Pursing his lips when he saw how rigid Zivon had become, Nathan eventually muttered, “…We… should leave too…” No response. Following a subtle sigh, all Nathan could do was wait for his boss to reply… It was about ten minutes later when Zivon finally muttered, “…All that… had been a lie, right…?” The fact that he was trying to deceive himself made it clear to Nathan just how much anguish Zivon was in… Though he really wanted to lie, Nathan couldn’t bring himself to do so since Xavia had suffered enough as well. With that in mind, he slowly shook his head before taking his phone out and saying, “…Have a listen to this…” Shortly after the ‘play’ button was hit, Xavia’s voice could be heard saying, “We were drugged by his parents. I just woke up this morning to see Mark in bed with me… and then the divorce letter came and I was so anxious that I ran out to find him… However, I eventually realized that I should try calling him but I remembered that I lost my phone so I tried borro
When he finally made it back to the hospital, he was instantly greeted by the sight of a haggard-looking Mr. and Mrs. Talton. With their expressions brimming with regret, they were quick to exclaim, “P-Please, Young Master Burton…! Please spare us…!” Squinting when he saw them, he eventually growled, “…So, you two are still shameless enough to see me…?! Beat it!” “W-wait! Please, hear us out…! You should know that Mark never slept with her, and that we don’t deserve this fate…!” “T-that’s right, Young Master Burton! Though it was true that me and my wife drugged Miss Frankston in hopes that she’d become our daughter-in-law, Mark never entered her…! We don’t exactly know why Miss Frankston chose to lie to the world, but now that you know the truth, please stop this madness…! The Talton Group is close to bankruptcy…! If you need proof, just have a look at this video…!” Looking at the video playing on Mrs. Talton’s phone, it was quickly made evident that Mark had knocked himself o
His train of thought was cut short when he heard Xavia weakly call out to him… and when he looked down, he realized that tears were flowing down her cheeks again. Feeling terrible, it took him a while to reply, “…Glad you’re awake… Don’t worry, the nightmare is over, and you’ll never be hurt again… I promise.” Since Xavia didn’t reply, Ian helped her up before saying, “…Hey, go have something to eat. You’ve already slept throughout the day, and you shouldn’t let your stomach stay empty for too long…” …Wait. She had been out for an entire day? Instantly going pale, Xavia was quick to ask, “W-what about Mark? Have you found him?!” Watching as Ian pursed his lips, Xavia’s eyes widened as she replied, “H-he’s still missing…?! If so, what are we waiting for?! I’ll help look for him-” “Xavia! Just… calm down for a moment… Think about how frail you are… Even if you go out, you won’t be much help, and at worst, you’ll only injure yourself even more…” interrupted Ian as he held onto h
Alas, Xavia simply continued ignoring him, and that made Zivon purse his lips. He could only imagine how disappointed she was in him if she wasn’t even willing to spare him a glance… Taking a deep breath, Zivon then added, “…Look, I know how badly I messed up, and that no amount of apologizing will change a thing… However-” “Start the car, Ian,” interrupted Xavia, prompting Ian to lower his gaze… “…She doesn’t want to meet you. Now head home and stop annoying her,” said Ian as he got into the car and ordered Tiffany to drive them away… Even after the car had left for a while, Zivon remained motionless where he sat. To think that Xavia now found his existence annoying… His train of thought was cut short when he heard Nathan say, “…I think we should do as Sir Ian says for now… After all, she’s currently furious with you, so rather than try to reason with her and potentially make her angrier, perhaps we should wait for her anger to subside first…?” It took him a while, but Ziv
After supporting the faint woman, Ian clenched his fists before saying, “…Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll find him-” “If he was alive, then we would’ve surely found him ages ago-” “Stop!” interrupted Ian who couldn’t handle how depressed his sister was feeling. After hugging her tightly, he eventually added, “…Who’s to say that he hasn’t made it out safely and is simply hiding from the public for now? Also, what if someone else rescued him instead?” “…Is that… really possible…?” “I mean, considering how we’ve yet to find his body even after scouring the entire area… I think it’s a safe bet to say that either of those two situations could have happened.” …Ian had a point. Now feeling slightly hopeful again, Xavia replied, “…Got it. Could you get some men to start looking around the area as well…?” “Will do. I’ll even have some people check the nearby hospitals. With that said, please try to calm down for now…” muttered Ian before heading off to give the new orders to his men.
His apology clearly came from the heart, but even so, Xavia was already too disheartened to even bother with it. With that, she simply replied, “…None of this is your fault, nor that it matters anymore. In the end, your love was too great for both of us to handle, and rather than continuing to torture each other like this, we should just let go already…” Following that, she got up and walked off without another word… Naturally, her immense indifference made Zivon’s heart hurt like never before. All he could do from that point on was sit motionless until the warm milk in his hand turned cold… But even then, he could feel nothing since his heart was already frozen solid as well… Fast forward to later that night, Zivon finally returned… but rather than undergo more rehabilitation training, he instead simply laid in bed without the slightest intention of getting up. Honestly, his drive to stand again had come from Xavia, so… Now that she was determined to end things, what was the p
...He was right… She had already anticipated all this backlash, so why had things taken this terrible turn…? …It was probably because she hadn’t anticipated Zivon to actually hurt her so badly… Never in a million years would she have guessed that he viewed her as such a slut deep down… Hell, he had even attempted to rape her! Honestly, had he not gone that far on the boat and chosen to prioritize saving Mark instead, she probably wouldn’t be this disappointed right now… Well, it was pointless to think about that now. After all, if he already viewed her as such a terrible woman, there was zero point in keeping him around… So what if she returned to his side and pretended to be fine? How much longer could she last now that she knew the bitter truth? Shaking her head, the saddened woman replied, “…I appreciate your worry, Mr. Miller… But I believe that both of us need some space to think things through-” “I should clarify that I didn’t say all that to guilt-trip you… In fact, I un
“…Huh? What happened?” “Basically, Maison and Yulia got injured while they were at the army camp, and… well, they’re on their way home now.” Instantly going pale, Xavia replied, “W-what?! How did they get hurt? And are their injuries bad?!” “They aren’t that hurt, though… They’ve refused to talk to anyone up till this point. As for how they got injured, it was because they both attempted to sneak out of the camp… It’s a big mess, and I think you should just ask them about it once they return…” Nodding in response, all the anxious woman could do was hold onto her phone as she awaited their return… Damn it, she had been too preoccupied with Zivon to care for the kids in the past few days…! It was about half an hour later when the car finally arrived at the palace… and upon getting out of the car, the twins immediately stormed into the building, leaving James and Jacob, who were following behind them, looking rather helpless… Looking at Xavia, James and Jacob were prompted to
Staring in shock at the kneeling man, Yulia mustered her remaining sanity as she replied, “B-but you’re younger-” “Even if that’s the case, doesn’t that mean that I’m much more ‘capable’ than your older pursuers…?” …Why were his words so suggestive all of a sudden?! Forcing herself to calm down, she took a deep breath before saying, “…Elliot, I’m not sure what spurred this decision, but… I’m not the one for you. Please find someone your age. I’m sorry.” After saying that, she strode straight for the car… but before she could start the engine, she couldn’t help but notice how desolate he looked standing under the pouring rain… Clenching her fists, it took her a while to finally sigh and walk back to him… “…Are you really sure about this?” asked Yulia, much to Elliot’s delight. “I am! Please! Give me a chance! You won’t regret it!” …When he put it that way, all Yulia could do was help him up before finally deciding to return his kiss… Sure, things had taken a sudden, unex
She stared in horror as he removed his shirt right there and then! “W-what are you doing?!” yelped the startled woman as she quickly looked the other way. “…Huh? I mean, I’m drenched, so…” “E-even so, you shouldn’t change right in front of me!” “…Yulia, we bathed together as children… It’s not like you haven’t seen everything already…” “Y-you can’t compare that to this situation…!” “Fine, fine, I… Um… Go cook, I guess… I’ll go get a change upstairs first…” muttered Elliot as he headed upstairs. Yulia herself had to try her best to calm down! After all, Elliot had been plaguing her mind in the past few days, and… she even had dreams where he had… …No! She couldn’t be thinking about such things! She needed to cook! Maybe that would help get her mind out of the gutter! Once that was done, she’d leave and finally start devising a plan to get rid of him…! As Yulia scurried off, Elliot himself was currently staring at an old photo that showed him eating some candy in Yulia’
Just as she had arrived at her car, the president of the Halls Group suddenly walked up to her, a bouquet in hand! The Halls Group had collaborated several times with the Burtons before, and because of that, she was well acquainted with the man. Sadly, he had also proposed to her on multiple occasions… and though she kept rejecting him, he never seemed to get the hint! “There you are, Miss Burton… Since you’re off work, I was wondering if you’d join me for dinner tonight…” asked the charming man. Feeling awkward, she was just about to come up with an excuse when Elliot suddenly grabbed her by the waist and said, “Oh? Another one of your admirers, Yulia…? Sorry, but she already has a boyfriend, my man. If that doesn’t deter you enough, then you should know that she prefers her partners younger. Now please leave.” Startled to hear that, the man glanced at Yulia, his eyes begging for an explanation… Yulia herself was eager to just escape this embarrassing situation, but before s
With that tale done, it was now time to return to Yulia’s story… Ever since she was a child, she had undergone countless hardships with her mother… and even after she was able to reunite with her father, things didn’t go much easier from there. To make matters worse, Fabiola ended up getting kidnapped for the longest time, resulting in Frank ending up the way he was today… Because of all that, it only made sense that she’d mature much sooner than others her age, and unlike the naïve girl she used to be, she was an extremely competent woman today. Alas, because of how used she became with working, she soon lost the urge to find herself a romantic interest… Things continued that way until… Well, that time that Elliot… …Wait, what was she thinking?! He was younger than her, for heaven’s sake! Quickly shaking her head, she attempted to force herself to concentrate on work again… But before long, a knock was heard on the door. After being allowed in, the department manager entered t
Knowing that there was no point in keeping things a secret anymore, Rea took a deep breath before saying, “…Alright, so… The truth is, I’ve always been highly competent, but… I’ve been pretending to be useless just so that you’d eventually marry me… The trip my parents are taking… That was my suggestion too…” Feeling speechless, it took Frank a long while to reply, “…So you weren’t really drunk when you did all that last night?” Pursing her lips, Rea awkwardly muttered, “…I wasn’t… Luna suggested it, and since it sounded like a good idea to accelerate things…” …Fucking hell, to think that he had fallen straight into her trap without even putting up a fight! Watching as he glowered at her, Rea gulped before adding, “A-anyway, now that we’re married and there’s potentially a baby in my belly, you won’t divorce me, right…?” “…Oh, believe me when I say that divorce is the easy way out! From today onward, I’m making you pay for your actions for the rest of your life!” Fast forwa
Fast forward to the next morning, Rea awoke with a yawn… What a nice sleep… Wait. Why was she naked? And why was Frank…?! Her following scream immediately woke the icy man up… and upon looking at her, he was immediately reminded of what had transpired last night! Essentially, Rea ended up clinging to him, and though he initially wanted to just carry her to bed to let her rest… Damn it! Had she really been that sensual?! How had he lost control so easily?! His train of thought was cut short when he realized that Rea was bawling her eyes out… and after rubbing his temples, he was prompted to say, “…Why are you crying when you’re the one who initiated this? I’ll have you know that I never forced you-” “I-I know, but…! I’ve just…! This is my first time…!” whimpered the quivering woman, prompting Frank to purse his lips. As if he wasn’t in the same situation… “…You’re not alone there.” “It’s not the same! Men are free to sleep with whoever they want but when it comes to women, I’l
“Say, wouldn’t you agree that the food smells delicious…? Why don’t I teach you how to grill, Rea…? Oh, but make sure to take your clothes off first before we start! Wouldn’t want them to get dirty…” With how drunk Rea was, she wasn’t able to fully register his words… and just as he was about to touch her clothes, an icy voice roared, “Stop right there…!” Instantly feeling a shiver run down his spine, the man turned around… and to his horror, it was Frank! Young Master Burton’s perpetually icy son…! Why the hell was he here?! Before the frightened intern could think of how to even react, Frank walked up to him and growled, “Leave now before I chop your hands off…! Don’t make me repeat myself!” Nodding in terror, the man frantically bolted off… and once he was out of sight, Frank glared at the tipsy Rea before adding, “This is what you meant by learning how to be more responsible…?!” “Huh…? But the food really did smell super good… I want to learn…” mumbled the drunk woman.
After leaving his office, he headed off to look for Rea. She had said that she wanted to use the bathroom, but… It had already been half an hour since she disappeared. What trouble had that idiot gotten herself into this time? Thankfully, it wasn’t long before he found her laughing along with some of his interns… When the interns saw him, they were quick to bow and say, “Good morning, Mr. Burton.” Barely even glancing at them, Frank looked at Rea and said, “It’s time to head home.” “I… Won’t be following you back…” “…And why is that? Are your parents back?” “No, it’s just… These are my good friends back from school, and they’ve been staying together to learn to be more independent… With that said… I think that staying with them will be a good start for me to learn more about how the world works. Thank you for taking care of me up till this point, Frank… I won’t bother you anymore.” Raising a slight brow, Frank then looked at the interns for a while before saying, “…Are you
Regardless, after leaving her in the room, Frank returned to the shower to cool himself off… but no matter what he did, he simply remained irked. It got to the point where he couldn’t relax at all, and after wrapping a towel around his waist, he grabbed his phone to send his father a text. ‘Was there really nobody else who could’ve taken care of Rea?’ ‘What? Can’t even care for a woman properly.’ ‘I’m a busy man.’ ‘I trust in your time management skills.’ …Though he really wanted to tell Zivon that he had misplaced his trust in him, he didn’t want to disappoint his father either. With that, all he could do was clench his fists before giving Rea’s parents a call… “Hello? Frank? Why are you calling at this time of night?” “…When are you and Uncle Saltman returning, Aunt?” asked Frank who wanted them to take back their idiot already! “…Huh? What was that? Sorry, the line isn’t very good… I hope Rea isn’t giving you too hard a time! Don’t worry, we’ll be back after about a