With the door closed, it left a lot to the imagination.Jeremy lowered his head to light up a cigar. He leaned back on the wall and puffed out the smoke. The smoke lingered around his face.…In the private room.The electronic dance music and the disco light created a party ambiance that was lively and noisy."Corinne, what do you play on doing now that you've graduated?" Despite sitting very close to each other, Chester needed to shout for the person next to him to hear what he said.Hearing the question clearly, Corinne sat up straight and half-yelled as she answered, "I don't know yet. But why are you here? You're not graduating this year."Chester pursed his lips shyly. "Umm… A few of my best friends graduated today. They invited me over."Corinne nodded to show that she understood.Truthfully, Chester came because of her. With Corinne having graduated, it would not be easy to see her. He had secretly fallen in love with her for three years. Since he first saw Corinne in
Jeremy's question had Chester feeling awkward. "Umm…I'm… I'm Corinne's junior."Jeremy looked down at him and said, "Do you think I'd be at ease, knowing I'd leave Corinne with a junior who has feelings for her?"Chester's face turned red. He frowned. Being a young adult, he was angry when someone suspected his character. "I admit I like Corinne, but I'm not a thug. I'll never do anything to her. I respect her very much!"Jeremy narrowed his eyes, raised the cocktail he took away from Corinne, and swirled it. The corners of his mouth were lifted. "My, oh, my. You're so brave to confess your love to her when I'm standing here.""I…" Chester's cheek became even rosier. Obviously, he felt embarrassed.Seeing the embarrassing situation her classmate was in, Corinne furrowed her brow and stood up. "Mister, I promise I won't drink anymore. Can you please leave if there's nothing else?"Jeremy looked at her with his dark pupils. "Kicking me out?"Corinne shook her head. "I'm not kickin
"Whoa, really?""Thanks, Corinne!""Yeah, thanks! You're too generous!"Corinne's eyes widened, and she looked at Jeremy in equal parts surprise and anger. 'D*mn him! What in the world is wrong with him? He expects me to treat everyone here today? It's common practice to go Dutch when it comes to gatherings between students, and there are more than a hundred students here today. Does he have any idea how much this will cost?'A little smirk appeared on Jeremy's lips when he saw Corinne's face scrunching in shock. He retracted his hand from her head, put it in his trouser pocket, and turned around gracefully to head out.After he left, all the other students were in awe of Corinne's grand gesture. The girls surrounded her and asked who her handsome family member was, and Corinne brushed them off with a simple response.By contrast, none of the male students dared to approach her. After all, a family member of their university's most beautiful woman was in the private room just opp
Corinne, who was sipping juice from a glass with a straw, cocked her eyebrow and stared at Ivanka. "Can't you play and sing your composition?"The charming Ivanka smiled gracefully in response and said, "I can, of course, but it's a little dull to be singing all by myself. Everyone's hoping to see me sing and dance at the same time!" After saying that, she turned around and asked the students around her, "Isn't that right, everyone?"A few of the male students around her nodded eagerly at the idea of a beautiful young lady singing and dancing."Yeah! We haven't seen Ivanka dance yet!""I heard that she studied ballet before, so she must be super graceful when she dances!""It'll be difficult for us to meet again in the future once today's graduation party is over. Watching Ivanka's performance would be the best closing chapter to complete our four-year journey here at university!""Yeah! I'm looking forward to her performance too!"Ivanka knew that she would receive support from
There were two artificial cherry trees and some green plants on the terrace, and in the middle of the cherry trees was a small stage for guests to play and sing.The sound insulation on the floor where all the students were was not that good, and the environment was noisy. Even if they turned off any music, the noise from the room next door could still penetrate through the walls. The students therefore suggested that Ivanka and Corinne's performance be held on the terrace upstairs.As soon as they went upstairs, Ivanka handed the score to Corinne with a bright smile and said, "Here, Corinne. This is my original piece. I trust you'll be able to play it!"Corinne took it and looked at the score. It was undoubtedly a well-written piece, but it was hardly a simple one. Those who lacked the basic skills would never be able to play it smoothly.When Ivanka saw Corinne staring at the score, she smiled smugly and pretended to show concern for her. "What's wrong, Corinne? Is it too difficu
"Get off the stage if you can't play, Corinne. Let Ivanka handle the performance alone!""Yeah, get off! Everyone's been waiting long, so don't waste your time anymore!"Ivanka finally felt that she had successfully reclaimed the spotlight from Corinne and was very proud as a result. However, she made sure to show her empathetic side and sympathized with Corinne."Well, if that's the case, then I won't pressure you anymore. Why don't you go down for now? I'll handle the performance myself.""Sure." Corinne nodded and agreed readily. She could not be bothered to play for Ivanka anyway. As soon as she put down the ukulele and stepped off the stage, she heard Ivanka's group making comments again from the front row."Tch! What's so great about her when she can't even play the ukulele?""If she's from that good a family, I wonder if her academic performance is as stellar as the rumors say? Being rich makes it so much easier for them to hype her up as an all-round top student!""Her?
Before Corinne could say anything, the girls next to her got all excited."What's wrong? You can't play?""If you can't, then stop pretending to be an all-round student!""Since you can't even play the ukulele, it's obvious that your reputation as an all-round top student was hyped up by the dean. Who's going to believe you if you say that you don't have any special relationship with the dean?"Corinne has never claimed to be a so-called 'all-round top student'. It was only because the dean was fond of her and praised her achievements constantly that such a reputation came to stick. Furthermore, she was often called to the office by the dean for about an hour, and the reason was that the dean enjoyed math, and she happened to be the top student in the math department. Whenever the dean had any mathematical problem, he would seek her out to discuss mathematical formulas and humbly ask her for advice regardless of his status as her elder.It was a simple routine borne of a healthy r
Ivanka's close friends continue to attack Corinne."Sure! If you can play a song today and win applause from all the students present here, consider it your victory! We won't just apologize… We'll even do whatever you ask us to do!"Corinne had a calm look as she replied, "Deal."The girl who seemed to be the leader added, "But if you can't play the piece well and you don't get the unanimous approval of our classmates, you'll have to crawl out of this place while we take a video and post it on the school forum! Still game for it?"Corinne frowned slightly then remained silent for a brief moment as if to think about it. At long last, she said, "Deal!"The girl smiled in contempt and said, "What are you waiting for, then? Remember not to be a sore loser!"Corinne turned around, went on stage, and took the ukulele from Ivanka.Ivanka faked a kind expression and pretended to show concern for her. "You should back out of the challenge. Girls like us value our reputation a lot, and it
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