Jasmine must have never expected that the whole thing would blow up or that it might backfire on her. Nevertheless, it was no longer possible for Jasmine to join the Taylor family. Her dream of being acknowledged as one of them would never come true.Three hours later, Andrew texted me and told me that the share price of Taylor Group was plummeting. Many individual shareholders posted online and said that the Taylor family's child-rearing practice was questionable. They even asked them to expel Jasmine and apologize publicly.Some shareholders began to sell the shares. I was surprised by how things turned out because I did not think that Jasmine's action could destabilize the company. The negative impact on the company was not foreseeable.But when I thought about it, perhaps many people were hoping to destroy Taylor Group—they merely needed a chance. Jasmine's stupidity gave them the excuse they wanted, and the future of the company was in peril.Jasmine provided them an opportuni
Colin's breath was heavy and warm. He looked at me affectionately as he traversed between my lips, trying to suck the soul out of me. "I don't care. Ignore it. Focus on me."But the caller wasn't giving up until Colin picked up. When no one picked up, it rang again without any pause. The ringtone bothered me a lot, and I was no longer in the mood to do anything. All I wanted was to throw the phone away so that it could stop assaulting my poor ears.Colin was irritated. He was about to throw the phone away, but I managed to snatch the phone from him. I answered the call without looking at the caller. He bought the phone, so if he threw it away, he would have to spend money again. We should save money because it was expensive to build the road."Hi, who are you?" There was no response except for light breathing. I had an epiphany and looked at the screen. I knew it."Please pass the phone to Colin." After 24 hours, the haughtiness in Jasmine's voice was all gone. She croaked as if sh
The colonial-style project promised to pay Colin 20 million dollars after two years of work. Indeed, to Colin, earning 20 million dollars wasn't easy. Jasmine, on the other hand, could easily promise the sum with words.That said, we wanted to earn the money with our own hands so that we wouldn't feel guilty about anything. It didn't matter how fast we could get the money as long as our principles were not violated.Moreover, we were not chasing after wealth. Three meals a day, a roof over our heads, and some clothes were all we needed. Even after the whole truth was revealed, Jasmine continued to use love to guilt-trip Colin. This call from her had shown how selfish and shameless she was.Perhaps she was never in love with Colin. She only used him as someone to elevate her social status. Even 200 million dollars could not make Colin forsake his reputation and future, let alone 20 million dollars. Colin? A sellout? That was impossible.Jasmine was used to measure everything with mo
Colin's tone was firm and confident. If it were me, I would have felt ashamed. After hearing what he said, Jasmine reverted to the role of the wronged victim who had to act tough. "Colin, why are you doing this to me? What about our relationship? I love you so much. How could you?"Her words almost made me puke. She was just a stranger. Why couldn't Colin be harsh toward her? Who did she think she was? While Colin was always very kind toward everyone, he had no kindness left for Jasmine."Listen, Jasmine. We were schoolmates and then colleagues. And we only became colleagues because you roped me into it. I've always regarded you as just a schoolmate and colleague. That's all. I don't have any feelings for you, so please be aware of that."If you bring this up again, I can sue you for defamation and slander."Seeing that Colin refused to submit, Jasmine dropped her facade. But instead of screaming like a lunatic, she left a serious threat before hanging up on us. "You think you've w
Taylor Group was still discussing a solution. Both the college and the company were worried that any action from Colin might further exacerbate the scandal. Therefore, when Colin applied for leave, both parties approved almost immediately.They told Colin that he could extend it if he wanted so that both his mind and body could get some rest. As a result, this was Colin's first official holiday after overworking for more than six months. He said he wanted to stay in the village for a few more days to be closer to Mother Nature.His arrival was exciting news for the whole village. These down-to-earth villagers did not care about the scandal. All they knew was Colin's impeccable care toward the little ones and his patience in teaching when he did voluntary work here.Hence, nearly all villagers came to receive him. They talked to him in glee. The head of the village held Colin's hand and refused to let go. Mr. Miller kept asking him if the problem had been solved and if there was anyt
These hardworking students who went through book after book to enter Jesselton College showed their ravenous side, seemingly proving that humans were indeed carnivores.But come on what about minding one's image? We could survive one day without meat, but no one could live without dignity. Colin had enough and plucked the students one by one before asking them to wash up.He also said that several dishes would be ready soon and that all of them should bathe before eating. With that, the crowd dispersed and cheered loudly in the courtyard. Indeed, regardless of age, a leader was needed when there was a group.As their lecturer, it was only natural that Colin assumed the role of a leader. Watching the students who forsook their images and wolfed down the food, Colin swallowed whatever grateful speech he was about to say and brought me some pork ribs.Then, he grabbed the last prawn and deshelled it for me. He put down his cutlery and grinned contentedly like a mother. While the stude
Peace and serenity returned to my life. We left for work in the morning and returned at dusk. When we were tired, we rested. When we were hungry, we cooked a delicious meal together, with enough pork meat at our disposal.When we ran into a difficulty, everyone worked together at night to solve it. When we found a solution, we cheered loudly. During the four days we spent in the village, we heard that Taylor Group had apologized publicly for Jasmine's action.They decided to change the person in charge of the colonial-style project to a promising young heir from the family, Ivan Taylor. They also claimed that while Jasmine was not part of the Taylor family, they still owed the society accountability for appointing the wrong person.I was told that Ivan graduated from a prestigious school and was quite a decisive and capable leader. When he was on board, he quickly reshuffled the project team and removed those who were loyal to Jasmine.Meanwhile, Jasmine's title was revoked. She wa
I wasn't sure if Ivan made this decision to save his company's image or because he knew Colin was competent. Regardless, he made the right choice. Colin stood out from among the younger artists. It was wise of him to nominate Colin as the head designer. The college responded very quickly. To salvage the whole situation more quickly, they even recommended me, who had been trying to join the project but failed, to participate in the project with Colin.They told me that if I wanted to graduate, other than acing my examinations, the rest of my credit would come from my performance in my lab research and the colonial-style project. When I heard this unfortunate news, I was angry.Yet, I could only accept the terms because it was Professor King who proposed such a grading system. He comforted me with a sly grin that with hard work came a successful future. I decided to comply because I had no other choice. I wasn't going to defy Professor King, not when I wasn't that strong.The new pr