James was Monica's ideal romantic partner, which explained her desire to win him over. "Keith, if you refuse to help me, I will expose your clandestine dealings to the family," Monica threatened. "Then, go ahead." Keith's voice remained cold, displaying no fear of Monica's threat. In fact, he had no reason to be afraid. Even though he hadn't yet taken on the role of family head, his authority was considerable since he was the heir of the family. Even if Monica exposed his actions, the most he would face was criticism from the board of directors and family members. "Monica, I won't be intimidated by anyone. You can leave now." Keith gestured for Monica to leave. In reality, it would have been feasible for him to assist her. If the Ritter and Quigley families could truly unite, it would be highly advantageous for both families. However, Keith didn't desire that. He wanted to have no association with James. His goal was to surpass the latter. James had been like his shadow
"James, something significant has occurred!" Bradly exclaimed nervously over the phone. Maintaining his composure, James inquired calmly, "What's the matter?" Bradly paused briefly before continuing, "The Quigley family is caught up in a scandal. It has been revealed that years ago, after your fall, your family allegedly kidnapped a girl and used her blood. "Is there any truth to these allegations?" Upon hearing this news, James fell into a prolonged silence. Then, he abruptly ended the call without saying a word. On the other end, Bradly stood bewildered, clutching his phone. He murmured to himself, "What's going on? Why did James end the call so suddenly?" Meanwhile, outside the Ritter Corporation, James tightly gripped his phone, exerting enough force to distort its shape. Despite battling his anger and frustration, he maintained a facade of calmness as he rode the elevator to Keith's office. Inside, Keith sat at his desk. Upon hearing of James' arrival, he approach
Keith had never seen James get so angry before. It seemed that the latter really cared about Summer. Otherwise, he wouldn't have reacted like that. However, he lamented that he could no longer expose James' secret. Keith wasn't a fool. He needed to use the secret to threaten James. If he had been the one who had leaked the news, wouldn't he be unable to blackmail James after that?"I wanted to make a business deal with you today, James. If I had exposed your secret, it wouldn't benefit the deal."After that, James came to a realization. He controlled his anger and asked lowly, "If you didn't do it, do you know who the culprit is?""Find that out yourself. I don't have to help you." Keith knew that Monica was the one who must have leaked the secret. Why would she do that? Of course, she wanted to create a rift between Summer and James. Back then, the Quigleys had kidnapped Summer. Apparently, she had developed a deep trauma after they had taken her blood. Because they took
It had been a bright afternoon. Back then, Summer had been supposed to return home after attending preschool. However, Amelia, who had been supposed to fetch her, had been late that day. Summer had sat at the school's entrance and leaned against a wall. As her classmates had left one by one, she had decided not to wait anymore and return home herself. The preschool she had attended had been near her house. She could walk back home within ten minutes. Then, Summer had started walking back home using the route she had remembered. After five minutes, she had turned the corner of an alley. Suddenly, someone had placed a sack over her head. She hadn't even been able to see anything before that person had kidnapped her. According to what she recalled, she had been trapped in an enclosed place with barely any oxygen. When she had been able to see again, she had realized that she was in a dark clinic. An ugly old man with rosacea on his nose had been about to inject her arm with a
Summer had had a long dream. She had dreamt that she was in hell. Lava had bubbled around her, and mist had been everywhere. There had been many needles on the ground that stabbed her. Every inch of her body had been covered in blood, and she had been in immense pain. In her dream, she had kept crying. However, no matter how hard she had cried, no one had cared about her. The dream hadn't been very long. When Summer had woken up again, her head had felt heavy, and her vision had been blurry. She had felt extremely dizzy.Yet, she had still managed to wake up. Summer had opened her eyes and peeked at her surroundings. She had discovered a huge rubber tube had been injected into her. A needle had been at one end of the rubber tube, drawing blood from her body. There had been a large glass jar on the other end of the tube. It had been placed on the ground and had been filled to the brim with crimson blood. Even though Summer had been just a child, she had known that the bloo
A group of men in suits had rushed at Summer like a relentless wave that threatened to consume her. Though Summer had had swift reflexes, she had still been a child. As such, she hadn't been able to hide from so many muscular men in the limited space of the room. In the end, the men had cornered her. "Don't come closer!" She had crouched against the wall and waved her small arms in an attempt to beat up those men. However, it had been of no use. Their fists had been bigger than Summer's head. After the men had managed to corner Summer, the old man had appeared smugly once more. He had grabbed her as if she were a small kitten. "Let's see if you'll dare to escape again. You're a naughty girl.""I'm not a naughty girl. You're the naughty one! Why did you kidnap me?" Summer had yelled loudly. She had been in an unfamiliar environment filled with bad guys. As such, she had been afraid. The old man had laughed. He actually hadn't needed to tell Summer anything. However, since she
The old man hadn't cared about Summer's opinion. He had raised the syringe and prepared to stab it in her hand. "Stop." Just then, the young boy whom Summer had met earlier had spoken up. He had gotten out of bed and weakly approached them. Then, the boy had ordered the old man, "Let go of her. You can't do this."Meanwhile, Summer had thought that his efforts were futile. The young boy had also been a child. So, why would the old man listen to him? However, the old man had had an unexpected response to the young boy's words. After a brief pause, he had said, "Sir, you should rest. Your body is too weak—""I told you to let this girl go. Didn't you hear me?" the young boy had replied in annoyance. Once the old man had heard that, he had dared not retort and let Summer go. Summer had been in disbelief as she had watched the scene. She had wondered if the young boy was Superman. Why had the old man listened to him?The young boy had immediately become Summer's hero, so she h
"So, you're an evil person too…" Summer had retreated backward in fear. She had looked at the young boy whom she had trusted moments ago. At that moment, he had been like a wolf in sheep's clothing who could pounce on her soon. Meanwhile, the young boy had thought that Summer had misunderstood him, so he had wanted to explain himself. However, as he had prepared to approach her, Summer had yelled anxiously, "Don't come near me!""It's a misunderstanding.""I didn't misunderstand you. You want my blood, so you're on the same team as this group of people." Summer had been very agitated and had waved her small hands to keep him away. The old man had seized this opportunity to grab her and inject the needle into her arm. Though she had wanted to break free from the old man, he had used all his strength to keep her in place. Summer hadn't been able to move. She could only watch as the cold steel needle pierced her skin. The anesthesia had spread through her entire body, and sh