The manager sounded excited since this great opportunity had fallen from the sky.Ned paused as he held onto the stair railing and asked, "Based on Fletcher Corporation's current production capacity, can we meet the deadline within a month?"What worried him even more was whether Fletcher Corporation's cash flow would be sufficient for raw material procurement if Vitality Biotech Group didn't provide any financial support for the batch."According to our current production capacity and cash flow, it's impossible to meet the deadline within a month, but we can't lose this opportunity," the manager replied.He hesitated before continuing, "We can exploit the loopholes in the contract, though. I've reviewed the new agreement, and it doesn't explicitly forbid outsourcing. We can partially outsource, which means sacrificing a portion of the profit for the first batch of drugs."As long as we secure various orders following that, we'll break even and profit by then!""In that case, sen
Rosalinda Barr, the woman who had been accompanying Tommy, confronted the staff, saying, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying that Mr. Yates has no money?"Who do you think you're looking down on? Open your eyes wide and see clearly. This is Tommy Yates of Yates Group. How could he have no money?"She pulled Tommy aside and whispered, "Mr. Yates, there must be something wrong with their machine! Do I not know how rich you are? "I know this guy named Billy at the casino who specializes in lending money to gamblers. You just lost so much… I think it's a pity to leave now when your luck is coming your way soon."Seeing his hesitation, Rosalinda held his arm. She wore a sweet smile and said coquettishly, "Mr. Yates, I was hoping you'd win a little more so you could give me some tips! I believe in your luck!"Hearing this, Tommy grinned from ear to ear and said, "If I win back what I just lost, I'll buy you a handbag!""You're the best, Mr. Yates! I'll follow your lead and bet s
"Don't worry. Once I hang up, I'll transfer the money to you," said Lily Korn."Alright. If there's any more quick money-making business in the future, just let me know!" replied Rosalinda, her eyes curving together with her smile.On the other end of the line, Lily hung up and transferred the money to Rosalinda before looking at Angeline."Angeline, what's the next step?"Sitting on the couch, Lily turned to look at Angeline, who was making coffee in the kitchen."Let's give Tommy some time to stew," she replied as she put down the coffee pot and came out from the kitchen with two cups of coffee.She handed one to Lily and continued, "Tommy is already addicted to gambling. While he's looking for you, he'll surely continue to gamble. When he just can't win, he'll become even more desperate to look for you."Holding the coffee cup tightly, Lily nodded and said, "No matter what, I'll make him pay for what he had done!"Angeline took a sip of her coffee and answered, "Definitely!
Billy maintained his smiley expression, but the tall, bulky thugs behind him appeared fierce and menacing."Okay!" said Tommy, yielding. He gritted his teeth and took out his phone to scroll through his contacts. "Come on, it's just 250 thousand dollars."After some time, he found Ingrid's number and dialed it."Hello, Tommy. Why are you calling me at this hour?" Ingrid answered happily."Ingrid, I've run into a bit of trouble. Can you lend me 250 thousand dollars? It's for an emergency," he whispered into the phone."A week ago, Uncle Henry mentioned a big project with Fletcher Corporation that needed funding. I gave him over 50 million dollars from there. If you need money now, is there a problem with the project?" she asked anxiously."Yes!" he replied. "Didn't Ned just sign a contract with Vitality Biotech Group? I heard there's a hefty penalty for breach of contract, so I don't want to cause more trouble for him.""Okay, I'll transfer it to you right away!" Not forgetting
Just as he was looking back to see if Lily had returned, he saw Angeline sit down at the gaming table opposite him. Tommy was startled. Then he laughed. "Well, isn't this Angeline? It's been a while." Angeline smiled slightly and fiddled with the chips in her hands. "We haven't met for several years. Do you want to bet against me, Tommy?" "Who is this beautiful lady? Why have we never met?" Lily returned and sat down beside Tommy, smiling. She nestled into Tommy's embrace, and her jealousy was obvious as she looked at Angeline defiantly. "Are you trying to get Tommy's attention?" "Yeah, Angeline. Are you trying to get my attention?" Tommy put his arm around Lily and laughed. "You've become more sensible. If you had been like this from the start, then that mute wouldn't have had to go through all that. Don't you agree?" Angeline wasn't infuriated. She smiled and said, "I came here today to make you lose everything." Lily burst into laughter. "Are you joking, miss? Everyone
"Of course, you're my lucky star! I'll never abandon you!" Tommy said as he caressed Lily's cheek. Hold'em had five community cards and two hole cards. The community cards were revealed to be the four of spades, the five of spades, and the seven of diamonds. The victor would be decided in just one round. Tommy had put in all his chips, and Angeline had put in all that she had left, including herself."You're going to lose for sure!" Tommy was all smiles. He had a two and a five, which would make a full house! He didn't believe that Angeline had better cards than he did. Tommy spread his cards out, and the crowd burst into applause. "It's a good hand, as expected!" "Yes! There can't be anything better than that!" "Tommy really has excellent luck!" Tommy couldn't resist kissing Lily's cheek again when he heard the crowd. "The victor hasn't been decided yet!"Angeline flipped open her cards. A six and an eight, which made a straight plus a pair. It was the best h
Billy paused for a moment. "There is another solution…""What is it?""Doesn't the casino have a rule that allows you to put yourself as the stake? Why don't you do that, Mr. Yates?" "The other party refused!" Tommy furrowed his brows. Ten minutes was almost up. He said, "Why don't I sign a contract with you that makes myself the stake? After all, you believe that I'll be able to pay, right? Yates Group is so big. We're not going to owe you. Besides, my cousin's lover, Ned, is the president of Fletcher Corporation!" "Mr. Yates, it's not that I don't believe you! But the department that's in charge of lending money has never signed any contract with a person as collateral!" Billy smiled and said, "Why don't you try and discuss this further with the other party?""I don't care! No matter what method you use today, I insist on borrowing this money!" Tommy put his foot down. "Otherwise, don't blame me then!" Billy pondered for a moment and said, "Let's do this then! We've worked t
Tommy stared at Billy with widened eyes. "You… What do you want?""How about this? We'll take this document that you've signed and stamped to the Yates residence and ask to see Mr. Yates Senior…" "No! If you take this to my father, he'll kill me!" Tommy looked frightened. "Well, then you can only pay with your organs, Mr. Yates!" Billy was still grinning. "You… That's illegal!" Tommy cried out in fear, his eyes widening. "You don't have to worry about that, Mr. Yates! We're such a big casino… We often meet people who can't pay back the money they borrowed from us, but we can't just let them go. If we did, we'd be making a huge loss!" "No! No!" Tommy gulped, feeling terrified. "I'll pay this money back!""By today?" Billy asked. "Can you spare me a few days?" Tommy's voice was trembling imperceptibly. "Half a month! I'll get the money within half a month!" "I'm afraid not! If you can't pay by today, you won't be allowed to leave this room!" Billy sighed. "Mr. Yates, it'
As soon as the words were out of Angeline's mouth, the sound of lounge slippers padding across the floor rang out. Yasmine ignored the shock on Ned's face and turned to reach for Sean. "Hold me, Daddy!"Sean smiled and lifted her into his arms. Then, he stood beside Angeline and looked at Ned imperiously. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Fletcher. I'm Shane Kingston. Thank you for pushing Angie away in the past—it led to my relationship with her."Ned knew precisely who "Shane" was. Just a few days ago, he'd seen the news about Melissa's press conference explaining her relationship with "Shane".His mind buzzed. He knew Sean and Shane looked similar enough for Dexter's men to have gotten the wrong person. However, he hadn't expected "Shane" to have anything to do with Angeline!"You… Are you the kids' father?" Ned's voice was incredibly shaky."Yes, and again, thank you for that!" Sean smiled. "We've never told anyone about this because I didn't want to endanger Angie and the kids.
Sean didn't give Angeline the chance to finish. "You were right to bring this up to me!"He wrapped his arms around her from behind and continued, "You and the kids will always be my main priority. I know I said I want Melissa to remain safe and happy under my watch, but my feelings for her are purely familial love."She's family to me, and I must care for her. But you and the kids mean more to me than anything else in the world, including her."His honesty made Angeline feel slightly more at ease. She said, "Those are your words, not mine…""I swear on my life that I mean every word." He pressed a kiss to her head. "Can I stay here tonight? I want to sleep with you and the kids. Also, I came from Brayden's place upstairs, so no one will know I'm here.""Granddad made it clear that if anyone finds out about this, he won't allow the kids to see you anymore.""Got it. Don't worry about a thing. Mr. Lawson Senior raised me, and I owe him for that. I won't put him in a tough
Angeline nodded without saying anything. Once Nathaniel was gone, she received a call from Sean."Now that everything has been taken care of, I want to give you a gift," he said, the smile in his tone evident. "Can you have the kids spend Friday night at Grand Court Residences? I want to show all three of you my gift on Saturday."He missed Yasmine and Xavier terribly. Before resolving the issue with Melissa, he hadn't dared to say he wanted to see them. Even if Angeline were okay with it, Robert probably would've objected to his wishes. Now that the dust had settled, he couldn't wait to see them."I don't call the shots regarding the kids now. I'll have to ask Granddad," Angeline said."I'll talk to him about it." Sean was worried Robert would take his anger out on her. "This all started because I insisted on being with you, so I'll handle it. I'll visit Mr. Lawson Senior later today."Angeline didn't know how Sean's conversation with Robert went, but Robert had Asher drop
That night, Melissa called Sean. "Shane, let's publicly announce our divorce. We can tell everyone that we only got married on paper so the Lane family could offer you its protection."Tell them that Dexter repeatedly tried to harm you so he could take the Kingston family fortune, and tell them how he tried to snatch you from the Lane family so he could secretly deal with you."She paused, then continued, "Now that Dexter's in prison, we can get a divorce, and Lori can adopt me as her daughter. We'll become cousins, and we'll still be a family.""Melissa…"Sean was surprised. He didn't expect her to see the light in such a short time."Since you don't have any feelings for me and won't ever make me your wife, I'll settle to be Lori's daughter. That way, you'll always be my family!" Tears streamed down Melissa's face as she spoke. "I adore Lori and want to be her daughter.""Alright," Sean said."Can you head to Keman with me, then? We can visit Dad together before getting
Melissa stared at Lori, who chuckled gently. "It's alright. There's no need to rush into anything. Take your time to think about it. Get good rest for a few days, then go shopping with me. We can buy some clothes to keep up with the changing seasons."I heard from Brayden and Sean that you're the expert in fashion and dressing up. I've always wanted a daughter who could shop, exercise, travel, café hop, and go on spa days with me."She paused and continued, "I didn't get to do any of this with you because you weren't in the best state before this. Now, though, you're all better. You're back to normal, and you've regained your memories!""I'd love that!" Melissa said without hesitation. She'd only done these things with her mother and Emelia in her dreams, but that was all they were—dreams. She was delighted now that Lori was back and willing to make her dreams come true.Sean sat on the couch and sipped his coffee. He knew Lori was doing everything she could to make his life ea
Melissa nodded. Sean said, "I know you have no company management experience. Mr. Lane might have entrusted Trustworth Group to me, but it's still yours. Before you find someone to take over, my plan for the company is still to move its focus back to Lonla."The global situation isn't the best now, and Lonla is the safest place for expansion. That's why the company's focus has to return to Lonla—""You can hand the company over to Brayden," Melissa interrupted. "The only people in this world I trust are you, Dad, and Brayden. Now that Dad's in prison and you don't want me anymore, Brayden is all I have left.""I'm still your kin, Melissa. I won't kick you to the curb and leave you to die. Nevertheless, Trustworth Group is yours. You can have whoever you want to manage it. Brayden is capable of that." Sean looked at Brayden. "What do you think? Are you willing to take over Trustworth Group?""I'll do it as long as Melissa is okay with it!" Brayden nodded. He turned to look
"That's not it! I've always been willing to care for you, and I'm more than willing to care for you in the future! It's not something that I'm forced to do…" Brayden feared his words would inadvertently hurt Melissa, so he decided not to continue in that vein.He said, "C'mon, you should head downstairs to eat something. You've already slept the day away.""I don't want to eat!" Melissa lay down again and pulled the sheets around herself. She said dully, "I want to sleep for a bit longer. Shut the door on your way out."Seeing that she'd already shut her eyes and started weeping, Brayden said softly, "I'll have the kitchen keep the food warm for you. Remember to call me when you wake up, okay? I'll be right downstairs!""Okay." Brayden left the room after hearing Melissa's muffled reply. He shut the door behind him.Melissa remained upstairs. She didn't head downstairs, even when Sean returned. Sean had already spoken to Angeline on the phone and told her he wouldn't meet
Melissa slept in her room and only woke up at night. She removed her headphones and opened her red, swollen eyes. She stared dazedly at the night sky, only returning to her senses when her headphones fell out of her hands.Brayden, who'd been waiting outside this whole time, heard them fall to the floor and hurried into the room. He saw Melissa sitting cross-legged on the bed. She propped herself on one arm while leaning down to pick up the headphones.He hurried forward and picked them up for her, then remained on one knee by the bed. He looked up at her and said, "You slept for ages, Melissa. Do you want to have anything to eat? I got all your favorites, and there are different cuisines. I also got your favorite fruits and snacks!"He'd already had the maids throw out the food he'd bought at noon. Then, he'd had his subordinate buy a fresh batch.Melissa turned to look at him dazedly. She said hoarsely, "Brayden…""I'm here," he said. "C'mon, should we get something to eat
Melissa knew Sean well. So, it was impossible for her not to know if he was being serious. Sean was indeed threatening her, and he was using his life to do it. That way, she wouldn't dare to harm Angeline for fear of hurting him.She loved Sean so much that she could give up her life for him. She wondered why he was treating her that way. He knew she wouldn't allow even the slightest possibility of her threatening his safety.Just then, Sean received a call from Brayden. He said, "...Yeah, I've already picked Melissa up. We're heading to Southstream Manor now… Yeah, you can head over there. Buy some food on your way—Melissa probably hasn't eaten anything yet. She should be hungry."At his words, Melissa couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She covered her face and started sobbing. She'd spent her whole life dreaming of becoming Sean's wife, but he was now in love with someone else and no longer wanted her.Yet, she couldn't do anything about the situation, or she'd be hurting