Xante nodded. "Yeah, that punk deserves a real beating, but you don't have to do it yourself. I'll deal with him later. You just stay here and rest. This is for your and the baby's own good."Corinne was already in a bad mood before, but Aaron's antics made it worse.Seeing that Corinne was infuriated because of what Aaron did to her, Annie quickly wiped away her tears and walked up to her. "Corinne, I'm okay. Please don't be mad. Uncle Jeremy will kill me if he finds out about this…"Corinne looked at Annie with a deep frown on her face, thinking she would not feel better unless there was an outlet for her to unleash her anger.Xante naturally knew what Corinne was thinking about. 'Boss won't be able to sit still unless I go deal with that punk now.' Thus, she said, "Miss Annie, please take care of Corinne for me while I go out to do something."Annie nodded cooperatively. "Sure thing, Miss Xante. I'll take good care of her."Xante smiled. Then, she turned to Corinne and said me
Annie was a little taken aback. "What do you mean, Corinne? Are you saying you regret getting pregnant with Uncle Jeremy?"Corinne's mouth twitched. "The baby might be an accident, but I don't regret it," she said calmly. "I'm just reminding you not to be so dazzled by romantic love that you start imagining a happily ever after with the guy when he hasn't asked you out on a date yet."The message seemed to have gotten through to Annie because she nodded poutingly and said, "Okay, Corinne, I'll keep that in mind. I should've listened to you in the beginning. Now that I think about it, it's laughable how I thought I could change a player into husband material through the power of my love."Corinne looked at Annie sympathetically. "It's not you. It's him. He's just not the type to settle down and get married. I'm just glad you saw his true colors before it was too late. I hope you'll find a man who'll love and treasure you in the future."Annie looked down at the floor as sweet memori
Moreover, the feelings between Marvin and Lilliana were not strictly love. It was more like the two of them had come together for their own mutual benefits while making sure the other did not gain more than the other.Therefore, no, Corinne did not believe in love.Much later, when she found out Marvin was not her biological father and that she was Maxwell's daughter… She became even more convinced there was no such thing as love in this world.After all, Maxwell was even more of a dirtbag than Marvin. The former might look like a gentleman on the outside, but inside, he was a hypocrite through and through.The story of Maxwell and Emily began well enough. At first, the lovestruck Maxwell did not give up chasing Emily until she finally agreed to be his girlfriend and ultimately married him. However, not long after their wedding, he started staying out the whole night with his mistress with the end product being an illegitimate daughter.Yet, he had the nerve to accuse Emily of che
Xante scanned Aaron coldly before looking inside the presidential suite. "What were you doing?"Aaron shrugged and smiled mischievously. "Well, isn't it obvious I just took a shower?"Xante pushed him away and walked into the suite. She expected to see a naked woman inside, but there was no sign of any debauchery. The bed was clean and empty.She turned around to ask, "Where's that girlfriend of yours?"Aaron closed the door and continued to dry his hair with another towel. "Ugh, I sent her home. What's the point of coming to the hotel with me if she's not going to let me touch her?"Xante pushed her gold-rimmed glasses up, pulled a chair, and sat down."There are other ways to make Miss Annie hate you without humiliating her, you know. How could you ask her to get you some condoms when you know how much she likes you? That's low, even for you. It's no wonder the boss is mad at you right now."Aaron threw his towel aside and flopped down lazily on the bed. "Xante, don't you thin
Xante accepted the phone from Aaron. With a tap, the screen revealed two photos of a woman picking up Jeremy from the airport. The woman was wearing skimpy clothing that barely covered her hot figure. Not to mention, she was quite good-looking as well. One of the photos showed Jeremy and the woman hugging each other. It was obvious they knew each other very well.'How can he go around hugging other women when he's married?' thought Xante. Ever the calm one, even she could not control herself after seeing the two photos. "D*mn that man! His wife is pregnant, yet he goes abroad to have a romantic rendezvous with another woman?!"Aaron smiled smugly. "What did I tell you? Jeremy isn't the good husband as he makes himself out to be. All men are the same; we think with our lower half. Even the boss cannot escape this fate.""Not every man is the same as you!""At least I'm honest about it. I don't pretend to be what I'm not."After thinking about it calmly, Xante threw Aaron's phone ba
"Stop your bullsh*t! I came here to ask you why you helped Corinne lure me away that time. What was she doing in Kanton City? Does it have anything to do with the World Hacker Conference?" grilled Sunny.Seeing that Sunny had no intention to leave, Xante closed the door. "Mister Sunny, you're certainly one curious cat. I can't believe you followed me to this hotel just to get answers to those questions."Sunny crossed his arms. "I just want to know what you two were up to. My hunch has always been correct, and it's telling me you and Corinne are hiding something from everyone! It definitely has something to do with the World Hacker Conference."Xante slowly walked up to him with a coy smile.Sensing danger, Sunny slowly backed away as though she was a ghost. "What… What are you doing?"Xante smiled and continued to walk toward him. "Since you're here, it'd be weird if I don't do anything with you, right? I mean, we are in a hotel. And what is a hotel best for if not for sleeping?"
Xante had Sunny backed into a corner again. Even though she was half a head shorter than him, he was actually scared of her.Still blushing, Sunny instinctively covered his chest with both of his hands. "You… You can't force me to take off my clothes!"Xante smiled mockingly at him. "Tsk, tsk! What a wuss. You shouldn't have followed me here if you're not ready to play along with me. Now go run home to your mommy."Sunny was at the age where his ego triumphed over everything. Thus, what he could not stand the most was to be mocked."Heh! Who are you calling a wuss?!" he shouted angrily.Xante raised her eyebrow. "Who else is there but you? As I said, you should go home now. I don't want your parents to come screaming at me and calling me a bad influence for bringing you here.""And as I said, I'm not a kid anymore! I don't need my parents' permission to do anything. You know what? I changed my mind! I'm going to take off my clothes to show you I'm not scared of you!"He then too
Throughout the call, never did Corinne once ask about Jeremy nor did Tommy mention him.'If Mister wanted me to know about something, he would've told me. I wouldn't need to ask other people about it. Since he doesn't want me to know what he's up to, there's no point in asking Tommy,' she thought.When night came, Tommy visited Corinne to give a status report on the task she asked him to do. Since it would be inappropriate to receive him into the bedroom, Corinne asked him to follow her to Jeremy's study."Ma'am, I already went to the Riveras to ask for custody of Mister Joey," said Tommy respectfully.Corinne was sitting casually on Jeremy's office chair with her cheek resting on her hand. "And what did they say?""Mister Cedric and Mister Beatrice said you've mentioned Mister Joey's custody arrangement to them before. After careful consideration, they both think it's best for you and Mister Jeremy to take care of him."Corinne raised her eyebrow and looked at Tommy's sides. "So
Sherman could not help but feel fearful when he recalled the incident.Rita gently smoothed his furrowed brow. "I knew you'd come to rescue me, just like all the times you did. I love you, Sherman."Previously, Rita confessed her love to him when she was groggy. At this moment, however, she was clearly awake, even sporting a faint smile on her face as she confessed.Sherman immediately blushed. "I love you, too."Rita did not stay long in the hospital; she quickly returned to the Parr family's mansion. Just as Sherman's grandparents had said, Rita did not have any major injuries, so there was no need for her to stay in the hospital that long. In fact, she might even recover faster emotionally under the care at home.Not once did Sherman bring up Rita's job, but she surprisingly resigned from New Capital Times on her own accord. It would be difficult for her to investigate cases with her current condition; not to mention Sherman had handed over the evidence to the police. The polic
"Sherman, I like you. I love you," Rita finally confessed.Sherman, deeply pained, pulled Rita into his arms. "This is all my fault. I should've looked for you quicker. I've never blamed you. All I want is to see you smile. It's enough for me as long as you're willing to let me stay by your side."You don't have to confess to me. I know it's hard for you to do that because of your family. I've seen the way they've treated you, and…"The bodyguards who had barged in with Sherman felt a bit awkward to see their company president in tears. However, the priority was to get Rita to the hospital for a check-up. Being tied up for hours could cause circulation issues, and it could be dangerous if her limbs did not regain feelings soon.In the end, they got the bravest among them to convince Sherman to let them take Rita to the hospital. Instead of letting them do it, Sherman wiped away his tears and, with ease, lifted Rita as if she was as light as a feather.Fortunately, after the hospit
With that, Karen left without looking back. She was carrying Vince's baby in her womb, so how could she pin all her hopes on Sadie? Since Sadie was obviously unruly, she would have to rely on her son.'Sadie can spend the rest of her life with Esmond since she likes him so much. God knows it had been exhausting enough to raise her. Plus, it's only fair for Esmond to take care of her since I've done my part taking care of her until now,' thought Karen.Meanwhile, the only consolation for Sherman was that Esmond did not try to put up a fight. It seemed that he still cared about his daughter Sadie.Sherman led his men to a dilapidated house. Esmond had been cautious enough to choose a rundown house situated at the end of a village.When Sherman barged in, he found Rita lying on the floor while Esmond's men ignored her. Esmond's men had followed his orders, and since he did not instruct them to do anything to Rita, they left her well alone.Before the men could react, they were surrou
Karen cried and silently knelt by Sadie's side without trying to defend herself. Sadie, on the other hand, feebly tried to explain herself. Alas. Vince refused to listen.There had been many occasions before when he had chosen to believe Karen and Sadie, but at this moment, he realized he had been terribly wrong to do that.Rita used to be so kind, understanding, and well-behaved. However, ever since Karen and Sadie moved in, Vince felt like his daughter had become manipulative, always trying to compete for attention, and stirring up jealousy in front of him.Unfortunately, it took Rita's disappearance to make Vince realize that Rita was not trying to compete for attention. All Rita wanted from him was to treat her the same as Sadie.Vince used to think that Rita should give in to Sadie more since Sadie was younger, too."Why don't you go live with your biological father since you prefer him so much? I never want to see you show your face around here anymore! As for your mother, s
Sadie was so anxious that she wanted to jump out. "Mom, don't tell me you fell for it! Why did you call Esmond? Now they all know where Rita is. You've ruined everything, again! What were you thinking?"Karen could not care less. She cried and slapped Sadie. "You nearly scared me to death! What would I do if something happened to you? I didn't raise you just to watch you die. I told you not to meet up with Esmond, so why did you secretly meet up with him? How can you ask him to get rid of Rita?"Are you out of your mind? All I want is for us to live out the rest of our lives peacefully, so why didn't you listen to me?!"Sadie was furious. Karen had stopped trying to get rid of Rita ever since she got pregnant, so how could Sadie not be angry? Rita was like a thorn in her side, and Sadie would never be happy unless Rita was dead."Don't you know I like Sherman? How could you ask me to do nothing when Rita has stolen him from me?! I was the one who liked him first. It's either Rita g
Karen wanted so badly to slap Esmond through the phone.'What good are his pompous words now? We wouldn't be in this mess now if he hadn't hit me back then! What's more, he's saying he's doing this for Sadie. But has he ever thought of what would happen to me and Sadie if he got rid of Rita? Rita's the heiress of the Russell family. Not to mention, she's married to Sherman, so that makes her owner of Parr Group too! What makes Esmond think he can get rid of Rita so easily?'Karen's breath was ragged as she said, "If you don't believe me, just listen to your daughter's screams. I can't save her now; you will literally decide her fate! Plus, I'm pregnant with Vince's baby, so even if I lose Sadie, I still have a kid—which is more than what I can say about you!"Sherman could not help but be impressed by Karen a little. Even in this dire situation, she did not forget to express her heartfelt feelings to Vince, letting him know that she was always on his side. It was certainly not an ea
"Sherman raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's just a minor injury, maybe just a finger. There shouldn't be any major issues. A sprained joint takes only a hundred days to heal, and it might take her even less time to heal if you take very good care of her while she's recuperating."Karen's heart ached upon hearing that. She lunged toward Sherman, wanting to hit him, but the bodyguards stopped her before she could get close.Vince, still worried, held Karen tightly beside him. "Calm down. I'm sure Sadie will come out unharmed if Rita's kidnapping has nothing to do with her. But if it does, then you should know very well that…"Vince's voice dropped an octave. He could not believe his daughter's disappearance had anything to do with his stepdaughter. However, he was not utterly naive.He continued, "How could a girl like her take Rita away? Even the car window was smashed. Others must've been involved. Does her biological father have anything to do with it?"Sherman nodded
"Yes, it's true I met up with my biological father, but it was just a one-time thing. I don't want to go back to him at all! Otherwise, I would've done it ages ago. Dad, I'm really grateful to you for taking me in and looking after me all these years. That's why I feel like you're my real father, even more real than those who share the same blood."How could you unjustly accuse me and Mom like that? Sherman is the one spouting nonsense here. He's trying to push all the blame onto us. Dad, you have to wake up and see the truth!"Karen nodded along, but her heart was racing. 'When did Sadie meet Esmond? How did Sherman know when I don't even know? Seems like Sadie does have something to do with Rita's kidnapping. I have to settle things and get Sherman out of here.'Karen never had the thought of rekindling her relationship with Esmond. The only thing she wanted then was to peacefully give birth to her son. Everything in the Russell family would eventually go to her son, and she would
Sherman detested people pointing their fingers at him when they spoke. He stood up slowly, towering over Vince instantly."You claim to be Rita's father, yet if I were you, I'd choose to shut up and stand aside. I can't believe you're scolding me for threatening Sadie when she's not even your real daughter!"Look at her guilty expression; it's clear she's involved. If you don't believe me, use your brain a little. No wonder Russell Group is declining under your leadership. It's only a matter of time before the company goes completely bankrupt!"Sherman showed no mercy, causing Vince to retreat with every word. Vince clutched his chest, struggling for breath.Karen, despite her weakness, stepped forward to support him. "How could you speak to your father-in-law like this? What has Sadie done to offend you? She has nothing but admiration for you. Plus, she's just a child. How could you treat her like this?"She went on and on, but Sherman stood his ground. Meanwhile, the burly bodyg