Alanna was surprised. She then looked up at the man before her.She had a guarded expression.The man chuckled and handed her another business card. "I'm Mason Lowe and a classmate of Grayson's. I've heard a bit about you from him. I happened to have a business meeting recently that required translation. Would you be interested in taking up the job?"Alanna remained wary."Mr. Lowe, since you're Grayson's classmate, it would be more convenient to talk to him. I have something to attend to today, so I'll take my leave."With that, she pulled Chelsey and headed out. After their figures disappeared, Mason chuckled."She's quite guarded."He muttered to himself before lighting a cigarette. Just then, his phone rang. A woman's voice came from the other end."Didn't I ask you to approach Alanna? Why haven't you made any progress after such a long time?"Mason took a drag of his cigarette."Do you think it's easy to get close to Alanna? She's always surrounded by bodyguards. I o
He casually picked it up and glanced at it, his eyes filled with displeasure. "Who is this pretty boy?"Alanna looked at the snow outside."Can't you tell? A handsome guy."Hades frowned. "Is he more handsome than me?"Alanna couldn't be bothered to answer him.Hades lowered his eyes and held her waist. "Ms. Jacinto, are you feeling needy?"Alanna furrowed her brows. "Hades, can you be serious?"But Hades shamelessly replied, "If you have any needs, just give me a call. I'll be at your service anytime and anywhere."Alanna glared at him. "Hades, have some dignity."Hades chuckled. "Ms. Jacinto, are you doubting my abilities?"Alanna kicked his leg without hesitation.Hades laughed. "Feeling better now?"Alanna paused before nodding slightly. "Thank you.""Silly girl. Why are you thanking me?" Alanna smiled and got back to her work. She glanced at the man on the other side, who was busy replying to emails on his phone."If you're busy, you don't have to come over here on
"Someone's pregnant on this floor!""How did you know?""I saw the pregnancy test in the toilet!"Alanna Jacinto had just stepped into the office building when she heard these words. She stopped in her tracks and lifted her eyes to look at the two interns who had been talking just now.As soon as the interns saw her looking at them, their expressions immediately dropped as they dipped their heads and resumed their work.Alanna then recollected herself and entered her office.Her phone wouldn't stop ringing with notifications. She tapped on the notification bar and realized that someone had spread the news into their office group chat.If there was one thing this office didn't lack, it was the sheer volume of gossip every day.Alanna stared as more and more people joined in the discussion in the group chat. She could hear her head throbbing.She'd been too careless. She should have wrapped the test in paper towels before throwing it away in the trash.If Hades Florentine learn
Alanna's back went stiff when she heard that. She turned around and asked as naturally as she could, "If I were to answer 'yes,' what would you do?"Hades' eyes turned dim, and his stare turned icy cold. It was a vast difference from how hot and passionate he'd been just less than 30 minutes ago."What else would I do? Schedule an abortion for you at once."Alanna's face slowly turned pale. She clasped her hands tightly as Hades stared at her with an increasingly chilling look."Alanna. Don't forget the rules of our game."Alanna stiffened at once.That was right. Everything between them was just a game to him.After all, she was a nobody and didn't deserve to be with him. She was born in a regular household, while Hades was the first son of the eldest son in the Florentine family. He was the true heir to all of his family's wealth and social status.Her relationship with him started as a mere coincidence.Three years ago, her mother, Tara Thornton, had been involved in an a
There was sexual tension in the air. The D-lister kept on leaning excessively toward Hades.Alanna spared Hades a glance before shifting her gaze elsewhere. Meanwhile, when Hades saw Alanna entering the room, his brows only lifted very slightly. But he didn't move otherwise.On the other hand, it was his younger brother, Yves Florentine, whose eyes lit up as soon as he saw Alanna.He turned around to eye Hades for a bit. Then, he looked at Alanna with a smirk on his face."Ms. Jacinto, here for a drink?""I couldn't say no to Mr. Abbott's invitation."Alanna didn't force her way to the center of the room where everyone else was. Instead, she chose a quieter corner and sat down."Why are you sitting so far away? Come sit closer to us," Yves said, already prepared for some drama.Even if nobody else knew about Hades' relationship with Alanna, Yves did. That D-lister next to Hades never piqued Hades' attention from the start. But as soon as Alanna appeared, the celebrity was as
Alanna froze.She understood what Hades was implying.If she were to nod, he wouldn't stop her from leaving.In other words, Hades couldn't care less whether she stayed with him or not.Alanna was never interested in Terrence from the start. Had she been asked this question in the past, she would have rejected the offer immediately.However, that day, she suddenly felt rebellious. She didn't want to keep living like this.She stroked her belly subconsciously. Alanna didn't want to use the baby as an excuse to force Hades into taking responsibility for her. After all, it was nothing but a game between two adults. There was no responsibility involved in the first place.Furthermore, she couldn't force someone like Hades to stay with her. And it wasn't like she was dying to bear his child. But if he wanted her to abort this baby, then what about the next one?Hades had never had unprotected sex with her. He was very particular about it because he didn't want her to be pregnant wit
The D-lister was so shocked that she immediately backed away. "Don't be angry, Mr. Florentine. I'll get out of your hair now."The celebrity left, along with the other women in the room. Only Hades and his friends were left.Yves suddenly regretted letting his joke get out of hand. But it wasn't like he'd never cracked such jokes in the past. It was just that Alanna used to behave like a scared little lamb. She would have never dared to say what she just said, let alone leave them hanging like this.That day, however … "Hades, should we ask Ms. Jacinto to come back and explain that it was just a joke? Ms. Jacinto is a very capable worker. She probably didn't mean to leave. Maybe she's just tired, and that's why she's a little grumpy today."Hades' cold smile returned. He said, "I don't need her to be a manager at my company. Mr. Abbott can have her if he wants to."Terrence just chuckled sheepishly. He suddenly didn't know how to respond to Hades' words.If he still couldn't te
Chelsey felt a little better after she cursed the hell out of Hades. Then, she came back to the main topic."So, I'm guessing you don't want this baby. Do you want me to arrange for a procedure after your checkup tomorrow?"Alanna rubbed her belly and suppressed the pain in her heart. "Okay," she said, a single tear sliding down her face.She felt guilty about the baby. But she had nothing to her name, which meant she also had nothing to give to her baby. She couldn't keep him. She didn't dare to.She was just a regular girl from a regular family. She didn't want her baby to be called a bastard child for the rest of its life.There was also no way that Hades would ever acknowledge it. He wouldn't give her a chance to tie him down, whether with sex, love, a family, or a baby.Hades would never allow it.Alanna closed her eyes and wiped the tears away from the corner of her eyes.…It was in the dark of the night, and Alanna couldn't sleep well at all.She suddenly found hersel