"First Xavier, now Caleb." Stephen lowered his gaze and said with a dangerous tone, "Yvonne, are you trying to make me go green with jealousy?"Yvonne was a little astonished and couldn't help but snicker. She'd never thought that Stephen could be so entertaining. Yvonne's laughter made Stephen's heart flutter. His heart was beating quickly, even making his breathing a little stunted. Unable to control himself, Stephen went in closer. The next second, Yvonne placed her finger on his lips. She looked up at him and smiled with mockery. "Stephen, not keeping it in your pants after drinking isn't a good habit."Stephen kissed the finger and looked at Yvonne with desire. It was thuggish yet sexy.In that short moment, Yvonne seemed to have been electrocuted. She quickly retracted her finger and glared at him. "How dare you!"Stephen chuckled, and the air around them reeked warmly of alcohol.Yvonne pushed Stephen away and warned him, "Don't assume that you can do whatever you like ju
That night, Yvonne was just about to lie in bed after washing up when she received Rachel's message. Rachel was outside Miller Villa, wanting to crash there for the night. Yvonne went downstairs to get Rachel. Seeing her friend looking dejected, Yvonne asked in concern. "What happened? Did things not go well with Stanley?""It did. I also gave him my gift." Rachel sat cross-legged on the rug. She looked up at Yvonne. "That short-haired lady is his cousin. She's always been close to him.""Oh, so it's his cousin." Yvonne sat down next to Rachel, rather curious. "So, he explained everything to you, right? Why are you still feeling this way?""I don't know." Rachel lowered her head and muttered, "I've apologized to him and given him his birthday gift. Everything went according to plan, but I still don't feel quite right."In the washroom, Stanley had accepted her gift and her apology with a smile. He said, "I've given it a lot of thought. I sprung it on you, which scared you. It's onl
On his way, Xavier called Stephen, but he didn't answer. Instead, Stephen directly sent him an address. Xavier opened the map to take a look. The address was a warehouse by the dock. He guessed that this was where Kayla was locked up.An hour later, he arrived at the warehouse.He got out of the car to see the Maybach parked nearby. Stephen was standing by the car, looking at the sea. Xavier approached him, asking, "You've agreed to let Kayla go?""Hmm." Stephen didn't turn around. "Even now, you're still going to marry Kayla?" Xavier was stunned. He hadn't expected that Stephen would care about this matter. Then he smiled nonchalantly and said, "What? Were you afraid that I would fight you for Yvonne?""Since when have you ever beat me?" Stephen retorted coldly. Xavier chuckled. "Ever so smug." Then he looked at the horizon where Stephen was looking, saying slowly, "Yvonne isn't any ordinary woman. Even if I don't fight you for her, she might not be yours either. From what I h
Monica was stunned at first. Then she sobbed and yelled indignantly, hitting Thomas. "How dare you hit me! Yvonne already hit me before, and now you're hitting me too! I don't want to live anymore!"Thomas kept retreating and finally grabbed her hands after much difficulty. The nurse on shift knocked and entered the door. "It's late at night. Be quiet. Don't disturb the other patients."Monica bit her lips and stopped making any noise, merely glaring at Thomas.Thomas was annoyed. He pushed Monica away. "We fell into Yvonne's trap this time. I won't let this go.""What else can you do?" Monica wiped away her tears. "We haven't even gathered the money to pay her back. There's still an abundance of stock in the warehouse, and we …""I've sold off the stock at a low price." Thinking about it only increased Thomas' fury. He punched the wall hard. "That bastard Jack! He was always pretending to be close to me. Now that I'm in trouble, he's the first one to hit me when I'm down!"Monic
On Monday, Miller Jewels had a meeting as usual. At the end of the meeting, Yvonne made Nicole stay back, wanting to listen to her report on the designs of the new products in the year-end show.Yvonne quietly listened to Nicole finish reporting before smiling. "If I let you handle the year-end show, do you have the confidence that you'll do it well?"Nicole couldn't believe her ears. "What?""During the competition before, didn't I mention that I plan to use your competition designs as the main series of our year-end show?" Yvonne smiled and continued, "Other than that, for the remaining new products, you can just come up with another batch of designs. The pressure isn't that huge; it's only a matter of courage.""But …" Nicole had assumed that Yvonne had only said that to console them when they'd been eliminated. She'd never thought that Yvonne had truly meant it. Nicole was ambitious, but she was also afraid. After all, the year-end show was extremely important to a jewelry bran
Two days later, Yvonne sat on the plane to Sardonia. She put on her eye mask and was just about to go to sleep when someone tapped her shoulder. She turned around in confusion to see Curtis. She was stunned. "Why are you …"Curtis looked icy as usual. "I'm your bodyguard on this trip back.""There's no need, I …""Are you asking me to jump off the plane right now?"Yvonne was speechless. She smiled helplessly and said, "Okay. If you really want to come along,""Hmm." Curtis responded before leaning back. He crossed his arms across his chest and said coolly, "You can rest now."Yvonne was perplexed. This was the first time she'd encountered a bodyguard who gave her commands. It was an 11-hour flight. Yvonne slept and woke up a couple of times. Her quality of sleep hadn't been that great, so she was still yawning after she landed.Through tears welling up from the yawn, Yvonne saw a familiar figure by the arrival area. She wiped away her tears to see that cold and gorgeous face
Xenia's Auction was on a small island in Sardonia. Since the auction was held there, even though the island was far away from the city, it had all the amenities. For many years, the upper-class society had visited the island many times. After a while, it started to appear as though nobles also owned the island.The hotel had sent their staff over to pick up guests, all in Lincoln limousines. The island sure was wealthy. Yvonne hadn't been to the island for a long time. As she stood by the docks, looking at the buildings on the island far away, it felt strange to her. She'd only been gone for a few months, yet it felt like a lifetime. She'd almost forgotten what she'd been like when she'd still been Ms. Y.Soon, she collected her thoughts and followed Gwen into the limousine. Although it was called a hotel, in reality, it was made up of many two-story villas stretching over a huge plot of land. Yvonne had one of the quietest and most remote ones, where she'd once spent three years.
Arthur shook his head. "No. This manager stayed behind the screen at every auction. We'll only be able to meet the manager when they are auctioning off their items."Caleb was stunned. "So, you don't even know if the manager is a man or a woman?"Arthur cleared his throat. "Those who go to the auction will have to sign an NDA. They can't say anything."All these years, the manager had only auctioned three items, and all of them were worth a fortune. Those who were into antique collections could boast about it for the rest of their lives if they ever met the manager.Although Arthur liked collecting antiques, he didn't spend all his money on them. Yet this time, he'd come here with the utmost confidence. He must meet the manager! Arthur combed through his beard. "Once I get the Eight Saints figurines, I'll take you two to meet the manager."Caleb smiled. "Then I'll congratulate you in advance!"…Three days later, the island was drenched in cold rain. The auction went on as usual
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