Gregory sincerely thought Ned was just a scumbag who had abandoned his wife. At first, he refused to read the messages Ned sent him. However, he couldn't help himself.Ned's message was simply to ask him to take care of Angeline. He inquired about Angeline's current condition and if she had aborted the child."What's wrong with him?" Instead of replying to the message, Gregory locked his phone and tucked it into his pocket.Gregory harbored a deep sense of dissatisfaction towards his cousin's character, whom he hadn't encountered in the past 20 years.He felt disbelief at the thought of Ned forcing his wife he had just divorced to abort the child.…Angeline received a call from Sean in the afternoon. "Are you returning home for lunch, or should the housekeeper bring it to the laboratory?" Although posed as a question, Sean's voice did not leave room for any objections.Angeline could hear the sound of documents being flipped through from Sean's side. She didn't expect h
However, she wondered if she should keep this child. A child related to Sean who would most probably bring trouble to the Lawson family, Robert, and even her biological mother.Perhaps because she had lost her loved ones recently, Angeline had developed a different feeling toward the baby in her womb. Deep down, she wanted to keep the child.She wouldn't have hesitated to keep the baby if it wasn't Sean's child. But now, she was concerned about many things."If Mr. Lawson Senior finds out, he'll never allow this child to be born. You should know that."She lowered her eyes, avoiding Sean's gaze. She feared seeing the intense and fierce emotions in the eyes of the man who had always been composed. She wouldn't be able to handle it."Angie, I wasn't asking for his opinion," he said before adjusting his posture and pinching her chin with his icy fingers, forcing her to look up at him. "I'm asking… you."As their eyes met, Angeline's heartbeat began to speed up. Without the barrier o
His Adam's apple bobbed. He was struggling to hold back the emotions he had been suppressing.Ever since he slept with Angeline, Sean had always found himself losing control when he was around her. The addictive feeling was almost beyond his control.While his gaze remained fixed on her, he gently pressed the corner of her lips with his finger and asked, "Can I kiss you?"Startled, she parted her lips slightly but no words came out. Her heart almost stopped at his request. She felt her whole body tingling under his profound gaze.She wondered how he could be so straightforward and unabashed about wanting to kiss her.Any intimate gesture with Sean would make her feel a strong sense of guilty pleasure, let alone kissing him, especially after that time when she was forcibly kissed by him in this apartment.The details of their lips and tongues intertwining, the intimate sound they made when kissing that would make one's ears burn, and the man's heavy breaths were all vividly replay
Since Angeline was in a bad mood, she couldn't help sounding bitterly sarcastic."I know!" uttered Gregory before quickly taking out his phone to show her his conversation with Ned. "I scolded him too! Don't worry. When he asked if you had aborted the child, I told him you did. He won't know whether you decided to keep the baby or not."She glanced through the chat interface and ultimately accepted the milk Gregory had brought as a gesture of kindness."Thank you," she said.Seeing that she no longer resisted him, Gregory breathed a sigh of relief.On the other end of the phone, Ned was lost in thought as he looked at the chat records with Gregory. He said that Angeline had already aborted the child.He wondered how everything happened so fast and thought it must have been Sean's doing.With Sean's current status, he wouldn't allow Angeline to be involved in a scandal. Due to Lawson Global being an independent producer of microchips and lithography machines, his influence in t
Without waiting for Ned to answer, Ingrid reached out and shook his arm, asking, "Ned, what are you thinking about?"He snapped back to reality. He didn't know how to broach the subject with Ingrid to tell her that "Baby" was actually what Angeline called him in private because he knew that Ingrid always felt insecure around him."Weren't you always complaining about me calling you 'Baby' and treating you like a child?"He smiled and reached out to tousle her hair."Don't you know women always say one thing but mean another?" she said, swatting his hand from her hair. "Only when you call me that, I feel… special to you! Besides, you've been calling me that for so long, yet you suddenly stopped. There must be a reason for it!"Ingrid's eyes were smiling, but her hands had tightened into fists. She feared Ned would tell her it was because he had remembered Angeline and perhaps "Baby" was what he used to call Angeline in private, so he didn't want to use it on her.She was also afra
"There's no problem then," said James while smiling at Angeline. He continued, "Back then, my wife was deprived of opportunities because of pregnancy, so I won't let the same thing happen to you. As long as you feel physically fine, I believe in your abilities. "After all, there are no dangerous experiments at the conference, but… if you find it too challenging halfway through, I don't mind sending you back.""Okay!" she exclaimed, grateful to James. "I won't let you down!""However, let me advise you this as an experienced person, being a single mother isn't easy. Since you're divorced, are you sure you still want to keep this child?" he asked, expressing his concern.Despite knowing that the professor might have also assumed that it was Ned's child, Angeline didn't bother to explain further.She simply said, "My foster mother and sister are both gone, and their deaths were more or less because of me. This time… I don't want to kill any more of my loved ones."James pursed hi
"You're wrong about that. If it weren't for Professor Dickson arguing with those people and building relationships, where would the funding for our laboratory come from?"Reese smiled and ruffled Marion's head, then said to Gregory, "We have a socialite here. Angeline, just go have fun at this conference and leave everything to Gregory!""Don't worry, I'll take good care of Angie!" Gregory assured.At 7:30 pm, it started drizzling in Cloudsville. Wrapped in a woolen coat, Angeline stood on the steps in front of the laboratory building, looking up at the rain.She was about to jog back to the dormitory to get an umbrella when a black sedan stopped in front of the building.Sean, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, got out of the car with an umbrella and walked up the stairs."Let's go," he said.Even standing a step below her with the umbrella in his hand, Sean, with his height of about six feet two inches, was still taller than her.She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and l
"I just… don't want the child to be associated with the Lawsons," Angeline said, tightly grasping the hem of her clothes.When she finally gathered herself, she lifted her head and added, "This child had come unexpectedly. If it hadn't, I might have chosen to live by myself till the end of my life. But now that it's here… It's my only family in this world now!"It's my fault that the child's an illegitimate child, and I'll do my best to make it up in the future! But I can't betray the Lawsons either, because I won't be able to compensate for… what I owe them."Sean met her gaze and took off his glasses before saying, "We can register our marriage in Ravoria. If you don't want to continue our marital relationship after the child is born, we can divorce by then."If the Lawsons find out, I can say that I help you because of them! Angie, I can compromise on anything, but I'll never allow my child to be illegitimate. I hope you can understand and respect that."The child belonged to A
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