His scorching breath brushed against Yvonne's neck as he planted kisses on her skin. Like a patient hunter, Stephen slowly devoured her, inch by inch. Yvonne opened her eyes momentarily and met Stephen's gaze. Her breath hitched in her throat inexplicably. Usually, this man was as cold as ice. His eyes would only become warm and restrained when he was overcome with emotion, entrancing her with his allure and sensuality. In a daze, Yvonne thought that Stephen was definitely her arch nemesis. She was completely at his mercy, at least in moments like this. …The next day, Yvonne went downstairs to have breakfast. Rachel kept looking over at her throughout the meal.Yvonne spoke up: "Why do you keep looking at me? Am I that attractive?" Rachel pulled her chair closer and said earnestly, "Mr. Anderson has just recovered from his illness; you should take it easy on him."Yvonne was puzzled by her words. The next second, she remembered seeing several hickeys on her neck
Yvonne rushed all the way back to the villa. As she entered the gates, she bumped into Camille, who'd just been leaving with tears in her eyes. A question mark popped up in Yvonne's mind. Was Camille the woman Rachel had mentioned?At that moment, Charles emerged from behind Yvonne and walked briskly towards Camille. "Didn't I tell you not to wander around?"Camille shook her head helplessly, unable to speak, as tears streamed down her face. Concerned, Yvonne asked Charles in a low voice, "What happened to her?""Yvonne," Stephen's commanding voice rang out, "come over here.""Stephen, you're going overboard with your behavior!" Charles turned around and glared sternly at Stephen. "Camille is still ill. Can't you treat her kindly? Are you going to push her to the brink of death?""Am I supposed to greet a woman who attempted to poison me with a smile? You overestimate my tolerance," Stephen threatened coldly. "If you bother me again, she won't be able to leave this place on he
Yvonne accompanied Rachel and waited at the entrance of the villa for Dexter to arrive. After ten minutes, a Mercedes-Benz approached the gates slowly and stopped in front of them. The car window rolled down, revealing a young, handsome face behind the wheel. Dexter had short, blond hair that accentuated his fair skin, glowing with radiance in the sunlight. Whenever he smiled, his eyes disappeared. Dexter's vibe was that of a golden retriever, pure and innocent. Regardless of his personality, his handsome appearance was enough to charm numerous girls who would fall for his princely looks. However, he wasn't Yvonne's type. He appeared too feeble and weak for her liking. She could knock out ten guys like him with one punch.Dexter stared at the villa with admiration. "Rachel, did you stay here? When did you make such wealthy friends?" When he'd driven up from the foot of the mountain, he'd looked up the location of Oceania Villa. He'd discovered it was located in an upscale ar
Kayla was successfully engaged to Xavier, and now Katie was about to return home from abroad.Basking in her children's glory, Monica was unable to contain her joy. She became more active in attending social gatherings involving other ladies within the elite circle. "Mrs. Jones, you are really fortunate to have two successful daughters.""I heard that your daughter, Katie, was in charge of the collaborative project between Rising Sun Group and QT."Listening to their high praise, Monica nodded with a smile. "Yes, it's true. The higher management of the company showed much favor to Katie. They must have wanted to enhance her resume by entrusting such a big project to her." "In that case, Ms. Jones has a bright future ahead in her career.""I heard that the reason behind Ms. Jones' return this time is to train her to be the regional CEO's successor!" "Wow, that's impressive!"Monica's vanity was greatly satisfied by the shower of compliments. Over the years, she'd faced a lot
Katie's return to the country was one of the bigger events for the Jones family in recent years. Thomas had long planned to hold a huge welcome party.That morning, Miller Jewels had a meeting to discuss their communication plan for the new quarter. After the meeting, Thomas stayed back in the meeting room. Clutching the invitation tightly in his hands, he furrowed his brows.The other day, when Katie had heard about Stephen and Yvonne in the car, she'd actually wanted to invite Yvonne to the party.Thomas had no idea what Katie was thinking, but she was his precious daughter—how could he not give her what she asked for?Yvonne was going through the meeting documents when she saw that Thomas was still in his seat. "Mr. Jones, is there anything else that you would like to talk about?""No." Thomas took a deep breath, got up, and walked over to Yvonne. He passed her the invitation. "Your sister is back in the country. She wants to invite you to her welcome home party."Yvonne looke
At night, Yvonne was laying in bed after her shower when she realized that Stephen hadn't come to her for the last few nights.Was work making him have no desire?Sensing a little disappointment in her, Yvonne furrowed her brows. Although it was normal for an adult to have desire, Yvonne found it weird when she thought about it. On some level, she was dependent on another body, and that was a dangerous sign.She patted her cheeks, forcing the unwanted thoughts out of her mind. Then she tucked herself in and tried to sleep.Half an hour later, she opened her eyes. She couldn't sleep one bit! She looked over at the invitation on her nightstand, where she'd left it when she'd returned home. Katie's welcome-home party. Hehe! Yvonne sneered. They had both returned to Northerna City, but the way they were treated was poles apart.The moment she'd reached home, she'd been sent to the Anderson family to marry a blind guy, whereas Katie was getting a grand welcome home party. Katie us
It was a lavish party; one look was all it took to see that Thomas and his wife had spared no expense for their daughter.Yvonne gently swirled the glass of red wine between her fingers, looking at the Joneses, who were all smiles.Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched them. It was an ironic sight.She was just about to take a step forward when someone hit her back hard with a stick, almost making her fall over. She turned around to see a hand raising a can in mid-air.The hand belonged to Thomas' father, Joseph Jones.Yvonne grabbed the cane and looked at him icily. "What are you doing?"Joseph glared at Yvonne, so furious that he was trembling. "You stupid bitch! How dare you show yourself in front of me? How dare you send your uncle to prison? Why do I have such a ruthless grandchild? Pfft!"Joseph had grown up in the countryside, so he had a rough personality. He'd been so furious when he laid eyes on Yvonne that he wanted to teach her a lesson, completely disregarding where
Thomas was scared half to death when he saw that his father had hit Stephen. He frantically went forward and grabbed Joseph's cane."Dad, enough!"Joseph was also a little baffled. Although he didn't know who the new man was, Joseph could see that he was no ordinary man.Stephen protected Yvonne in his arms. He looked at Thomas coldly. "Mr. Jones, did you invite me to this party just to show me how you bully my wife?""N—no, no." Thomas stood in front of Joseph, lowered his head, and apologized, "Mr. Anderson, please don't get mad. I was careless. I didn't take care of Yvonne properly.""I don't need you to take care of me." Yvonne looked at Thomas with reddened eyes. "Mom had signed the divorce papers before she died. I'm not related to you at all."Divorce papers? The crowd was bewildered. This was a huge piece of gossip! If Tara Miller had indeed signed the divorce papers back then, it made no sense that Thomas had taken over Miller Villa and Miller Jewels!In that case,
A light breeze blew by in the courtyard. Agatha slowly recounted the past.Back then, Daniel and his wife, Katherine, had just had Mark. The entire Carrington family had been celebrating.They had doted on Mark and taken him wherever they went.That day, they had headed out. Before they'd known it, Mark had been taken away.Just when Daniel and Katherine had been on the brink of losing it, they had received a call from the kidnapper to bring the ransom to a specific spot.They had gotten the money and driven there without any hesitation. No one had thought that they would ever return after that. Even Mark had disappeared.When Agatha finished recounting this, her cup of tea had already cooled.She wiped her tears away. She said through a catch in her throat, "Katherine was hugging the bag of money tightly until the moment she passed away, as though she were hugging you."Mark furrowed his brows. Now that he'd heard the truth about Daniel and Katherine, he should have felt pain
As Yvonne left the room, she could tell that Stephen's mood was much better.She looked at him. "Are you thinking of something nice?""No." Stephen looked at Yvonne with a rare twinkle in his eyes."Let me take you to breakfast." Before Yvonne could respond, he took her hand and led her to the elevator.Thinking about how he'd stood outside her room the entire night, Yvonne decided to let him hold her hand.Then, her thoughts drifted to Otto. Somehow, she had a bad feeling.…At the same time, Mark was in the courtyard of Carrington Mansion. He sat next to Agatha and poured some tea for her.He handed her a cup of hot tea. "Great-Grandma, try this."When he noticed that Agatha had no reaction, he called out to her once more. "Great-Grandma?""Huh?" Agatha came to her senses. She looked at Mark in confusion. "What is it?""You've been distracted since yesterday. Are you thinking of something?" Mark asked.Agatha shook her head. "Nothing." Then, she picked up her teacup and
Yvonne stood by the door of the bedroom and looked at Otto, who was looking out of the window in a daze on the bed.The sun shone on his face. He looked quite hungover and had a sickly pale face.Yvonne hesitated for a while before saying gently, "Mrs. Jenner called me last night. She's worried about you."Otto didn't respond.Yvonne went in closer and added, "She said that you called her and asked about your father. She found it strange."Mr. Carrington, why did you suddenly think about your father? Did Mrs. Carrington Senior bring him up yesterday?"All Yvonne got was silence.Luckily, she was patient. She sat on the couch and followed Otto's line of sight. Tiny dust particles were floating among the sunbeams. Yvonne also fell into a daze as she watched them float about.Suddenly, Otto asked, "Have you ever felt like your world was falling apart?""Hmm?" Yvonne was confused. "For example?""I mean, like the person that you trust turns out to be different from what you'd t
The next morning, Yvonne opened her door to see Stephen standing outside. She was caught off guard."What is wrong with you this morning? Why didn't you knock…"While talking, Yvonne noticed that Stephen was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. She furrowed her brows and asked, "Don't tell me you didn't leave last night? Have you been standing outside this door all this while?""Hmm." Stephen looked at Yvonne intently. "I thought you would've figured it out quickly."Yvonne was speechless, but she thought to herself that she'd slept like a baby the night before.She smiled at him. "Figure what out?" She noticed Stephen frowning as though he were on the brink of losing his temper.She quickly added, "I-I mean, you have to give me a hint, right? I've thought about it the entire night, but I still don't understand. My brain isn't functioning well."Stephen asked suspiciously, "You've been thinking about it the entire night?""Yes, which is why I didn't look for yo
"If I hadn't come to find you tonight, you probably wouldn't tell me anything about what happened tonight, would you?" Stephen asked in retort.It wasn't a big deal, as long as they returned safely. Yvonne wondered why she needed to report this to him.But she still smiled. "It's late. How could I disrupt your rest? It would've been the same if I told you about it tomorrow morning, right?"Stephen sniggered. "Yvonne, you still don't know where you've gone wrong."He suddenly went in closer to her. Yvonne instinctively retreated until her back was up against the wall. She glared at him."What on earth is wrong with you? I've already said that I would've told you tomorrow morning—"A punch went past Yvonne and landed brutally on the wall.Yvonne was a little stunned. She looked into Stephen's eyes and furrowed her brows. "Stephen, I don't want to quarrel with you for no reason. "Mrs. Carrington Senior went to look for Otto today. Calbert couldn't reach him the entire day, so he
Jane returned to the private room, distracted.She sat down next to Cory. She looked at him as he reached his hand out to her in confusion.Cory furrowed his brows and asked unhappily, "Where's the wine?""Wine… Yes! Wine!" Jane came to her senses. She was just about to get up when Cory pulled her back.He grabbed her by her chin and forced her to look at him. "What happened when you went out?""N-Nothing."Cory tightened his grip. Jane furrowed her brows in pain. "I-I… I saw Yvonne. She told me that she and Stephen got remarried.""What?" Cory relaxed his grip a little. "They got remarried?""Hmm.""So, what?" He had no intention of letting her go, and he looked at her sharply. "Does it bother you so much that Stephen got remarried?"Jane looked at Cory frantically. "Cory, what do you mean by that?""What do I mean? You know what I mean."Cory went in closer. His tone turned icy. "You used to pursue Stephen. Now that you know he's gotten married, you're in this shitty mood
Yvonne turned around to see Jane smiling at her ambiguously. She furrowed her brows. How were they always bumping into each other?Jane crossed her hands in front of her chest and leaned against the wall. She swept her gaze at Calbert and Otto. "Two guys and one woman. You sure know how to have fun!"Calbert instantly snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?""Why are you being so fierce? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Jane snickered. "Two guys and a woman came out of a private room in the middle of the night. Anyone would come to the same conclusion. We're all adults. There's no need to pretend to be innocent.""You—" Calbert was about to go up to Jane, but Yvonne stopped him."Since Ms. Ford is here, I'm guessing so is Cory?" Yvonne smiled, yet her smile didn't reach her eyes. "If you cause a scene here and this bar gets raided, guess who'll be the ones walking out here alive?"Jane's expression turned ugly. "Are you threatening me?""It's just a kind reminder." Yvon
Calbert and Yvonne managed to track Otto's car to a bar, thanks to the information they'd gotten from his staff. Otto's car was right outside the bar.Calbert looked at the neon sign and furrowed his brows. "Why is Otto here? Did what Mrs. Carrington Senior said really hit him so badly that he has to drown himself in alcohol?"Yvonne said nothing and headed directly inside the bar."Wait up for me!" Calbert went after her. He subconsciously protected her from all the drunk patrons.The lighting in the bar was dim. Many of the patrons were drunk and having fun.Yvonne and Calbert walked around the booth area, but Otto was nowhere to be found. They pulled a server over to ask if there was a patron by the name of Otto Carrington who had reserved a private room.Coincidentally, the server had just taken two bottles of wine to Otto's room. So, he led them to the private room.Calbert tipped the server before opening the door and entering. The entire room reeked of alcohol.He looked
After Agatha left, Otto stood in the same spot without moving.A long time later, Zac entered the office. He looked at Otto's back and asked quietly, "Mr. Carrington, will you still see the client?""No." Otto sounded heartbroken.Zac didn't dare ask further questions. He gently closed the door and reminded the secretary that no one was to disturb Otto.In the office, Otto was alone. He slowly walked over to the couch and slumped into it. His mind was in a mess."Alexander was the one who planned the kidnapping back then."Agatha's words rang in his mind for a long time.Alexander's young face appeared in Otto's mind, smiling at him affectionately."Otto! Amazing! Yes! Just like that!""You're amazing at badminton! You're going to make the country proud! I'm going to be so proud of you!""Otto, my son!"Memories of his interactions with Alexander flashed across his mind at that moment.Otto couldn't imagine that such a loving father would do such an absurd thing. Alexander