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
“I’m not sure,” Travis said.Hailey was surprised. “What the hell is ‘I’m not sure’?”“Who knows?” Travis said as he started unbuttoning Hailey’s shirt.Hailey stopped him. “You...”“Just because you don’t want this doesn’t mean I don’t either.” Travis interrupted her sentence and moved his hands away, doing whatever he pleased.They hadn’t been together for long, but it was enough time to understand each other’s bodies well. At first, Hailey wasn’t quite in the mood because of the questions in her mind, but Travis aroused her in just a few minutes.Seeing her clear eyes clouded with lust, Travis also became more and more excited.His fingers traced her curves as he thought about the pictures Gary had drawn of Hailey.Hailey was undoubtedly exquisite in those pictures, so Travis couldn’t help but wonder if Gary had been in love with Hailey before.“Have you dated Gary Wellner before?” he asked, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer.“Huh?” Hailey didn’t hear him clearly, so she
After they finished with the bath, Travis got out of the tub and dried himself with a towel. Hailey didn’t wait for him to carry her; instead, she followed him out of the tub. She also acted modestly, not daring to look too much. She hadn’t felt so suffocated when she was with Travis for a long time.“It’s all because he’s been acting too weird today,” Hailey thought as she hurriedly dried herself with another towel.Travis looked at Hailey, wrapped in the towel, in confusion. “Are you comfortable in that?”“The towel is wet, why would I be comfortable?”“More or less.” Hailey awkwardly smiled. Her cheeks were burning, and she did not dare look into Travis’s eyes either. It was fortunate that she had just taken a warm bath, making her whole body appear flushed, so her blush wouldn’t be obvious at all.Travis raised an eyebrow, gently removing the towel from Hailey and placing it on the nearby rack. Subsequently, he carried Hailey Bridal Style, leaving her stunned by the removal of the
Hailey did not expect Cynthia to be so determined. Given the significance of Cirrus embroidery and the Lynch family’s future, Hailey refrained from interfering with Cynthia’s decision. After all, it was not as if Cynthia was joining the fun competition. Hailey did not expect Cynthia, who had never been interested in fashion and opted to get a degree in finance, to make that decision for the sake of her family’s legacy. Hailey couldn’t help but remember the times when she was still a disciple at Cirrus embroidery. She only snapped back to reality when they arrived at the Blake mansion. She headed straight to the old lady’s chapel after getting out of the car, intending to ask for permission before going to the hospital.“Hey, isn’t that Rowena?” When Hailey was about to turn the corner, she heard Maria’s voice coming from the front garden. She halted. This showed that she would encounter Rowena and Mary if she walked further. It was fortunate that the mansion had a Victorian style, so
After leaving the mansion, Hailey still felt strange. She couldn’t quite describe how she felt at that moment, so she just pushed it aside as a strange emotion. All the family members seemed to put in a lot of effort for Travis’s matching ceremony. Rowena and Mary were doing their best to find suitable candidates for him, let alone for his mother.Hailey was eager to attend the ceremony, curious to see which of the rich girls would be present. Even though Travis himself stated he wasn’t ready to settle down yet, Hailey couldn’t help but wonder if he had never truly fallen in love with one of the many beauties around.“Is he really giving his whole heart to Michelle?” She shook her head, pushing this repugnant thought out of her mind.“I’m outside already,” she called Travis.“Where are you now?”Travis glanced at the hospital entrance. “I’m already at the hospital, just come.” Since there were many people there, Travis thought Hailey didn’t want to expose their relationship and went a
After exchanging a few more words, Travis left.Hailey turned to her mother and uncle. “I’ll send Mr. Blake, so I’ll be back soon.”The dean seemed to have an idea. When they reached the elevator, he grabbed the doctor’s arm and said, “Mrs. Stewart, we need to talk about your uncle’s condition for a while. So, is it okay if you send Mr. Blake yourself?”Hailey paid little attention. “Alright, you guys can go to work. I’ll send Mr. Blake. Thank you for taking care of my uncle.”While alone in the elevator, Travis said, “I noticed that sometimes you can be foolish.”“What?” Hailey didn’t understand what Travis was up to this time.“How so?”Travis replied disdainfully, “Can’t you tell that the dean noticed our peculiar relationship?”“Huh?” Hailey was stunned. She really didn’t realize. “How could he know? Did he guess?”Travis said, “He probably guessed initially, but today you gave them a clue.”Hailey was so shocked that her mind went blank. “When did I do that?”She just couldn’t th
Travis seemed stunned for a moment and said, “How?”Hailey exclaimed with wide eyes. “You look different! You’ve trimmed your eyebrows!”Her jaws dropped, as if a whole egg could fit inside her mouth.Travis abruptly stood up and leaned over his desk to cover Hailey’s mouth. “Aren’t you usually pretty careful with things? Why are you being so loud today?”Now that Travis was up close, Hailey could see that he not only trimmed his eyebrows. As if possessed, she instinctively reached out and pinched his face. It was soft, which surprised her even more.Travis raised his eyebrows. “Ugh, this woman is pinching my face again.”His hand then moved to Hailey’s waist and grabbed her over the desk.Hailey didn’t scream this time. She covered her mouth with her hands. “What is Travis doing? He was just complaining that I had been loud a second ago! Isn’t he afraid I’ll scream even louder at such a gesture?”Travis pushed Hailey into his office chair and caught her with both arms, looking direct
In reality, Hailey wasn’t on the phone when Travis called. She was in her car, lost in deep thought. The signal was weak in the branch’s underground parking lot.She had seen Cynthia’s draft design for the first round. It wasn’t well developed, but it was very creative. It was undeniable that Cynthia had inherited the talent from the Yates family. She was much better than Annie, but still had a lot of work to do before she could catch up to Luna.Hailey didn’t plan on having Cynthia as a disciple. She wasn’t a professional herself because of some issues, so she didn’t have the courage to take on disciples.Although she could be friends with Cynthia, she no longer wanted any affiliation with Cirrus Embroidery.She leaned back in her seat and considered, but couldn’t conclude. “One step at a time,” Hailey sighed and looked at her phone, which had all the information she needed.She wasn’t sure if Helena knew Travis was hosting this competition solely for Luna, and she wasn’t certain how
“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