I stood in front of the door of some conference room. My hand froze in the knocking gesture, an inch away from the door's surface. I could just act like an idiot and open the door just to see that guy's face, but all of my instincts were telling me to run the hell away from there. My heart thundered as I wondered if I should take a gamble and face the person who wanted Aren and me dead. Finally, instead of barging inside, I leaned against the wall right by the door crack and tried to hear more…"I cannot guarantee that this method will work in this specific situation." I heard another voice coming from that room. The voice seemed calm and much softer than the voice of my kidnapper. "What we can be certain of is that the suggestion will stay engraved inside that man's mind, and he will react to the keywords in a certain way...""What way?!" my kidnapper roared. "The whole mission is useless if we cannot even lead him the way we want to!"Whatever it was that they were planning, it coul
I was looking at Aren's phone screen with my picture displayed in the caller ID's place and signed "My Wife" right below the photo. What was his phone doing here? Did someone lure him outside the hotel and then abduct him, making him drop his phone? I knew that Aren knew how to fight, but he wasn't invincible... What if those who attacked Aren were Max and his men?! What if they beat him up and locked him somewhere?! They could have done it before meeting with Haskett!My restless mind quickly became filled with conspiracy theories and the darkest possible scenarios. I placed my hand on my chest and rubbed it, trying to soothe my frantically pounding heart. As I slightly regained composure, I looked around and then up, and noticed that I was standing right under the terrace. Could the phone fall by accident and not crash because it fell on the carpet? It was possible, but what would Aren do on that terrace in the first place? And where the hell was he?!All those questions had only in
The frown painting Aren's face deepened. He kept staring at me as if he was fighting an inner battle about whether to accept my assumptions or not. His expression made me even angrier at him than I was before. Was it so hard to believe that the woman who hurt him so badly before was now collaborating with his enemies? A minute later, Chris and Jack walked into the hall. I saw they were trying to read the situation; smiles vanished from their faces as they registered Aren standing by the bar with a whiskey glass and me sitting on the sofa with my arms crossed. Jack glanced at me, questionably raising his eyebrows. "Yes," I answered his inward question. "Aren is pissed because we didn't inform him that his ex visited him in the clinic as soon as he woke up." Aren rolled his eyes at my sarcastic remark. "It's not about Lanfen, for Christ's sake!" he growled. I jumped up to my feet. "Well, I'm sorry that I thought that I shouldn't stress you out! I'm sorry that I was worried about you!
Did I know what I was signing for? Most likely, no. Had I imagined a life without Aren? Definitely not. Was it insane? Absolutely, yes. Certainly, it didn't mean that I was willing to forget the way Aren acted in front of me, but I was giving him another chance. No, scratch that—I was giving us a chance. Was it a rational thing to do? No, it surely wasn't. I was painfully aware that it had nothing to do with having a forgiving heart, but more with my current inability to give up on him. Call me foolish and masochistic, but perhaps I wasn't ready to leave him and still hoped that he wouldn't screw up again...The consolidating fact was that he felt guilty as if he was genuinely honest when he claimed that he didn't want me to leave him. Again, was I interpreting his behavior in a way it could ease my mind? Of course, I was, but it didn't mean that I was doing something wrong, right? I was walking on cloud no. 9 whenever he held my hand, and believe me, it's hard to make logical decisio
I was sitting, wrapped in bedsheets, with my back leaning against the head of the bed and the laptop on my thighs. I put on my earphone headset and instantly connected with Alan and Norton. They had been woken up by the same alarm and had already logged on when I called them on chat."Don't do anything for now. We need to observe this bastard's moves and find the right moment to put the tracker on him," I said, typing commands like crazy and struggling not to lose him."I see that fucker!" Alan burst through my earphones. "He is going to the bait and trying to open the new projects' folder.""What kind of a password do we have there?" I asked since Norton and Alan were the ones who had prepared the bait folder."It's a standard password with small and capital letters, two digits, and a special sign. We thought that the hacker would become suspicious if the access was too easy," Norton replied. "If it's the same hacker who broke into the system before, then he is good enough to break t
I knew I should have spent that night being proud of myself, but I had spent it crying. I wanted to be loved, and I wanted to fight for this love, but not at the price of losing myself. I was afraid that one day I would wake up bitter and tired of waiting for something that would never happen. Perhaps I was the one being selfish; I wanted him to have feelings for me just because I was filled with feelings for him, but I grew up learning that I had the right to be loved without needing to beg for it. Right now, I felt as if I was on my knees, begging him, waiting like a dog for a bone. It was pathetic. I told Aren that I would wait until after Lan Jing's birthday, but I couldn't understand why that event had to determine our relationship. Was he going to miraculously open his heart for me then? Would a witch cast a spell upon him, and he would realize that he loved me all along? I couldn't deny that my heart fluttered every time I saw him, that every time he touched me I felt shivers,
I spent that short night lying in Aren's arms. There was something bittersweet about it. We were hugging each other without our desires exploding within us or driving us to the edge of sanity. I took pleasure in feeling Aren's warmth covering my body, his strong arms keeping me from falling off the sofa. His heart beat at a soothing rate, allowing me to sleep soundly until the merciless alarm woke us up.He already had his suitcases prepared and was ready to go straight to the airport. I went there with him, watching him get on board his private jet and fly off. My chest suddenly squeezed as if I was saying my final goodbye to him, at the same time knowing that the day I would walk away from him could feel much worse than that.I wanted to shake off that depressing sensation as soon as I could, and there was only one way I was able to do that: by planning Operation Blue Dreamland. I called Jack and told him what we had and what we could get if we went to Blue Dreamland. I was glad whe
Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the coffee shop, and Lanfen was sitting in front of me. Did the feeling that it could be a trap cross my mind? Of course, but I wouldn't miss the chance to get to know my enemy. Jack trained me a little about observation, but it didn't look like someone was following us. The people inside the café that Lanfen invited me to seemed normal as well. Nevertheless, I knew that I couldn't lower my guard just because I thought it was safe around. "I'm Cora Lan," I corrected, underlining the last name before I took the first cautious sip from my coffee cup. Her lips curled up gracefully. "Of course, you are, Mrs. Lan," she said, her voice polite and serene. I had to give it to her—she was mesmerizing. From the top of her head to her small feet adorned by Dior black high heels, she was flawless. I couldn't stop staring at her porcelain complexion and her almond eyes with glowing irises in a frame of thick eyelashes, not to mention her ideal jawline and tiny
I didn't answer Aren right away. I held my poker face still, resisting the urge to smile. I waited until the smug smirk slowly left his mouth, enjoying every second of his uncertainty. "Say it again," I said. He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Will you marry me?" His confusion made my lips gently curve. "Not this, but your words before that." "I love you." He grinned, reaching for my hand. "I love you." He took out the ring from the box and put it on my finger. It fitted perfectly. "I love you," he breathed, leaning closer and placing a gentle kiss on my chin, on my cheek, and my lips. I wish I could say that it was a perfect, romantic moment, but my hormones ruined it all by making me cry again. He chuckled softly, sitting beside me and pulling me onto his lap. He kissed every tear away while gently stroking my hair with his fingers. "I want you forever as my wife. Nod if you agree," he said, giving me the sweetest smile I saw on his face. Of course, I nodded. It was much e
I had been dreaming about this moment for the last five months. No. Scratch that. I had been having nightmares about this moment. From the moment I found out that I was pregnant, there wasn't a single day I didn't think about how I was going to tell Aren. Initially, I wanted to call him immediately. This situation was changing everything between us. I grabbed the phone while tears flooded my eyes. I picked Aren's number... and I froze.The baby I had growing inside my belly would become the future heir of the Lan family. This meant that as soon as I told anyone, I would become the future mother of the future heir... Chills ran down my spine. Would I be forced to live in Shanghai and become nothing more than Aren Lan's wife? I instantly felt nauseous, and not only because I had morning sickness. Something was crushing my chest, and I was scared. I was terrified. And then later, what if someone decided that I wasn't the best mother for my child and would take my child away? I knew that
It'd been over six months since Cora walked out the door of the Lan family mansion. That day was the last time I saw her, the last time I felt her, and the last time I could focus on anything. From that moment, I had been merely existing, surprising myself each time I got up to see another morning. Funny, isn't it? The cold son of the bitch who wasn't supposed to have a heart was suffering from agonizing heartache. If Nanny Mei Lien had seen me like this, she would have called me pathetic.Since my Mother died a little after I was born, Mei Lien was the only parent figure around me. James Winton most likely wanted me to die as well, but Mei Lien did everything she could to keep me safe. She contacted my Grandfather on her own and begged him to grant me and her his protection. He refused. He was soaked with hatred for the daughter who betrayed him, and it was only natural that he would hate that daughter's son as well. It's ironic that right before the daughter whom he hated died wishe
I started packing the second I walked into our room. Aren looked at me, shocked. Within a heartbeat, he surged between me and my suitcase. "What are you doing, sunshine?" His steady voice had a rough edge painted with anxiety. "I'm going back to New York. I had already booked a plane on our way to the mansion." I tried to keep my tone composed, but every piece within me was shaking. He huffed nervously. "When are you coming back to Shanghai?" His eyes darkened; he knew what I was going to say. "I'm not coming back," I muttered, lowering my gaze. "Sunshine... don't..." He shook his head, pain and desperation surfacing in his features wildly. I brushed away the tears that had uncontrollably fallen down my cheeks. "Give me a reason why I should stay?" I pushed him away from my suitcase and continued packing. "I know that I'm selfish, but I can't lose you." His voice was soft, nearly cracking. Before I knew it, his arms were wrapped around me, and I surrendered to the warmth of his b
I had trouble eating dinner, and it had nothing to do with my two broken fingers. I couldn't swallow a single piece of food, feeling that every bite got stuck in my throat. Afterward, I went to Lan Jing's office for a private conversation. I was pissed, and with every second that had gone by, I found it more difficult to hide my anger. I had known that Aren would have to be in Shanghai to take over Lan Wang Corporation, but we were going to discuss the details together! I had never even considered moving to Shanghai and staying here permanently!The few friends I had, all lived in New York. My Grandma stayed in the clinic in New York. My life was in New York. I loved Aren, but I had only just begun to truly cherish the place where I lived, and I didn't want to move somewhere else, no matter how beautiful and extraordinary Shanghai was. It wasn't about the language, because I would gladly learn it, but I would do it for myself. I helped Aren with his revenge, and it seemed to me that h
I was not a killer. I'd always considered myself a good person. I had a high set of moral standards, and I had never thought that there would be a day when I would point a gun at someone, thinking that he deserved to die. Still, I couldn't take away his life... But I wanted him to suffer. I aimed at his right shoulder. Adrenaline sharpened my senses, making me more focused than I had ever been in my whole life. The oddly funny fact was that I had problems with hitting the target board, but I knew exactly where the bullet would hit the second I pulled that trigger.Caishen growled in pain, the knife held in his right hand falling to the ground. "You bitch!" he yelled, stomping my way.I shot again, this time aiming at his thigh. The second bullet made him collapse. I watched him fall to the ground, his hands reaching to press the wound on his leg. I smirked coldly. I must have hit an artery since he was bleeding out fast. None of those shots were lethal, but they were enough. He lost.
My husband was two feet away from me. He was covered in blood, but all I cared about was that the blood wasn't his. His eyes carried an explosive mix of emotions. There was fear, guilt, relief, need, longing, pain, anger, and an unrecognizable form of warmth. He stood still, as if he was waiting for my permission to come closer, to touch me, to embrace me. Seeing him near me and not feeling his skin against mine was almost unbearable. My whole body craved him. I could finally breathe because he was close. I spread my arms open, invitingly. It only took a heartbeat for him to encircle me in a tight hug, allowing me to melt into his muscular frame. I breathed in his scent like it was a remedy for all the physical pain."I missed you so much," I mumbled, shedding a wide stream of tears.His hands delicately traced up and down my back as if he was afraid to hurt me. "I'm sorry, sunshine... I'm so sorry." He breathed heavily in between leaving soft kisses on the crown of my head. "I was so
The alarms went off. I could see the red lights flashing rhythmically as Caishen dragged me through the corridor. This time I didn't even dream of running away. I was circled by Max and the group of guards who watched me closely, tensing each time one of my legs swayed as if it was a signal of me trying to run away. I tried to memorize the route but then decided that it was useless since I didn't even know where the exit was. Nonetheless, I'd noticed something before: there were no windows. My suspicions were confirmed as I was pushed into the elevator. We were on the underground floor—Level -3, and the elevator went down to Level -5.Once we left the elevator, I saw more armed men, running somewhere and securing certain areas. Then I heard very distant gunshots. My heart started to pound with a new beat. Aren might have been getting closer. The sole thought made my body warm."Get in," Caishen hissed, throwing me into a raw, almost unfurnished room. "You will wait here until it's all
Caishen's peel of laughter told me that I could breathe again. I emptied my lungs in one hectic exhale. The gun's barrel was still touching my temple. My hand was trembling. I blinked my eyes, slowly realizing that there was no bullet in the chamber. Caishen clapped his hands, visibly entertained that I decided to risk my life, playing his sick game. I hated him. I hated him for making me choose between my life and the lives of the criminals standing around me. It would have been easier if I had lost my moral values and had given up on respect for human lives, but it was something I could never do. Certainly, I believed that there were deviants in this world that didn't deserve to live, but if I was their judge, I would rather grant them hell on earth than send them to hell myself."Are you trying to become a saint, my dear?" Caishen laughed as he snatched the gun from my hand. "We are surrounded by meaningless people. Their lives don't matter. They will always be workers, not creator