Fifty thousand dollars. This was the first time Grace had received so much money. The five hundred thousand before didn't count. It had passed through her hands once, after all, and she didn't even have time to understand what it was like. However, was giving her money the end of it? Rather than financial compensation, Grace was more willing to see Moira be punished by the law. "Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you're rich?" Grace's expression was calm, but her question caused her heart to beat faster for some reason. "Moira wasn't happy, and she kidnapped Gentry. If it wasn't for you, perhaps I wouldn't have found him. Gentry might've been hurt. But now, with fifty thousand, everything has come to an end. Are we supposed to act like never happened?" Grace felt that this world was different from what she had imagined. She smiled and continued, "Also, I got this money because of you, right?" Zaden found it hard to answer th
Grace was impressed. She was lecturing him, but this person was being playful and showing no regret for his actions at all. This won't do. "Look at me!" Grace forcefully shook Zaden's shoulders and made him look straight into her eyes. She said, "I'm talking to you nicely. This is really not good. At least, you can't bite my lips swollen anymore. It's too shameful. Even Douglas and Dulcie can see it. Fortunately, they still don't understand!" When it came to this point, Grace's intention to beat Zaden up came to mind again. "What's the big deal?" Zaden didn't take it seriously at all. He said, "It's more shameful to have no one to kiss, isn't it?" "..." Gu Jinxi was speechless. Had she been talking to a brick wall? "Are you listening to me carefully?" Gu Jinxi was furious. "Baby," Zaden quickly pecked Grace's face and immediately parted as he said with a smile, "I've always been listening to you seriously, haven't I? Right, shall we take a bath
This time, it was Grace's turn to be shocked. "Y-you should understand what I'm saying, right?" Grace asked cautiously. There was a thorn in her heart that she had not spoken frankly about before, but as an adult, she had the intellect and emotional intelligence, so it was impossible for Zaden to not understand her. "Nonsense,span " Zaden said with an expression that suggested that he thought she doubted his intelligence/span.span /span "Isn't that a problem worth struggling over?" Grace raised her head and stared unblinkingly at Zaden. She didn't want to miss out on the slightest change in his expression as she asked, "Don't you feel any discomfort in your heart?" Zaden sighed. He could only imagine how much pressure Grace had been under these past few days,span having all her wild imagination/span. Perhaps it was because he hadn't done well enough in that he hadn't given Grace enough sense of security. If it hadn't been for his interrogation that day,
"Dulcie looks like me?" Taken aback, Grace stared at Dulcie. She frowned and said, "No... I think she just looks cute like all kids do. Why do you say that?" "Just like all kids? Look at her eyes and mouth. She really resembles you. Look carefully!" Gentry insisted. Grace fixed her gaze on Dulcie. However, she could not see the resemblance. Dulcie didn't really know either, but she was overjoyed at what her uncle said. "Really, really?" Dulcie asked Gentry, "Do I really look like my mom?" "That's right." "Wow, I'm really happy then! My mom is beautiful, so when I grow up I'll be as beautiful as her! Yay!" Dulcie felt a sense of accomplishment at the confirmation of her eventual beauty. Douglas, who was wise beyond his years, also stared at his sister and mother. Then, he nodded and said, "Yes, I agree." Grace had nothing to say to that. She spread out her arms and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, "Okay, one against three.
Even the servants in the villa had already familiarized themselves with Gentry. "It's the weekend tomorrow." Dulcie nestled up in Gentry's arms and asked, "Do you need to go to school?" "What, little rascal, do you want me to take you to do bad things again?" "Take me and Douglas out to play tomorrow, okay?" Dulcie leaned against Gentry's ear and quietly made a request of him. "No problem." Gentry also answered her in a low, hushed tone, like it was a secret between the two of them. Hence, the next morning, after Gentry got up and washed up, he went straight to Grace's place and had his breakfast there. He had gotten used to living there recently, but Gentry found it difficult to acclimatize himself to eating there. The surrounding stores simply existed for the rich. All the goods sold were high-end products. Even in a random restaurant, if you wanted to eat something to fill your stomach, you had to pay hundreds of dollars, at least. Tha
"It's really strange." Zaden said with a smile, "You can even tell that?" Gentry continued paying Zaden no mind. He implored, "Grace, let's stop this." When he heard that, Zaden's face fell. In a serious tone, he said, "Gentry, can't you be more reasonable with your words and actions? I won't quibble with you over other things, but it's too much for you to incite your sister to break up with me." Gentry was silent. To be frank, he didn't think it was right too. But how could he not worry when he saw his sister sleeping with Zaden, a playboy high up in society? "Are you going to follow what your younger brother says?" Zaden asked Grace. span Grace/span, who was sandwiched between the two men, felt a headache coming on. Reasonably judging, Zaden really had not done anything wrong. It made Gentry's unreasonableness all the more apparent. "Gentry, you're overthinking." Since Grace felt that the biggest contradiction at hand was Gentry's impression
"Just go," Gentry persuaded Grace. "We can't lie to them, it'll leave a mark on their young hearts. They will regard adults' words as unreliable." Although it was a little exaggerated, adults were indeed role models for children. If they did not fulfil their promises, the children would be very disappointed. "Then why did you agree to their request yesterday?" Grace asked in a defeated tone. "This is an exception!" Gentry exclaimed. "Who could have foreseen this? No, sis, why don't you want to pick them up?" Grace didn't voice her concerns out, so Gentry wouldn't have to fret about her. It was true that the children needed her and they should not break the promises they had made. Hence, Grace she had no choice but to bite the bullet. "Fine then, go help that friend of yours. I'll fetch the kids." "Thanks, Grace!" It turned out that the more you fretted over something, the more likely it was to happen. Grace met the last person she
After Grace got into the car, the two children asked with concern, "Mom, are you okay?" "Let's go." Grace motioned to the driver, then answered, "I'm fine, but I'm even more worried about you guys. Were you all scared just now?" Dulcie nodded her head hurriedly, her doe eyes looking for comfort. Grace cracked a small smile, then opened her arms warmly. Without prompting, the two immediately crawled into Grace's embrace. Dulcie pouted in a low voice, "She's so fierce and terrible. She's always cursing people. She embarrassed us in front of all our classmates." "It's okay, your classmates won't laugh at you," Grace consoled. Looking at the scene retreating quickly outside the car window, her heart was unusually calm. Even she herself felt very surprised. After the big battle with Moira, she was still able to maintain such a calm state of mind. Perhaps she had really come out of it from all her experience. Although Moira had acted like a lu
"Okay." Grace agreed and said, "I have something else to discuss with you." When he finally heard this sentence, Zaden knew that there must've been something going on. "What's the matter?" As they talked, they went into the lounge. Zaden also specifically told the secretaries that no one was allowed to come in and disturb him before work in the afternoon. These words made the secretaries' eyes turn red. Since he had ordered them to keep everyone out of his office while he was inside with a woman, it was hard to control their imaginations from running wild. "How's your investigation on my surrogacy?" Grace asked. Zaden had thought that Grace's patience was wearing thin, and so she had sought him out for an update on his progress. Feeling a little ashamed, he said, "I'm sorry. There hasn't been any progress so far. You know that information on surrogacy is highly secured. It won't be so easy for my subordinates to investigate it." "It's okay. You
"Stop!" Grace made a gesture and said, "I'm going to the Empire Group. Do you want to go with me?" "Oh?" Gentry was flustered for a moment and then realized that he had almost gotten himself in trouble. He quickly said goodbye. "Sorry, sorry for bothering you. It's my fault!" Grace shook her head helplessly. She went to the kitchen to bring the toiletries she had prepared for Zaden, and set off for the Empire Group. Grace took a cab, as she didn't have the nerve to ask her chauffeurs to give her a ride. This was the first time Grace had taken the initiative to go there. She didn't know whether she was going to meet Zaden or not, but the staff at the front desk had changed since the last time she had went to deliver food and she didn't know when it had happened. Hence, the new staff didn't know her at all. However, when she saw that Grace was dressed up very beautifully and elegantly, she guessed that Grace must be someone important. Naturally, she didn't d
This time, Grace took the initiative. She stood on tiptoe, hooked her arms around Zaden's neck, and took the initiative to plant her pink lips on his. The chaste kisses turned into lingering kisses. Zaden had always restrained himself very much. Every time he met Grace, he always felt that he was on the verge of losing control. "Well, I can't believe that you are so obedient today. Go to sleep. If you kiss me again, I might not remain chaste. You won't have a chance to sleep even if you want to," said Zaden. After going to bed, Grace took the initiative to cradle into Zaden's arms. Just like Dulcie acting like a spoiled child, Grace had also put all of her heart and soul into Zaden, like a spoiled child. The next day, there was still no sign of Zaden at breakfast in the Andrew household. "Oh? Dad's gone again..." Dulcie said regretfully. Douglas found that his sister was upset, thus he comforted her, "It doesn't matter, Dulcie. Daddy need
The silent confrontation was still going on, and Zaden was waiting. When would Moira give in? Moira was also waiting. When would Zaden be gracious enough to let her go? However, perhaps these two people didn't know each other very well. They both had naive expectations that were absolutely wrong and impossible to achieve from the beginning. "It's so cold..." Moira murmured in a low voice. As she spoke, a puff of white vapor immediately appeared in front of her lips. Even though kneeling down like this was not a big deal, Moira had always been pampered and had grown up a spoiled child. She had never suffered this kind of hardship before. Her body could not bear it either. She only felt that her legs were on the verge of losing its strength and becoming numb. The rain grew heavier and heavier, and the wind and rain swayed. Flowers in the garden were beaten into a mess by the rain, as so was Moira. Moira's body had reached its limit, and she could not catch h
"Plop—" Moira's kneecaps hit the ground, the sound of it ringing crisp. Grace was dumbfounded. She looked at Moira, who was kneeling in front of her, and could not say anything for a while. As for Zaden, there was not even the slightest expression on his face. "What, what are you doing?" Grace asked. She instinctively stood up from her chair as she took in the scene before her, at a complete loss of what to do. Moira glanced at her. Sometimes, when one's ego was at one's feet, one becomes more able to take humiliation than usual. She replied with indifference, "Why are you so agitated? I'm not kneeling at you. Don't think too much of yourself." Moira looked at Zaden and said, "Zaden, I beg you, please have mercy on the Coulson family. No matter what you demand, as long as I can do it, you can demand it!" Zaden frowned and said, "Kneel further if you want to. You're an eyesore right now." Mercy? For someone like Zaden, mercy had always bee
"No, Mother, if Zaden takes over the Coulson Group, then we..." Moira could not continue speaking. She did not even want to imagine what would happen. "You understand now? I thought a donkey kicked you in the brain!" "That... That won't do. I'll go beg him right now!" Moira shouted. Now that things had come to this, it was obvious that Zaden's target was Moira. Although she was extremely unwilling, she would have to make a stand against him now. No matter what she would have to experience, she had to protect the company. She could not lose everything. She rushed to the Andrew family villa, but Moira was not even allowed through the main entrance. "Let me in!" Moira began making a scene outside. She made such a ruckus that it was difficult for the people inside to ignore her. "Mr. Andrew, Miss Coulson is causing a scene outside, this..." the butler informed Zaden "Let her be," Zaden said expressionlessly. This was not the first
Grace frowned before cutting Moira off. "Moira, there's no use in talking to me like that. I just want to know who it is. Tell me the truth!" "Do you think I'll tell you just because you want to know?" Moira scoffed before retorting, "Who do you think you are?" "Does this mean that you admit you used Mr. Yale's name to deceive me?" Grace quickly latched onto the loophole in Moira's words. "Hah, I didn't say that. You're just making things up." Moira was still as stubborn as a mule. She once again diverted the topic so that she could insult and ridicule Grace. All sorts of vulgarities came through the call, and each minute that passed only pushed a person's limits even further. Grace felt nothing at Moira's words. However, Zaden, who was next to her, did not want to hear any more of it. He was on his last straw, so he grabbed the phone to end the call. "Are you stupid? Just letting her scold you like that?" Zaden asked, his tone sour. "As long a
"Mr. Yale and his wife are quite old, so having children has been difficult for them. In the beginning, they contacted many surrogacy agencies. However, Mr. Yale was extremely cautious when it came to picking a surrogate mother. This caused a lot of trouble to the agencies since the surrogate mothers they suggested never met his standards." "Later, Mr. Yale thought about going abroad to find a surrogate mother. However, right at the critical moment, he suddenly found out that Mrs. Yale was already pregnant!" "The pleasant surprise caused them to give up their search for a surrogate mother. After all, Mrs. Yale wasn't getting any younger and they both went through a lot to get this son, so that's why the Yale family treats him so preciously." As Zaden listened to the report from his subordinate on the other end of the call, his mood grew complicated. The only way he could clear his mind was to focus on the fact that the night wind had blown his body cold. To be h
Mr. Yale's word of thanks was like a knife stabbing into Grace's heart. How could she be worthy of his gratitude? She could not take it anymore and felt like returning to the car to escape the situation. Mr. Yale withdrew his hand in embarrassment. Even he, who was usually slick and smooth, could not find the right words to say at this time. Zaden tried to smooth things over by saying, "I'm sorry, she was one of the victims too, so..." "I understand," Mr. Yale said with a nod. "We understand and more than anything else, we thank you, Mr. Andrew. You've worked hard today. We won't take up any more of your time. You should go back early and rest. We will definitely drop by next time to properly thank you." Zaden nodded and turned to get in the car. Dulcie was all worn out from crying too long, so she was curled up in her seat and fast asleep. Zaden asked softly, "What on earth happened before I arrived?" Grace suddenly turned teary-eyed. The tear