"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid… To take a stand, to take a stand… It's been a ride… Everybody..."Corinne snapped back to her senses when her phone suddenly rang, and the suggestive atmosphere between her and Jeremy disappeared in a second.As she faced the man's long dark eyes, she backed away uncomfortably and took out her cell phone to look at the caller ID. It turned out to be Sherlyn. Before she could answer the phone, Sherlyn's voice sounded outside the restroom, and there was a knock on the restroom door."I know you're in there, Corinne. I heard your horrendous ringtone coming from inside! Come out of here right now! Stop slacking off, hiding in the restroom!"Corinne frowned, looked up at the man, and shrugged her shoulders while saying, "Did you hear that? Sherlyn's looking for me. I need to go out."Jeremy looked down at her and did not react.Corinne moved off him, thought for a moment, and then said, "Wait here, and don't go out after me. If she sees us inside the s
Sherlyn was startled by the sight of Jeremy. 'What in the world is going on? Why did Jeremy come out as soon as that b*tch Corinne left? Were they both in there earlier?!'As soon as she realized that possibility, Sherlyn had an incredulous look and immediately became wary soon after. Jeremy had been looking at Corinne rather strangely when she was pouring tea for them earlier, and Corinne was a little vixen good at seducing men. Perhaps Corinne had spilled that tea on purpose just to attract his attention and hook up with him.Having come to that conclusion, Sherlyn felt an unbearable pain in her heart and she wanted to get to the bottom of what happened. A charming smile appeared across her face as she walked toward Jeremy. She asked innocuously and curiously, "Mister Jeremy, my assistant just came out of that restroom. Why did you come out right after her? Did the two of you share the same restroom earlier?""Your assistant?" Jeremy glanced at Sherlyn coldly and gave her an icy t
Jeremy went back to the tea room and sat for a while longer.Goran was still going on with the script of his new movies. All the while, he had been talking to himself because the rest of the four people were talking to each other. Until the very end, none of them actually paid attention to Goran.'I guess I'm not getting any investment funds from these four people today…' Goran thought.He looked at the time helplessly. It was getting late if he continued to hold on to them he might irritate them even more. Without a choice, he got up, used a glorified excuse to bid goodbye to them together with Sherlyn, and left the room.When there were no outsiders in the room, Zeke joked amusingly, "Hey, Jeremy. Where's your wife?"Jason was also curious. "Yeah, Jeremy. Where is Corinne?"'Corinne? When is Jason so close with Corinne?' Jeremy thought.He raised his brow and looked at the man. "Do you have something to do with her?"With an appealing face, Zeke asked, "Nothing. I'm just curi
A chill ran up Tommy's spine. He looked to the back of the car and explained innocently, "Sir, I had to deal with an urgent matter at the company, so I didn't accompany Miss Corinne to the subsidiary company. I did call Mister Feldman before I left, and he said Miss Corinne was the one who insisted on becoming an assistant."Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed as he said nothing. Tommy could not tell what Jeremy was feeling as his expression looked dead calm.Tommy carefully continued, "I'll arrange a much lighter job for Miss Corinne tomorrow."Still, Jeremy remained indifferent. He said, "Ignore her. If this is the job she chose, then let her be.""... Yes," Tommy replied."Go take a look in Jason's art gallery if there are three paintings by Nellie Nymphaea. Buy them. She wants them," Jeremy instructed.Tommy nodded and made a mental note of this. "Understood. I'll get to it."Oh, right… Sir, Miss Anya's treatment is about to end. I estimate she's going to come back next month."Jere
Gloomily, Jeremy kicked over a chair to sit and gave Corinne a cold glare.Corinne merely carried on with her meal as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening. As she ate, however, an idea occurred to her. She brought the kebab near Jeremy's lips and, raising her eyebrows, giggled. "Try it."Her sudden attention toward him caught Jeremy off-guard, yet he could not deny he felt slightly intrigued. He opened his mouth slowly—Corinne pulled back her hand and stuffed the kebab into her mouth.She chuckled, her mouth full. "Hey, didn't you say you don't want to eat?"The shade of Jeremy's expression got darker. He narrowed his eyes sharply. "You tricked me?"Corinne pursed her lips and took out one potato fry for him from the plate. "Alright. I'm not going to tease you anymore. Males and females shouldn't drink using the same glass. It's inappropriate for us to eat the same kebab, and it's unhygienic too. I'll give you a new one. Try it. It's very nice."After the last exper
Jeremy narrowed his eyes and asked, "Are you close with the owner?"Corinne nodded. "Yes. We always came here for supper in the past.""We?""Yea… My friends and I!" Corinne answered.Suddenly, he remembered the owner saying he was more handsome than the last guy Corinne brought here before. Did that mean Corinne always brought guys over too? Who were they?Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed. "Friends? Your ex?"Corinne nodded honestly. "Nope. I'm ashamed to tell you this, but I've never had a boyfriend before, so I don't have exes. I came here with my classmates and some friends I grew up with."Jeremy's dark eyes sank. "Classmate? The one who gave you his button?""No, not him," Corinne answered without thinking about it, but seconds later, realization dawned on her. "Wait! How did you know someone gave me a button before?"Jeremy snorted with a stone-cold expression. "Unfortunately, I was around to witness it."Corinne thought back and remembered Jeremy and her walking together on
Corinne blushed upon hearing what others around them were saying. It was easy to be misunderstood that they were a couple because they were holding hands.However, they did not walk alongside each other. Instead, Jeremy walked ahead of her while she reluctantly followed.Rather than being seen as a couple, she thought they looked like a father and a disobedient daughter.Still, Corinne felt it was not nice to be misunderstood, especially when there was nothing between them and they were just cooperating to play-pretend. Thus, she tried to withdraw her hand to clear the air.By the time she moved her arm, she noticed they had gotten to the car.Jeremy let go of her hand and opened the door for her. "Get in," rang his voice, deep in his chest.Corinne did not stall and bent to get into the car. Jeremy used his hand to cover the top part of the car, protecting Corinne from knocking her head. It was a very gentlemanly and lofty act.Corinne was startled. 'He's always so cold at time
The pain from getting scalded was more unbearable than other injuries. It was the type of pain that was not abrupt but a slow burn instead. The burning sensation would remain that it was possible to ignore.Corinne nodded. "I had to do everything myself when I lived in the countryside. That meant chopping the wood, making the fire, and boiling water. At first, I didn't know how to do it and ended up burning myself. It was so painful that I couldn't sleep for the whole night!"Jeremy's eyebrows furrowed at this. Unknowingly, his eyes looked worried. "When did you start doing all that?"Corinne answered faintly, "I can't remember."Very often, she refused to talk about her childhood. If she accidentally brought it up, she would stop the topic immediately.Jeremy placed his hand on top of her head and patted her like a little pet. "Did you have a bad childhood?""It's not that bad."Corinne did not like to have other people feeling pity for her. She pushed away his hand with disgus
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