As the holidays drew nearer, Travis was suddenly up to his neck with work. Foreign guests visited from various countries, and he was too busy dealing with them.Alanna was busy too.Northlight Group had just been established in Jagersville, and she had to attend to various matters personally.In these few days, they could only talk to each other over the phone at night.On this day, Alanna received a call just as she got off work. She thought it was from a client, but to her surprise, it was a woman she didn't know."Are you free, Ms. Jacinto? Let's have a talk."Alanna was stunned. Before she could respond, she heard the woman laugh. "Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Travis' aunt."Alanna was silent for a moment. Then, she agreed. "Sure. Where should we meet?"That woman, Gwyneth Jenkins, named a place, and Alanna headed over immediately.Gwyneth reserved the entire cafe.Just as Alanna arrived at the entrance, a man in a black suit stopped her. "Ms. Jacinto, ple
Gwyneth didn't seem to feel guilty at all. "I just want to see what kind of person Travis has been having a crush on for so many years. You surprised me, Ms. Jacinto. If I hadn't gotten someone to follow you, I wouldn't have known all this."You're seeing Travis, yet you also seem close to another man. Do you know what that makes you? A loose woman, that's what. People like you will sooner or later be a disgrace to Travis!"Smirking, she continued, "You know, Travis has never blundered at work. But because of you, he missed out on an important meeting recently."You're really something, Ms. Jacinto. You've been with Hades for three years, yet you still manage to get Travis to fall head over heels for you. However, someone as loose as you doesn't belong in our family!"Alanna looked extremely displeased. She knew the Silva family would disapprove of her, but she never thought they would get someone to stalk her.She stared gloomily at Gwyneth. After a long while, she said, "You don
In a rage, Gwyneth picked it up. "Jeff, come over here right now. Someone's bullying me!"Jeff said something, and Gwyneth paled. "Jeff, I'm your aunt!"Jeff must have said something nasty as she hung up on him in fury.Glaring at Alanna, she hissed, "Just you wait, Travis will certainly break up with you!"Then, she picked up her bag and headed out.Alanna said nothing ever since Hades entered. She couldn't discern what she was feeling right now. She wasn't sure if she was feeling ashamed or embarrassed.Gwyneth's humiliating words shook her to her senses. She had been naive; things were more complicated than she thought they were."Sad?" Hades asked. It sounded like he was gloating. "Alanna, can you bear with Travis' family? They look down on you even before you're married to him. They'd only make things more difficult for you after. Can you really put up with it?"Alanna met his gaze. "Feeling pleased now aren't you, Hades?"Hades chuckled. "Oh, no. I told you from the star
Hades was sincere about that, but Alanna thought he was ridiculous.Protect her? He once said the same thing, but look at how things had turned out."Hades, just stop bothering me, okay?"Hades froze. He gazed at Alanna with a bitter look. "You think all this happened because of me?"Alanna resented him, indeed. She admitted Travis' family was a hurdle she couldn't get past. Even if this hadn't happened today, she'd have to face it sooner or later.But if Hades hadn't been bothering her, she wouldn't have to suffer such humiliation because of those photos.Her eyes were red as she looked at him. "Well, it happened because of those photos!"Hades was miffed. "Alanna, don't you understand? Your relationship with Travis will never make it."Alanna refused to bring the conversation any further. Glaring at him, she growled, "Are you getting out or not? No? Then I'll get out!"With that, she attempted to get out of the car.Hades grabbed her. "Where are you going?""I'm getting a
Chelsey gazed at Alanna while feeling sorry for her.Why was Alanna's love life such a bumpy one?"What are you going to do?" she asked.Alanna chuckled. "Travis told me to wait for him."Chelsey frowned. "Can this even be sorted out, though?"To her, it seemed hard enough. It would be a different story if Travis were from an ordinary family. However, that wasn't the case."I don't know."Chelsey hugged her. "Alright, let's stop thinking about it. Let's have a drink, shall we?"At that, she brought out a bottle of red wine. "I sneaked this out of my dad's wine cabinet."Smiling, Alanna nodded. "Thanks, Chelsey."Chelsey shot her a glare. "Stop being so polite!"She pushed a glass over to Alanna and clinked hers against Alanna's. "Let's prioritize ourselves more from now on, Alanna."Alanna had calmed down, but she felt a surge of emotions at that very moment.Feeling the urge to cry, she took some time before nodding with a smile. "Yeah, let's do that."The holidays were
Travis reached out to hold her hand. Then, he said, "Ally, I can give up everything I have for you. What about you?"Alanna froze when she heard Travis' words. After a moment, she chuckled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Travis. I can't do such a thing."Travis looked hurt as he said, "Ally, are you really that unwilling to fight for us?"Alanna lowered her head. "Travis, I can fight for us. But I can't give up everything I have right now."She could not do it. She could not abandon the life she had tried to fight tooth and nail for. She could not abandon Tara either.At the same time, she could not allow Travis to give up everything for her. Travis had a bright future ahead. He came from a happy family too. Who was she to ask someone like Travis to sacrifice everything for her?She didn't think she was worth such a sacrifice. She also did not want to be in a relationship where it felt like she owed him the world."But you were the one who wanted to give this relationship a try!"
Hades was silent before he chuckled bitterly. "Alanna, we used to be happy together!"Alanna laughed. "I never said that I was happy in our relationship.""Are you saying that you weren't happy?"Alanna looked at Hades. "That's right. Hades, every second with you was like torture!"With that said, she broke free from Hades' grasp and turned toward the corridor.Alanna didn't want to admit it. But Hades always had a knack for making her emotional.He could always cause her pain with a few measly words. She didn't even feel that sad when she ended things with Travis.What was there for her to be happy about?Was there joy in being kept like a pet? Or was there joy in watching Hades and Melanie acting all lovey-dovey?There were just fuck buddies. There was no reason to bring happiness into the equation!Hades frowned as he watched Alanna leave resolutely. After a long time, he suddenly laughed with a strong sense of bitterness and pain. He suddenly realized that all his har
On the way there, Alanna received a call from Travis."Ally, something came up. I can't accompany you today."Alanna had completely forgotten that Travis was coming to see her. "It's alright, Travis. Happy New Year."Alanna's tone sounded rushed. Travis wanted to talk more, but Alanna immediately ended the call.After ending the call, Alanna rushed to the hospital as quickly as she could.Hades followed behind and cursed. Why was she driving so recklessly? Was she not afraid she'd get into an accident?Alanna parked her car and ran to Tara's ward.Hades watched her run and felt slightly worried. Did something happen?He opened his car door and followed behind.The doctor was still completing Tara's checkup when Alanna arrived. "Doc, how is my mom doing?"The doctor looked surprised as they said, "She is showing signs that she might wake up soon. She's beginning to react to stimuli. Ms. Jacinto, you can try calling out to her. She'll probably be able to react to it."Alanna