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on board, he quickly reshuffled the project team and removed those who were loyal to Jasmine.Meanwhile, Jasmine's title was revoked.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
It had become considerably warm in early spring compared to winter. Many plants were budding at the college. They looked so adorable with their yellow and green sprouts. Outside Crystal House, the peach blossom tree was adorned with little, pink sprouts. They were mesmerizing.Since Colin did not need the data urgently, I took a detour to admire the plants. Like all women, I loved cute, little things with bright colors. Right when I found a particularly taut flower bud, I heard someone talking in the yard next to me. Their voices sounded familiar.I took a look and saw Ivan and Jasmine talking by the railing. What was wrong with them? Why couldn't they speak inside? Instead, they picked a location where anyone could hear them. Perhaps Ivan simply did not want Jasmine to tamper with his work.Ivan stood nonchalantly with both hands in his pockets. The slight pout on his face indicated his contempt. Meanwhile, Jasmine's back was facing me. She was wearing a pure white dress, and her l
I shrugged, refusing to stoop to the same level as a lunatic. "Mr. Taylor, I'm here to retrieve the document. Sorry for the intrusion."Ivan had wasted enough time with Jasmine. He smiled courteously at me and uttered, "The document is ready. Do you want to come in or should I bring it to you?""It's quite far from here. Could you please bring it to me? Thank you.""Sure. Give me a moment. It won't be long." Then, he headed to the door, leaving Jasmine behind. I wasn't going to talk to Jasmine, so I continued to admire the peach blossoms, ignoring her."Are you here to assert your dominance before me?" accosted Jasmine.I couldn't understand Jasmine's logic. Did she think that everything in this world revolved around her? I had a lot of work to do. I did not have time for that. Besides, why should I assert dominance? Was she a threat?"I don't need to," I replied.Jasmine fell silent and shot daggers at me. She looked at me scornfully as if I had just jumped into the ocean with
I didn't like how dense the atmosphere was in the room, so I playfully bit Colin's Adam's apple. Within milliseconds, or perhaps almost immediately, the seriousness in Colin's eyes made way for fiery passion.He gulped, his Adam's apple rolling up and down. He said in a husky voice, "Are you teasing me now? Let's see what I'm going to do to you when we're home."Then, he pinched my waist, and I felt power draining from me. I looked at him with glossy eyes, but what I said ruined the mood. "Colin, we need to work overtime tonight. We have to finish the lakeside painting."Colin brooded and he bared his teeth, trying to bite me. I pushed him away and escaped gleefully. Behind me, he gave me an affectionate and indulgent look. After that, I worked every day until late. I was painting in my dream too.Taylor Group planned to develop 16 different plots, and each plot consisted of ten independent mansions. In other words, Colin and I had to paint 160 murals. Furthermore, we still needed
I wonder what Flynn felt when he heard that. Upset, perhaps. Things changed constantly in this world. His regret and pain were the by-products of his selfishness and incompetence. Meanwhile, Hannah's persistence paid off.While Felix and she had not announced their relationship to everyone on social media, Felix now allowed her to hold his hands. He walked home with her and would bring her an umbrella when it rained. He even carried her to her dorm on her back.And on a peaceful and tender night, he kissed her on the lips. Without Lilac, Felix had become a better person. Colin was very happy to see the change. He invited them for dinner many times, but the overwhelming work got in the way. The hangout was delayed until no one brought it up anymore.Before we knew it, it was already Independence Day. We made amazing progress in the mural project. Our mothers called us many times and asked us to return to Southsville during the holidays. They said that if we refused to come back, they
However, no matter what I said or how I shooed them away, those two pretended not to hear me and continued to follow me. Even Dad, who came to pick us up, donned a cryptic expression. He took my luggage and put it in the trunk.Then, he shoved me into the front passenger seat, gave Colin the car keys, and slid to the back seat to nap. I was befuddled. Did Dad not sleep for the past few days? Was he so tired that he would rather sleep than greet the daughter whom he had not seen for months?I arrived home with plenty of questions, only to notice that everything was as mysterious as ever. It was puzzling. As soon as I entered the house, a wave of mouthwatering scent assaulted my nose. Mom, who was busy cooking in the kitchen, heard me and came out to receive me with a smile.Behind her was Aunt Melinda, who was smiling at me too. Uncle Austin was sitting by the balcony with his chessboard. When he saw us, he stood up and greeted us jubilantly. Inside the house, we all gathered togethe
So the Whites came here with an agenda. No wonder Felix followed me shamelessly—he was part of the plan! I bumped Colin's leg with mine and asked him silently if he was aware of this plan too and had been hiding it from me. Colin fed me some prawns and mouthed "I have no idea" to me.I then asked him what we should do now. He told me to stay put and observe. I lowered my head and chuckled sneakily. It was supposed to be a normal conversation, but we made it all cryptic like spies exchanging intel. We had to read lips.After Uncle Austin delivered the speech, he downed the liquor. Aunt Melinda followed suit quickly. She even showed us her empty glass to prove that she chugged everything, leaving nothing behind.Bringing up the past dampened my mood a bit. Just because I didn't think of it didn't mean I had forgotten about it. The incident hurt me a lot, so the mere act of recalling it was painful. It was difficult to forget it. Dad and Mom were so mad back then. They even decided n