Henry was leaning on his seat, his body covered under a blanket.He was skinny and withered. The wrinkles on his neck were distinct and his eyes were sunken and dull, while his face was covered in irregular patches of liver spots.A man like him should be surrounded by his children and grandchildren, reveling in familial joy, but Henry appeared desolate and miserable.Even so, Irene still felt no sympathy because it was all Henry's own fault, and he could not blame anyone else."I know you want me to talk to Isaac. After all, you're old and need family now more than ever, don't you?""Would you help me?" Henry would certainly admit that he was old and needed company."Don't you have Ian Jefferson already?" Irene pointed out icily. "You're still blaming me for that?" Henry rasped feebly—even his voice seemed old."The past is the past. I won't pursue it any further," she said, holding his gaze. "You had me marry Isaac as my father requested, because you had your agenda. You wan
Irene did a double take. "W-What are you doing here?"Ricky was glaring at her. "Did you know that Lulu left?""I was just looking for you—""Did you know?!" Ricky was planning to have dinner with Lulu and went to her house to look for her, only to find that she was gone, along with all her belongings.She did not leave any message either, and Ricky remembered that she had been behaving strangely because she regained her memory.In that case, she most definitely would go to Irene!"Calm down first," Irene told him."Calm down? How?! I'm losing my mind looking for her!"Ricky had looked everywhere he could, and only came to Irene after he ran out of places to look."Why can't you? Lulu's not going to fall for you when you're bristling like a kid. Come to me again when you calmed down enough and can talk normally!"With that, Irene started to stride off, and Ricky panickily caught her sleeve. "Irene…"Irene held his gaze. "I'm serious. If you can't calm down and listen, I wo
Irene quickly pulled herself out of Seth Hedge's arms and pulled Ricky along. "Let's go."Ricky was still too upset to listen, but Irene warned him before he could refuse, "You'd better behave if you want to know more about Lulu."Ricky immediately did.As for Seth, he just happened to come to the same restaurant, and he did not expect to run into Irene here.He did not dare to approach her, but could not stop himself from helping when he saw that she was about to fall. "I saved you there, Irene, and you're leaving without so much as thanking me? Do you think that's right?"The clear voice from behind only left Irene annoyed, while Ricky whispered, "Wasn't he our neighbor? Seth Hedge, right? I thought he went abroad… When did he come back? Have you met him earlier?""No," Irene said coolly.Ricky was skeptical—why would she hate him so much? There had to be a reason, but he was not in the mood to probe into Irene's affairs at the moment."Just be honest. Where's Lulu? I'll
Ricky was lying on the road and bleeding profusely from his forehead. The driver stood nearby, repeating in panic, "I didn't run into him, I didn't… He hit my car…""Just help me already!" Irene snapped—she could not move Ricky by herself.Moreover, he was at risk after having recently undergone a heart transplant, leaving his body weaker than most. She must get Ricky checked, and had no time for the blame game.The driver quickly went up and carried Ricky to Irene's car, but although the chauffeur floored the gas pedal, it was not until half an hour later that they reached a hospital.Although Irene did not work there, she had a medical license and was given permission to stay while a doctor examined Ricky.Fortunately, he was fine—just unconscious from a concussion. They cleaned the cut on his head and kept him for observation, and he would be allowed to leave if he did not feel unwell over the next 24 hours.As Irene stepped outside, she saw that the driver had come as wel
It was not just Isaac inside—Zachary was there too, and the pungent scent of alcohol struck Irene's nose once she stepped inside!She had no idea how much Isaac had drunk, but it was obvious that Zachary had drunk a lot too, as he was sprawled limply on the couch, his cheeks clearly flushed even under the dim light.He had already taken off his jacket and thrown it to a corner, while his collar was unbuttoned, revealing his reddish skin.Irene was frowning as she entered, and she went to check on Isaac first. He was not dead-drunk like Zachary, and his cheeks were not red—it was likely that he was not the type who got flushed from alcohol. Still, there was an unfocused look in his eyes as he watched her, and he held out a hand at her. "You're here."Irene put her hand on his palm and sat beside him right then. "How much did Zachary drink?"Isaac did not respond but merely leveled her a meaningful look.Getting the creeps from his stare, she averted her eyes and asked, "What
Isaac replied, "Okay."Mustering her courage then, Irene asked, "Did you watch the whole video?"She never dared to ask that question all this while."...Yes.""Was I, really…?""No," Isaac told her assuredly. "He just wanted to upset me. He didn't really do anything to you."In reality, the video was incomplete and he had no idea how far Harvey went, but he told her with such assurance anyway just to get her to let it go."Really?" Irene asked expectantly. "Yes," Isaac replied with assurance.She lowered her then, her shoulders shaking—she did not want to cry, but her nose was getting runny anyway. Ever since what happened, she felt inferior to Isaac from the depths of her heart, as if she was filthy.Naturally, she felt much better after she received such assurance from him, and was smiling despite her tears. "Thank you."Even if he said it just to comfort her, she felt confident again. She sniffled. "Sorry. I'm pathetic."Isaac ran his fingers through her hair. "J
Irene was speechless, and her fingers clenched over the steering wheel.Even so, she softly replied, "Yeah."Isaac clearly heard her despite her tiny voice and he smiled faintly. As they arrived home and got in bed, he wrapped his arms around her, and she stiffened so badly he felt like he was holding a warm rock.Hence, he spoke to her to distract her. "Did you know what I did to Tobey Kitsch's family?""What?" Irene asked. "Tobey has only one son, so he and his wife dote on him a lot. So, I got him fired, and set it up so that the company he worked at filed a lawsuit against him for leaking company secrets. I then leaked the information that it was me, and that led to Mrs. Kitsch coming to meet me earlier, begging me to spare her son. I told him that I would destroy her son utterly the next time she messed with me, and she was so scared she promised to never do it again."Irene turned to look at him, saying nothing for a while."Or did I make a mistake?""No." Irene shook
Finn stepped away as soon as Yolanda King arrived.Yolanda, who was keen on getting on Irene's good side, told her, "They gave Finn the wrong address. They knew he would talk and they wanted you to make the trip for nothing."Irene realized that she had been careless—they certainly planned ahead.She smiled. "I see."Yoanda hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Could you forget what I said that one time?""I never took it to heart," Irene replied. Relieved, Yolanda told her, "They're at Azur Coast. You should go now!" Irene held her gaze as she said, "Thank you.""You're welcome," Yolanda replied, getting embarrassed from Irene's politeness.As Irene strode off, Finn followed her and asked, "You're not going to let her come with us?"Before Irene could say anything, Yolanda told him, "You should go first. I'll head over later since I have something to do here."In reality, she did not want to go to Azur Coast with Irene—if she showed up with them, it would be apparent that s