As Tatiana settled onto the couch, she noticed Maxim skillfully peeling fruit from the bowl and handing it to her. "Since you haven't eaten, just have a little fruit to tide you over. We don't want your stomach to hurt later." "Understood." As Tatiana munched on the fruit, she felt a mix of emotions that she couldn't quite put into words, but it was nice. Watching this scene from the side, Jamie felt a bit out of place. He had come over hoping for a meal, not to witness thislovey-dovey moment. Seeing Tatiana enjoy the fruit made his own stomach grumble, so he reluctantly grabbed some fruit for himself and started peeling it. This is too much; I won’t come here for free meals again. As he ate the fruit he had peeled, Jamie thought to himself. Once he finished, Jamie picked up his phone and started scrolling through Weibo. He stumbled upon a post from Bubble and, after glancing at the comments below, he instantly felt anger rising within him. "What is wrong with th
With that thought in mind, Tatiana curiously asked, "This isn't the impression I got from what I saw online." Seeing the expression on Tatiana's face, Maxim knew what she was thinking. To be honest, when he first heard her comment, it did make him feel a bit uncomfortable, but it was only for a fleeting moment. Seeing the puzzled expression on Tatiana's face, Maxim simply said, "Because I haven't won you over yet, I don't have the right to be angry." With that, before Tatiana could respond, Maxim had already walked quite a distance away. Why did she feel a slight discomfort upon hearing those words? While she was still pondering this, Maxim turned back to look at her and said, "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and come over; it's time to sleep." "I'm coming," Tatiana replied, snapping back to reality and walking toward Maxim. Once they returned to the room, Tatiana took a shower. When she stepped out, she noticed that Maxim was nowhere to be found. It seemed he had gone
"Ding ding ding—" The sound jolted Tatiana out of her reverie. She glanced at the caller ID and saw the principal's name. What could the principal possibly want at this time? With that thought in mind, Tatiana picked up the phone. "Principal?" The principal on the other end sounded warm and friendly. "It's me." "Is there something you need to discuss at this late hour, Principal?" Hearing Taitana's question, the principal replied, "Yes, there is. We’re collaborating with a school in the neighboring city to exchange a few students. We’d like to send some of our students over to learn from them and vice versa. I wanted to ask if you have any recommendations." As soon as the principal finished speaking, Tatiana immediately thought of Tara. Given the recent concerns about someone coming to take her away, sending Tara to another place could provide her with some protection for a while. With that in mind, Tatiana continued, "I do have someone in mind, but I’d like to know
"Ah? Okay." If Maxim hadn't mentioned it, Tatiana would have almost forgotten about it. Remembering it now, she recalled that she had also discussed this with Declanyesterday. Thinking about this, Tatiana took out her phone and sent a message to Declan, asking him to retract the lawyer's letter from yesterday. However, she didn't expect Declan and his team to be so quick; they had already posted about the situation on the company's Weibo account. When Tatiana saw Declan's response, a look of frustration crossed her face. Maxim noticed her expression and asked, "What's wrong?" "I felt a bit annoyed when I saw those comments yesterday, so I sent the screenshots to Declan. I didn’t expect him to take action so quickly. Now I won’t need to ask him to handle it, otherwise, Anna would definitely connect me to the company in this mess." After thinking for a moment, Maxim replied, "Tatiana, the company has been a good partner of mine for a long time, and I have a great relation
“Why wouldn’t I care? Who brought her back? I told her to go there to learn, not to be a coward! What’s going on? It’s only been a few days since she left! What did she promise me? No doctors! This is what she deserves! How did I end up with a granddaughter like you? You’re bringing shame to our family!”As he spoke, Grandpa Landen was so furious that he almost went to hit Delany, but Kenzie stepped in to stop him.“Dad, what era are we living in? It’s not like it used to be. Besides, Delany is a girl, not a boy. She can’t handle that kind of hardship. I was the one who called her back; I couldn’t bear to see her suffering over there. I just can’t stand it! She’s my child!”As Kenzie said this, she looked at Delany lying on the couch, tears streaming down her face. She had initially disagreed with Delany wanting to become a police officer, but it was Lucien and Grandpa Landen who kept insisting, and only then did she reluctantly agree. She never expected it would turn out like this,
"Why are you thanking me? You call me sis, so of course, I’ll help you. Besides, I have some responsibility in this too. I should have kept a better eye on things. I won't let it happen again." After saying this, Tatiana glanced at the time and continued, "I need to tell my manager about this. I have some other matters to attend to, so I'll hang up now. Make sure to rest well.""Okay."As soon as the call ended, Tatiana received another call from Maxim."Maxim?”Tatiana was a bit puzzled. Maxim rarely called her, so she wondered what this was about.Maxim didn’t keep her in suspense for long. His cold voice came through the phone, "I've taken care of what you asked me about yesterday. I do have a studio under my name that you can use, but you still need to agree to what we discussed."Tatiana was surprised by how quickly Maxim acted. She paused for a second before replying, "Alright, I'll send you the studio fees later. As for what you mentioned, I agree. Jayden might be better off
What started as a joke, Tatiana never expected Maxim to actually agree to it. She was taken aback when he fell silent for a moment and finally replied with a soft "mm."His voice was barely audible, but since Tatiana was so close, she was shocked to hear Maxim's agreement. She worried she might have misheard, so she asked again, "Did you just say yes?""Yeah, if I have time, let's go check it out together."Now convinced she hadn’t misheard, she added, "But if you don’t want to, you really don’t have to. There’s no need to put yourself in an awkward position."Thinking Maxim was only agreeing because of her comment, Tatiana felt the need to clarify. To her surprise, Maxim looked at her, leaned in closer, and said earnestly, "I’m definitely going because of you. I also want to see what your brother looks like."That last statement struck Tatiana as the main point. She couldn't help but laugh, realizing it was for that reason. She looked at Maxim with a teasing glint in her eyes an
After thinking it over, the old man happily agreed in the end.So, after hanging up the phone, Tatiana hurried back to her grandfather."Grandpa!"From a distance at the door, Tatiana spotted her grandfather and walked over to him."My dear Tatiana" he said, embracing her for a moment before they headed inside the house.After having lunch together, her grandfather went for a nap.When he woke up, he asked, "Can you play chess?""I know a little. Do you want to play, Grandpa?"Tatiana was surprised to learn that her grandfather could play chess. After he nodded, she agreed to play a game with him.However—"I lost again."The old man chuckled helplessly and said, "Tatiana, your chess skills are impressive! I had no idea you learned to play. When did you sneak off to practice behind my back?""I just watched a few games out of boredom, that's all. I can win only because of luck and maybe because you’ve been going easy on me.""Alright, let's play another round.”As the two continued th
As she walked toward the body, Tatiana replied, "Exactly. This time, the person he's imitating just happens to be a cannibal."As she spoke, Tatiana looked at the corpse on the autopsy table. The body was almost unrecognizable; aside from the flesh that had been cut away, she could hardly see what the person's face looked like."Have we figured out who this person is? Did someone come to report it today?" she asked."It's an elderly man who discovered it while passing by that alley. We're still investigating who this woman is, but we should have results by this afternoon at the latest," Vance said, moving closer to Tatiana."Can you tell who the imitator is yet?" he asked."There are many famous cannibals in the world. I'm still looking into it," Tatiana replied.Using a specialized tool, Tatiana flipped the body over and examined it closely. "Dismembered, raped, and partially eaten," she noted grimly.She looked at Vance and murmured, "Many of these twisted cannibals operate this wa
Asking herself this question wouldn’t yield any answers. After half an hour of lost thoughts, she couldn’t fight off the sleepiness any longer and slowly drifted off.The next day, Tatiana still had her mind on last night. She intentionally stayed in bed late before finally heading to the living room, thinking that by now, Maxim must have already retreated to his study to focus on his work.However, to her surprise, as soon as she stepped out, she found Maxim sitting in the living room. She was taken aback. "What are you doing in the living room? Shouldn't you be working in the study at this hour?"Perhaps Tatiana's tone was too filled with surprise and confusion, as Maxim glancedat her and kindly reminded her, "Did you forget that my work on that project is already done?"Hearing this, Tatiana finally remembered that Maxim had indeed completed his work earlier. She slapped her forehead, cursing herself inwardly for her poor memory. How could she forget something like that?Althou
Feeling the sting, Tatiana finally snapped back to reality. She rubbed her forehead and looked at Maxim, saying, “Why did you flick me?” “Who told you to zone out? Do you remember what I just said to you?” Maxim didn’t need to guess that she hadn’t been paying attention, so he reluctantly repeated himself. To his surprise, Tatiana replied, “I was talking to you, but you didn’t hear me. You were busy chopping vegetables, and I was worried you’d cut yourself, so I didn’t want to distract you. I just wanted to help, but I didn’t realize the water was hot and ended up burning myself.” After saying that, she felt like she had only added to Maxim’s troubles. With a pout, she said, “Fine, I’ll just leave you to it. Take your time.” With that, Tatum waved her little hand and walked away. Watching her retreating figure, Maxim couldn’t help but feel helpless. He lowered his head and continued chopping vegetables, but the love in his eyes and the smile at the corners of his mouth
While Tatiana was absorbed in the movie, she didn’t notice that Maxim, who had previously worn a serious expression, broke into a smile the moment he felt her lean closer. The film was a classic, and as it wrapped up, Tatiana finished the last of the fruit on the platter. The softness of the couch made Tatiana reluctant to move, so she just stayed seated. "Are you not getting up? Do you plan to skip dinner tonight?" Maxim asked, looking at the person still lounging on the couch with irritation. "Um..." Tatiana's originally cool tone took on a sweet, childlike quality due to her lazy demeanor, and Maxim found himself surrendering. With no other choice, Maxim said, "Alright, if you want to keep sitting, then go ahead. Do you need any fruit?" "Yes, please." Handing the fruit platter to Maxim, Tatiana looked up and smiled at him. After Tatiana finished a small plate of fruit, Maxim insisted on taking her to the supermarket. The two of them pushed a shopping cart together.
While Tatiana was absorbed in the movie, she didn’t notice that Maxim, who had previously worn a serious expression, broke into a smile the moment he felt her lean closer.The film was a classic, and as it wrapped up, Tatiana finished the last of the fruit on the platter.The softness of the couch made Tatiana reluctant to move, so she just stayed seated."Are you not getting up? Do you plan to skip dinner tonight?" Maxim asked, looking at the person still lounging on the couch with irritation."Um..." Tatiana's originally cool tone took on a sweet, childlike quality due to her lazy demeanor, and Maxim found himself surrendering.With no other choice, Maxim said, "Alright, if you want to keep sitting, then go ahead. Do you need any fruit?""Yes, please." Handing the fruit platter to Maxim, Tatiana looked up and smiled at him.After Tatiana finished a small plate of fruit, Maxim insisted on taking her to the supermarket.The two of them pushed a shopping cart together. Looking at the
"I have a high tolerance for you, but I also hope you won't keep showcasing your limited intelligence in front of me. It only makes me look down on you more, and it’s utterly pointless."With that, Tatiana turned on her heel and walked away, not bothering to glance back at Delany. There was really nothing more to say to someone like her.As Tatiana walked down the street, she initially planned to head home. However, she remembered Tara and realized she hadn’t seen her in the hospital earlier. She took out her phone and sent Tara a message. It didn’t take long for Tara to reply, confirming that she was back at school and not in class. Tatiana decided she would go visit her. Tara was happy to hear that.Putting her phone away, Tatiana hailed a taxi and headed over.Meanwhile, Tara had just finished her meal and put down her empty plate. She left the cafeteria, planning to wait in a small garden behind the school for the hot pot delivery to arrive.Just before Tatiana arrived, Tara s
Vance was taken aback by Tatiana's words. The Tatiana he knew always seemed aloof, quiet, and regal, but hearing her comfort Emily made him realize she wasn't the person he had imagined.Tatiana, however, was too focused on the girl in front of her to notice Vance's daze. As Emily began to lower her guard, Tatiana smiled warmly."What's your name?" she asked kindly.Emily looked at Tatiana's face, shyly smiled,and replied, "I'm Emily, just an ordinary sophomore here. I know the girl who saved me; her name is Tara. She just came to our school not long ago. Funny enough, we're from the same city. I went to high school there too, but I ended up here for college after the entrance exams."Emily had initially thought Tara had always studied in that city, not realizing she had moved there for college. But she felt there was no need to explain that. Instead, she asked, "So, your parents don’t know about what happened? I haven’t seen them come to check on you."When the topic of parents cam
As Tatiana read about his background, she learned that he had a very reclusive and troubled adolescence, suffering from various illnesses and often being abused by his mother. Even after marrying and having children, he was plagued by depression, which eventually led him to commit his first murder.From there, the list of victims continued to grow. As Tatiana read through the details of how the killer had murdered these individuals, she looked down at the case file in her hands. She was now certain that this murderer was mimicking Luca's methods—specifically, the pattern of rape andmurder.However, Luca had truly developed a mental illness due to his sickness. As Tatiana looked at the photos related to the case, she couldn't determine if this murderer was indeed him. It seemed like a highly skilled impersonator; so far, there had been no details discovered about the actual person involved—everything pointed to Andre. At this rate, it felt utterly useless.Putting down the case in
As she pondered this, Tatiana thought about what it would mean if she chose to help them. She would be working alongside Vance. However, it was clear that the higher-ups wanted Delany to stick with Mason too. Tatiana didn’t like the idea of having someone she didn’t get along with hovering around her. With that thought in mind, she decided to call someone on her phone, hoping to have Delany reassigned to another location for a while. It wouldn’t hurt to make that change.Once she settled her thoughts, Tatiana finally focused on the heavy case file in her hands.The next day, Tatiana called Vance to let him know she would be stopping by in the afternoon. The reason for the afternoon visit was simple: she had a meeting with Maxim in the morning to sign contracts with a company. It seemed everything was progressing smoothly.However, when she saw John walk in, her brows furrowed in confusion. She couldn't understand why he was here at this time.Maxim was clearly a bit surprised,