"No." Elvin forced a smile. "I'm very happy." Yvonne was rendered speechless, thinking, "That smile is way too fake." Yvonne walked over to him and placed the snacks on the table. Then she sat beside him and wanted to touch his forehead. "Honey, are you okay?" However, Elvin avoided her touch. "I'm not sick." "He's lovesick. That's what it is." Lloyd walked out of the kitchen, holding a plate of fruits. He shot Elvin a smirk when he got close to them. "What a brat. He ignores her whenever she comes around, but now he's looking down because she hasn't been here for a few days." Yvonne quickly realized something. "Britney didn't come over?" "That's right. It's been a few days, I think." Lloyd placed the fruits down and wanted to caress Elvin's head. However, Elvin pushed his hand away. Elvin glared at Lloyd furiously. "She's so annoying! I don't miss her at all." "Why do you keep looking at the door, then? I know what you're thinking about. Don't try and fool me." Lloyd reb
Yvonne had never thought that the charity gala would be such a huge affair. On the way there, Regina said, "Just treat it as a gathering for good friends. It's really informal."When Yvonne arrived, she realized that all of the city's wealthiest people had joined the charity gala. Every single one of them was worth millions! Yvonne turned to smile at Regina. "Regina, I thought you said that it's just a normal gathering of friends?"Regina smiled back and replied, "In our circle, this is a normal gathering, right?"Yvonne had no comeback to that. "You're right.""I'll take you to a good friend of mine—the main star of the night." Regina waded through the crowd of glamorous people and led Yvonne inside.From a distance, Yvonne noticed a woman who was surrounded by a group of people. She had an air of extraordinary elegance about her. In a sea of women dressed in gowns, she'd opted for a sharp-looking suit instead. She had a head of gray hair, and her smile was confident. Age had o
Yvonne turned back to spot Hazel walking over to her quickly with her high heels clacking on the floor. Noah followed behind his mother. Hazel looked displeased. She suspected that Yvonne attended the gala on purpose after learning that Noah would be there as well. Hazel assumed that Carmen would never have invited someone of Yvonne's status.Hazel looked at Regina and asked angrily, "Did you bring her here? What would Carmen say if she found out that you brought some uncultured swine to the gala?"Regina frowned. "Watch your mouth. Look at how you're behaving right now—you look more like an uncultured swine.""How dare you …" Hazel was infuriated.Noah gently grabbed Hazel's hand and looked at Regina apologetically. "Ms. Dawson, my mother spoke out of turn. I apologize on her behalf."Then, he turned to say to Hazel, "Mom, we're at Carmen's gala tonight. Don't cause a scene and end up offending her."Carmen had worked with Philip for a long time, and her words still held some
Yvonne slowly finished her dessert and then snickered. "Ms. Clarke, you're from a family of scholars. Don't you have a brain?"Ariel frowned a little. "What do you mean?"Yvonne leaned back and crossed her legs, looking relaxed yet a little domineering."The womb is ours, and a baby grows in the womb. Women have the right to give birth to children if they please. Why can't we just have children for our own sake?"Yvonne tutted, pretending to be troubled, and said, "Unless you think that wombs also belong to men? That women exist only to produce children for men?"Then, Yvonne pretended as though a thought had suddenly occurred to her. She smiled. "I almost forgot. You chose to get your tubes tied because of a man. Now I understand why you would say something like that.""You b—" Ariel suppressed her anger, and her ears burned bright red. She uttered through gritted teeth, "Yvonne, you have nothing to be smug about. Don't think that you've won just because Stephen might pay more
After the announcement about the foundation, many people went over to congratulate Yvonne. She had no choice but to drink every time they raised their glasses to her. Even if she only took a sip every time, she'd drunk a few glasses of red wine in the end.In the distance, Julian went up to Stephen. "Sir, do you want to help Ms. Miller?""No need." Stephen looked at Yvonne and smiled. "It's a happy day for her. Let her drink more."He guessed that Yvonne was overjoyed and wanted to celebrate by drinking.When Noah came into her sight, her gaze turned a little colder. "Congratulations, Ms. Miller." Noah extended his glass toward her, but she didn't clink glasses with him."Thank you, Mr. Noah." Then, Yvonne downed the remaining wine in her glass.Noah was secretly unhappy about it. Drinking without clinking glasses with him was clearly showing disrespect.He waved his hand at the server. "Can't you see that Ms. Miller's glass is empty?"The server nodded and frantically topped u
Noah knew that they were in the wrong. Hence, he forcefully tugged on Hazel's arm, hinting at her to stop talking.Although Hazel timidly hid behind Noah, she was still glaring daggers at Yvonne.Noah was well-known for his philandering playboy ways. This was the first time he'd been embarrassed in front of so many people, so he couldn't help but panic. Swallowing his anger, he cast a glance at Yvonne, as if asking her for help."Ms. Miller, we should just settle our misunderstanding privately. What do you say?"Yvonne pursed her lips and looked at Noah with fear in her eyes, making herself seem pitiful. Only Noah could see how cruel and calculative Yvonne was. She clearly had no intention of letting this slide. Carmen wasn't one to accept women being mistreated. She looked at Noah sternly. "I've always thought you were courageous enough to face your mistakes. Why don't you clear the air right here and now?"Stephen and Julian walked closer so they could watch the drama unfold b
Yvonne didn't need to turn around to smell the familiar woody scent.She firmly grabbed Stephen's wrist and slipped out of his clutches. She spun around and placed his hand behind his back. It was a pity that she was rather intoxicated, so she wasn't as strong as usual. She was instantly pulled into Stephen's arms once more.This time, Stephen was prepared, so Yvonne couldn't break free no matter how she tried. She glared at Stephen. "Let me go.""Let me take you home."Stephen looked at her glare and found it strange. "Did I offend you or something?"Under the influence of alcohol, Yvonne's bottled-up emotions felt magnified. She only felt angry when she looked at Stephen."What? Do I have to put up a friendly face for my ex-husband?""What did you say?" Stephen wasn't going to argue with a drunk person. He picked Yvonne up and headed to his Maybach.Yvonne's legs were in the air. "Put me down! You— Ah!"Sensing Stephen letting her go, Yvonne instinctively grabbed his suit.
"When I went to get Mr. Elvin this morning, I opened the door to find that he wasn't in his room. His bag is gone too. Then, I went through the surveillance footage and found out that he left home at 6.30 am. Curtis has already gone to look for him. I came up to tell you, so we could split up into two groups."Yvonne had already put on her coat while listening to Llyod's explanation. She headed out straight away without even washing up.Lloyd followed closely behind her and got into her car. He'd barely buckled his seat belt when the car sped away. The momentum that had forced him back scared him. He secretly held onto his seat belt tightly, praying to God to keep them safe.…Half an hour later, the Anderson family received a call from the kindergarten. "Why isn't Britney in school today? Is she feeling sick?" Britney's teacher asked in concern."Nonsense! I had someone send her to school in the morning!" Philip's expression darkened. "I'll head over right there! You better find
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