According to Nathaniel's source, Lily was recommended to Rebirth by someone from the La Beauté Group. That was why her entry into Rebirth went so smoothly, and she received better care and resources. Nathaniel believed his source because he could not understand why anyone would want to guide a newcomer in Rebirth. He initially thought she was connected to a Rebirth executive. That was until he learned she was from the Lodge family and had probably used their ties to get in.However, it seemed that was not the case either, as the information given to him stated the person's name… Nathaniel gritted his teeth and decided to speak plainly, "Lily, is there someone else? Is that why you refuse to come back to me?" Surprise flashed across Lily's eyes. She thought that Nathaniel had found out about her relationship with Alexander. She was startled he knew about their relationship, even though she had planned to tell him. When and how did Nathaniel learn about them?Noticing Li
"Why don't you give Lily that small, pathetic company of yours? Then she can decide on any name she likes, correct?" A clear male voice sounded behind them. He walked over to their table and sat next to Lily, saying, "I'm sorry I'm late. I had to take care of something.” Even though he had told her to call if she needed any help, she was still surprised that he would show up unannounced. "Who are you? How dare you eavesdrop…" Nathaniel frowned as he wanted to kick this rude man out immediately. Nonetheless, when he viewed Alexander's face closely, Nathaniel thought he looked familiar. In a sudden rush of realization, his expression changed, "Y-You're Mr. Russell…"After all, they worked in the same industry. Even though he had never met Alexander, Nathaniel knew who he was and had also glimpsed him at social parties. Still, he could not meet Alexander due to their vastly different social and professional statuses. Nathaniel had considered using his connections to meet A
Besides Lily, Nathaniel was also in the dark about what happened. All he knew was that Melanie and Frank had left for Westwood and nothing else. Melanie had stopped talking to him ever since her affair with Frank was exposed, and Nathaniel did not attempt to find out anything further. Truth be told, he did not care to. He did not care about Melanie's fate until MN Inc.'s new products were involved. Since Nathaniel and Melanie were still together at the time, the two fragrances were released under her name. Besides, even if she cheated on him, it did not matter as long as the perfumes they made were qualified to join the perfume championship. Nathaniel had weighed his options and decided to keep her products, but this news from Alexander changed everything.“What do you mean? How is Mel a mastermind behind a kidnapping? That’s impossible!” Though he was no longer involved with Melanie, he was still confident that he knew her enough to know she would not do something like this.
“I honestly had nothing to do with it.” Faced with Lily’s wary eyes, Alexander decided to confess, “Fine, I had something to do with it, but I only a tiny part.” He emphasized while gesturing with his fingers, showing Lily how little he got involved.Lily was not that gullible, “Are you sure? Just a small part?”‘He said he had nothing to do with this just a while ago, and now he says it’s just a small part.’“It’s true. I only played a small part!” Alexander reassured Lily, both his hands on her shoulders as if this would make her trust in him grow.“All I did was provide the Westwood police force with some information. I showed them some evidence that might suggest Melanie was one of the suspects in the kidnapping case. The rest was history.“The police were responsible for the arrest, and they were also the ones that charged her with the crime. I did nothing much, seriously!” Alexander looked so sincere that Lily believed he had nothing to do with this incident.“So, ultimatel
Nathaniel had been drinking for quite a while since feeling down. He had never felt like this before, and it was like everything was over.“Hey, handsome, it’s such a bore to be drinking alone. Why don’t you join me?” An attractive woman approached Nathaniel and started to hit on him.Nathaniel raised his head to look at the woman but could not make out who she was as he was already quite wasted, “Sure, why not.”Suddenly, someone came over and shoved the lady aside, ignoring her yells of protest. Nathaniel roared intoxicatedly, “Who are you?! How dare you…” Before he could finish his sentence, someone dragged him to the bar entrance by his collar.“W-Who are you? W-What are you trying to do?” He was slightly sober now as he stood outside the bar shivering from the cold wind that blew. Although the commotion attracted some attention, it was normal at a bar, so everyone continued having fun after a while.Bang!The person shoved Nathaniel into the backseat of a car, and the door s
“Enough, it’s just the annual perfumery competition. So what if you get disqualified this year? It’s not like you don’t have the next time. What are you so worried about?” Eloise's brows furrowed in annoyance.“B-But we’re not going to make it!” How could Nathaniel not be worried? Even though the competition was only two months away, he had already completed their admission. If he could make amendments, MN Inc. needed time for research and development to create a whole new product and for it to be successful.Even if they came up with a new product to make it, Nathaniel could not guarantee it would be good enough to win the competition. Most importantly, he faced the issue of a criminal’s name attached to his two new products. It would undoubtedly affect the perfumes and MN Inc.’s reputation. Nathaniel needed damage control to save the perfumes and his company’s reputation. He also had to carefully think up an explanation for this situation for the board of directors.His most sig
“Mom! I’m sorry, I made a mistake! I thought we’d surely succeed, but this happened. I didn’t think that Mel would be dumb enough to kidnap Lily. I had no idea she would do such a thing! Plus…” Nathaniel remembered something and stole a glance at Eloise. “I didn’t know that Frank was a drug addict. He has a terrible reputation worldwide!”Nathaniel only found out everything after he did some investigation upon hearing that Melanie was in trouble. Everything made sense to him now. He knew the reason he could not get in touch with Melanie and lost contact with Frank—the cops in Westwood had captured them.“That’s enough. He lied to me, too.” Eloise rubbed her temples, her head throbbing at the mention of Frank.She was not careful enough back then. To her knowledge, Frank was smart and talented. He had also won several awards in the past. Little did she know his creations were the results of plagiarism, and his reputation was terrible!“He did it to you too…” Nathaniel gasped and sta
“You saw it?” Eloise trailed off, frowning because she found it hard to believe Nathaniel’s words. “Alexander Russell? The CEO of La Beauté Group?”Eloise would know about Alexander. In fact, the Russell family was well known, not only in Sapphine but in the entire nation of Hyderland as well. Alexander was widely regarded as the most talented heir to the family and was the source of admiration for many ladies across the country.‘Why would such a man be in a relationship with Lily?’It was not entirely impossible, though, after Eloise gave it some thought. If Lily were any other woman, Eloise might be able to convince herself that Lily was one of Alexander's flings. However, Lily was a part of the Lodge family. If Alexander and Lily got married, their union would unite the Russell and Lodge families, which would have a far-reaching impact.“Mom, I don’t think Lily has feelings for me anymore. Anything I do would be useless. What should I do now?” Nathaniel looked disappointed. He
Lily tilted her head up to fight back her tears, saying, “There’s something I find strange.”“What is it?” Mike asked after comforting his son.“Instead of detaining Prince Ross, Her Majesty has sent him back to Yudonia. If so, why couldn’t we reach him?”After some thought, Mike answered, “There are two possibilities. It’s probably due to poor signals, or he doesn’t want us to contact him.”The two shared a look, knowing what each other was wondering.‘Why can’t we contact Ross? Is he planning something?’…Three days later, Lily inserted the last needle into the queen’s leg and looked up at her, saying, “You should start feeling your legs tomorrow. Still, it’ll take some time before you can stand.”Suddenly, Lily chuckled.“Why are you laughing?” Yasmin touched her legs. She had begun to regain sensation in her legs over the last two days. She then began to believe that she could get up. However, the queen was hesitant when the queen heard Lily chuckle.Lily shook her head
Lily straightened up and said without resentment, “Of course, you wouldn’t.”“That’s… quite a pity,” the queen murmured thoughtfully.“Well, there’s a price to pay for everything. That’s how the world balances itself,” Lily continued, “I can’t stop you if you must carry on with R10. Still, I won’t witness whether or not it succeeds. I just wish the outcome isn’t something you’ll regret.”Lily smiled and turned to head out the door.Rick heard their conversation as he stood guard outside. After exchanging looks with Lily as she brushed past him, he entered the room and saw the needles in Yasmin’s legs. “Your Majesty, those needles—”The queen waved dismissively. “It’s okay. Lily will remove them later.”Even so, Rick was wary. “You’re being too careless, Your Majesty. What if that woman—”“She wouldn’t,” Yasmin interjected, shaking her head."Why do you trust her so much?" Rick asked despite himself. The queen fell silent. If Rick had not asked her that, she would not have rea
Lily took out a cloth and unfolded it, revealing a row of silver needles inside. Yasmin was surprised she carried the needles with her.“Tell me. What do you want?” The queen took a deep breath to calm herself. She then reminded herself that she could always say no to Lily’s request. Still, Yasmin was cautious about Lily trying to trick her.Lily casually said, "I left because Prince Ross wanted to help me. I hope you don’t punish him.""That's it?" Yasmin thought she had misheard Lily. 'Is she trying to talk terms with me just so that I won't punish my son?' she wondered in disbelief."Ross is my son. I won't harm him. Don't you think you've wasted an opportunity by making such a request?" The queen shook her head. "I wasn’t sure if you’d blame him, but he did rescue me once. If I don't do anything, it would be ungrateful of me," Lily said gently, "Also, didn’t you already lock him up?"Yasmin was puzzled. "No, I only sent him back to Yudonia. He kept trying to get me to sto
"Three days," Lily replied.“That’s it?!” Yasmin was in disbelief. She thought Lily would try to buy some more time and suspected she would say the process would take several months or even years.‘I haven’t felt my legs for over a decade. I wouldn’t mind waiting for three more days.’“Are you sure I can get up and walk in just three days?” Yasmin pressed her legs hard but felt nothing. She would have treated her legs long ago if it were that easy.The queen had visited many famous doctors from various countries, but they could only stop her legs from getting weaker. However, Lily confidently told Yasmin that she could fix her legs so quickly.Yasmin wanted to believe it.After some consideration, Lily said, “I can’t guarantee that you’ll walk as fast as you once could. After all, you haven’t used your legs for a long time, and your muscles have atrophied. Still, you’ll recover slowly.”Yasmin nodded repeatedly, thinking it was good enough. She never dreamed of walking as well a
“Because only our opinions matter." Lily thought of something and said, "Unless you choose to believe Rhea.""I… don't trust anyone." Yasmin’s expression stiffened as she turned her wheelchair away."Your Majesty, I know you're dedicated to the experiment, but there are other things in life. Have you ever considered letting go of your burden to sightsee? You’ve done enough as a queen over the last few decades. Aren’t you tired of living a lonely life?”Lily gently spoke as she gazed at Yasmin’s back.The older woman caressed her knees with both hands and stared down at her legs, murmuring, “Sightsee, huh? I’ve forgotten what that’s like.”Yasmin had not used her legs for many years. Initially, she could still stand up and sometimes took a few steps. However, she could no longer get to her feet.She had grown accustomed to sitting in a wheelchair, but she felt a pang of sorrow after hearing Lily’s suggestion.Lily asked, “What if I can help you stand again? What if you can walk a
"Yes, I returned not just for him but also for you," Lily said, "I'm sure you were anxious for my return, weren't you?"Yasmin scoffed dismissively. "Why would I be? I have my bargaining chip. Besides, did you honestly think I couldn’t bring you back?""Bargaining chip? Do you mean Nick?" Lily shook her head with a smile. "Don't forget that he's not my son. Do you think he'll be much of a bargaining chip to you if I choose to ignore him for my three children?"She did not wait for Yasmin to reply and continued, "Besides, Nick still has a father who’s willing to die for him. If Mike decides to take drastic action against you— Yes, you're a queen, and you don't care much about an insignificant businessman.“However, don't forget that his business spans worldwide. There's no guarantee what he might do. Who knows, he might spread information that can affect Your Majesty and Yudonia's reputation?""You…" The queen was exasperated but could not retort.Lily noticed it and casually said
Rick could only remain silent at that moment.Yasmin then turned her wheelchair around and blandly said, “Bring Lily over. I’d like to see what excuses that sly woman can come up with.”"Your Majesty?" Rick was puzzled. "You know she'll just lie to you. Why must you—"Yasmin interjected, "I'd like to hear what she has to say."Rick had no choice but to leave and do as she said.As Lily was about to doze off, she heard noises from outside and opened her eyes. Immediately after, the door opened, and Rick appeared. He glared at her and spoke coldly, “Her Majesty wants to see you.”Lily glanced at Rick calmly and stood up as if she had expected his appearance. On the other hand, Mike rose before her and headed out.However, Rick stopped him as he reached the door. “You stay.”"But we came together!" Mike glanced over his shoulder at Lily, signaling her to persuade the man. Rick added, "The queen doesn’t wish to see you. Just stay here!"Lily patted Mike's shoulder and said gentl
Everyone was shocked when Lily returned to the embassy with Mike. One of the staff members quickly left to report the news to Queen Yasmin.Meanwhile, Lily saw people peering at her and Mike from the corner. Afterward, several guarded-looking men appeared. Lilt recognized them as the queen’s attendants. They brought Mike and Lily inside and then gave the duo a thorough search.The men only relaxed after finding nothing suspicious about the duo. Even so, Lily could not see the queen as the men told her to wait in an innermost room instead.After returning to the embassy, Lily felt a sense of strange familiarity. Although she knew the place well, her mindset had changed.She previously hated the embassy and simply wanted to escape. However, she had returned with a critical mission. Not only did she have to complete it, but she also needed to leave the place in one piece.While she was calm, Mike was somewhat anxious. He clasped his hands on his knees and glanced around as he sat dow
"I promise I'll do anything you want, okay?" Mike begged. He was desperate to see his son, so he decided to follow Lily when she insisted on returning to the embassy.Mike continued, “If any of you go with her, they might stop or suspect you. They won’t do that to me. It’s natural for me to want to see and rescue my son. I’m the best candidate because it makes sense for me to sacrifice myself for him.”After a short silence, Lily said, “You’re right.” She then looked at Alexander, who pondered before slowly raising his head and saying, “Me too.”Dominic tapped the table. "So do I."Cameron thought for a moment before saying, "I've no objections."Seeing this, Austin spread his arms and said, "Since you all agree, what else can I say? Let's do it!"It did not matter whether or not he agreed, but he just wanted to support Mike. The latter nodded and became emotional, saying, “Thanks, you guys!”"Why are you thanking us? Just be careful, and don’t be rash like you promised," Aust