The whole process was perfectly shown on the big screen. Emily Quest was so shocked that she was at a loss for words. Once again, the crowd went haywire. “Oh my, that blueprint really has Lily’s signature on it. Emily is the one who plagiarized instead of Xyla, eh?”“Plagiarize? She’s stealing the design! How can she be so shameless? I can’t believe she was bragging about an unwanted design all this while.”“Covering up her misdeed by shifting the blame onto Xyla… She’s despicable. How can she accuse Xyla with her nose in the air when she’s a brat herself?”“She steals Lily’s unwanted design, competes with Lily herself, and boasts about Lily’s compliment to her. I’m absolutely appalled by her guts.”The employees rattled on, singling Emily’s wrongdoing out for criticism. Jeremy Quest’s face was clouded over instantaneously. He thought that Emily had turned over a new leaf, but she was as ridiculous as ever to his surprise. The truth was as clear as day. Xyla Quest rem
They stood in two rows near the entrance with their heads down respectfully. The crowd, which was ready to leave, was instantly glued to their seats. The group of men had successfully drawn their attention. On the stage, Xyla Quest and her father’s eyes were fixed upon the entrance too.Xyla recognized those black-clad men at first glance. They were Stanley Batton’s henchmen. Sunshine flooded her soul, and her heart leaped up for joy there and then. What was going on? Had Stanley returned to Atlantis?How did he manage to solve his problem in such a short period?In the very next second, Stanley marched into the hall under the crowd’s attention. He was wearing a black slim Armani suit with a black dress shirt inside. His slicked-back hair was simple yet cool, elegant yet extraordinary. There were countless people in the hall, but all of them were no match for him. He glowed effortlessly, overshadowing everyone around him. Soon, the man caught sight of his wife.Th
Finally, it rested beside Xyla Quest’s heels. Out of curiosity, Xyla picked up the velvet box and opened it carefully. What came into her sight was a delicate black bracelet. Xyla took a closer look at the beads of the bracelet. She was surprised to find out that they were not ordinary beads but tiny little stones. The stones were dark in color, and their surfaces were polished to a high gloss. It felt oddly excellent too. Pure curiosity was reflected in Xyla’s eyes. “What’s this?”“Didn’t you say that you wanted stars? I couldn’t find a nameable asteroid for the time being, so I bought a piece of Martian meteorite for you.“I made you a bracelet out of the meteorite. You can wear this for fun now, and I’ll get you a real star when a new asteroid is discovered.” As Stanley Batton explained, he took the bracelet from Xyla and put it around her wrist. The coolness of the stones flowed through her skin. Suddenly, that little bracelet seemed to weigh a thousand pounds on he
He had the most filial son-in-law ever, and he could never find a single flaw on him. After admiring the painting for quite some time, Jeremy Quest carefully rolled it up and placed it back into the case. Then, he averted his gaze back to Xyla Quest. “Xyla, I wonder who in the family are you most like. You’re brilliant. There’s nothing in the world that can baffle you, is there?”“Emily is simply incomparable with you.” Once again, Jeremy’s face darkened at the mention of his terrible daughter. Today, Emily Quest’s behavior had disparaged the whole family. She really was a spoiled brat!Xyla smiled bashfully. “Oh, Dad, you flatter me. I was just bored when I was having medical treatment in Country Y, so I decided to learn some new skills.” “That’s great. I can rest reassured that you’re going to do well even if I retire. The company will definitely have greater success under your guidance.” Jeremy had utter confidence in Xyla.“What happened?” Stanley Batton asked. Jeremy
“Oh my, Emily Quest, that b*tch. Here she goes again. Is she out of her mind? Stealing Xyla Quest’s unwanted design as her original and using it to compete with Xyla… Hahaha…”“You’re awesome, Xyla Quest! I can’t believe you have such a hidden talent. Love you!”“Emily Quest is totally no match for Xyla Quest. Does everyone agree with me? Emily, stay away from our little fairy, okay?” “Ahhhh… Xyla Quest is my life goal! She’s both highly attractive and highly intelligent!”“Can Xyla Quest please make her debut as a celebrity? That’s our biggest wish.”After scrolling through the first hot topic for a while, Xyla Quest exited and moved on to the second hot topic. The first thing that caught her eyes was the scoop on her love life disclosed by an employee from Quest Property Group:“This morning, at the Quest Property Group’s grand hall, I saw Stanley Batton give Xyla Quest a bracelet made of Martian meteorite! Ahhhh! He asked her to wear it ‘for fun’ now.”“Do you know why he
The more aggrieved Emily Quest was, the more May Conner hated Xyla Quest.“But Emily… Didn’t you say that you drew the blueprint yourself?” May asked cautiously. Emily pushed May away at once and glared at her with her red eyes. “Weeks ago, I inadvertently found a sketchbook outside of our house. There were many architectural sketches inside. They looked fantastic to me, so I decided to take it home…“The sketchbook reminded me of your suggestion. You said that I should use architectural design to win Dad’s favor. Therefore, I chose a couple of sketches from the book and made some minor changes to it. They turned out to be pretty good. I thought it wouldn’t be a problem to use the original blueprint this time.“In fact, the main reason I did that was… I wasn’t satisfied with my design. In a moment of madness, I persuaded myself to take the easy way out,” Emily confessed.May let out a deep, helpless sigh. “Forget it. It’s just plagiarism. What’s so big deal about it? I can’t beli
A random guy—with a Maserati steering wheel as his profile picture—sent her an invitation on Messenger. “Shall we get a room tonight?”Emily Quest opened the message and scrolled through his profile. There was not a single picture of him on his timeline. Emily could only find some photos of the countries he visited. There were also a few pictures of his luxury car.Judging from those pictures, Emily could tell that he was a wealthy man. “Sure.” Emily agreed without hesitation. She was already thinking of finding someone in the evening as she was in a bad mood today. She hoped that having a date could help her to relax and unwind. Surprisingly, the wealthy man came to her before she took any action. How could she refuse such a great offer?Emily immediately typed ‘sure’ and sent it to the man. Shortly, the man shared his location with her. He was at Silver International Hotel. “See you at 8809 Presidential Suite at 8.00 p.m. I’ll be waiting for you here,” the man repl
After a lingering kiss, Stanley Batton forced her down and bit her earlobe mischievously. “Tell me… Do you miss me? Hmm?”It was a blatant lie if she said she did not miss him at all. Xyla Quest nodded truthfully.“Which part of you misses me?”“My heart.“Stanley Batton!”Xyla’s face grew redder and redder. Luminous rosiness seared through her cheeks, all the way to her ears and neck. Her heart was about to leap from her throat. The man above her grinned. He leaned forward and met her lips again, hungry yet passionate.***The man refused to let her go even after they reached home. Xyla slowly rolled over and raised her head, gazing at the man’s mesmerizing face. “How’s the issue in Country Y? Is everything settled?” she asked.“Yeah…” the man mumbled while gently stroking her hair. Every bit of him dwelled in great fondness for her. “That’s pretty fast.”“Of course… I want to see you.” Once again, Xyla was deeply touched by him.Heat rose from her stomach to her
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.