Charles' last shred of hope was snuffed out because of the rows of clauses that took over the contract. Waves of rage overwhelmed him instantly, threatening to drown him in their turbulence.The gratitude agreement was reduced to a pile of shredded paper in the blink of an eye.To Laura, Charles had always been cool and composed. The only time he lost control of himself was the time when Anne got married and moved abroad.This was his second time looking so enraged because of another person.Laura decided not to say whatever was on her mind. Charles took a few deep breaths in order to calm down forcibly. Since Heather had signed the contract with his mother, that meant Laura knew where Heather had gone.He raised his head to look at Laura, a trace of hope now sparkling in his eyes."Mom, you should know where Heather has gone, right?"Laura gazed at Charles for a long time. She must know the destination. After all, she was in charge of arranging the flight arrangements for Hea
Ever since Anne was a child, she knew very well that Charles liked her romantically. But the thing was, she merely viewed him as an older brother.On the night she found out from her best friend that Charles planned to confess to her, she was about to introduce her boyfriend to her parents.In order to avoid any awkward situations, Anne decided to marry Jacob before flying abroad.Perhaps their decision to get married was a rushed one. At first, Jacob loved Anne with all his heart. But then, work got very busy for him. Plus, the other women kept provoking Anne. Also, Jacob's explanations were far too late at times.Thanks to those factors, their marriage started to crumble.At the same time, Charles had seen Anne's social media posts. That was why those gifts started appearing at Anne's doorstep.Anne knew that Charles was married as well. She knew that his actions would only cause trouble for both families.That was why she planned on secretly throwing those gifts away. But Jac
When Heather exited from an art studio in Yitale, her best friend showed her the latest gossip on Charles on her phone."Heather, look at this!"Heather hugged her painting supplies to her chest while sparing a glance at her friend's phone. Then, she just said, "Oh.""Is this seriously your reaction?"Her best friend stared at Heather quizzically. Heather just shrugged helplessly. "What other reaction do you want me to show, then?"The social circle of the upper crust was very small. Everyone knew all about Heather's history anyway. After all, Charles' deeds had gone viral, what with him getting into an accident because of his first love and marrying another woman soon after.Also, everyone was familiar with some of the things that Heather had done for Charles' sake.But their reactions were different from the reactions shown by the people hanging around Charles.To think that Charles didn't treasure a woman as amazing as Heather! To make things worse, he even pestered anothe
The man smiled at Heather, causing her eyes to redden.Zachary Fullman happened to be Heather's childhood friend who had grown up with her in the orphanage. He and their mutual friend, Luna Chapman, were a few years older than her, so both of them often worked together to protect her.However, the children's fates turned out to be different. Zachary and Luna were adopted by loving families one after another. Heather was the only one who remained in the orphanage. In the end, she was sponsored by the Pennington family.As Zachary stared at the petite and skinny young woman in front of him, he felt his heart throb in pain for her.Back then, he and Luna had taken good care of Heather, which allowed her to grow into a happy little girl.Alas, fate had decided to toy with them by letting two families adopt Zachary and Luna.The children were very young at that time. Also, they didn't leave any phone numbers for each other. That was how the trio lost contact with each other.Over the
It had been a long time since Heather last heard Charles' name. She felt a little dazed at that time.Miriam continued, "But judging from his demeanor, I knew right away that he was mean to you. So, I didn't tell him anything."Heather returned to the Fullman residence after having dinner with Miriam. Since she only planned to stay in Cornicia for a short period, Zachary and Luna asked her to stay in their mansion.Once Heather reached home, Luna approached her immediately. She showered Heather with concern before leading her to the dining room for some soup.After that, both of them chatted about the upcoming art exhibition that was held next week. Only then did Heather return to her room for the night.…Charles stared at the photos on the desk for a long time in Pennington Group. It had been two long years. He had deployed all of Pennington Group's resources, yet he couldn't locate Heather at all.As he stared at the young and immature woman in the photo, he couldn't help b
Heather frowned. Before she could turn around, she was pulled into a familiar embrace that smelled of crisp cedar.Charles held her tightly, his body trembling. "Heather, you're finally back…"Heather was just about to push him away when another figure did it for her. Then, she found herself hugged by Luna. "Heather, you okay?"Heather shook her head.Zachary looked at Charles coldly. "Charles Pennington, how dare you show up in front of Heather!"The sight of Charles reminded him of the suffering that Heather had endured during those five years. It only made him angrier.Charles opened his mouth to explain himself, but Heather stopped him. "Let's move this somewhere else, Zach."She didn't want him to ruin the art exhibition that she and Luna had worked so hard to set up.They went to a little cafe upstairs. There, Zachary put himself in front of Heather and Luna, shielding them from Charles. "You and Heather are already divorced. Why are you still bothering her?"Charles loo
The warm atmosphere chilled significantly at the interruption.The waiter stood there awkwardly, holding the roses, unsure whether to do as she said.When Heather remained silent, he chose to leave silently.This did not deter Charles at all. He continued to send a bouquet of roses, pink this time, to her studio every single day. None of the bouquets even made it inside; they were disposed of in the trash can almost immediately.At another art exhibition, Charles confronted Heather at the entrance and demanded why she refused to accept his flowers.Heather stared at him for a while before scoffing. They'd been married for five years, yet Charles knew nothing about her."I don't like you, therefore I won't like anything you give me," she said. "Charles, why can't we part ways peacefully? We're divorced. You should be happy about that."Charles took a deep breath, tears welling up in his eyes. His voice was trembling as he reached out to grab her hand. "I'm not, Heather. I'm not
Heather had grown up well. Laura felt both satisfied and regretful when she looked at the young woman before her.She was satisfied that she had managed to get such a nice young woman to be Charles' wife; yet she was regretful that Charles remained infatuated with Anne even while he was married, causing him to miss out on such a good woman.However, Charles and Anne were done now. If Heather would come back to the Pennington family, all was not lost.After hearing what Laura had to say, Heather said nothing. She just placed a bank card before her. "This card contains double the amount the Pennington family once provided to support me. If not for that gratitude agreement, I could have paid back everything you gave me, with interest, just a couple of years later."The Pennington family was known for their philanthropy and had supported many people, not just her. Typically, the money was deposited directly into the recipient's bank accounts regularly.Over the years, they had never a
"I'm at Ebony Beach right now," Fiona said as she buried her face behind the high collar of her windbreaker. Her voice was glum as she continued, "When are you coming?"Wilson checked his flight ticket before replying with a smile, "Well, it can't be helped. I need to focus on the renovation work for your house, you know. I don't want to be paid for doing nothing. I might only be able to join you when you move to the next country. Don't be too reliant on me. Enjoy yourself—"Fiona ended the call in a huff.She and Wilson had traveled to about four or five countries together before a problem came up with her house. Wilson had no choice but to fly back, making two transfers before he finally got back to the country.Meanwhile, apart from hiding the plane ticket he already got from Fiona, Wilson was also hiding a ring in his pocket. He had only bought one because he was going to propose to Fiona, and he would be fine no matter what her response was. Either way, this ring was for him.
"After saying that, he said a lot of other things I didn't understand," Fiona said exasperatedly. "It'll be good if he never shows up in front of me again."She had finally freed herself from all those messy things. She didn't want to have to be reminded of them anymore.Wilson knew that Michael was going to die, but he selfishly didn't want to tell Fiona that.His mission wasn't to marry Fiona or anything. There was only one goal he had to complete, and that was to make her happy.Happiness could be achieved in many ways. In the beginning, Wilson wanted to get Fiona to accept his love so that he could shower her with care and affection to keep her happy. But over time, he slowly realized just how wonderful she was. It was from then that he couldn't bear to trick her into feeling happy because of his pretense. He didn't want it to just be a part of a mission.Therefore, he didn't want to force Fiona into anything. He genuinely wanted to treat her well."Now that you've resigned,
Looking rather conflicted, Wilson opened his mouth to speak, but at the very next second, he trembled violently and fell to the floor. He winced in pain as his body kept spasming.Alarmed, Fiona reached out to help him up, but he swiftly rolled away from her. Gasping as if he had been through a great deal of pain, he said with a rueful smile, "Don't touch me. You'll get electrocuted."Instantly, Fiona figured out what was happening, and she was filled with remorse.The system wouldn't allow its operative to mention anything related to its programming. It would electrocute the operative to stop it from happening. Fiona had nearly blurted something out in the past, only to end up getting zapped with electricity. The pain had been unbearable.It took some time before Wilson finally recovered. Once he felt better, he sat on the floor and looked up at Fiona, saying, "I'm sorry."He was sorry he couldn't tell her and for lying to her at the start. Although he couldn't say that aloud, hi
Fiona's mind was all fuzzy and jumbled up. She knew it was possible for someone to fall in love with their mission target. She had done it herself after all, so why couldn't she believe Wilson?Perhaps Michael was to blame for that.Still, Wilson looked serious. He confessed his love for her as solemnly as if he were proposing to her or declaring his marriage vows to her."Fiona," Wilson said before pressing his cool lips against the back of her hand. "Don't reject me."Cheeks flushed, Fiona looked away and pulled her hand back, saying, "Give me some time to think. Don't force me."Wilson obligingly stood up, his tall figure looking meek and obedient. He had brought medicine for her and even gave her candy to bribe her with, as if she were a child.Once Fiona took the medication, her head didn't seem to hurt as much. She looked at Wilson and asked, "How did you know I was sick?"Wilson knew where she was staying because he had dropped her off on the motorbike the other night, bu
The rational side of Fiona was telling her that Michael was capable of coming up with any kind of story he wanted, but the emotional side of her couldn't help but recall all the details of her every encounter with Wilson.Had all those coincidental meetings and sweet moments been created on purpose, just like she had once done?Still, regardless of what Wilson was, Fiona wouldn't forgive Michael anyway. She pushed his hands off her and shook her head, saying, "I don't know if you're telling the truth. I'll ask him about it myself. But even so, why should I leave with you? Am I supposed to give you another chance to hurt me, Michael?""Fi, I've really learned from my mistakes," Michael hastily declared. "You're still so young. Just give me another chance, please? I really miss you so much.""What does my youth have to do with you?" Fiona shot back, feeling rather mystified by his behavior. "Was I not young enough back in the world where I met you? Didn't I end up wasting all of my t
No matter how great the weekend was, Fiona still had to head to work and deal with the mess at the office. She knew that she might be subjected to her housemates' inquisitive looks if she went back to the house, so she stayed at a hotel instead.She could hazard a guess as to who had sent that email, but without any evidence to back her up, she had to set her suspicions aside for now.Fiona headed to the office as usual. When she arrived, her colleagues all fell silent mid-conversation. Several probing gazes landed on her, and Eunice quickly ran over, asking, "Where have you been staying the last two days, Fi?""I got myself a hotel room," Fiona replied with a pleasant smile. "Is that answer to your satisfaction?""Why would you say that?" Eunice asked awkwardly.Fiona didn't reply. She wasn't the kind of person who would stir up drama for no reason, but that didn't mean she would take things lying down either. If the matter couldn't be settled properly, she would just see it to t
Fiona was taken aback.The fire was reflected in Wilson's eyes, making them flicker with light. After a while, he chuckled and said, "The experts say there might be a meteor shower tonight, but it's not a guarantee. Will you be mad if it doesn't happen after all?"Fiona shook her head. A warm, fuzzy feeling filled her heart. Wilson was acting like a child who wanted to share everything of interest he could find with her. It made her feel important to him.Wilson didn't need money, so it wasn't as though the sales she brought in for the bar were much of a motivator for him. Why was he treating her so well then?The answer that seemed the most obvious made Fiona's heart pound. She recalled the terrible blunder she had made with her last relationship. There was still a mess at the office that she needed to deal with, but as if eloping, she came running out to the middle of nowhere to see a meteor shower that may not even happen.It was ludicrous yet exciting all the same.Fiona's ph
No matter how cool a motorbike was, there was a limit to its speed. Wilson and Fiona were on the road for half an hour before they arrived at their destination.Fiona was rather stunned by the location they were in.Wilson had taken her to the edge of the city. It was possible that having lived the first two decades of her life in severe hardship led to her never realizing that a concrete city could still be home to a forest.The leaves rustled as the evening breeze caressed the trees. The moonlight lit up the ground, basking everything in a glow of faint light.Wilson looked to the side, his gaze falling on Fiona's gaping mouth. Smiling, he asked, "Do you like it here?"Fiona couldn't speak. All she could do was nod earnestly."There's even more fun to come," he said before taking her hand.While it was beautiful out here, it was still in the middle of nowhere. Fiona fidgeted nervously, to which Wilson responded by tightening his grip on her hand and asking softly, "Do you know
After talking to Geraldine, Fiona found out that the entire company had received that email, and it couldn't be traced back to its sender. Thus, the company management had no choice but to quickly try and resolve the matter instead.Geraldine had been the one who confirmed Fiona's permanent position with the company, so she knew there was little veracity to the claims in that email. Nevertheless, she had to ask, "Those things said in the email are all untrue, right?"Exhaling softly, Fiona said glumly, "Not all. I did go drinking at the bar."She did buy a house too, but she chose not to bring that up. At the end of the day, she believed in not flaunting one's wealth.Geraldine looked a little helpless. "That's your personal life. The company has no say in that. All that matters is the rest are all untrue. You can go back to work now. This isn't a big deal. We'll do our best to get to the bottom of things."Fiona nodded and went back to her desk. She figured the sender of the emai