When Luna heard Hailey call her “sister,” she was stunned. She did not know what Hailey was trying to do, and she couldn’t understand the reason behind it. Hailey pretended to have a stomachache before quickly pulling Gary away.Luna frowned. While Hailey didn’t embarrass her, her anxiety persisted.Mr. Wellner is Annie’s younger sister’s boyfriend, that’s why he called me “sister.” Luna explained to Travis that his tone was unnatural. Despite realizing that her wonderful evening with Travis was over, she felt compelled to provide an explanation.Travis hummed indifferently. “Does that make the girl next to you Annie’s younger sister?”Luna felt a tug at her heart. Why did Travis ask about Hailey? Was he interested in her?She forced herself to stay calm. “No, Annie’s sister is attending university in another city. I don’t know who that girl is. Maybe she’s a friend of Mr. Wellner.” Luna didn’t dare to badmouth Gary and Hailey. She and Hailey could not criticize one another because it
Travis looked at her in silence.They gazed at each other for a while. When Hailey realized he would not speak, she continued. "If you say nothing, I'll assume you're okay with me asking you a question." She cleared her throat."I just want to know. What's the point of you coming here tonight?"Travis wasn't expecting such a question. He thought that if she cared about him, she'd at least ask who Luna was. After all, women desired exclusivity. Even though they were only together because of an agreement, she would probably joke about the situation and say something like "I thought you wouldn't come back tonight" if she didn't care about him. He was convinced she wanted to say something like that.However, she didn't. Instead, she asked him why he had come here.This question baffled even Travis.He wanted to explain himself. He also wanted to ask Hailey about Mr. Wellner. He wasn't blind. He could see that she had lunch alone with that man today, just like she did with Luna. The man af
Hailey looked at Travis in shock. Was he scaring Layla away? Was he going to fight with Hailey? Or was he going to tell her about Luna? Whatever it was, it seemed like Hailey couldn’t avoid it. She furrowed her brow and silently put away her bag, then went to pour herself a glass of cold water in the kitchen. After gulping it down, she felt like she had calmed down. She pondered. If Travis really wanted to tell her about Luna and said that their agreement would end here, she wasn’t sure if she would be happy. It would be beneficial if the other party wasn’t Luna. Perhaps Hailey wouldn’t feel so conflicted about it. If it weren’t for Luna, maybe Hailey would be thrilled if Travis ended their agreement now. Oh no. At the very least, she would have to wait until her uncle’s operation was over.Suddenly she felt very reluctant. She hadn’t even achieved anything yet! If Luna and Travis really got together, Hailey wouldn’t be able to touch Luna anymore. For the rest of her life, Hailey coul
Hailey’s eyes flickered. She worried about upsetting him by saying, “I am the one who said it.”“Isn’t that so?” She hesitated at first, then, as if realizing, she said, “I must have misunderstood.”Travis narrowed his eyes. The expression on Hailey’s face didn’t show that she had misunderstood, but that she was exhausted of talking to him and being polite about it.“Undress,” he said calmly.Hailey didn’t want to undress, but she also couldn’t escape. So she said, “I’ll use my clothes while I wash, is that okay?”Travis was about to bark and laugh at how frustrated he felt with her. He grabbed her chin and said, “Even if I associate with other women, aren’t you doing the same? You two were even worse. Not only did you touch each other so familiarly, but you also flirted a lot. I wasn’t being petty with you, so don’t start with me.”As he spoke, he unbuttoned Hailey’s clothes.“Eh?” Hailey exclaimed, blocking his hands. “He was just a friend!”“Are you suggesting that we were even wor
When Annie received the call from her sister Cynthia, she was on the verge of exploding with anger. She grabbed a vase and threw it to the ground out of pure fury.Cynthia heard shattering from the other end of the line, and she knew instantly that her brother had broken something.“What’s the point of destroying your things?” She anxiously shouted over the phone. “Hurry and leave that woman! What’s the use of keeping a woman like her by your side?”“You don’t have to worry about my business. Leave me alone!” Annie roared.“I’m doing this for your own benefit!”“Is yelling at me all you know how to do?”Cynthia cried out of frustration and anger. “I always wanted Hailey to be my sister-in-law, but now it seems better not to be with you. If I were her, I wouldn’t want to be with you either! I won’t worry about you anymore in the future! Just wait until that woman deceives you!”Annie was upset that he almost smashed his phone. Later, he picked up the phone again to call Luna.First, he
Sonny responded calmly, “I just came to buy the paintings. There’s no need to explain our relationship, right?”“There is,” Gary said firmly. “I am her friend, and I will not sell her paintings to strangers.”Sonny raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have to ask for further instructions. Please wait a moment.”Gary frowned, watching Sonny walk away to make a private call. Because he had to ask for instructions, he wasn’t the one who wanted to buy the paintings. Who did it?Hailey knew the identity of the buyer. Unfortunately, she didn’t reveal who this man was. She even told Gary to be ruthless in setting a fair price for the paintings.Gary didn’t want to cause Hailey any unnecessary trouble because of her portraits. Although he had promised not to ask, he ended up doing so.Sonny promptly sought Travis’ opinion on the matter and received a straightforward instruction. “Tell him the truth.”Obviously, the truth wouldn’t include the genuine relationship betweenTravis and Hailey. There was no ne
“There’s no need for that.” Travis had Katie dismiss the designer. Just leave the clothes.He then returned to his conversation with Sonny. “Where are the paintings?”“In the downstairs living room,” Sonny replied.“Bring it up for me to see.” Travis wanted to see how Hailey looked when others painted her.With the help of another servant, Sonny eased all the paintings into Travis’s studio. Removing the packaging revealed six paintings of various sizes.In five of the six paintings, Hailey wore various elegant and soft, modern and lively, or ethereally charming outfits. The last portrait consisted solely of her head with an exaggerated headdress. Each portrait featured a harmonious arrangement with well-combined designs and patterns. Gary Wellner was not an art teacher who made art on a whim; he had genuine talent.Travis’s gaze fell on the portrait of Hailey in a traditional dress. This portrait was the largest of all the paintings, measuring 600x900. Hailey leaned against a window,
Hailey didn’t realize Travis’s internal situation. She also didn’t feel like she had said anything wrong.She hadn’t forgotten that Travis had sent his men to block her way out of the hallway where Luna and Annie had carried out their engagement ceremony before.Fortunately, the relationship between her and Travis was just an agreement. If Travis were actually her husband, the anger she felt that night would have shattered her. The scene from last night, with Luna in his arms, would have pushed Hailey to the brink of fury.Speaking of gifts, Hailey suddenly exclaimed, “You want to give them a gift. Does that mean you will also attend the wedding?”Travis hadn’t even attended Luna’s engagement ceremony, so he couldn’t attend Gary and Cynthia’s wedding either, right? After all, he wasn’t familiar with the couple.A hint of uncertainty slipped into his voice as he asked, “You’re not thinking of going, are you?”.Travis found he was slowly learning to read some of Hailey’s expressions and
“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