"Here's the settlement fee—from Chris," Giselle said.A look of surprise flickered across Emma's face when she heard the name. She asked, "It was Chris who came to bail Larry out?"The relationship between the two brothers was deteriorating by the day. Why would Chris personally come and bail Larry out? On the day Emma got married to Larry, Chris did not even attend their wedding ceremony. All he did was send a wedding gift over.Perhaps they were on better terms now? No, this seemed implausible.Chris was a complicated person. Emma simply could not wrap her head around it.Eventually, Emma gave up trying to figure it out. She returned the bank card to Giselle and said, "Keep this, Gigi. I'm sorry about Larry. I didn't know he had people following me…"Had Emma not returned to Giselle's place to get her things, Larry would not have harassed Giselle.In the end, she was the one to blame.Giselle responded, "Why are you apologizing? Larry's got nothing to do with you anyway. Be
"I have decided. I will not be going even with Cody anymore. I'll be the one to shoulder all our living expenses."His money will be used to pay off the mortgage and the car, while the rest will be saved for the wedding."Maddie appeared determined as she came to this conclusion. Not a single word was said in jest.Giselle forced an affectatious smile and said, "It's such a waste.""What is?" Maddie asked.Giselle answered, "It's such a waste that I'm not a man, or I'd be the first one in line fighting to ask you out."Maddie smiled bashfully and said, "Stop teasing me, Giselle."Giselle was lost for words.All hope was gone. There was no cure for Maddie anymore. She could not even tell when someone was being sarcastic.Giselle had her fair share of meeting people like Maddie before. Those who heeded her advice had a happy ending. As for those who ignored her advice, all they could do in the end was cry in regret.The girl sitting in front of her was stubborn beyond salvation
"A reasonable amount of help is fine. But don't you see that you're like a walking ATM to him? What has he given you in this relationship?"Giselle bombarded her with multiple questions at once, leaving Maddie stunned for a moment, unable to answer her.Giselle continued, "You can take your time to answer my question. Text him now and ask him what his plans are for the evening."Maddie followed her orders without question.Two minutes later, she lifted her head and said, "Cody said he'll be out drinking with Mr. Lawson and some clients at the nightclub down at the city center."He had even mentioned the location. It was apparent that he did this to lower Maddie's suspicion. At 30 years old, he really was a seasoned veteran.But Giselle could see through his act. In that instance, Giselle locked eyes with Maddie. With quiet resolution in her eyes, she said, "Maddie, come with me somewhere tonight."…It was nightfall, and neon lights began flashing in the city center. There was
The woman's voice was full of surprise.She stopped Maddie, who was making her way toward Cody's room. The woman looked around but did not find anyone else.Maddie seemed to be out of it. She was in a dejected state. Streaks of tears that had not dried up yet were imprinted on her face. With bloodshot eyes and a faltering voice, she lamented, "Charlotte, C-Cody's cheating on me…"Just the evening before, he was holding her in his arms and gently singing promises to her, saying that he would treat her well forever. He had also said that she just had to wait for him to earn enough to give her a grand wedding and bring her home as his wife.But now, he was inside the private room, fooling around with escort girls.Maddie might be naive, but that did not mean she knew nothing at all.Charlotte cursed Cody inwardly, but she did not want to stick her nose into their business. After all, Jonathan was still waiting for her in room 4006!She straightened her white shawl and tucked he
Sick and tired of listening to her insufferable yapping, Giselle grabbed Maddie's wrist, pushed Charlotte aside, and walked forward.Charlotte's face was contorted with rage when she saw how arrogant Giselle was being.Even though Charlotte was boiling on the inside, she did not go after them.Once she saw Giselle open the door of the room Cody was in, she scurried into the adjacent room 4006.With the door closed, they were sealed away from everything that was happening outside.The dim light in the room dampened the blazing fire inside her. Restlessness soon began taking hold of her.It was Charlotte who contacted Cody this evening. She was the one who had set everything up.Considering the current situation the Grants were going through, she could no longer afford to wait until the end of the year for the engagement.The engagement date was just too far away. There were too many variables at play. If Jonathan happened to change his mind down the road, what would become of he
Concurrently, Giselle had kicked the door of the adjacent room wide open. At that exact moment, Cody had a woman in each of his arms.Maddie was livid, her entire body trembling with fury.Giselle stood behind her so that she could catch Maddie if she collapsed from shock."M-Maddie…" The colors drained from Cody's face. He unknowingly pushed the women in his embrace away, eager to rush over and explain himself.In a hurry, he knocked the glasses off the table.Maddie cried out, "Don't come near me!"The entire time she walked down the hallway, she had wished that everything was a misunderstanding. That Cody had only hired those ladies for entertaining the guests, and that he would not be touching any of them.But reality dealt her a heavy blow.Cody was the only man inside the room. And there was not only one but two women in his embrace!Maddie broke down. No longer able to hold herself back, she began crying like a broken faucet. Her sobs became more and more rapid. She lif
With the inclusion of this relationship, Maddie had only been in a relationship twice.The first relationship ended because her ex-boyfriend cheated on her.She had thought that history would not repeat itself. Who knew that it would be a double blow instead?Cody used work as a cover-up to fool around with escort girls for his personal entertainment.How revolting.How truly repulsive!Maddie's stomach churned terribly. She bent over and began dry heaving.Cody lifted his hand, wanting to go over and hold her up, but Giselle's quick hands immediately slapped his hand away.The man yelped in pain as he retracted his hand in pain."What the fuck?"Giselle shot him a glare. She wanted to let him know the pain.Jonathan began piecing things together.His interim assistant had hired escort girls under the guise of work so he could fool around behind his girlfriend's back. And now that he got caught red-handed, he was pinning it all on Jonathan.Jonathan let out a snicker bef
Just as Jonathan raised his arms, Giselle delivered a nimble roundhouse kick, effectively hitting him on the forearm.The cry of pain filled the air as Cody failed to brake in time, the glass shard clutched in his hand slicing into Jonathan's shoulder.The blood gradually dyed his shirt in crimson. Jonathan's complexion turned somber and pale."M-Mr. Lawson…"Cody was so petrified that he began trembling, "I-I didn't mean to hurt you. It's not my fault. It's all this bitch's fault!"He really was a professional in shifting the blame onto someone else. Giselle snickered. "Right, right. I used my psychokinetic abilities and mind-controlled you to attack Jonathan."She realized at that moment that she really had the talent for being a scapegoat.Giselle could not help but doubt herself. Did she really look like a pushover?People were always making her their scapegoat, and they always made it look so real. They were always so sure that she was a pushover who would not fight back
Yarick drank his orange juice, the corners of his mouth stained with ketchup.Hearing Giselle's question, he thought carefully for a moment. "Dad is nice to me."Just as Giselle and Emma thought they were overthinking, Yarick added, "Dad buys me whatever I want. But he never hugs or kisses me unless I ask him to. Mom says it's because Dad is too tired."Never initiating affection. That was weird. But why exactly…Giselle felt she needed to investigate this further. She checked her watch and decided it was time to take Yarick back to the hotel.When they returned, the argument between Wendy and Sebastian seemed to have ended.Sebastian was stood by the window, smoking a cigarette, while Wendy sat on the couch, holding back tears.Seeing Yarick come back, Wendy forced a smile. "Yarick, you're back? Come here."Yarick instinctively sensed Wendy's sadness. He nestled in her arms, rubbing his cheek against hers, showing a sensitive side beyond his age. He was a sweet child. "Seba
Children had incredibly sharp memories. By the age of three or four, they could already remember certain events.Yarick was now five years old. Although he seemed cheerful and lively, he kept many thoughts to himself.As they walked to the elevator, Yarick wiggled in Giselle's arms. "You can put me down. I'm heavy."Giselle told him he wasn't heavy but still respected his wishes and gently put him down.Holding his hands on either side, Giselle and Emma walked alongside him. Yarick kept his head lowered, his sadness written plainly on his face.Once out of the elevator, Yarick looked up at Giselle. "Giselle, are Dad and Mom fighting because of me?"Judging from the question, it was clear that Sebastian and Wendy had frequently quarreled even while they were abroad.Emma and Giselle exchanged glances before they began comforting him."Yarick, you're such a sweet boy! Your parents love you so much. There's no way they would fight because of you. Don't overthink it. Come on, we'll
The familiar voice and tone—it was Anthony. Giselle calmly ended the call, logged into her email, and found the email Anthony sent. She tentatively opened it. At the top of the email was a photo. After skimming through the text below, Giselle quickly understood the situation."What is it, Gigi?" Emma asked curiously.Giselle handed her phone over. "It seems to be information about the thugs from earlier."But how did Anthony have this information? The question lingered until Sebastian arrived, breaking the tense silence."Wendy! Are you alright? Were you hurt? How's Yarick?" Sebastian looked disheveled, his face tinged with worry. He grabbed Wendy by the shoulders, scanning her and the surroundings.However, his expression darkened when he saw Giselle."What are you doing here?" His accusatory tone angered everyone present. Wendy tried to hold herself back but failed. "Sebastian Grant! Giselle is my friend. Watch your tone!"Giselle had gone from being Wendy's sister-in-
"Why not?" Giselle frowned.She looked at Wendy seriously. "This isn't about you or Yarick. You and Sebastian aren't divorced yet, so he's still your husband and Yarick's father. You've been hurt, and he has the right to know and resolve this issue."Even if they were divorced, Sebastian was still responsible. He was the one who offended these people. Why should his wife and child pay the price? This was ridiculous.Wendy fell silent. Her hands fidgeted as she struggled with her thoughts. After a moment, she accepted Giselle's suggestions. Under the watchful eyes of both Giselle and Emma, Wendy called Sebastian for the first time in days.The phone rang for a while before it was answered. Sebastian's stern voice soon came through. "Have you changed your mind?"Sebastian believed Wendy was just throwing a tantrum by staying outside. On top of that, his work had been keeping him busy, leaving him with no time to coax her.Charlotte had warned him to not coddle women or they would b
Giselle hurried to the hotel where Wendy was staying. When she arrived, Emma was already there.Yarick was in Emma's arms, his eyes puffy from crying. The moment he saw Giselle, he struggled against Emma to get down. Emma set Yarick on the ground, and he immediately ran toward Giselle."Giselle." He looked up at her with teary eyes, "The bad guys hurt Mom."Half an hour earlier, a group of thugs had barged in and started smashing the room. In the chaos, Wendy was accidentally elbowed in the nose. She was now in the bathroom, trying to stop the bleeding.Emma had come by to speak to Wendy and learn more about her situation, only to witness the mayhem. Fortunately, she managed to snap a picture of one of the intruders.Giselle glanced at the photo and shook her head. "I don't recognize him." She bent down and picked up Yarick before giving him a piece of candy to comfort him.Yarick held the candy tightly and turned toward the bathroom. "Mom was hurt. I want to give the candy to
"Did you call? Sorry, I was so engrossed in talking to Gigi that I didn't notice." Caroline lied, of course.Chester cocked a brow at his parent's blatant lies, clearly unimpressed.Giselle reached out and rested her hand on the back of his cold hand.Chester stiffened. He quickly lowered his gaze, hiding the emotions in his eyes. "Why didn't you wear a coat before coming out?" Her usually calm voice carried a hint of reprimand toward Chester.Hector chimed in with a smirk. "Gigi, you need to talk some sense into Chet. I couldn't even catch up with him on the way here. Do you know how many people looked at him like he'd lost his mind?"Hector swore he wasn't exaggerating. It was like seeing someone wearing a winter coat in the middle of summer. It was completely out of place.Chester shot him a warning glare. But with Giselle around, Hector felt bold.Instead of arguing with him, Chester reluctantly pulled his hand away from Giselle's. "Don't touch me. My hands are cold.""S
When Charlotte returned to the Grant family, everyone found out that Giselle had been living a stolen life.Giselle enjoyed the wealth and privilege that never belonged to her for over 20 years. To the world, she was beyond guilty. Her former friends turned on her, and she became the butt of the joke. Giselle was an orphan who was deemed unworthy to be anywhere near them.If not for the fact that she was once Jonathan's fiancée, she would have suffered even worse.When Caroline asked about her parents, Giselle froze before regaining her composure."It doesn't matter anymore," she replied calmly. "I don't like wasting my time on meaningless things."Giselle never felt loved when she was with the Grant family. Harold and Linda must have known she wasn't their biological child, so they were never affectionate with Giselle.She had long since grown used to being on her own. What good would finding her biological parents do? If her real parents were happy in their current lives, her a
Finley forced a smile. She put down the bowl and then turned around to meet Chester's indifferent gaze."Ches—Mr. Fordham." She corrected herself in time.Finley knew Chester would go after her family if she called him by his name."I saw your parents taking Giselle away when I came over," Finley said. As she finished, she noticed a change in Chester's expression. Her heart tightened at the sight. She watched as Chester pulled the IV needle out of his hand and got out of bed. His recklessness stunned her.She trembled as she asked, "I'm curious, Mr. Fordham. What do you even like about Giselle?"She couldn't understand. Not now, not ever.Giselle was an orphan. How could she compare to her? Finley couldn't wrap her head around how she lost to someone like Giselle."Do you need a reason to like someone?" Chester didn't want to argue with her.His mind was plagued with worries about Giselle being mistreated by his parents. He called both of them, but neither answered. It felt l
Giselle was being herself and didn't try to be humble just because of who Caroline and Zachary were. Chester's parents exchanged pleased glances.If Chester really liked Giselle, they wouldn't mind having her around. After all, as parents, they wished to see their son have a successful career and a family of his own.Since they gave birth to Chester at an old age, he was able to have whatever he wanted while growing up. That said, they didn't know what went wrong as he turned out to be aloof. He would always keep his distance from everyone and never made his parents worry.The only thing they were worried about was his marriage. Chester was almost 30 years old now, but he had never been in a relationship. When they asked if he had anyone he liked, he would always say he wanted to focus on his career and work in the laboratory.When he graduated from university, he went to another country by himself. Throughout those years abroad, he almost never touched the Fordhams' assets. Ever