The avalanche remained an unspoken pain for Noah. It was like a sensitive and untouchable part of his soul. No matter how composed he usually appeared, bringing up the avalanche from four years ago would cause him to break down instantly, turning him ruthless and fierce.After shouting, Noah coughed again. Once he calmed down, he said certainly, "Jessie is her. She is Jessie. I kept all my promises to her—giving up spicy food, overcoming my cleanliness obsession, going to bed early and waking up early, and setting up the lab she always dreamed of. Now, it's her turn to keep her promise."After finishing his words, Noah drifted into memories."She once said that after traveling around the world, we'd buy a quiet house in Frence and settle down. We would have two kids, a boy and a girl."As he spoke, Noah looked at Thaddeus with hatred in his eyes.The woman he loved deeply had a child with another man. This pain was buried in the softest part of his heart, and every time he thought
When Thaddeus emerged from the stairwell, Jessamine was standing at the hospital room's entrance making a call. She sensed that the atmosphere inside the room earlier was tense.After Thaddeus and Noah came out, she endured for a few minutes before making a random excuse to follow after them.Thaddeus' phone rang in the hallway. Jessamine looked up and their eyes met."Are you okay?""Worried about me?"They spoke almost simultaneously.In the next second, Thaddeus smiled faintly."I'm fine. Let's go inside."Seeing the worried look on Jessamine's face, Thaddeus felt quite pleased. It inevitably reminded him of the conversation he had just had with Noah. Noah never stood a chance. Even if he genuinely liked Jessamine, he never stood a chance, especially since he saw her only as a substitute.Thaddeus' cold demeanor suddenly dissipated. He walked over with long strides and naturally wrapped his arm around her slender waist."Let's go in. Grandpa might get suspicious later."
Thaddeus wasn't a good husband before, and that caused a lack of mutual understanding between Jessamine and him. That was why they divorced. Jessamine was even left with a fear of marriage.Now that Thaddeus realized his mistake, he was determined to be with her for the rest of his life, even if they didn't have a marriage certificate."Grandpa, Jessie's family doesn't have a very good impression of me. So, I need to get them to know and like me first. We can't ask for her hand in marriage on the first visit, can we?"Thaddeus had a point, and Thomas realized he'd been too hasty about their marriage. This wasn't something that could be rushed.He softened his tone and said, "It's good that you're aware of this. Go and meet Jessie's family first, but remember to lose your grumpy and gloomy face. Be attentive; pull out chairs for the elders when they are about to take their seats, and fill their glasses with wine when they raise their glasses."Don't get annoyed with me for nagging.
Jessamine's question instantly made the atmosphere in the car tense.She couldn't help but glance at Thaddeus, who was in the driver's seat. They were at a red light, and he was staring straight ahead. His face was expressionless as he gripped the steering wheel. There was no way to tell what he was thinking.After a moment, Xander replied on the other end of the line, "Well, it really depends on the person. You know our family—we're not snobs. So, whether your future partner is poor or ugly, as long as you like them, I won't oppose it. But there's one thing to remember: he must have good character and absolutely cannot have the last name Holt!"Xander's last words made Jessamine uneasy. She was just about to bring up Thaddeus, but Xander's firm tone made her swallow her words.So, she decided to hold off on mentioning Thaddeus for now. Instead, she thought it would be better to let the Pattons get to know him more before making any further moves."Okay, Xander. Layla's sleepy, so
Jessamine wiped Thaddeus' forehead with her hand. "Are you feeling unwell?"Thaddeus held back. It had been a while since his last episode, and he had almost thought he was cured. He worked hard to calm himself."I'm okay."Jessamine could feel his body tensing up, and her waist started to hurt from how tightly he was holding her."Are you really okay? Do you want to lie down for a bit?" she asked. Thaddeus' forehead was coated with sweat. He rested his chin on her shoulder, his cheek on hers.After a few seconds, he suddenly let go of Jessamine and sprung up. He rushed to the bathroom, where he started to vomit violently.Jessamine hurried to him worriedly."What's going on with you, Thaddeus?"After vomiting, Thaddeus felt a little better. He reacted badly this time, possibly because he had neglected to take his medication recently. He thought that having her by his side would make his psychological issues go away, but it seemed that the problems were still recurring.
Thaddeus felt better now. At least his stomach wasn't upset anymore. He knew seeing him like this would have frightened Jessamine, and he somewhat regretted letting her witness it.The medication was both a remedy and a reflection of his struggles over the past few years.He wanted to win her back but didn't intend to use those medicine bottles to gain sympathy.What he wanted was pure love, one without other things like sympathy or pity.Thaddeus took a bottle from the pile of medicine and said with a calm expression, "I only need this one. Please throw the others away for me. I stopped taking those a long time ago."Jessamine clenched her fists, trying hard to calm herself down."So, you have been taking these medications for the past few years?"She picked up the bottle to check the production dates. They were all produced this year, which meant he had been using these at least for the current year.She couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.Thaddeus smiled bitterly. "
“Okay, I'll buy some vegetables.”Thaddeus handed Jessamine his phone."Use my phone to make the purchase."Jessamine left her phone in the living room, so she thought she could just use his phone to shop. She sat on the edge of the bed. He had already opened the grocery shopping app on the phone for her to choose what she wanted.Jessamine tapped and swiped on the screen, ordering the kids’ and his favorite food. When it came time to check out, she handed him his phone.She said, "Enter the password."Thaddeus lay still. "Don't you know the password?"Jessamine was taken aback for a moment. She knew the password, but she didn't want to enter it. He might let his guard down, but everyone needed their own personal space.She knew where to draw the lines. Be it when they were married or now when they were trying to rekindle their relationship, it never crossed her mind to invade his privacy. She insisted on handing him the phone. "You should enter it."Thaddeus raised an eyebr
In the evening, Jessamine cooked; it was her first time taking charge of the kitchen in this house.While lying in bed, Thaddeus kept himself busy with his computer, planning his work schedule. Since Jessamine would be taking the two kids back to Hajera for the weekend, he needed to plan his upcoming tasks, prioritizing the urgent ones and scheduling the less pressing ones for later.He definitely planned to go to Hajera with them.As Thomas mentioned, they would gradually start to focus more on their business in Hajera. Jessamine prepared a few dishes and set them on the table. Thaddeus was still in a remote meeting. Despite it being the weekend, the core management team at the company wasn't idle—they were all called in by him.Jessamine called out for a long time without getting a response, so she went directly to the bedroom to find him."Do you want me to bring the food to the bedroom for you?"Jessamine knew about his odd habit of only eating at the dining table. She only
Thaddeus was dumbfounded. Why hadn't he considered using blood types to eliminate the possibility first?"My dad has type O blood."Jessamine's stroked his Adam's apple softly and deliberately. "My mom has type B blood, and I have type AB blood. Do you think it's possible that we could be long-lost siblings?"Thaddeus thought for some time and couldn't help but burst out in hearty laughter. It was impossible for someone with type B blood and someone with type O blood to have a child with AB type blood. What was he worrying about?At that moment, he couldn't believe how foolish he'd been. Biology was his best subject in school, yet he didn't think about this until Jessamine reminded him. His biology teacher would be furious if they knew."Why didn't you say so earlier, Jessie?" He regretted not talking to her about it sooner and ended up suffering in prolonged silence by himself.After Jessamine got bored touching his Adam's apple, she started playing with his rough chin. "I just
Jessamine lay still for a long time, aware that Thaddeus was also awake, battling insomnia just like her.This visit to Zenville to solve one mystery ended up bringing her an even bigger one.The gathering took place years ago in the restaurant owned by Benji's family. She had even asked Benji about it. The surveillance footage from over 20 years ago wouldn't be around now, and even the staff had changed several times. The restaurant's manager from back then had left the job many years ago.It wasn't easy to uncover the truth from back then unless they found the people who were directly involved. The closer they got to the truth, the more pressure she felt.By investigating this matter now, she was essentially peeling back the layers that had been hiding a much deeper issue. As she confronted the dark side of human nature, the ultimate victim ended up being her beloved mother.If Jessamine didn't look into this matter, she felt like she would be letting Elizabeth down. She wanted
Thaddeus frowned immensely at his request. "Don't be ridiculous!""I'm serious. You could help me rent one too. You know, the kind that charges by the day. I'll fool my dad first. We'll deal with everything else once he gets better," Benji said.Thaddeus cursed inwardly, "Dude, don't drag me into this, especially with my wife watching. It sounds like you're implying I have ways to get or rent women."Thaddeus glanced back at Jessamine and said, "I don't know about this. You should ask someone else. If you're at your wits end, go ask one of the assistants in your company to help you out."Benji seemed to come to a realization. He said, "It's getting late. You all should go back and rest. There are doctors here. I'll stay and keep watch."Jessamine asked, "Can you handle this on your own, Mr. Moore?""Sure, thank you… all of you," Benji replied.After saying a few more words of comfort, Jessamine and Thaddeus went downstairs to the car. Thaddeus' phone started ringing again."Mr.
Maya also knelt by the bed and started crying."Dad, don't speak for now. Please be okay."Benji zoned out. Seeing Carmen and Maya crying, his mind was in a mess. He realized that he couldn't continue to live aimlessly—his family needed him now."A girlfriend, a girlfriend..." he mumbled, not even sure of what he was saying.The doctor hurried to the room upon hearing the call, checked on Jonathan again, and then sent the family away."The patient needs rest and should avoid additional emotional stress. You all can wait outside for now. There's no need for everyone to be here, one would be enough. The room can be stuffy if there's too many people here, too."They then left the room. Benji was holding the X-ray images of Jonathan's brain, but he couldn't make any sense of it. He felt completely lost.Shane quietly slipped away from the crowd after watching from afar. He went to an empty hallway and called his father. "Dad, are you free to analyze some X-ray images? It's for a fri
Benji had always lived a smooth and pleasant life. It hit him hard after hearing what the doctor said, leaving him in a state of shock and bewilderment."Mom, hasn't Dad always been in good health? How did he suddenly..."Carmen's eyes were red and swollen from crying."He mentioned feeling dizzy a few times recently and said he'd go for a check-up but actually never did. Plus, he's been swamped with work lately and hasn't got any time. Today, he suddenly fainted at the office. His assistant called an ambulance right away and brought him to the hospital. By the time I got the call, he was already being examined inside."Benji's face turned pale. With Jonathan down, the burden of supporting his family fell on him. He had been free from responsibility for the past 20 years, and now, suddenly having to shoulder this heavy load, he felt completely lost.His father had been asking him to get familiar with the company's operations a long time ago. However, he was too lazy to bother abou
Benji never had any grand ambitions. From the day he was born, people always told him that he didn't need to worry about anything since most problems in this world could be solved with money, and his family had plenty of it. He just wanted to drift through life."I don't need to surpass him. As long as I can cover my daily expenses and not have to ask him for money, that's enough," Benji replied.As they were talking, Shane had prepared a table full of dishes. He set out four sets of plates and cutleries before calling everyone over to eat. "It's time to eat."The four of them hadn't seen each other in a long time, so they had to have a drink.Jessamine looked at the beautifully prepared dishes on the table and couldn't help but offer a compliment. "Shane, your cooking skills have gotten so good."Shane opened a bottle of red wine and poured some for everyone. "What can I do? There's a glutton at home."Benji was not happy with Shane's comment. What did he mean by saying there wa
"It's great that you came by today, Jessie. I'll pay you back the money. Friends who are willing to lend money these days are rare, so I want to thank you again," Benji said.He hadn't repaid the money he borrowed last time yet. Coincidentally, he received some money today, so he decided to settle the debt in person. With that, he picked up his phone to make the transfer.Jessamine's phone chimed, indicating that a payment had been received. The amount was a bit more than what she had lent out."Mr. Moore, I'm not here to ask you to settle your debt. You can keep it for now. I won't need the money for the time being," Jessamine said."If one borrows and returns promptly, borrowing again won't be difficult. You're much easier to talk to than Thaddeus. Despite knowing him for so many years, borrowing money from him is such a hassle. You saw it last time yourself. That scoundrel's attitude was terrible!" Benji complained.At this point in the conversation, Thaddeus happened to arrive
Thaddeus tightened his grip on Jessamine's slender waist. "What am I going to do with you, Jessie?"He thought to himself that if things really were just that coincidental, he would rather play the fool and pretend to know nothing at all. He just couldn't leave her.Jessamine asked softly, "How about you ask your dad?"Thaddeus paused for a moment and took out his phone to call Corey. He couldn't calm his mind at all.After a few seconds of hearing the dial tone, the call was answered."Dad," Thaddeus said.On the other end of the phone, Corey was about to go to sleep. He had been adjusting his routine lately, aiming to go to bed early and wake up early."What’s up?" Corey asked."Do you remember the gathering over 20 years ago with Mr. Hardy, Jacob Langston, Leon Lincoln, Paxton Loomis, and a few others?"After that, Thaddeus added, "That night, a beautiful woman came over. She drank some alcohol and was drugged."There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the ph
On the other side, Jessamine and Thaddeus got into the car.Jessamine and Beatrice were quite familiar with each other. However, it was Jessamine's first time meeting Sabastian. Surprisingly, she had a pretty good impression of him."Do the Hardy and Holt families have business dealings with each other?"Thaddeus drove as he answered her question, "We don't have much interaction. We would occasionally invest in small projects and conduct some charity work in Zenville together."Mr. Hardy is an upright and trustworthy person. He has a good relationship with Grandpa. Hayden would often come to my house with him when I was young."Jessamine paused for a moment and asked, "Does he have a wife?""Hayden's mother passed away from an amniotic fluid embolism during childbirth. Since then, Mr. Hardy has remained single and never remarried."Jessamine was deeply moved. In this era, who would remain loyal for a lifetime to their deceased wives? Most men like Sabastian, who had both power a