Even though Liesel knew Jacob was forcing her, she couldn't easily erase her feelings for him after being together for three years.Her heart raced erratically, and she could feel his closeness. But she didn't dare to lift her head.Warm lips brushed against her temple, and Jacob's breath fanned her ear, sending heat flushing through her body. A shiver of goosebumps formed on her neck, and her limbs softened involuntarily.Liesel pushed weakly against his chest, but Jacob remained unmoved. Her voice trembled as she whispered, "Jacob, snap out of it."Jacob didn't move. His lips grazed her skin as he murmured, "It's hot..."Liesel bit down hard on her lip. Her body trembled like a leaf. She was genuinely scared.Jacob could sense her slight resistance. His scent wrapped around her like a heavy blanket."Liesel..." His voice was husky and laced with desire.Liesel's eyes reddened as she heard him whispering her name with a painful clarity."If you know I'm Liesel, then you know
Liesel loved him so much, so why was she running away?Because she couldn't continue like this. Even though she desperately wanted to lose herself in Jacob, there was still the matter of the ill-timed child growing inside her.With Jacob acting so wildly, she was truly afraid something might go wrong."Jacob, I'm not the one you love."Jacob narrowed his eyes. "But I want you."After three years, their bodies were already so familiar with one another. Just like she couldn't resist him, Jacob desired her too. Their skin pressed together, and even without going further, their bodies were already responding with pleasure.Although he knew they were divorced, some part of him still told him that Liesel was his and only his.This time, without waiting for Liesel to answer, Jacob forced another kiss on her and tied her wrists to stop her struggles.The intensity of the night stretched on until the early morning hours.Jacob had thoroughly fulfilled his desires. He left Liesel lying
"You're in the mood, aren't you?"Liesel crossed her arms and looked at Elijah, who stretched lazily. He didn't seem all that alert. She added, "Don't tell me you stayed up all night waiting for me. I wouldn't believe that for a second."Elijah tilted his head slightly. There was a document box inside the car. The top file was marked with his notes. He had only recently taken over the Hardin family business and still had a lot to learn."You know me too well," Elijah replied while drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He had been here going over documents and waiting for Liesel, it seemed.His face softened into a smile, but just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of the exposed faint marks on her neck out of the corner of his eye.He could sense her unease and, after a brief moment of thought, understood why.Elijah discreetly looked away while maintaining his smile. He changed the subject. "You wanted to watch the sunrise, right? I know the perfect spot. Let me tak
Liesel had left Ford Manor not long ago, and this was Elijah's secret hideout. How had Jacob found her so quickly? If he hadn't spied on her, then what else could it be?Liesel's eyes darkened as the thought took root.No. Perhaps there was a tracker planted on her all along. And the only thing that could hold a tracker and that she carried with her regularly... was her phone.Liesel pulled out her phone and looked Jacob in the eyes. "The tracker is in here, isn't it?"While Jacob remained silent, Elijah smiled as he took the phone from Liesel. He asked, "Ms. Sharp, would you mind if I disassembled your phone?"Liesel shook her head and handed it over.With quick, practiced movements, Elijah disassembled the phone. Sure enough, there was a tracking device inside. He removed it, weighed it lightly in his hand, and toyed with it."It's a two-year-old brand. Looks like this tracker has been in here for quite some time."Elijah's smile lingered, but it was laced with coldness. "Mr.
Denzel's hands were elegant, with neatly trimmed nails and distinct knuckles. He moved with grace and poured tea into a glazed teacup. The delicate aroma of the tea quickly filled the room."I heard from Alex..."He looked up at Jacob and Liesel. Noticing the considerable distance between them, he couldn't help but smile. "Have you two gotten a divorce?"Liesel clenched her hands tightly. She said, "Our marriage was always more of a business arrangement. It was only a matter of time before we would part ways.""I see." Denzel sipped his tea with ease."Your decision is your own. I won't interfere, but I hope you don't regret it in the future."Denzel maintained a soft smile throughout. By the time he finished his cup of tea, he seemed to have shed the fatigue from earlier. "Ms. Sharp, let's go."Jacob was about to follow, but Denzel stopped him. "Jake, stay here. Since you two are divorced, you should keep some distance. I'll have a female doctor handle the examination. Once the
Liesel looked down, and her voice was barely audible when she said, "Actually, Jacob is also quite innocent. That night was truly an accident. He has done a lot for me by marrying me."On the first day of our marriage, he told me he had feelings for someone else and that we would eventually divorce." Denzel stared at her. "I understand Jake is innocent, but from the perspective of your marriage, everything he did as a husband was wrong. You're now carrying his child."Ms. Sharp, whether to keep the child or not is entirely your choice. You are the one who carries his child. You need to make a decision that you won't regret."Denzel was known for his deep aversion to wrongdoing. He had once acted impulsively, which led him to study psychology to calm himself.As the heir of the Johanson family, he was a genius physician capable of performing surgeries across various specialties. Even abroad, he had been involved in rescue missions and had helped many women give birth.He had wit
"Jake, my dad asked if Liesel was close to Elijah. He wants to discuss a collaboration with him."The mention of Elijah's name irritated Jacob. He replied indifferently, "What kind of collaboration could require your father to approach Elijah? Is Ford Corporation not on par with Hardin Group?""It's not that… My dad just doesn't want to bother you, Jake." Natalie sighed lightly and said, "Actually, Liesel should be close to Elijah, right?"Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken her to see fireworks and sunrise. He even targeted you, Jake," Natalie continued with a concerned look."I'm quite upset. Doesn't this seem like Liesel is cheating on you? I'm worried they might have been together before your divorce. Isn't this betrayal?"She pouted, appearing genuinely upset on Jacob's behalf."Are you angry for me?" Jacob asked. His gaze was cool.Natalie nodded vigorously as if she truly was upset.Jacob looked at the computer screen, where Liesel's medical examination report was displaye
"Ms. Sharp, you missed it yesterday. That new secretary, Natalie, made another mistake. This time, she messed up the decimal points on the financial report. Thankfully, our review was thorough enough to catch it; otherwise, that contract would have cost Ford Corporation a fortune."A secretary who had worked with Liesel before remarked when she saw Liesel entering the CEO's office. She was clearly not holding back her disdain for Natalie.She didn't address Natalie formally since Liesel shared the same surname, and it might sound like she was jeering at Liesel instead of Natalie."Exactly. She thinks everyone here has to clean up her mess. Ms. Sharp, you can't keep helping her out every time she makes a mistake," another secretary with glasses added with a hint of impatience."If she doesn't have the capability, she shouldn't be in that position. She's delusional to think she can match up to you. She's better off just sitting in the office and stamping papers."Those in the secret
"It's my fault. I'll definitely pay attention next time." Edward felt very guilty and sorry."So you want me to get hurt again?" Ophelia tugged on the silver chain around Edward's neck. Her eyes twinkled.She had bought this necklace for him when she was younger. She remembered that it had come with an oval locket, inside which she had inserted a photo of her getting hugged by him on her own accord.She couldn't really remember what the photo looked like anymore, but she had a rough idea. She had picked the photo that she thought she looked the best in.At the time, she had still been really young, but she had been inspired by a television show. She thought that by giving a family member or a lover a gift, they would always think of her whenever they looked at it.Kids were always naive like that. She thought that since he would think of her when he saw her gift anyway, she might as well put a picture of herself inside.Thus, the young Ophelia had picked out a silver necklace and
As if she could sense something, Ophelia looked up. Her indifferent gaze suddenly lit up, and her eyes curved as she smiled.Edward's throat tightened. At this moment, he didn't know whether to feel frustration or heartache.He had been a little late, and Ophelia had ended up getting bullied by a crazy old woman.Edward walked to her side and squeezed her hand gently. Ophelia had no intention of wasting her breath on Veronica. She was waiting for Edward to come and handle her.She pointed at Veronica and said straightforwardly, "She's bullying me."Without a second thought, she continued, "She accused me of bullying her daughter, Yvonne, which is why she came to stir up trouble."Edward frowned. The Ford family didn't have much of a partnership with the Zima family, and Edward had spent a few years studying abroad. The older generation never got to see him much, so Veronica naturally didn't recognize Edward as Matthew's adopted son.Thus, she just assumed that he was another For
"I'm not interested in getting revenge on a celebrity I used to be a fan of. If your daughter received any retribution, it's only because even God couldn't let it continue."If you have so much free time, it would benefit you more to come to church with me instead."Ophelia was about to walk off when Veronica leaped forward. She held onto Ophelia's leg again and refused to allow her to leave. "No, you can't walk away! Yvonne said that she doesn't have a future in the industry anymore after making you angry."You have to forgive her! Aren't you a fan? You can't just stop supporting her. You have to keep liking her. As the daughter of the Ford family, you can give her more opportunities, and she will definitely be able to rise again!" Veronica roared maniacally.Ophelia let out an exasperated chuckle. All of a sudden, she felt like the entire Zima family was full of lunatics.Unable to hold back anymore, she said angrily, "Yvonne has committed a crime. Do you think I'm moronic enoug
Understanding dawned on Ophelia's face. She seemed to have guessed the reason Veronica was here.She found the latter extremely ridiculous and disgusting."Yvonne Zima must be your daughter." Ophelia directly dropped Yvonne's full name. As soon as she uttered that, some of the spectator's expressions changed. Their eyes appeared disdainful and contemptuous as they regarded Veronica."What's the matter? What's the deal with Yvonne?" someone asked hurriedly when he noticed the shift in the others' expressions.A female student with glasses named Monica Stein was carrying a backpack with a Giselle keychain. Clearly, she was a hardcore fan of Giselle.Giselle was one of the women whom Yvonne had schemed against at the training camp. By chance, she was also this student's favorite celebrity.Monica immediately said, "What do you mean, what's the deal with Yvonne? If you don't know this story, then listen up."Yvonne is a manipulative bitch! During the filming of the variety show, it
"Shut up!" Ophelia yelled in a rage.She immediately asked the food truck owner to give her another cup of coffee before pouring it all over Veronica's calf. She was paying her back an eye for an eye.Agonized, Veronica swayed on her feet. Then, she collapsed onto the ground while gnashing her teeth in pain.Ophelia had been raised by none other than the demon himself, Edward. Since she was little, he would always stand in front of her to protect her. Ophelia knew better than anyone how he liked to deal with matters.After Edward left, she had picked up a few things from him. Naturally, she would never let herself get bullied by others."Give me a serving of fries, a taco, some churros, and a hotdog." Ophelia pointed at the menu items on the food truck and rattled on about her order to the owner, who was gaping at her.Ignoring the probing gazes of the people around her, she minded her own business and brought some fries to her mouth. Only then did she feel herself come back to l
Ophelia was so angry that she wanted to cuss at Edward. However, before she could even get mad, she heard Edward's disappointed voice. "Are you regretting this already?"Ophelia was dumbfounded. However, Edward continued slowly, "After giving it a lot of thought, you decided to abandon me. Is that it? I know I'm not good enough… I don't blame you…"Ophelia felt a headache coming on, but the anger had vanished. "No, I'm not thinking of abandoning you."The kiss yesterday had left her so excited that she hadn't slept a wink the entire night.She thought to herself, "If I don't set the record straight, Edward's going to overthink and paint me as a playgirl."She took a deep breath. "After you kissed me… I was really happy, so I only went to bed very late."Edward was obviously also caught off-guard. He hadn't expected to hear that. With delight in his eyes, he said, "I was also really happy that you let me kiss you."Ophelia hummed, and her face flushed red. "I'm really tired," she
Brandon didn't respond right away. Fred continued, "No one taught your mother and sister how to act appropriately in society. Mr. Ford is spending his precious time teaching them what to do and what not to do. Thus, they will have to suffer a bit for this."Mr. Zima, if you really want to help them, then just give your parents the bare minimum financial aid from time to time. As for your sister… you have no obligation to provide for her. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"Brandon couldn't accept it. "My sister's reputation in the industry isn't great right now. If I don't help her, then she really won't be able to survive. Mr. Ford is also an older brother. He should understand what I'm going through."Jacob loved Ophelia, and Brandon also naturally loved Yvonne. It was because of this that he wanted to try getting forgiveness from Ophelia.Fred raised his voice. "Ms. Ford is very warm and never treats people haughtily. She has never used her family background to bully oth
With a serious expression, Brandon rattled on about the various compensations for Ophelia. Fred nearly couldn't keep his facial expression under control.It seemed like everyone already knew that Ophelia was a huge fan of Chelsea's. It couldn't have been easy to think of such a compensation.The elevator arrived on the top floor, but Jacob still hadn't given his response. Therefore, Brandon hurried into his office behind Jacob and Fred. Finally, Jacob looked at him. "There is some sincerity to it."Firstly, a public apology to Ophelia on his company's Twitter account would clear her name. Secondly, the shares would be considered as financial compensation for the mental distress caused.The third form of compensation was the key point that convinced Jacob to look up. He thought that it was too difficult for Ophelia to fight for concert tickets and produce fan merchandise herself. Now that there was someone readily available to do it, Ophelia wouldn't have to work so hard.This pers
Jacob could really be heinous.Who wanted to listen to Veronica's blabbering?Most people thought that Tobey was sly, cold, and heartless. However, they didn't know that Jacob was the one who was truly wicked.In his youth, he had once been kidnapped because one of the medicines that the Ford family manufactured had threatened to undermine the profits of others. During that time, he'd suffered through endless torment.When he was rescued, his personality had turned ruthless.Although he could be monstrous, he placed great importance on his family and friends. And, Ophelia was his beloved little sister.How could he let Yvonne off the hook for scheming against Ophelia? He had to teach Yvonne that the world could be a harsh place.Not only was Yvonne stupid, but she was also very unfortunate.At first, Jacob could still tolerate how Yvonne had used Ophelia. He had just planned to give her a small taste of her medicine and stop there. However, Veronica had decided on her own accor