"No! Absolutely not! Chet would always ignore Finley!" Harry explained anxiously while waving his hands in the air, worried that Giselle might misunderstand the situation.He seldom saw Finley and Chester hanging out alone. The last time this happened was a few years ago. It was New Year's Day, and the Stones were visiting the Fordhams for the holidays. Back then, Chester had just returned to the country, so he was at home too.Finley was the picture of passion around him, but he was always cold toward her. He never even gave her a chance to be alone with him. Conversely, he rejected her displays of affection without hesitation.Chester was a role model to Harry, and the latter was determined not to follow in Sam's footsteps! Sam was nice to every woman he met. He was basically a playboy!"Giselle, you don't have to believe in everyone you meet, but you have to trust Chet. He's the best guy in the world!"Then, Harry started bragging about Chester. The way he exaggerated when he d
However, the man before her was Chester. Giselle looked straight into his eyes. He wasn't avoiding her gaze, so she figured he wasn't lying. With that, the last hint of frustration in her heart was gone completely.Chester stood up straight and opened the door like a gentleman. "It's cold outside, Ms. Stone. Why don't we talk in the car?"The backseat of the luxurious car was spacious, and he sat opposite her. He crossed his legs and had a thin laptop on his knees. After rubbing the bridge of his nose, he put his glasses back on. As the light from the laptop's screen reflected on his glasses, she couldn't see his eyes clearly.In an instant, all they could hear in the car were their quiet breaths and the keys clacking on Chester's laptop.Giselle couldn't help looking at him, and various weird thoughts came to her mind. She even started to think about some embarrassing things that she had tried so hard to forget. She hurriedly looked away and forced the memory out of her mind."
There was no emotion in Chester's deep voice. He looked out the window at a black Maybach that was stopped near them. The number plate of the car was special, and it showed how well-respected the person inside the car was. It was the car Jonathan drove around the most.Chester coldly looked away. He didn't care that Jonathan was there, nor did he wonder why his nephew was there at that hour.Meanwhile, Vivian and Jonathan were sitting side by side in the Maybach. Finley and Lindsay weren't around as they had gone their separate ways after leaving the restaurant.Vivian rubbed her eyes in a daze. When she realized they weren't at the Lawson residence, she asked while half-awake, "Jon, why are we here? Mom told us to be home early…"When she saw how cold Jonathan looked, she didn't know what was on his mind. He kept gazing darkly at the building their car was facing. Larry had told him that this was where Giselle was staying.If Jonathan remembered correctly, Chester had bought a un
Chester had been wearing the same clothes earlier, so Giselle was certain the photo wasn't taken in advance. He really had reached home. Upon realizing that, she couldn't help feeling stunned for a moment.She used to have a client whose husband was a capable man. They were in a long-distance relationship and would talk to each other every day. Even though they had been dating for two years, they still seemed deeply in love with each other.However, after looking into him, they realized the man she was with was actually just a man hired to talk to her. As for her actual boyfriend, he was busy cosying up to other women.Every photo and video she received were prepared in advance. The hired man would send them to her over the next month or two.If it weren't for a certain woman coming to her door one day, Giselle's client would still be in the dark until this day. Fortunately, she managed to cut her losses before they were married.Suddenly, Giselle received a message from Chester t
Giselle was inherently a gentle person, and she was friendly toward Wendy and Yarick. Sebastian suddenly felt as if he had caught a glimpse of the Giselle from the past. As he walked behind the others, he suddenly received a call and left in a hurry.Seeing this, the smile on Wendy's face slowly faded. "Gigi, can we talk in private somewhere?"…The nanny Sebastian had arranged for Yarick was currently taking care of the child. She took him to the nearby mall for some fun.Meanwhile, Giselle and Wendy arrived at a dessert shop that was decorated adorably. Usually, there would be a lot of patrons at the place. However, most people chose to stay home today because of the rain.Giselle and Wendy found a table in the corner, and the latter ordered two cups of hot chocolate. At first, they exchanged formalities and asked about each other's lives.Wendy didn't know much about what had happened while she was abroad. From what she could remember, Giselle and Jonathan were still in a re
Yarick had disappeared, and when Wendy heard the disastrous news, she panicked. She accidentally knocked her cup over, and the drink inside it spilled to the floor. Wendy couldn't be bothered to clean the mess up as she hurriedly ran out of the cafe.Giselle settled the bill before going after Wendy, whose heart went numb as she looked all over the place anxiously. Her body went cold, and she was getting dizzy. "Calm down, Wendy. Let's not panic. There are surveillance cameras all over the place, and I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten far in such a short amount of time." Giselle calmly analyzed the situation as she held Wendy's arm.Then, she used Wendy's phone to call Sebastian, telling him that his son had gone missing. She instructed him to have more people look for Yarick to increase the chances of finding the boy.As Giselle headed to the mall with Wendy in tow, the latter almost fainted. She did her best to keep herself conscious. When Giselle told her to get some rest, Wend
Linda gritted her teeth and glared at Giselle, demanding, "Giselle! Why are you here?"Giselle was used to being treated as such. She looked up at the Grants with a cold gaze and scoffed. "What's wrong? Does the mall belong to you? I suggest you don't go overboard."The Grants were absolutely disgusting, and the more infuriated they looked, the more satisfied Giselle was. Sebastian couldn't care less about Giselle at that moment. Instead, he frowned and looked straight at Wendy.He pointed at her and started scolding her right away. "Wendy, I was only gone for less than two hours, and I left Yarick in your care. Is this how you take care of our son?"Wendy was already on the verge of breaking down. After being scolded by her husband, she couldn't take it anymore. She looked at him with a disappointed gaze and felt weak. Giselle hurriedly held her arm to prevent her from falling to the ground."You were the one who hired the nanny. You also said I could have fun when I returned and
Giselle met Danny's gaze when she heard his name and figured he had to be Harry's second eldest brother.Meanwhile, Wendy looked at him with a hopeful gaze. It was as if she had just seen her savior."Detective Stone, you have to find my son. I'm begging you…" After she said that, she fell to her knees. Danny and Giselle each grabbed an arm respectively and helped her up."Madam, we will do our best to locate your son. Now, I have a question for you." Danny retracted his hand and looked solemn.Harold, who had been standing to the side, got closer to them as well. "What is it?""Have you, your husband, or any member of your family offended anyone in the past?"That question was critical. Before Danny arrived, he had already told someone to make a copy of the surveillance footage in the mall and send it to his phone.If Yarick had seen a stranger, he wouldn't have run toward the perpetrator with a smile. So, there was a high possibility that someone they knew was behind this.Wh
Meanwhile, Giselle had just found the first-aid kit and sat next to Chester.The light in the living room was a warm orange, softening the hardened knots between Chester's forehead. He removed his jacket, leaving only a thin shirt on. "This might hurt, so bear with me."Jonathan really did not hold back one bit. Chester's skin was already fair. The contrast only made the purplish bruise even more striking and distressing.Giselle and Chester were growing nearer to each other.They were in such close proximity that he could take in the fragrance of her shampoo.Her attention was on the corner of his lips. She had cotton dipped in iodine to clean the dried blood on the area of the wound.Chester's breathing suddenly came to a halt.His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. His breath was warm, and his gaze was deep.After a while, Giselle retreated to her original position. As she kept the first-aid kit away, she said, "It's done. When you get home, try not to let water come in con
In Giselle's cold eyes, there was nothing but indifference and annoyance."Gigi, I'm in pain…"Jonathan stared at her, the emotions in his eyes flickering back and forth. His weak and vulnerable tone was completely different from the violence he portrayed earlier.He was now trying to use pity to get Giselle to sympathize with him.Jonathan thought that if Giselle still loved him, then he would let everything go.Unfortunately, reality was more cruel than he imagined. Giselle's expression did not even waver.In an instant, the asphyxiating heartache turned into a wild beast, ruthlessly tearing him apart.Jonathan's arm fell to his side helplessly. Suddenly, he staggered backward as if his soul had left him, no longer behaving as arrogantly as he had before.He should be fuming. And Giselle should also be taught a lesson.But Jonathan could not do it.He loved Giselle so much, so why was she doing this to him?"Jon? Jon, what's wrong…"Vivian looked at Jonathan, who was obvi
Jonathan called Chester by his first name. He was not even willing to address him with due respect.Jim sensed the gravity of the situation and immediately had the other officers leave the room, giving the two some privacy.With the sound of the door locking, the atmosphere in the entire room fell below freezing temperature.With tensions running high, nobody dared to even breathe.Jonathan stood in their way, his tall stature overwhelmingly intimidating.As he stood face to face with Chester, their imposing presence seemed to match evenly.Jonathan looked like fireballs were about to shoot out of his eyes while the latter's eyes were as calm as a still, bottomless abyss, ready to erase his opponent's existence without leaving so much as a single trace.Vivian was so overwhelmed that her tears wouldn't come. She was really afraid that Jonathan would beat Chester up.The current situation was way more serious than her writing a love letter to her classmate."Why should I give y
Jim handled everything professionally."Jon…" Vivian reached out, tugging at Jonathan's sleeve. "Don't let mom know. She's going to be so mad."Vivian knew Jean's temper all too well. If she had not been afraid of Jean finding out about her love letter to Harry, Vivian would not have made Jonathan come pick her up from school.But if Jonathan had not come, the consequent chain of events would not have happened.Jonathan exuded an intimidating energy as he remained silent.Meanwhile, Giselle wasn't the least bit bothered.Harry was the same. After all, he had only done what he did to stand up for Giselle. Even if his family members were to come bail him out, none of them would be mad at him."Ms. Stone."Jim turned toward Giselle and said, "You may have Mr. Fordham come get you."Mr. Fordham. Chester Fordham.Jonathan couldn't bear hearing this name.As soon as he heard this name, he would immediately recall the words Giselle said. "Well, obviously I'm after his body."Absol
She was after his body. Giselle was going after Chester for his body.Jonathan completely lost all of his sanity when he heard those words, delivering another blow to the board.He could not be bothered about the excruciating pain coming from his knuckles. Through gritted teeth, he demanded answers from Giselle."You've slept with Chester?"Before Giselle could even respond, Harry, who had just returned from retrieving his phone, ran over at full speed.Without any explanation whatsoever, he punched Jonathan in the face."Now that I'm here, don't even think about hurting Giselle!"As someone young, tall, and one who worked out daily, Harry's one punch broke the skin on the corner of Jonathan's mouth.The piercing pain made Jonathan give up all his reasoning.Immediately, the two men broke into a fight.Vivian scrambled to get up from the floor, looking miserable. She wanted to pull them apart but was afraid she might get injured in the process.As such, she just glared at Gi
When they were at the hospital the other day, Chester made Vivian feel awfully stressed. This uncle of hers was way too overprotective of Giselle.If Jonathan were to lay a finger on Giselle, Chester would definitely hunt him down. And when that time came, the fact that she twisted the truth would be revealed.Vivian gritted her teeth. The fear she felt outweighed her reasoning. Without a second thought, she rushed over."Jon, stop!"Vivian held onto Jonathan's arm. The blood vessels in his knuckles popped as he squeezed every word out with restraint. "Let go."This was the first time that Vivian had ever seen Jonathan like this. She clenched down on her molars and cried out, "No!"The siblings' double act was absolutely comedic in Giselle's eyes. She rubbed her wrist which had turned red from Jonathan's grip. Then, she turned on her heels, wanting to leave.Jonathan jerked free from Vivian's grasp, stretching out his hands as he tried to grab onto Giselle once again.However,
"Giselle, I need to ask you something."The two looked at each other. One had an indifferent expression while the other looked like they could barely tolerate this request.Giselle tried to free herself but her wrist remained firmly locked in his grip. The heat between them instinctively triggered a visceral sense of disgust in her.Her stomach churned violently, and her expression went dark. "Let go."Jonathan kept his stare on her with eyes that were deep and enigmatic. "If I don't—" Before he could even finish his sentence, he suddenly gasped in pain.Giselle did not care if she hurt him. She had swiftly raised her knee and went for his groin. Even though Jonathan reacted in time, she was too fast for him to avoid the blow entirely.The anger in his eyes surged. He gritted his teeth and exclaimed, "Giselle Stone!"This "new" Giselle felt extremely foreign to Jonathan.The Giselle he remembered was someone gentle and caring. There was never a time she would be this violent.
The moment Giselle heard Jonathan call out her name in full, a look of surprise flashed across her eyes. Had he recovered his memories?Giselle scoffed. "Am I wrong? Mr. Kendrick is asking Harry to pretend that he has feelings for Vivian and to wait until the exams are over to talk about it. Isn't he asking the kid to lie?"Harry has made it crystal clear that he has no feelings for Vivian. A clear rejection is the best solution. You're afraid that Vivian's state of mind might be affected, but what about Harry's?"Every word was carefully chosen.Even though Greg did not explicitly say it, Giselle understood his underlying intention without misconstruing anything.Harry clapped his hands as sparkles danced around his eyes. "You got it! I don't like Vivian. I don't like her now and I certainly won't like her in the future!"Vivan was not his type to begin with. What's more, after learning about the things she had done to Giselle, the chances of him liking Vivian were even slimmer
Jonathan's towering figure emerged in the doorway.Instead of his usual formal suit, he was dressed in a hoodie and cropped pants.To put it simply, he looked like a mannequin. His handsome face was as cold as ice, making him look unapproachable. As his eyes swept across the room, he suddenly paused when his gaze fell upon Giselle.The hand by his side instinctively clenched. It seemed like he did not expect to find Giselle here.He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but was reminded of the ignored text and what Vivian had told him.He pursed his lips for a moment, forcing the words back down. "Now that we have everyone's guardians here, let's talk about what happened earlier today."Greg Kendrick, the homeroom teacher, pushed his glasses up and cleared his throat before continuing, "I understand how kids your age are going through a phase where you yearn for the opposite gender, but this is the time to be focusing on your studies. "The college entrance examinations