“What’s this? I’m not eating that!” Heather rejected her offer, looking at it with disdain. The bowl was filled with white, creamy liquid and bits of chicken and vegetables that looked appetizing and smelled amazing. It did make Heather hungry, so she asked, “What soup is it?Hannah’s face immediately brightened, and she answered Heather’s question eagerly, “It’s some chicken broth that’s good for the body. I heard that you’ve injured yourself, and I hope this can help you recover.” “Good for me?” Heather eyed her suspiciously and took out her phone to search for information about it. “How did you know chicken soup is good for injuries or when someone’s sick?”“I saw it on TV,” Hannah replied immediately, “I noticed that we have the ingredients needed to make it, and the kitchen was empty then, so I decided to make this for you. Don’t worry. I made sure no one saw me.” Heather was not worried about Hannah being seen. She made sure that the people around her were those s
Heather went upstairs while Hannah took the empty bowl to the kitchen. She turned on the tap and cleaned the bowl with a cloth. She took her time cleaning it thoroughly.After she finished, she placed it back in the cabinet and took one last look at the kitchen before walking toward her small bedroom. Hannah’s bedroom in the basement was very dark and quiet, but she was used to this environment. She sat in a corner where a small amount of sunlight was available. The sunlight shone on a small area close to her toes. She could feel the warmth of the sun if she just stretched her feet, but instead, she chose to sit with her knees bent and her toes curled together. She was so close to the sun yet did not dare reach out for it. Her arms were around her knees, hugging them as one of her hands played with the distorted ring she had. Hannah had found her ring, even though it was not how it used to be. Nothing truly belonged to her in this world, not anything or anyone. She shoul
“Sure,” Heather agreed readily. “I’ll see you later.” Then she hung up the phone without hesitation, making Ralph somewhat suspicious because she was too quick to decide.Ralph felt Heather should have been ecstatic and full of anticipation. Despite the fact that she agreed quickly, her reaction surprised him. It was nothing like what he had imagined at all.It weirded him out a little, but Heather was unlike any other woman when he thought about it. Hence, what he found strange about her might be what was usual in her daily life.With that thought in mind, he hummed a song and headed into the shower to prepare himself for the night. They would have a great talk tonight, and he would welcome his brand new life!…At six p.m., Ralph was about to leave for the hotel when Celine appeared. She could not help but notice he was in high spirits. “Heading out for a wild night?”“Hey! What are you talking about? I’m going to discuss business and strike a huge deal.” Ralph clicked his tong
Margaret opened the folder and removed the stack of papers, finding it slightly thicker than she had expected. Puzzled, she looked up at Celine, who explained hurriedly, “To ensure the results are accurate, I did the test for everyone in our family.“There’s the test between you, Ralph, and myself with Alex, respectively. If the results are the same, that would be no problem, but if it isn’t, the outcome wouldn’t be affected just because of one person.”After pondering for a moment, Margaret found that Celine’s words made sense and nodded before picking up her presbyopic glasses and browsing through the results.However, her expression gradually worsened while she looked at them. She would read a few pages and then flip to the earlier ones before flipping back to the later ones again. Suddenly, she raised her head to look at Celine in disbelief. “T-This…”“Mom, stay calm. I told you that you need to be mentally prepared,” Celine said softly. She was shocked, too, when she first saw
Ralph felt even more victorious the more Heather acted this way. With a smug smile, he turned and approached the bottle of red wine he had prepared earlier and slowly poured the liquid into two wine glasses. He was not concerned about her words, as if everything was under his control.Heather noticed his actions and followed behind him but stopped after taking one step.With two wine glasses, Ralph turned around and faced her. “We’re finally getting the things most important to us. Don’t you think it calls for a celebration? Let us toast to our successful cooperation!”Heather only looked at him for a moment before taking the glass. After seeing Ralph gulp the drink, she put the glass closer to her lips and took a sip. Then she stretched her arm out again. “The book.”“Haha…” Ralph looked at her outreached hand. She had her palm facing up; her many fine lines and thin calluses differed from other girls with soft hands. With one look, one could tell those were traces from practicing
“The audacity you have to say that. Do you think you have the credibility a businessman should have when you add more terms on the spot like this?” Heather swirled the wine glass in her hand and looked at Ralph mockingly.She knew this man was unreliable from the start and that adding terms at the last minute was something he would pull off. It did not matter how many shares she offered him in the first place because Ralph was a greedy man who would never be satisfied. “Credibility?” Ralph laughed as if he had heard a joke. “Who even talks about that these days? Being credible won’t get me what I want. As you said, we’re people in business, and our self-interests are our utmost priority, no?“Look at us; we’re tied together because of our personal gains, right? Since it all boils down to our interests, we should try to maximize it, which is the gist of being in business!”That was Ralph’s business perspective, and he based his actions on that. Hence, he felt frustrated by the way
“I…” Ralph was tongue-tied and thought to himself. ‘Could it be that she changed her mind because she wasn’t satisfied with my terms? That can’t be it. She’s been looking for the handbook for so many years. How could she just change her mind about something she wanted so badly?’He probed. “Then… what do you mean to say?”“I mean that I don’t want it anymore! I don’t want the book anymore!” Heather was determined. It looked like there was no room for negotiations.“Cut the cr*p. I know you still want the handbook. You want to discuss the terms of our deal again, don’t you? Fine, let’s talk it out then. Since it’s business, we can always negotiate and come to a conclusion that we’re both happy with. You don’t need to reject me directly just because you couldn’t accept what I requested. There’s no need to get so worked up over this.”When it came to Heather, Ralph did not dare to use brute force on her as he was no match for her. However, he was puzzled by her attitude.While he was
However, Heather just gave him a contemptuous look with a mocking smile hanging from her lips. Although she said nothing, it was a significant blow to Ralph. Disbelief washed over him. At this moment, he was more astonished than he was afraid of her. He grabbed her shoulders, holding them tightly. “Don’t go! Explain what you said earlier! What do you mean by it’s fake?”No one dared to do such a thing to Heather before this. She was taken aback for a moment before her expression turned dark, and she asked coldly. “What are you doing?”“Explain it to me! What did you say was fake? You’ve never seen the authentic handbook, so how could you say that the one I have is fake? You must be purposely deceiving me so you can snatch the book away from me! You don’t want to spend any money to get it, do you?“Pfft! Look at you calling me greedy when you’re the genuinely greedy one! Heather Riggs, I had no idea you were so cunning when you appear to care about nothing in this world. A deal? Yo