Annie sat on the sidewalk for a while before calling Luna.Luna had only two words to say. “Go away!”Annie immediately shouted, “I warn you! Don’t you dare abandon me, Luna! If you don’t come to pick me up, I will spread rumors about how vicious you are and let your precious Mr. Blake know how pretentious you are. Let’s see if you can maintain your pretentious demeanor with him after that! Don’t test me!”Luna stomped in anger.Annie and Hailey consistently obstructed her path and threatened her. Why couldn’t they just die already?She was furious to the point of wanting to hit someone, but she relented and picked up Annie. She didn’t want the foolish drunk to spread rumors or tell anyone what she had done.Her eyes blink. A cold shadow fell over her eyes.As Luna drove, she spotted Annie from a distance. He was sitting by the roadside, looking drunk and forlorn. There was a world of difference between him and Travis Blake. She was so disgusted; she felt like driving away and ignorin
Hailey shook her head and said, “I have nothing to say.” She still hadn’t recovered from the shock. “Were you there because you had to pay for everything?”Her question was so rude. Was she frightened of the small jewels that others wear? Travis groaned inwardly, thinking about how Hailey had not yet seen the world. He would rectify this and show her more in the future.“I went to complete the gift style; I had already selected the item.”“They just needed me to confirm it.”“Oh,” Hailey let out a long sigh and then asked a question she had wanted to ask for a long time. “Why did you take me today?”“Did you have something to do?” However, Travis’s response was another question.“It’s not that I didn’t,” said Hailey. “I mean, it’s not that I have nothing. You can see that I’m studying every day.”Writing and her notebook weren’t the only things on her desk.Hailey continued, “Also, you didn’t tell Aunt I was coming. When she looked at me, you could see her face. Didn’t you find it awk
“You can’t blame me for everything,” Annie said, offended. Who requested that you not marry me? Who asked you to leave this matter? A hundred days will end in an instant! I was depressed, that’s why I drank.“If you give me a concrete promise, I won’t do something like that again.”“Get lost!” Luna shouted. “Do not even consider marrying me if you cannot regulate your speech while inebriated.” Since you can still think of Hailey even when you’re drunk, go spend time with her. Why the hell did you come back?”Annie frowned. “I won’t do that again.”Although he said that, he was seething inside. Luna was just too much! She demanded more from him than he could give, and she didn’t treat him with the respect he deserved.Luna was also furious. In her anger, she ended up slapping Annie several times. Despite her well-tailored traditional dress, she lacked any trace of elegance. Her expression was fierce, and her gaze on Annie was like a glance at a hated enemy.“I think there’s something s
Travis’s closed eyes fluttered.He slowly reopened them and looked at Hailey. “Do you want to take part?”Hailey couldn’t understand the guilt that welled up inside her when he looked at her. She stiffened and said, “Yes. When I first saw it, I wanted to participate in the preparations, but I didn’t dare to tell you.”“So you do it now?” Travis asked.Hailey laughed. “If I want to take part, I must first express my desires. I can’t just sit and wait to see if the company organizes it for me.”Travis wasn’t sure if Hailey wanted to take part on her own accord or if it was an order from the grandmother.Upon reflection, the situation seemed peculiar. Since he had a cordial relationship with Hailey, he seemed to have quickly forgotten about Luna Michelle. It felt like he hadn’t been in touch with her in a long time. He couldn’t remember the last time he thought about her.“MightA subsidiary company is handling the preparations. Mrs. Sears follows up on these matters. Since you have no ex
When Hailey thought about how little she knew about Travis, she felt uncomfortable. As the saying goes, know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll emerge unscathed from a hundred battles. She didn’t understand Travis at all, so how could she expect to maintain a positive long-term relationship with him at this rate? Her eyes scanned the rest of the people in the office. If she wanted to know more about Travis, they would be a superb source of information. That day, while Hailey was advising Hailey and providing guidance, Hailey asked her, “Mrs. Sears, I feel like something is wrong.”“What is it?” Hailey assumed she understood nothing about the work.“Our company has never carried out a project like this,” Hailey said.“At most, we have only done various types of sponsorships. Why are we suddenly diving into preparing for this kind of competition?” Hailey’s heart skipped a beat at her question. She kept her voice light as she responded, “Mr. Blake has always been interested in tradition
Hailey furrowed her eyebrows. "Hmm, I see. Just don’t do it again."The doctor said you have to eat something. Is there anything I can do for you to bolt?“I’ll get it for you.”“I have nothing,” Christian said. “I’ve been so busy that I didn’t even have time to go back home. There’s nothing in the house.”“I’ll order takeout. I’ll see if there’s someone selling porridge.” Hailey searched for takeout on her phone. After ordering, she told Christian, “Work is important, but your body is just as important. If it breaks down because you overwork yourself, you won’t get anything out of it.”“It’s not really something I can choose,” Christian said immediately. “It’s all because of my awful sister.”Christian suppressed his emotions, but his voice was bitter. “My careless words upset her.” She retaliated and made my family arrange a lot of work for me. You can’t even imagine how awful it was! I worked consistently for almost 50 hours straight! I really thought I was going to die. Luckily, I
“That’s right,” Rochelle began. “I would like a master card for this house. How could I check in unexpectedly if I had to ring the bell? Aunt Rochelle, this house is under Hailey’s name. I can’t make that decision. If you want a master card for this place, you’ll have to ask Hailey.”“Do you think she would really give it to me even if I asked?” Rochelle snorted coldly. She was already thinking about getting the property manager to make a copy of the access card.Travis said, “Aunt Rochelle, I’ve seen your dispute with Hailey before. I also know she’s quite fierce. I think it’s better if you don’t push her too much. If one of the Blakes causes someone’s death, and their family takes it seriously, it would be difficult for us to justify our actions.”“Death?” Rochelle was startled. “It’s not that serious, is it?”“It’s difficult to say,” Travis replied indifferently.“Some time ago, an employee of one company under our umbrella jumped from the building,” Travis narrated.Before jumping
Hailey took more than half an hour to return to Heron Peninsula from Christian’s house. When she opened the door and entered the house, Travis and Rochelle were just finishing dinner and drinking tea.She composed herself and greeted them politely, “Mother, Travis. Do you have time to come see me?”During her journey back home, Hailey had already thought about it. No matter what, she had to pretend that she had a terrible relationship with Travis and that they rarely interacted with each other.Rochelle frowned at Hailey’s indifferent face and thought to herself, “This woman always looks like someone owes her money. Just looking at her puts a damper on my mood!”Rochelle gently blew on the tea in her hand and said ominously, “Hmm. I just thought I hadn’t been here before, so I stopped by to look. I didn’t expect you not to be here when I came. What a coincidence!”Hailey repeated what she had told Layla over the phone. “I came back as soon as I received the call,” she replied.“You ca
“Has my mother left?” Travis asked, even though he already knew the answer.Hailey pretended to smile and said, “What a great moment. Don’t tell me someone already informed you of what happened here?”Travis didn’t even blush despite Hailey’s statement and said, “I don’t know about your closed-door discussion.”Hailey looked at Layla, who approached her with a thin blanket and said, “I’ll tell you later.”“Okay. I’ll go now,” Travis said as he hung up the call.Layla covered Hailey, who was resting on the couch, with the blanket. The air conditioning temperature was low.Soon after, Hailey’s phone rang again. It was Travis once more. She didn’t hesitate and answered the call.“My mom is here,”
Thalia was very punctual.Hailey, Layla, Harry, and Laura stood up and greeted her by the driver’s seat.Originally, Layla wanted to greet her with all the servants standing in a row. However, Hailey said it was unnecessary. She did not organize something so extravagant when her in-laws came last time even though the two were looking for a fight. However, Hailey believed it was more important for her to greet herself. Everything else was not as necessary. Not to mention that with all the servants around, it would be challenging to keep a low profile. They might also be curious about how she would act when Thalia was present. That’s why she managed without them.If she overdid it and accidentally leaked into the main mansion, someone would say she was trying to butter up Thalia.After Thalia exited the car and saw Hailey greeting her at the entrance, she smiled and wrapped her arms tightly around Hailey
Travis addressed Eva normally. He called her “aunt.” But Eva was so used to being called Madame Winters that she felt uncomfortable with the new term.“Ms. Blake...” She only got out two words when Travis interrupted her.“You’re my elder, so call me Travis,” Travis whispered.If any of the Blake family members had been here, their eyes would surely pop out of their sockets. Travis rarely spoke with such respect, and only a few people had been worthy of such consideration. His grandmother was one of them.Eva’s lips trembled. In the end, she couldn’t say his name. “You... What did you want to tell me?”Either way, there was no way out. She had heard too many unfortunate news, so she thought she could probably bear one more.Travis’s response caught her off guard. “I would like to talk to you about Hailey,” he replied calmly.“Eh?” Eva was f
Fortunately, Travis didn’t press on about the friend or the photo. After hearing Hailey’s response, he lowered his head and returned to the financial news section.Hailey breathed a sigh of relief. After finishing her breakfast, she gathered her things and prepared for her visit to the hospital. Her uncle’s surgery was scheduled soon, so she wanted to keep him company as much as possible before that.Travis did not know that Hailey was going out. According to his usual schedule, he usually headed to the mansion before lunch. Judging by his bare face and comfortable clothes, she could guess his destination.However, she still asked, “Where are you going?”“To the hospital,” Hailey said.“Yesterday, I went to the mansion and informed Grandma in advance. I can go to the hospital directly now.”Immediately, Travis dropped everything and stood up. “I’m coming with you.”
When Travis appeared, Hailey continued to check both the study room and the bedroom. The sight of him shocked her greatly.“Didn’t you say you would come back tomorrow?” she asked, confused.Travis was supposed to return from his business trip tomorrow, but here he was.“I finished my work early, so I returned,” Travis replied. He didn’t tell her he had returned a day earlier because Hailey had instructed the servants to clean the villa and store his things to welcome his mother.Hailey said, “Oh, you came back just when I had someone helping me clean up the place. Can you go back to the Imperial Garden tonight? Don’t come tomorrow night either.”Frustrated, Travis questioned the obvious. “Why?”Hailey raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you know? Mrs. Thalia, your mother, will come to inspect my house in two days. I was worried she would check the upstairs, so I kept all
“About what you mentioned earlier... I think it’s a good idea.”The following day, Travis suddenly brought up this topic to Hailey.Hailey still felt quite dazed, with a bewildered expression. “What?”Travis was calm. “About getting Uncle Liam and Aunt Rowena to have another child.”Hailey instantly woke up. Travis’s words quickly dispelled her drowsiness. “What? Why suddenly?”Travis replied, “I just said; suddenly, I feel like it’s a good idea.”Hailey touched Travis’s forehead and then felt her own. “Do you have a fever or something?”Travis gently removed her hand and held it in his palm, with a serious expression. “I’m serious.”“Serious? Doesn’t it sound like you’re trying to separa
Hailey was taken aback as if Travis had said something truly horrible.“I don’t know.” She was silent for a while. Then she asked with a blank face, “Can’t you finish this contract before anyone finds out?”Travis tightened his grip on Hailey. Unable to control his strength correctly, he was about to crush her jaw.“Ah...!” Hailey cried out in pain and tried to pry his fingers off.But Travis had no intention of letting go. Hailey’s words were sharp and painful needles that pricked his heart.“So, was it all a misunderstanding? Did she not care for me at all?”At that moment, Travis had never doubted his sixth sense more.“So, what you’re saying is: if someone finds out about us tomorrow, you want to cut ties with me today?” he asked, his face grim. With each word, his heart hardened even more.Hailey thought, “I guess Travis isn’t d
Christian was a complete gentleman to Hailey. They were friends, but not the kind who had known each other for a long time and could make inappropriate jokes. Therefore, their behavior seemed normal to everyone—everyone except Travis.Travis’s expression had always been icy, so his attitude was nothing unusual to everyone. Even Helena couldn’t tell what he was thinking, let alone anyone else.After dinner, Christian drank some wine and became bolder. He boldly asked Hailey to go out with him over the weekend, saying he had plans with some friends to hike in the suburbs. If she was interested, they could go together.Hailey could feel everyone’s eyes burning holes in her. She smiled, “I’m not sure if I’m free this weekend. I’ll let you know when I’m sure.”Everything seemed normal and harmonious, at least until dinner ended, and Hailey got into the car. After she drove away and lost sight of the o
When Hailey went to sit down, she looked at Travis. His gaze was elsewhere, and he wasn’t looking at her.Christian, who had been paying attention, noticed who she was looking at. He assumed she was afraid of Travis and sighed with sadness.Since Hailey was being so cautious, he also had to be careful. He didn’t want to make things difficult for her. He knew Hailey was shunning him. If she felt the Blakes would misinterpret things if she got too close to him, she would keep her distance.When Christian arrived at the office building a moment ago, he noticed something. Hailey now had a driver and a bodyguard. The two people accompanying her were probably her driver and bodyguard. They even shamelessly followed her to the company! What the hell happened? Why didn’t he hear anything about this?He had to find the opportunity to ask her about this carefully. Thinking about it, he conclu