"You won't even let me make comments about him anymore?" Summer was flabbergasted. "You're not even dating yet! How are you already on his side?"If the pair did end up together, she had a feeling that her best friend of ten years would abandon her and run off with him.She gently swatted her injured ankle and scoffed. "How ungrateful. You can go pursue him on your own then.""That won't do," Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, Kelly said in an obsequious tone. "What would I ever do without you?" Every time she had a favor to ask from Summer, she'd start acting affectionately toward her. This had been the norm since they were younger. Despite that, Summer had always agreed to help her when she asked.Summer nodded and said, "Okay. I'll think about what to do. It's getting late, so I'm going to take my leave now."She rushed here immediately after she got off work. She had only wanted to drop by for a quick visit, but she ended up spending four hours at the hospital. The sky w
"I heard you went to visit your friend in the hospital today, Summie. Is she alright?" asked James."Kelly? She's never been better. I have something else to ask you, though." Summer flashed him a cheeky grin before skipping over to him. "Don't be shocked by what I'm about to tell you, James."She had a mysterious expression on her face. James, on the other hand, looked unfazed. It was nearly impossible to detect any emotion on his face. Despite that, it was a good thing that he was calm. She told him the entire story before finally asking, "So, is there any way you could help Kelly out?""I do, but…" he trailed off. He had a complicated expression on his face. "What?" She was taken aback by his reaction. Why wouldn't he finish his sentence?"Don't you think our relationship is kind of complicated?" he asked in a gentle tone.He brought up a good point. Now that she thought about it, their relationship did seem quite complicated. She was dating James while Keith liked her.
However, James seemed hesitant to elaborate on the matter. His expression tensed. There seemed to be something he was unwilling to touch on. Sensing that something was amiss, Summer asked, "What's wrong? Is there something about his mother that you can't talk about?""Technically, I could. It's just that Keith's mother is a special woman. No one in the four major prestigious families ever talked about her."His words made her nervous. She felt like she was about to uncover a huge secret. What kind of person was Keith's mother? She became more cautious than before, tiptoed over, and sat beside him on the sofa. "So, are you allowed to talk about it? I won't pry any further if you're not.""I can talk about it. I'm allowed to tell you because you're my wife, Summie. You can't tell anyone about this afterward, or else we'll be in trouble." James sounded incredibly solemn, and his expression was stern. To Summer, it didn't look like he was joking. Usually, she would rather not be a
The three of them directed all of their energy toward the fight for Hailey's hand. In turn, they ended up neglecting their businesses. They were criticized because of this.The incident didn't only affect the three families. Despite not being involved, Zach's father, Ryan Myers, got tangled up in the fight as well. Ryan was the only one who didn't have any interest in Hailey. However, since he was good friends with York Ritter, he ended up helping him pursue her.Naturally, York was victorious in the end. He took her hand in marriage and thus bested both Norman Quigley and Tyler Walsh. Now that she was aware of what happened, Summer was in disbelief. Aside from Norman Quigley, she wasn't acquainted with the previous generation's family heirs. She met them a couple of times at dinner parties, but she'd never spoken to them. Norman, on the other hand, was James' father and her father-in-law. He was a sensible and mature man. She didn't expect him to act in such a crazed manner w
Summer's actions caught him by surprise. He was overjoyed by her kiss and the way she addressed him. Subsequently, a smile appeared on his typically emotionless face.The next morning, Summer didn't head off to work. Instead, she took half a day off to find out more about Hailey Reyes. Although James had already told her quite a few things, she still felt the need to know more. There might be something that she missed, so she wanted to ask someone else for more details. She'd already made a few calls earlier in the morning. She contacted Bradly and Zach. Apparently, they were extremely close friends, along with Keith and James, when they were younger. If James knew about Hailey, the two of them must've known about her as well. She wanted to see if they had any additional information on her.Unfortunately, Bradly was on a business trip, so Summer could only visit Zach. On the bright side, the latter was free today. After confirming that he knew of the Hailey Reyes incident, sh
Zach gave her a short and simple answer. However, that didn't tell her how far they've gone in the relationship. There was no way Summer was going to settle for such a brief reply. She leaned over and asked again, "I assume that you guys are getting married soon? Have you sealed the deal yet?"She raised her brow and had a mischievous look on her face. Zach was a fully-grown man, but he was blushing profusely because of her question. He was fully aware of what she was implying. However, he was too shy to talk about it, and thus kept his mouth shut. At the sight of this, she decided to not make him uneasy and let out a laugh. "It's okay. You'll have to tell me and James about your wedding in advance though. We'll make sure to attend, and we'll definitely be showering you with wedding gifts."Since she won't be the one bearing the costs, she spoke of wedding gifts with beaming confidence. If she were to attend the wedding with James, that rich husband of hers would definitely splu
Upon noticing Keith, Zach pounced on him from behind and tried to give him a scare. "Let's go play, Keith."The latter was actually frightened. Once he turned around and found that it was Zach, he huffed. "Oh—it's you, Zach.""Yeah." Zach grabbed his hand and started dragging him out of the classroom. As he walked, he said, "Classes have been so boring lately. Let's hurry out before Mr. Butler catches us." "Sure. But what about James and Bradly? Let's get them to come with us."Keith was overjoyed by the idea of hanging out. They could play all sorts of games. This included hide-and-seek, tag, fishing—they could even go get ice cream together. These were all great activities, but it would be better if he had all of his best friends with him. Hence, he wanted to bring James and Bradly along, too. "I've already looked for them," Zach responded. "They were picked up from school ages ago.""That's a shame. It's okay, then. We'll just go on our own."Despite missing half of th
"Run!" Once he realized what was going on, Zach's first thought was to escape. He dragged Keith along and started running down the pebbled path. Unfortunately, it was impossible for two kids to outrun a bunch of adults. Under Adam's instruction, the bodyguards surrounded Keith and Zach. There was nowhere for them to go.Adam was outraged. He was waiting for Zach by the entrance of his classroom as Ryan Myers instructed. After a long wait, he discovered that the child had escaped from a window. He was looking all over before he finally found him here. Nevertheless, Zach was still a son of the Myers family. Despite being furious, Adam still had to remain respectful. Hence, he said politely, "Please head back with me, Mr. Myers.""There's no way I'm heading back. I told Keith we were going to play together," Zach said before sticking his tongue out at him.Adam was fuming. However, he suppressed his anger and responded in a patient and friendly manner, "Your father would definitely