Xyla Quest’s cheeks turned pink instantaneously. “Gosh, it’s not what you’re thinking. I didn’t mean you’re lame in that way…”“What do you mean then?”“It’s just not what you’re thinking…”“Well… I’ll let you know if I’m lame or not, right now.”Xyla was on the verge of tears. She had just recovered from the exhaustion from last night, but her limbs were drained of all energy again now. She weakly lifted her head and caught a glimpse of the clock. It was almost noon. He was a real pain in the neck!!!“Stanley Batton… I warn you not to do this anymore.” Xyla got up from the bed while complaining. Stanley grinned mischievously and sat up. Extending his arm, he pulled her into his embrace once more and gently kissed her forehead. “Okay, I’ll control myself next time.” Upon hearing that, Xyla knew that he was trying to brush her off again!Xyla glanced at him, coldly before putting on a white camisole dress and heading to the bathroom. Stanley simply wrapped a towel arou
She did not know when it started, but Stanley Batton would always be the one preparing the meals as long as they were at home. He would also wash the dishes after they had their meals and did all the other household chores. Everything was contrary to what they had agreed to when they first moved into this house. In the past, both of them would divide the chores equally. However, the situation had changed as time crept by. He was now in charge of all the heavy work. The man seemed to be accustomed to their current lifestyle too. He would automatically settle everything for his girl, spoiling her like a little princess. Xyla Quest had also gotten used to it. She was used to being pampered by him every day. She was used to having her man to take charge of all the household chores.No matter how tough the real world was, she would always be his baby girl in this house. Whenever she returned to their home, he would welcome her with his warm embrace. Likewise, no matter
“Yes… I love you to death, Xyla…” Stanley Batton answered truthfully. His eyes were brimmed with strong possessiveness as he spoke. They were like dangerous cheetahs locking upon their prey.“I only had an armor back then, and I’m not afraid of anything. However, your appearance has given me a soft spot…” Stanley held her hand with a serious expression etched on his face. His one short sentence had touched Xyla Quest’s heart. She could feel a prickly feeling at the tip of her nose as she met his eyes. “In the past, many people tried to attack me, but they didn’t know how to do it. Now that I have you, it’s not going to be the same anymore. If they take you away from me, I will risk my life to snatch you back,” Stanley continued. Xyla’s eyes were rimmed red upon hearing his sincere confession. To Stanley, she was more important than his life. “I love you very, very, very much too…” Xyla sobbed. “I know. Let’s eat. The noodles are getting cold.” Stanley pinched her cheeks
“It’s Tang Bohu’s painting. Xyla told me that you love to collect antique calligraphy and paintings, especially Tang Bohu’s artworks.” Jeremy Quest responded. A smile blossomed on Wilson Batton’s face when he heard his favorite painter’s name. Without further ado, he unfolded the handscroll in front of everyone. This beautiful painting was a collection that he had longed for. Unfortunately, he was late to the auction last time. As a result, someone else had taken away this painting for twenty million dollars. He could not believe that Jeremy was actually that ‘someone else’. “Aye! Thank you so much, Jeremy!” Wilson held the painting joyfully and admired it with all his heart. He looked very much like a little girl encountering her beloved idol in real life. Xyla Quest understood why her father was willing to give Wilson his favorite painting of all time.The Batton family had given her family many valuable gifts. Hence, he wanted to return something of the same value to
The elders of the Batton family managed to mostly maintain a serene and courteous front despite their shock. They returned Emily Quest a polite nod. Nonetheless, the rest of them remained indifferent toward her arrival. The same was true for Josh Batton, who was usually friendly and humble. Emily did not care what the others thought about her. She only cared about her beloved idol’s reaction. From the second she opened the door, her eyes were able to perfectly capture all the subtle changes in Josh’s expression. He resented her. She clearly knew that it was because of Xyla Quest. Initially, she thought that Josh liked Xyla.Only today she had learned that Josh was one of the sons of the Batton family. He was Stanley Batton’s sixth brother. All the tenderness and intimacy that Josh had for Xyla were simply because they were family. However, even so, she was still jealous of Xyla. “Can I have your autograph later? I’m a big fan of yours…” Emily asked nervously. “
As long as Xyla Quest was there, Emily Quest would definitely be the forgotten one. Xyla was a diamond shining in the dark. She was dazzling enough to overshadow the people around her, and this included Emily. Even when they were kids, she had always lived in Xyla’s shadow. She was fed up with it. Seeing that Stanley had already poured the wine for Xyla, Josh Batton did not say anything else and continued eating. From time to time, he would reach over to refill Catherine’s plate. Catherine kept her head down the whole time, focusing on her dinner. She did not even bother to look at Emily.“Wilson, Sharon, Xyla told me that you have four other children besides Stan, Josh, and Catherine. Is that true?” May Conner tried to switch the subject again to keep Emily from being embarrassed.“Yes.” Sharon Lindt was not interested in talking with May. “I’ll introduce them to you next time. The four of them are currently abroad. They’re pretty busy, so they rarely come back,” Wilson Ba
To prevent the Sullivan family from getting suspicious of her, Emily Quest would make sure that she was home by eleven o’clock when she met up with the other men at night. She would then lie to the Sullivan family that she had a bad day, so she wanted to go for a walk. They did not care about her, anyway. None of them care about how she felt or where she went. If she hung out with the other men during the daytime, she would tell them she wanted to go shopping, or she needed to take medicine from the hospital. In short, there were a bunch of excuses that she could use. She usually would have fun longer during the daytime. There were times when she constantly pestered them for the whole afternoon. Occasionally, she would also hang out with two or three men at once. Initially, Emily did not plan to find any men tonight, but her heart was burning again after seeing Josh. She had to find a place to vent. ***While Emily was entangled with a young man in bed, Xyla Quest was
She could have slept through the entire day if it was not for the call. She and Stanley Batton had just fallen asleep at dawn. Exhaustion pulsed through her veins the moment she opened her eyes. Her sleep-deprived brain was going in circles, and her limbs were all numb. Using her last bit of energy, she reached for her phone on the bedside table and stole a glance at the time before answering the call. “Boss? I thought we were going to have lunch together at the base before training? Why aren’t you here yet? The food is ready, and we’re all waiting for you.” Team QPG’s president, Michael Gabriel’s voice rang in her right ear, shaking her out of her drowsiness. Only then did Xyla Quest remember that she had indeed promised her team members that she would go over for lunch with them before starting the training this afternoon.In the end, because of Stanley…She turned around and glowered at the culprit, who was currently sleeping with his back to her. Furious with his inco
Xyla quickly reached for Hannah’s hand. “Is that right? Hannah, you’re amazing…! You’re practically on par with Leon!”Hannah laughed, slightly embarrassed. “Not at all.”“Oh, cut it out. If you hadn’t helped me, how could I have improved so quickly?” Leon chuckled.“I guess I’ve lived up to my promise.” Hannah giggled along.Back then, she had promised Leon that she would become someone deserving of him.She claimed that she would grow with Leon.Without a doubt, she had done it.Now, Hannah had become a successful woman many would often speak of. She earned her rightful seat next to Leon as the CEO of Dragon Group.Stanley also turned to look at Hannah. “Yes, Hannah’s very capable. She’s our family pride.”Hannah laughed. “I was lucky to be accepted by your family.”In fact, Hannah genuinely felt grateful toward the Batton family over the years she had spent with them.They had helped her through all the hardship she encountered when she was poor and down on her luck.Aft
“Hannah, I’ve taken the first step for you. Are you willing to walk by my side for the rest of our lives?” Leon asked, serious.“Yes, I am…” Hannah answered without missing a beat.“I’ll protect you. From now on, you don’t have to worry about a single thing.” With that, Leon placed both hands on Hannah’s face and kissed her on the lips.The moment their lips touched, everything felt surreal…Hannah could feel pink, light bubbles floating all around her. It felt as if all the flowers in the world were blossoming at once.In Hannah’s dark, depressing life, Leon was her only salvation.He was a ray of hope that led her out of hell, so she could see light once more.Hannah thought she would never have anything to do with Leon after she quit school.Even until now, she still remembered how sorrowful she was on her last day of school.But now… Not only did she get the opportunity to interact with him once more, but they also became a couple.Their driver sighed to himself while
Over time, Leon’s feelings for Hannah grew deeper, stronger, and more intense.He had grown used to having her with him all the time.Thus, he hoped she would stay by his side for the rest of his life.Upon hearing his words, Hannah’s mind went blank.What did her dream guy just say?Was she dreaming?Hannah quickly pinched her palm at the thought in an attempt to discern between dream and reality.Her palm hurt. That meant this wasn’t a dream. It was real!Hannah felt even more dumbfounded…This meant Leon actually liked her! He was confessing to her, wasn’t he?Did her dream guy actually reciprocate her feelings?Never in her wildest dreams did Hannah imagine she would go through such an experience.Excitement jammed her mind, so much that she was rendered speechless. There were many things she wanted to say, and yet, she couldn’t utter a single word.Her heartbeat increased rapidly, and her entire body began to shake. Sensing her trembling body, Leon tightened his e
Immediately after, the men in black pulled out guns from their pockets, which they aimed at Raymond’s head.Raymond panicked instantly, going pale.He subconsciously retreated a step back. “Who are you? Don’t you know what you’re doing is illegal?”Leon sneered. “You don’t deserve to know my name. In this city, I am the law.”Leon’s domineering words made him seem even more imposing.At this moment, Hannah felt as if he was a guardian angel sent from Heaven to protect her.Something about him seemed oddly sacred and heavenly.“Mr. Batton, do I shoot him in the head?” One of the men dressed in black asked.“Mr. Batton? Are you Stanley Batton’s son?!” Fear was beginning to spread through Raymond. For one to have Batton as his surname and act this arrogantly in Atlantis, he could be none other than a member of the renowned Batton family.“How dare you address our president by name?!” Another man in black leveled Raymond with a chilling glare.Suffice to say, Raymond was terrif
Terrible pain ached at every part of Hannah’s body as she collided with the cold, hard ground.The pain was such that all her bones felt close to breaking. Everywhere hurt badly.At that moment, Hannah felt like a fragile doll made of clay that had been forcefully slammed hard against the ground until it broke into small pieces.Her mind went blank from the stinging agony.She braced herself and looked at the cold eyes staring back at her, filled with terror. Stammering, she asked, “Mr. Gray… What is the meaning of this?” “What’s the meaning of this? Ha! Don’t you know what’s good for you? You dumb b*tch… You’re lucky that I set my sights on you!”“How dare you refuse my feelings! Not just that, but you even made up a story to deceive me!”“Even when you saw me, you tried to trick me again!”“Do you think I’m stupid? That I can’t think? Do you honestly think I’d fall for your lies again and again?” Raymond went, his tone steadily rising into a furious roar.He then got on o
Although the sun had long sunk beneath the horizons and darkness had set in, the lively city wasn’t about to be silent anytime soon. Hannah felt deeply unsettled, so much that she didn’t leave right away.Instead, she waited in front of the bar, filled with hesitance and anxiety.Should she really leave?Would Rihanna truly be able to sort things out?The man was Raymond Gray… Neither Rihanna nor the bar could afford to upset him, lest they face terrible repercussions.Hannah remained standing on the same spot, uncertain. She really didn’t know what to do.Finally, she came to a decision. She took out her phone and tapped open a ride-hailing application on her phone.Yet just as she did that, she instantly closed it. Afterwards, she began pacing back and forth in worried circles, going to and fro aimlessly. Right as she was trapped in her worried musings, a group of people exited the bar. Raymond Gray, dressed in black, sporty attire, led all of them in a flamboyant manner.
A handsome waiter quickly walked in and looked at Rihanna. “Ms. Jensen, Mr. Gray out there insists that Hannah should get on stage to sing another song. I told him that Hannah would only sing three songs today…”“He lost his temper and claimed he’d destroy our bar if Hannah refuses to sing another song…” The waiter added. He was visibly trembling by the end of the sentence.Hannah figured Mr. Gray was probably the only son of the new mayor of Atlantis there weren’t many people with Gray as their surname in Atlantis. There were even less people who were arrogant like him. He was the only one.Hannah had heard about how terrible this person could be. He was known to be a womanizer too.Due to his powerful background, he looked down on everyone else. He didn’t respect women at all… Moreover, he had a relatively cruel personality. One could almost describe him as being a pervert.There was once when an owner of a bar offended a female internet celebrity he was dating. He directly hired
Hannah Roland smiled politely at Lina Cohen. “Nice to meet you… Thank you in advance!”“No problem… Do let me know if there’s anything you don’t like about your makeup too,” Lina said.Hannah nodded. “Okay, sure…”“By the way… Do all the signers here get such good treatment? I’m surprised we’re even assigned our own makeup artists,” Hannah asked carefully as she wasn’t aware about things like these..However, Lina smiled without answering Hannah’s question directly. She held Hannah’s hand casually the next second, “Come here. I’ll start doing your makeup now…”Hannah nodded…Lina was a very professional makeup artist. She took an hour to finish Hannah’s makeup.An hour later, Hannah’s appearance transformed completely.Lina permed Hannah’s long, black hair into natural-looking curls.Hannah had intricate peach-colored makeup on her face which made her appear lively and youthful.Once Lina was done with Hannah’s makeup, she happily retrieved a long, white dress from a clothes
Hannah Roland smiled without saying anything.***Hannah arrived at the bar where she worked at seven o’clock the next evening and walked into Rihanna Jensen’s office.Rihanna was going through paperwork in her office. When she saw Hannah, she immediately stood up and smiled at her. “Hannah, you’re here…”“Here’s the contract…” Rihanna said before pushing a thick stack of paper to the center of the table.Hannah quickly stepped forward and skimmed through the document. She then picked up a pen and signed it…Rihanna smiled upon seeing this. “Okay… I’ll transfer the money into your account tonight… I’ve told our big boss about your situation. He’s fine with my decision to pay your salary in advance. In fact, he even told me I did a good job…”“He said you can sing without worrying about a single thing… If you need any help in the future, do let us know…” Rihanna added.Hannah felt glad when she heard this, and became teary-eyed. “Thank you… Please thank our big boss for me too.