The air seemed to freeze at this moment.The phone clearly displayed the ‘call in progress’ message, but it was as if it was affected by signal interference, and nothing could be heard until his cold voice broke the icy silence.“I will.”Harmonia heaved a sigh of relief, feeling worried as she said, “But rescuing someone from Kenwood Mansion won't be easy, right? That place is definitely a dangerous spot. How do you plan on rescuing him? Furthermore, we can't guarantee that this isn't a scheme orchestrated by Castell.”Having finally received news of Absalom, of course, it couldn't be given up on, but the authenticity of the news also needed to be confirmed.Dimas simply smiled without answering Harmonia's question but instead changed the topic and asked, “Monia, what did you have for dinner tonight?”Just as Harmonia was about to answer, a knock sounded at the door. Her heart jumped, and she acted swiftly and quickly tucked the phone under the blanket.She then pretended to be