“I'm doing this for Jackson's sake.” Mattew's lips curved into a smile. “You want him to be happy too, don't you? So think of a way to get her to join us for the trip.”“But maybe she really doesn't want to,” Samanta replied thoughtfully. “She doesn't seem to like Jackson.”“That's why he's interested in her. He wouldn't be if she was throwing herself at him,” said Mattew before tossing the card in his hand onto the table.“Men are such strange creatures. What's wrong with going after someone who likes you too? Why force yourself on someone who doesn't like you? You'll only let them go once you've broken up with them and got bored. Those poor girls. They're the ones who end up getting hurt.” Honestly, Samanta was convinced that Jackson was just trying to have fun with Victoria.She knew men like Jackson and his cousin. Except for the partner his family had chosen for them, all the other women were simply a casual fling, and that included all the women who had the misfortune to catch h
The young woman went to the elevator and pressed the button next to it, heading for the lobby. Noemia wanted to give her a ride to the restaurant, but something came up unexpectedly, and she wouldn't be able to do it for dinner. She texted Victoria the address of the restaurant and told her to call a cab, and she would pay for the ride.Victoria didn't want to be late for her first meeting with a lawyer, so she rushed to the entrance. Perhaps she was in too much of a hurry and didn't pay much attention to the man coming towards her, smoking a cigarette. The moment their shoulders brushed, the man reached out and grabbed Victoria by the wrist, pulling her towards him.Victoria fell heavily against his firm chest.“Where are you going dressed so nice at night? Is it a date?” The young woman heard a low, husky voice in her ear.There was a clear possessive note in the man's voice, who spoke as if he owned Victoria. At that moment, the young woman instantly raised her head, her eyelids tw
The man smiled faintly before slamming his foot on the gas pedal.The car left Valentina's apartment and drove down the street, neither of them speaking during the journey, the car filled with a tense silence. A silence that was punctuated by their breathing, and there was something terribly suggestive about it all.Victoria tried to stop staring at the man, and turned and looked out of the window at the lights streaming past her. The gears in her head began to turn furiously. How was she going to get rid of Jackson? Should she tell him to leave her alone? Maybe she should ask him to join them, but the latter option didn't seem appropriate.She was having dinner with Noemia's cousin because she needed his help as a lawyer, and she wasn't really going on a date. What was she supposed to do? Victoria couldn't think of a solution, no matter how hard she tried, and they were going to get to the restaurant soon.“Don't worry, I'm not having dinner with you. I'm not interested in becoming t
Was this Noemia's plan all along? Was Noemia trying to set her up with Noemia's cousin?No matter how strange the atmosphere, they had to get through dinner somehow, and Victoria needed Harvey's help, and the man agreed to help her. She couldn't get up and let him dine alone, so she put aside her feelings of embarrassment and started browsing the menu before placing her order.Harvey filled his glass with red wine and studied Victoria in silence as he swirled the wine in his hand. He had met countless beautiful people in his line of work. However, few were as beautiful as Victoria. He was overcome by the urge to have her as soon as his eyes landed on her, and it had been some time since Harvey had met a woman as attractive as Victoria.The man silently admired Victoria's beauty. Meanwhile, Victoria had no idea that she was the object of the man's appreciative gaze, and she placed her orders and handed the menu back to Harvey.“I've already ordered,&
Meanwhile, outside the Village, Jackson had collected his car keys and was going to pay a visit to Valentina's apartment to see Lara and Enzo. Before leaving the restaurant, he called Maison, who was supposed to come to the restaurant now and wait outside. “If Harvey doesn't give Victoria a lift home after dinner, you'll take her home,” Jackson instructed. Having given his orders, he started the car and headed towards Victoria's apartment.He stopped at a shopping center and bought some expensive toys that he knew were extremely popular with children. He hadn't seen Lara since her attempted kidnapping. “I guess I should stop by and see if she's recovered from the incident,” he thought. It had been a long time since he had cared for someone, and the girl seemed like part of his family. The results of the DNA report said otherwise, but his instincts told him that she was his daughter. “I'm going to do another DNA test. If the results remain unchanged, I'll give up,” he decided. Thi
“Don't panic. Keep him busy. I'm coming back now.”Victoria hung up immediately and then turned to Harvey with an apologetic look on her face. “I'm sorry, Harvey, there's been an emergency at home, and I need to get back now. I'm so sorry. I can't believe I'm letting you finish dinner alone...”Harvey was not a stingy man and he knew he couldn't keep Victoria there when she clearly had an emergency to attend to. He knew that Victoria wasn't lying. He had heard parts of the conversation before. He knew that something terrible had happened. “Don't worry about it, Victoria. Let me give you a ride.” The man rubbed his lips lightly with his napkin before getting up, but Victória wasn't going to bother him for a ride.She was leaving in the middle of dinner. That alone made her feel terrible enough. She shook her head apologetically. “Thanks for the offer, Harvey. I can go home on my own, don't worry, but I'm really sorry. I'll buy you dinner another time.”Victoria seemed insistent, and
The twins immediately stood up and started waving their chubby little arms. Victoria ignored the twinge of pain in her chest, walked past her angels and pulled Jackson up from the floor. “President Carson, can we step outside for a minute, please?” Then she turned to her children, they looked ready to throw their little bodies at her, but she pushed down the anguish growing inside her. “Enzo, Lara, your aunt needs to go out for a minute. I'll be back before you know it, okay?” She didn't give Enzo or Lara time to react to what she had just said, and instead, she dragged Jackson out of the apartment immediately, and soon after, Valentina ran towards the children and hugged them. “Enzo, Lara, have you forgotten what Mommy said earlier?” Enzo looked totally clueless. Lara was equally perplexed. She had no idea what Valentina was talking about. “Don't you remember what Mommy told you?” Valentina said patiently. “She told you to call her 'auntie' when Jackson is around. If
“Well, thank you for thinking of her, President Carson. As you can see, she's fine, so can you go now?” said Victoria.Jackson didn't seem to be in any hurry to go, in fact, he gave her a long look before changing the subject without any warning. “And how was your meeting with Mr. Spector?” he asked over dinner, and Victoria frowned. What was wrong with the man? Why had he mentioned it?“That's none of your business, President Carson,” replied Victoria, struggling fiercely to free herself. “I won't agree to another DNA test. It's inappropriate and disrespectful to my cousin, after all, they are her children.”No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't free herself from the man's grip, and Jackson simply laughed softly. He seemed to be tickled.“Your cousin is the mother, and your cousin is the father? Right!” Jackson tightened his grip on the young woman. “So why do his children look so much like me?” His warm breath hit Victoria's cheeks like waves of heat. Victoria couldn't m
“I see!” Jackson replied, looking down at his black pen. “You can get back to work, Jayric, I'll check on that!” He knew that Jayric was interested in Victoria, and so Jackson would never let Jayric deal with the matter.Jayric had hoped that Jackson would be able to help look for Victoria, however, this was unrealistic, considering how busy Jackson was as president of the Carson group, and also, Victoria was only an employee in the adaptation phase at JB. Jayric thought it was an unreasonable request, so he didn't speak to Jackson, and therefore just reported that she had resigned. As soon as Jayric left the meeting room, Jackson picked up his phone and called Victoria, and even after calling several times, no one answered. Jackson narrowed his eyes and looked a little angry. Was this woman deliberately hiding from him? Had she just quit her job to avoid him? What's more, he had just suggested that the paternity testbe redone, so was she afraid of something?Jackson tried to cal
“Mrs. Carson, I've finished designing the jacket you asked for. Why don't you take a look and tell me what you think?” Victoria sat down in front of Soraya and handed her the drawing. “Victória, you really have a gift for this, so it's approved, just have it made!” Soraya replied. “You really know what I like.” “I'll call the factory and ask them to start the project right away!” Victória felt relieved that Soraya wasn't a demanding customer.“Have you had breakfast?” Soraya asked.“Yes, I had coffee before I left!” Victória replied politely. “No problem, I've asked the maid to prepare some muffins for us, so why don't you join me?” Soraya said, taking one of the dumplings from the plate and holding it out to the young woman. She certainly wanted that young girl to be her granddaughter. Victoria obediently took a bite. It was creamy, sweet and delicious.“If you like it, please take some more!” Victoria shook her head and felt ashamed to eat any more.“Mrs. Carson, I still have s
However, she couldn't be bothered to hide the truth from Jackson anymore, after all, she was going to quit her job at JB, so she didn't have to act submissive around him anymore.Victoria didn't have time to worry about that, as she now had to concentrate on Lara.“Auntie, Jackson is going to our old apartment right now!” Victoria said as she looked at her aunt.“Why would he go to our old apartment now?” Valentina was lost and didn't understand what she was saying.“Jackson just called and heard Lara's voice on the phone, and he never gave up on the idea of redoing the paternity test.” Victoria sighed before continuing. “I'm so worried about him forcing the children to take the DNA test again, and this time, he wants to redo the test with a friend of his, and it's impossible for me to give him fake hair samples.”“Victoria, don't worry, because soon you'll leave the Carson Group, and this whole idea he'll give up, because looking for you will be a lot of work. “Valentina was sure tha
Just as Valentina finished her sentence, Victoria got up from her seat.“Auntie, I'm coming!” Victoria said worriedly. After hanging up the phone, she ran out of the boxing studio without telling Jackson.And, the man in the ring promptly stopped fighting when he saw her running away, and he looked annoyed as he wondered where she was going again.The moment Victoria ran out of the studio, she called her aunt, while signaling for a cab to stop.“How's Lara?” Valentina quickly answered the phone and Victoria asked worriedly.“She's much better now, but she's a bit scared about the fall, so I've been holding her to help calm her down.” Valentina replied.“Keep an eye on her and see if she's showing any signs of nausea and drowsiness, in less than 15 minutes I'll be home!” Victoria replied nervously. “What about Noemia, is she home yet?” Noemia had just moved in with them, and as she had a wide circle of friends and used to go out with them after work, she didn't always come home strai
“You don't have to pretend to me, I know the whole truth!” Jhenifer replied. “Or if you want, you can keep lying to me, I don't even care anymore!”Samanta was completely confused, however, the most important detail she missed was that she wasn't thinking about Victoria, and all she felt was how strange the situation was.“How did I lie to you? What's going on with you? Why are you being so aggressive with me!”“I asked you, and you still lied to me, Samanta,” Jhenifer shouted back. “I asked you if Victoria was Mattew's wife and you said yes, but in fact, she was Jackson's wife, she was never Mattew's. You're lying to me, and you're lying to me. Are you lying to me, and playing with my face?”Jhenifer contained her boiling anger and jealousy as she continued to shout.“I'll never let her go. How dare she snatch my man!” After saying this, she immediately
Victoria immediately froze as she bit her lips and pleaded with a sad look on her face.“I really don't want to stay and watch a movie, Mr. Carson. Can I please not watch it?”“All right. So, are we going to the gym with me?” Jackson asked. He noticed the change in her expression and believed that she had been traumatized by watching the film before, so he didn't force her.“Since I'm free today, I decided to work out a bit!” Jackson replied and went to put on more comfortable clothes to train in. “You're not allowed to go out. Do you understand?”Victoria was speechless. However, she didn't want to hear it, so while he got his clothes, she walked towards the exit, and just as she was about to open the door, Jackson came out in his clothes, and stared at her without reaction. “But how disobedient you are!” He said. “It seems I have to keep an eye on you every second in the future.” Victoria didn't dare open the door when he said this, so she turned and looked at the man with a pain
“Let me go, Jackson!” Victoria exclaimed. His kiss felt too heavy and was hurting her lips a little as she timidly pushed him away.She was trembling from his barbaric aura, yet she didn't want to be charmed by him.She was frantically pushing him away. But how could Jackson be willing to let her go? He was lost in her and wanted to make her his own. However, he was stillable to control his impulses and didn't want to force her, so all he did was kiss her as forcefully as he wanted.He wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, as Noemia seemed to be calling Victoria at that moment.“Jackson, my phone! “Victoria seemed to be fighting for her life as she begged Jackson.“You don't have to answer if it's not important! “Jackson exclaimed andcontinued to kiss her. “He was gently running his fingers through her hair as he whispered in a soft tone. “Do you like it when I kiss you?” “I don't!” Victoria was beyond embarrassed at the thought to herself, and looked completely exhausted after th
Victoria was startled when he said this and almost dropped a cabbage on the floor.“Do you happen to know how to cook, Jackson?” She nervously looked at the serious-looking man who was there to help and asked.“Cooking is too strong a word, but I know how to help. “Jackson replied before helping her to set aside some cutting tools. “Why are you still looking at me like that? Don't you need to do the preparations before you cook?”Victoria gave a plaintive expression before picking up the cabbage and slowlybegan to chop it.She placed the chopped vegetables in a glass container whileJackson helped her wash them. He really looked like he knew what he was doing and didn't seem like a man who couldn't cook, although he wasn't very good at it. He lived with his grandfather for several years as a child, and he raised him in a very militaristic way, was strict with him and didn't allow the maids or the janitor to help him at all. His grandfather did all this so that he wouldn't feel as
Is she all dressed up today? Her makeup looks quite delicate and not to mention, quite clean and neat too.Jackson loved her gaze as it deepened.“You look very pretty today.” He said calmly.Victoria was shocked when he said this and, without knowing it, began to blush. However, she didn't want to talk about it with him, so she held in her emotions.“Where should we go for dinner then, Mr. Carson?”“To my apartment!” Jackson replied and laughed in a very seductive way.Victoria was instantly stunned as she wondered why they were going to his place and not to a restaurant.“That would be inconvenient, Mr. Carson.” Victoria replied. She wasn't willing to go to his apartment, as she still remembered how he had forced her to watch a movie that night, and Victoria was afraid that he would do the same thing again, and this way, she would have to spend the night with him. Although he was a real gentleman for not touching her, she still wasn't used to it.“I think we should choose a resta