However, after that day, the little girl never left him alone.From that point on, every time Sean saw Liliana, he found her presence increasingly annoying until…Sean narrowed his eyes at the memory. It was not until the day Liliana left the Hoffmans as a teenager.He still remembered that night vividly. Liliana had waited for him outside his school, standing there for hours before finally confessing her feelings.Sean was born into privilege, and he had everything—family status, talent, and an effortless charm that most could never compete with.He no longer remembered the exact words Liliana had said that night, but he remembered what he had told her."You? Do you think I'll ever fall for you? Don't ever show up in front of me again."Then, after that, she never did. She disappeared from his life like a flower growing on the side of the road—insignificant and not even worth remembering.The next time he saw her was when Peter and Tania got together. He had barely recognized
Noelle could not help but laugh at Charles' childish complaint. "They're your sister and nephew, and you look so unwilling."Charles frowned. "They're interrupting our time together as a couple."Noelle found it amusing that Charles seemed even more particular about these things than she was."What do you mean, as a couple? Did you forget I'm carrying two more in here?" she teased, nudging him playfully before pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Alright, go take a shower. We've had a long day.""Let's shower together," Charles said, holding her hand firmly and looking at her with determination.Noelle's face flushed, and she quickly pulled her hand back. "No way! I'm showering alone.""Be good. Listen to me," Charles coaxed.At seven months pregnant, Noelle's belly was round like a ball, making Charles constantly worried. There was no way he would let her bathe alone. What if she slipped or bumped into something? He would never forgive himself.Seeing the rare seriousness in h
Tania shot Peter a sharp glare. "Are these the kinds of things you tell a child?" She reached out and pulled Brandon into her arms. "Brandon, I was just chatting with Noelle. I would never leave you. Remember? I told you before that Liliana and Noelle are like my sisters. Do you still remember?"She sat down with Brandon on her lap and gently pinched his cheeks. "You're so cute. How could I ever leave you?""But what about Dad…" Brandon's voice carried a hint of worry. He was still afraid his mother might abandon him.Tania chuckled. "Your dad's brain is broken. Don't take him seriously."As she spoke, she began helping Brandon take off his clothes. "Be good, Brandon. Let's get you cleaned up, okay?""Okay!" Brandon's face instantly lit up again. Before hopping off, he even shot Peter a triumphant look, his bright eyes sparkling as if to say, "See, Dad? Mom is giving me a bath, but not you!"Peter's narrowed eyes gleamed with amusement. He tapped his fingers lightly on the tabl
Brandon glanced at Peter and added, "Dad, you're a man too! You have to bathe by yourself. You can't let Mom do it for you!"Peter's mouth twitched. "When did I ever ask your mom to bathe me?""Hmph, don't think I don't know! You've asked Mom to bathe with you several times. You're already a grown-up, but you act like a little kid!" Brandon lifted his small chin proudly. Alright, alright. I get it. You're just lonely. Come on, Dad, let's take a bath together!"With that, Brandon grabbed Peter's hand and dragged him toward the bathroom.Tania watched the father and son disappear into the bathroom and could not hold back her laughter.Peter had tried to trick his son, but in the end, he had fallen into his own trap.Tania shook her head with a mix of amusement and helplessness. She figured Peter was only pushing Brandon to bathe himself to encourage his independence, so she did not dwell on it.Just then, she remembered Liliana's earlier mood and let out a soft sigh.'Forget it,'
"I could tell just by looking, Liliana! Did you forget I'm a doctor? The Holts are a family of medical experts!" Linda said as she stepped closer, placing her fingers on Liliana's wrist to check her pulse."I sensed something was off with your body when I sat next to you today. Your energy feels unstable. Have you been injured before?"Her usually youthful face took on an expression far more mature than her years. As she continued her examination, her brows knitted together with concern."You had a miscarriage and suffered severe internal trauma, didn't you? And you never properly treated it, which left permanent damage."Not only that but the procedure must have been done in poor conditions. Your body wasn't strong enough to endure it, yet you went through it anyway. Liliana, you really haven't taken care of yourself at all."Liliana's body stiffened at Linda's words.She almost found it laughable that a child was scolding her—yet this child clearly understood more than she did.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me!" Linda patted her chest confidently. "Go ahead, Mr. Hoffman! I promise I'll take good care of Noelle and the others!"Charles smirked slightly. "Alright."With that, he and Peter headed out. Peter had not been back to Nexus Group in a while, so he planned to check in today.Charles, on the other hand, had business at Collosus Group first. At the entrance, they each got into their respective cars and drove off.Charles then made a call to Sean.Since the night before, Sean had locked himself in his villa and had not stepped outside. After drinking through the night, he was in a groggy, half-conscious state.The persistent buzzing of his phone only irritated him further. Frowning, he reached for it, squinting at the screen, but the words blurred before his tired eyes.Annoyed, he furrowed his brows deeper and answered without checking the caller ID. "Hello?"His voice was hoarse, heavy with the effects of alcohol.Charles frowned. "Where are you?"
"Give me the prescription!" Sean took a deep breath. "Even if she doesn't want to see me or have any connection with me anymore, I still need to make sure she's okay. After all, back then, it was because of me...""Alright." Charles ended the call and sent Sean a picture of the prescription.Sean received it quickly. It was a traditional medicine formula. Though he had studied some traditional medicine as an elective during school, it was not his expertise. He had no way of judging whether Linda's prescription was truly effective.He got up, cleaned himself up, changed into fresh clothes, and simply wrapped his injured hand before heading out.Since he had decided not to disturb her anymore, he intended to keep that promise. He would try to appear in her life as little as possible. However, that did not mean he could not watch over her from a distance. He could still stand behind her and silently ensure she was okay, even if she never found out about it. Maybe that was enough.W
Sean's expression darkened, his shadowed eyes locking onto Linda's. Linda, however, stood her ground.She was unbothered, merely casting him a cold glance. "Why are you acting tough with me? Liliana's condition is clearly because of you."Sean pressed his lips together, remaining silent for a long moment. He could not deny it. Linda's words were harsh, but they were true. Liliana had ended up like this because of him."Hey, why aren't you saying anything?" Linda nudged, noticing his continued silence. "Are you—""I have things to do. The herbs are in your hands now. If anything else is needed, just let me know." Sean turned to glance at the villa a few more times before reluctantly pulling his gaze away. "Don't tell her I had anything to do with this."He feared that if Liliana knew, she would not even allow him to help in this small way.Linda watched him in confusion. "If you still like her, why don't you just tell her?"Sean merely narrowed his eyes but gave no answer.After
Kelly might not have realized her voice was shaking. "Yves, if you can't do it, don't make promises so easily!" She was scared, really scared. Promises about a future that might not happen were the scariest kind.She had thought that with Fred's death, Yves's troubles with Charles and the Hoffman family would be over. However, Kelly did not really understand what this 'over' meant or what it implied.Kelly was scared that seeing him then might mean she would not see him again.Yves was taken aback by Kelly's words. He had been waiting for days, waiting for her to say something, but he had not expected her to say that.Kelly seemed to catch herself getting too emotional. She calmed down and looked away from Yves. "Where's Seth?""He's at Phoenix Tree Residence with Bran. They seem to really like each other!"When Yves talked about Seth, his eyes twinkled with a smile. Kelly glanced over and caught the happy look on Yves's face. She was a little surprised at first, but then it made
Kelly gazed up at Yves. "There are caregivers, doctors, and nurses here. Even the servants will come!" She had told Yves clearly that he was not needed there, that he had no role to play.Yves understood what Kelly meant, but he was not upset. He just smiled gently at her. "You're still sick, and I don't trust them to look after you!"Kelly was at a loss for words and turned her head away, too frustrated to look at Yves.A shadow of sadness passed through Yves' eyes, but he quickly shook it off. "Dear, once you're better, you can tell me to leave."Kelly faced him again. "Don't you have things to do? What about the Yorks? The Hoffmans? How will you explain to the Yorks? How will you deal with the Hoffmans?" She could not understand. Did Yves no longer care about the things he used to chase? "Fred was your real dad. He's gone. Don't you care at all? Haven't you ever wondered why he was so into Hoffman's wealth, and you're part of the Hoffmans too, you...""Are you worried about me?
Charles opened the car door and stepped out first. Andrew, who had been driving, just shook his head. He finally understood why Ronald was always grumbling about not wanting to hang out with Charles, who was notorious for making single guys feel left out with his over-the-top romantic gestures. Andrew, a straightforward guy, had not really grasped what Ronald meant until then.Charles was really laying it on thick, showing off so much that Andrew felt like the underdog being teased.Charles reached out a hand to Noelle. "Come on out!"Taking her time, Noelle reached back. Charles gently took her hand and helped her out of the car, telling her to watch her step as if she were the most precious thing in the world.Andrew thought that the strong and respected image Charles had in front of everyone had crumbled. He could never look at Charles's serious face the same way again. Charles, who was always so serious and never joked, and even seemed a bit scary and super strict, could not
Charles’ heart was pounding in a wild rhythm he could not control. He had always been the cool, collected type, way more grown-up than other kids his age. He was the guy who always kept his cool.However, when he saw Noelle, all that cool just fell apart.Then, whoops! She slipped and came tumbling down, right into his arms.Nobody knew that from that moment, Noelle had a special place in Charles's heart.Watching Noelle, nearly asleep, Charles chuckled to himself but did not say a word. He just hugged her a little tighter.He had thought his crush would fade away when he left, but she kept popping up in his dreams. Every "first" in his life seemed to circle back to her. Sometimes, he wondered if his crush had turned into something more.Coming back, he learned she had a boyfriend and did not even remember him.He figured that love story was over.However, there he was, hiding in the shadows, watching her, trying to stop thinking about her. However, no matter how hard he tried,
Charles let out a sigh. "What do you think?"He guessed that Noelle must have realized it already—they had known each other for quite some time.He used to be Sebastian's student, and Noelle would often hang out at Sebastian's place back then. There was no way she would not recognize himself.Noelle scrunched her brow. "I know, you've told me before!" Annoyed, she tapped her forehead. "Ugh, why can't I remember anything?" She definitely had met Charles before, and they must have been really close. Otherwise, Charles would not look at her in such a special way.Even when she thought they were meeting for the first time and before they were close, the way Charles looked at her was just different."Okay, okay!" Charles said, catching Noelle's hand as she tapped her head. "You don't want to knock yourself silly, do you?""You're the silly one!" Noelle snorted with a mix of pride and shyness. "And anyway, even if I were silly, I'd still be your wife. What's it to you? You wouldn't loo
Charles really did not want Noelle to find out that Kelly was hurt, but Noelle ended up finding out anyway.Noelle, who was expecting, was set on seeing Kelly in the hospital. Charles had no choice but to go along with it. To be safe, he went with her and even brought a bunch of bodyguards. He was super careful, treating Noelle like she could not do anything on her own.Noelle thought Charles was going a bit overboard, but she did not say anything. She was just glad Charles was letting her see Kelly and did not want to push her luck by asking for more.However, Noelle was really curious about Yves. "So, you're saying Yves is actually Jacob, the guy my sister is into? Seth's real dad? Have you guys worked out all your stuff? Other than the virus we've got, is there nothing else to worry about?"Over the last few days, Noelle had started to figure things out. She had been asking around, getting little pieces of the story from Liliana and Tania. She found out that Kelly was hurt, whic
"I guess I'll go get busy then!" Ronald could not stand to look at Charles's face any longer.They had just survived a terrifying ordeal, yet Charles seemed calm, as if nothing had happened. How could he be so chill?Someone was still in the OR fighting for their life, and they had not even started to deal with what came next. There was Charles, acting all serious, saying he was busy. Busy with what? The ones running around like crazy were them, his underlings, right?Of course, Ronald kept those thoughts to himself in front of Charles.Once Ronald was gone, Charles relaxed his gaze. Shortly after, Sean and Linda emerged from the OR, pushing Kelly out too.Yves and Charles both stood up. "How did it go?" they asked.Sean removed his mask, glanced at Charles, then turned to Yves. "The patient is safe for now, but still under anesthesia. It'll be a few hours before they wake up. Let's get them to a room."With a pat on Charles's shoulder, Sean added, "You know, Charles, it wasn't
Yves looked like he had remembered something important. "But that day, she gave Noelle the necklace. I thought she got Noelle mixed up with Kelly at first. I did talk to Grandma about Kelly when we were dating, and I even showed her a picture!"Charles squinted. "You really love and respect your grandma."Yves nodded. "She's always been so calm and stayed out of trouble. I didn't get it before, but now I do. When she gave that bracelet to Noelle, she was actually giving it back to the Hoffmans. She was also telling me it wasn't mine to want.""Aren't you part of the Hoffman family too?" Charles had to admit he had always looked up to Yves. When he first met him, back when Yves went by the name Jacob, he was someone with real guts.Yves just smiled. "To be honest, I've never cared about the Hoffman family's business. I grew up carrying a grudge, and it's always been what drove me. But now, when I think about it, what does any of that have to do with me? My grandpa passed away before
In the operating room, Linda and Sean were working hard to save Kelly. The bullet had missed her vital organs and hit her arm, but she was still in a lot of pain.Kelly was out cold from the anesthesia. Linda was a great doctor, but surgery was not her strong suit unlike Sean. She was there to help out wherever she could.Linda realized she still had a lot to learn. She watched Sean carefully operate on Kelly, making a big cut in her arm to get the bullet out.The surgery was not too complicated, but they had to be extra careful because Kelly was so well-known. Any mistakes would be a big deal, which was why Sean was in charge.Normally, Sean would not fuss over a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening, especially if it was on a man. However, Kelly was different.The surgery was quick, and before long, Kelly was wheeled out of the room. She was still knocked out, probably from losing too much blood and the anesthesia.Outside the surgery room, Charles and Yves, along with th