Matthew flicked the cigarette butt from his hand and let out a sigh. He didn't enjoy the party atmosphere and was surprised he still felt bothered even though he had left. A woman's trembling voice echoed a wall away, "Don't... don't come any closer... I'll scream!" He was followed by raucous laughter. The man was probably drunk and not afraid of being caught. "Try screaming, and I'll tell everyone you seduced me. Let's see whom they'll believe... Don't resist. Just serve me obediently." Matthew wasn't one to get involved in other people's business, but these two were disturbing his peace. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he pretended to cough. "Ahem..." The footsteps grew closer. The man had no choice but to let go, and his lecherous gaze still lingered on Flora's smooth skin. He licked his lips and waited for the man to pass by so he could resume his "good time." To his surprise, the person who appeared around the corner was the CEO of S.E.I. "Flora, what are you doing he
Matthew, why did you come here? It's just a small matter." Selena's slightly coquettish voice sounded. Flora was startled, turned around, and saw Matthew's smiling eyes. He seemed to have seen her but did not pay attention, casually chatting with his fiancée. "I heard you were here, so I came to see how things are going." Just then, in the area where the models were being prepared, a voice full of arrogance and pretense sounded: "I don't care who he is. He has no reputation and still dares to act arrogant in front of me. I don't want to shoot with him. If you want to keep him here, I will cancel the contract." Emma, the hottest child model in the industry right now, was sitting with crossed arms, her small and beautiful chin raised to the sky. A few steps away, an emotionless boy looked straight at her, unmoved by her criticism. "Famous people are all like you, huh? Arrogant and foolish." After staring at her for a few seconds, he added, "And ugly, too. I don't understand what
Soon after, the little boy returned and sat on the small chair beside the hospital bed, swinging his legs and sighing. "Do you have a dad?" the sudden question startled him, and he did not know how to answer. But the little boy didn't wait for an answer and continued speaking: "It must feel good to have a dad, right? If I had one, he would protect my mom and me and not let anyone bully us. But I don't have a dad..." Was this boy trying to confide in him? Matthew sat down in front of the boy, their eyes meeting. He hesitated a bit but asked, "Where is your dad? Why did he abandon you and your mom?" "I don't know," the boy shook his head. "Since I was born, I have never known who he is, and my mom has never told me. My grandma said he was dead, but my mom...every time my sister and I asked about him, she would cry, so I stopped asking. Can you tell me why my dad doesn't need us?" Since he was young, the boy had been very understanding and caring for his younger sister, not whinin
"Why are you free to drink with me today?" he raised his eyebrows and looked at the sophisticated person sitting opposite him. "Didn't you call me? If I don't come, it'll be disrespectful to my brothers. If I do, you'll be grilling me," he said. The other person said nothing, just smiled, and poured him a glass of wine. He drank it all and shook the empty glass, suddenly asking, "Patrick, do you think Selena and I are a good match?" Selena is his fiancée, and to outsiders, the two of them seem perfect for each other. But until now, he still doesn't know if they should be together or not... "Why did you suddenly bring up this issue?" Patrick shook the glass of wine and looked at the person opposite him. "It's not like you." This person was his senior in college, handsome, talented, and came from a good family. He was perfect in every way and couldn't be faulted. His fiancee - Selena, was also a proper young lady, the daughter of a famous chairman. They were highly suitable and
"Matthew, I know someone like Flora will never catch your eye. I completely trust you, but I can't trust others. Besides... people talk like that..." Matthew furrowed his brow, lost in thought. The person in front of him was his fiancée, who, if nothing changed, would become the mother of his children. That is... if nothing changed. "If you're afraid of what others might say, then quit. Last time you said you wanted to have a baby, right? I think it's time." A long-awaited dream had finally come true. Selena beamed with joy and hugged the man in front of her tightly. Outside, Flora quietly left. Those two people were soon to be married and would have this day sooner or later. But for some reason, when she heard Matthew mention having a baby with Selena, a sharp pain pierced through Flora's chest. She buried herself in the pile of messy work and only looked up when it was almost time for lunch. Suddenly remembering the task that Matthew had assigned her this morning, she quickl
"Director Selena, please retract your statement." Selena snorted: "Did I say something wrong? Your bastard children, even you don't know who their father is yet..." "You will be a mother someday and have your children. Then you will know that no mother loves her children and uses them as tools. If there is nothing else, I request to leave. As for the transfer, rest assured, I promised you I won't go back on my word." Selena's face was not pleasant. She watched the back of her secretary and stamped her foot in anger. She glanced briefly at the closed door of the CEO's office. Timing-wise, Patrick had already arrived. Have they met yet? Flora was eagerly anticipating how the head of H&H Group would take revenge on the woman who betrayed him. In the CEO's office, Patrick leaned against the desk, grinning: "Don't tell me the girl just now was your new secretary? Ugly, so ugly." But with a glance, he still felt that Matthew's secretary was familiar as if he had met her somewhere befo
The noodles were heavily seasoned, but he could only taste a long-lost family's sweet and warm flavor, melting his heart. Matthew bowed his head and finished the bowl of noodles without saying another word. Flora sat beside him, also bowing her head, her fingers twisting together. Besides feeling embarrassed, she had a strange feeling creeping up on her for some reason. She was about to tell him not to eat if it was too salty, but seeing him eat so attentively, she couldn't speak. She could only sigh and wait for him to finish before taking the bowl to the sink to wash it. "Let me do it myself." She had already cooked for him and couldn't let him wash the dishes too. "Stop it, a young master, like you probably have never done housework. I'm afraid you'll break my dishes." Flora politely declined his offer. The man she hated didn't get angry. He just leaned back and lightly brushed his lips against her plump lips. His sudden action left her stunned, and her hand slipped, causing
As soon as he saw her, he smiled gently and said: "Come here..." He handed her the stack of papers: "Forget about the advertising shoot, don't let the two children suffer anymore. You organize your son's records, then let the little guy enroll in this school." Flora took the stack of papers from Matthew's hand, and when she saw the school's name printed on them, she couldn't help but widen her eyes and mouth in surprise. It was a prestigious school with very high admission requirements. But most importantly, the tuition was enormous. Flora calculated in her head and realized that she couldn't afford it. "Why not?" she asked. "There's no reason. My two kids are old enough to go to school now. And my son is a genius with a very high IQ. Following his friends would only waste his intelligence." Matthew replied. Flora was too preoccupied with Matthew's words to notice something else. He had referred to her son as "my son." as if he was his child. Before she could object, Laura, the m
“The pearls on the dress are so beautiful!” Matthew brimmed with delight, his smile twinkling as he turned to the person beside him: "The pearls are locally harvested by the islanders, they're all natural... As for this wedding dress, it's a heartfelt gift from them to us." Despite being not the creation of skilled artisans or renowned designers, the dress bore the love and blessings of the island's inhabitants. He believed that once Flora donned this gown, she would be the happiest bride on their big day. Standing aside, Grace rolled her eyes: "I never imagined you could be this sentimental, big brother!" Turning to Flora, she teased: "Sister-in-law, remember to keep him on a tight leash, don't let his sentimentalism make others feel queasy." Grace had long forgotten her once earnest desire to marry Matthew. Now, she genuinely wished him and Flora a life of shared happiness. Matthew chuckled: "My dear sister, no need to feel jealous of your sister-in-law. Perhaps you should seiz
Matthew, spotting his son, asked: "Don't you want to bid Anna farewell? You two had such fun together, I bet you can't bear to see her go, right?" To his surprise, Charlie shook his head: "No, Dad, I don't want to say goodbye to that liar." The boy lowered his head, his voice steady: "She said she would stay here with Paul and me, but then she just left without a word. She really is a liar!" The boy slowly walked back to his room. Flora watched her son's retreating figure, unable to hold back a sigh: "He must be really upset." "We can't do anything about it. She's their child after all, we can't force her to stay. I know you worry about our son being upset, but don't worry, our boy is strong." And, if the children truly cherish this hard-earned relationship, they can always reconnect when they grow up. "You don't seem worried about him at all." "What else can we do? If it were Paul or our boy staying at someone else's home, I'd certainly rush to bring them back too, I wouldn'
Flora waited until they were away from their daughter's room to give Matthew a playful tug on the ear: "What's this about the wedding? You told me it was in two weeks, how did it suddenly become three days?” It was now that she finally began to question him. Earlier, when Matthew didn't see her react, he thought he had managed to escape unscathed. Little did he expect that she had noted down his wrongdoings, only to bring it up when they were away from their daughter's room. "I was wrong! I was wrong! Oh, my dear wife, please forgive me!" He cried out: "But it's really for you!" "What? How is it for me?" Flora's voice was filled with shock. Why would he move the wedding closer because of her, without her even knowing anything? Matthew rubbed his ear that was still tingling, explaining: "When I was massaging you, you said that two weeks was too long, that you wanted to get married sooner. I thought that since we were almost prepared anyway, it wouldn’t matter if we did it a bit so
Flora, with drowsy eyes, suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, I spoke with Grace yesterday, and she told me a lot about you. She said most of the houses on the island were built with your money, even the public facilities. I wasn't aware of this before. Seems like I've landed an immensely rich husband, a man of vast wealth?" The cost of construction, let alone the transportation of materials from the mainland, was astronomical. "I knew S.E.I Corporation was huge, but I had no idea you'd also invested in this..." "That's not true." Matthew chuckled: "S.E.I's profit is indeed enormous, but the money used for the island's development didn't come from the corporation. It's a personal endeavor of mine, not part of the corporation's philanthropy." So, the funds for this island's construction, are they Matthew's private money? Such a thought might not be entirely appropriate, yet upon hearing his words, Flora immediately wondered, could he have used money earned from the underworld to
Once they had settled in, they brought up serious matters. "I heard from him that there is a spy in the organization, but we don't know who." Flora had only heard about this from Matthew. The person opposite her nodded: "I asked our brother about it last time, but he didn't say anything. His demeanor seemed... rather upset." He sighed after speaking, then quickly changed his tone: "But don't worry sister-in-law, once your and brother's happy event is over, we'll investigate the organization. Sooner or later, that spy will expose himself." This matter nagged at Flora's heart. She couldn't understand how Selena had the capacity to manipulate Matthew's subordinates. According to Matthew, she was merely a pawn in Daniel's game. Who was Selena leveraging? Or rather... who was secretly assisting her against Matthew? "Ah... It hurts so much!" A sudden scream from outside in the flower garden startled Flora. She hastily ran out to see Matthew's two brothers, whom she knew, fighting.
Grace asked anxiously: "Sister-in-law, still no word from my brother?" Flora shook her head in despair. The rescue team had commenced operations, initiating a wide-scale search at sea. There were no updates so far, and Flora was forced to believe that no news sometimes can be good news. "Is there no way to contact him?" Grace furrowed her brows: "Isn't he a tech whiz? Isn't there another way..." Grace's words caused a light to shine in Flora's eyes: "Yes! There is a way!" After a few long dial tones, the call connected successfully and a lazy voice dripped with familiar sarcasm: "Ah, beautiful lady, you finally called me. Didn't you know how much I've missed you..." "Hubert, cut the crap." Flora interrupted Hubert's grandiloquent remarks: "I need you to locate Matthew, can you do that?" "I can track him down, yes..." On the other end, keyboard clattering sounded: "But for what purpose? Are you trying to catch him cheating?" Hubert clicked his tongue, completely exaggerating.
After waiting about five minutes, the door opened and Grace walked straight in. "Matthew, you wanted to see me?" "Did your sister-in-law tell you to talk to me?" Grace's words took Matthew aback, not because he didn't expect her to know the ins and outs of the matter, but because she referred to Flora as her sister-in-law. It suddenly occurred to him, could the girl he saw as a sister have figured things out on her own? He let out a sigh and said softly: "She's quite worried about you." "In the past, we used to head to the beach at this time, swimming and discussing everything under the sun. In the blink of an eye, several years have passed, and you have brought your wife and children here, even proposed on this island..." Grace looked up at the sky: "I used to think that I would marry you someday, become your wife. Only now do I realize it was all a fantasy of mine. You have already found your happiness, and perhaps I will too, with someone truly suitable." Matthew had been
After dinner, Matthew took the children stargazing. Flora, feeling upset, decided to sit back and rest in a corner. A man in his early forties, presumably the owner of the house, seized the opportunity when Matthew was not around to bring a plate of fruits over, setting it on the table: “Try some island specialties. These are all fruits you can't find on the mainland.” Seeing her pick up a piece of fruit, he continued: “Grace was a bit impolite today, please don't take it to heart. We've spoiled her too much.” “She… seems to have a liking for my husband.” The affection in her eyes when she looked at Matthew and the hostility when she looked at Flora were easily discernible, even to a blind person. The man nodded, recounting: “The girl's a good swimmer. A few years ago, she saved two men out at sea. One of them was Matthew. He stayed here for nearly a year, learning to swim with her. During that time, he became quite close with everyone on the island. The girl… has wanted to
His cold eyes bore into Winky, he barked: "You want to die after your lady, then die! There's no one stopping you anymore! Go ahead and die! If you don't want to die, then get out of my sight!" "No... I didn't intend to..." Winky clutched his head, his voice trembling: "I had no idea she would just stand there and not evade..." His move wasn't swift, Mimi could've easily dodged if she had been alert.. The medical team arrived swiftly, and Mimi was immediately taken into surgery. Her wound was deep. Not only did Mimi not evade Winky's blade, but she also leaned forward, allowing the blade to pierce deeper into her chest. "Fortunately, the wound isn't in a critical location. Her life isn't in danger, don't worry." Andrey remarked, although he suspected Winky had intentionally missed vital organs. Otherwise, a renowned assassin like him surely would've known where to strike to take a life. The surgery lasted nearly two hours. Flora sat outside the operation room until the doctors c