Angeline's slightly parted red lips made Sean unable to look away. He wanted to devour her. She could feel his thumb pressing against her chin, signaling her to look up…"Sean…" she whimpered, her voice breathy and coquettish. "Stop kissing. Mr. Powell is coming back."He brushed away the strands of hair dampened by fine sweat. With a hoarse voice, he said, "If Taylor doesn't have this much insight, he wouldn't have been my assistant for so many years."During their first encounter when she had been drugged, it was Taylor who had bought the clothes and brought them over. Considering what had happened afterward, how could Taylor not know?At this moment, Taylor had already gotten some water and hangover medicine. He was standing under the pharmacy awning, waiting for Sean's call.Angeline took a breath, refusing Sean's attempt to kiss her again. She got off him and rolled down the car window slightly.The cold air rushed in, relieving the heat on her flushed cheeks slightly. S
"I have to leave after going through these documents." Sean glanced at his watch. "Let's head upstairs first."Angeline tightened her grip on her bag's strap. Hadn't he said that he wasn't going to go upstairs?She put on a straight face like there really were documents waiting for them upstairs. She nodded and said, "Yeah, let's go."Ned watched as Sean and Angeline entered the building and elevator. He stood at the entrance, not daring to follow them.Inside the elevator, without saying a word, Sean stood beside Angeline with a hand in his pocket.When they arrived at the top floor, Angeline walked out. She turned to ask Sean, "Are you going to go down now, or do you—"He strode out, wrapped an arm around her waist, and kissed her. She gripped his arms tight as he practically lifted her off the floor. Her toes could barely touch the floor. They staggered backward as Sean pinned her to the door.The door swung open after being unlocked. Sean didn't break the kiss as he pushed A
Angeline's lashes fluttered, and her breathing hitched."I can control the desire to murder when someone tries to get to you with a hidden agenda." Sean approached her. The sound of their clothes ruffling as he rubbed against her rang out. "But I can't control the desire to kiss you."I can't stop myself from wanting to make you mine over and over again. I gave you the chance to back off once, and… I can do it again."If Angeline wanted to back down, he would extricate himself from their relationship no matter how hard it was."Are you making me choose between you and the Lawson family?" she asked."It's a choice you may have to make in the future." Sean held her by the neck as he peppered her lips and cheeks with kisses. He held her tighter and pressed his lips to her ear, murmuring, "Even if I were to shed my identity as Sean Lawson… If I were to show up by your side with this face of mine…"What do you think people would think of you? Would they think you'd long since harbored
Back then, Angeline hadn't cared about the Lawson family when wanting to be with Ned.The more intense Sean's greed and infatuation with her grew, the more possessive he became. It was now getting to a point where it had become twisted. He wanted Angeline to only have eyes for him. He wanted her to belong wholly to him, whether in terms of her heart or body.He wanted to make sure he was the only person she could see, the only one she would kiss, the only one she would accept. Sean wanted her to belong to him and only him.And with how intense his feelings for her were, he wanted her to return them with equal fervor. He wanted the love that Angeline had to be exclusive to him. In other words, he wanted her to love him alone.Sean didn't bother hiding his emotions as he stared into Angeline's eyes. His aggressive, intense, and lustful gaze was clear to see.It made Angeline's toes curl, and her breathing hitched. The Sean before her seemed to be a separate entity from his usual coo
Sean chuckled mirthlessly at Ned's words. "For all you know, Angeline could be enjoying herself. Besides… this is nothing compared to the pain she experienced when she was with you, right?"Taylor had already jogged over to them with an umbrella. He held it over Sean's head as they headed to the car under Ned's stunned and guilty gaze. Then Taylor opened the door for Sean.Ned's eyes turned red as he watched Sean get into the car and leave. The latter's words weren't the nicest to hear, but it was undeniable that Angeline had it much easier now no matter how busy and tired she was. It was nothing compared to what she'd gone through when with him.He knew that Angeline would only soar higher without him dragging her down, but he couldn't bring himself to let go. He'd been willing to give up his life for her—why had the heavens pulled a prank on them and made him lose his memories? They'd even made him fall for someone else!…When Angeline came out of the shower, she lay on the bed
In truth, Yvonne thought the proposal was good, but she knew there was some beef between Angeline and Ingrid. That was why she'd come to dig Angeline's brain and see what the latter had to say."Yeah, let's just forget about this." Angeline closed the folder without even going through the whole proposal. "We only collaborated with Norwalk Corporation to slap Marvonia in the face while their Minister of Commerce was visiting Ica."It didn't really benefit us that much—they're a luxury brand, while ours is a technological one. The cross-industry collaboration was only for appearances. Besides… my earlier order is still in place. We need to reduce our cooperation with Ingrid to a minimum.""Excuse me for being rude, but is it because you don't like Ms. Dalton, Ms. Lawson? Or is it simply because you think she's not a suitable business partner?" Yvonne mustered the courage to ask.She continued, "It's precisely because we didn't benefit much from the earlier collaboration that I brough
The text message that Sean had already drafted remained unsent.Taylor had the driver turn the car around to head into the restaurant's parking lot. Then, he heard Sean say to the driver, "You can head home for tonight. Have Taylor call you a cab."The driver waved his hands, saying that there was no need to go to such trouble. He quickly got out of the car and handed the keys to Taylor before hailing a cab and leaving.Taylor turned to see Sean making a call, looking displeased. One would have to be blind to miss the fact that Sean was in a bad mood—he oozed iciness and oppression.Instead of getting back into the car, Taylor chose to stand outside while calling the restaurant. He didn't know whether Sean wanted to eat there, but he had to make plans regardless so that Sean would have the option if he wanted. Even if there weren't any empty seats in there, he had to find a way to get one.Sean's time was too precious, after all.…Inside a private room, Angeline's phone vibrate
"Get in." Sean tried to keep his desire in check.Ultimately, Angeline's heart ached because Taylor had told her that Sean had only had a cup of coffee since noon. She circled the car and got in. As she did so, the window rolled back up.She shut the door and turned to look at Sean. "Maybe you could eat something nearby while waiting for me. I'm still worried about the people from the branch company seeing—"Before she could finish, he pulled her into his arms and wrapped an arm around her waist, making her sit on his lap. He held her head with his free hand and kissed her."Don't…" Angeline's heart raced. She glanced uneasily at Lenny and Taylor, who had their backs to the car. Her ears burned bright red. "Taylor and Lenny are outside.""The glass has a privacy filter, so they can't see us!" With that, Sean pulled her closer to him.This time, Angeline didn't reject him. She lowered her head to meet his lips, placing her hands on her shoulders. Her fingers clenched around his sh
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