The surrounding fell into an eerie silence, all attention now focused on Giselle and Jonathan.As Giselle looked down at the check on the ground, Jonathan spoke again. "Don't you just want money? Take the check and leave with your so-called friend."After the incident at Lawson Manor, Jonathan had nothing but disdain for Giselle. Seeing her face again sparked a surge of anger within him.The murmurs from the crowd rose in volume, but Giselle paid them no mind. At the next moment, she bent down and picked up the check.Emma panicked. "Gigi—"Before she could say anything more, Giselle's next action silenced her.With a swift motion, Giselle tore the check into pieces.Jonathan's face darkened immediately. His fists were clenched so tightly they cracked. "Giselle Stone!""I'm not deaf, Mr. Lawson. Keep your voice down."As she spoke, she tossed the shredded pieces of the check into the air and watched them fall like confetti.Jonathan had never been so publicly insulted.His r
When Giselle heard the news, she had just accompanied Emma out of the emergency room.Emma's face was pale, with sweat beading on her forehead. She leaned heavily against Giselle.One moment, she was full of energy, arguing with people, and the next, she was struck with a severe case of gastroenteritis."Ems, you should take tomorrow off and rest at home," Giselle suggested.Emma weakly agreed and trailed behind Giselle toward the infusion room. "Phil deserved it. He really lucked out. He didn't even die."Emma continued complaining while Giselle occasionally agreed with her. Once Emma was settled, Giselle planned to buy some water.She walked to the vending machine and bought two bottles of water. After paying, she felt a shadow loom behind her."Giselle, do you have something to do with Phil's incident?" It was Jonathan, who had just come out of Charlotte's ward.He and Phil were close. The police had already questioned him.With so many suspicious details, Jonathan had a gu
Jonathan had never forgotten about the dress. Every time he thought about it, it made him feel incredibly disgusted."Jonathan Lawson! Just keep your mouth shut if you can't speak properly!" Giselle snapped. She looked at him as if he were trash."What's wrong? Am I right? Did I hit a nerve?" Jonathan was certain that Hector was the one who gave Giselle the dress.His handsome features were shadowed by a sharpness that made it hard for anyone to believe these two had been in a relationship for seven years.Hector silently clicked his tongue in distaste. He said, "Don't be a hypocrite, Jonathan."Years ago, when Jonathan had offered to fund Charlotte's education, it had stirred quite a controversy within their circles.Charlotte's face alone told Hector everything he needed to know—she was far from innocent. Yet Jonathan had fallen for her.Hector didn't inquire too deeply into how their relationship had developed. He just felt Jonathan must have been starving for women.He had
"Is there something you need from me, Mr. Shaw?" Giselle asked."There is, actually," Hector replied honestly. "Remember I mentioned in my text yesterday that my friend's friend is upset, and I asked you what my friend should do to make up for it?"Giselle nodded."So, what should he do?" Hector was genuinely seeking advice.He had no experience in this area, and he truly didn't know why Julia Jameson was upset.Whenever he asked, she denied it, but the tone of her replies had changed drastically. She was cold and distant, unlike her usual warm self, who would reply with emojis.Hector couldn't figure it out.Could it be her time of the month? He recalled that Julia's period should have ended a few days ago.For the first time, the usually carefree Hector had trouble sleeping for several nights.Giselle replied, "For something like this, you need to handle it based on the situation. Write down what happened and send it to me. If you can, include some background on both of you.
The night was deepening, and the parking lot was silent except for the sound of cicadas and the approaching footsteps of a man.The sudden sound made Giselle tense. She clenched her fists and turned, only relaxing when she saw it was Chester."Sorry, did I scare you?" Chester apologized when he noticed the tension in her expression."It's fine." Giselle waved it off. She looked up and met his gaze. "Mr. Fordham, why are you in the hospital this late? Is your stomach bothering you again?"Under the dim streetlight, she could clearly see Chester's pale face. His chiseled features made him look almost ethereal."No, I came to find Hector." Chester had already prepared a suitable reason for his visit while waiting.Hector worked at the hospital, and they were good friends. This made him a perfect excuse.Chester's true purpose had always been Giselle."Oh," came Giselle's simple response, and the atmosphere became subtly awkward.Chester smiled faintly. Suppressing the glint in hi
Giselle's and the Grant family's current situation was entirely Charlotte's own doing."I'm not sure. Did something happen between Gigi and him?" Charlotte pretended not to know, but her face twisted with jealousy.Jonathan responded absently, "Nothing…" He subconsciously lifted his gaze, and the rest of his words faded into silence.The rage in his eyes surged again, so crimson it made one instinctively feel a sense of fear.From his position, he could see most of Giselle's face. She was standing with a man who wasn't Hector, in a posture that looked intimate and affectionate."Jonathan? Is something wrong?"Charlotte's anxious voice snapped him back to reality.Jonathan didn't explain, instead offering a few vague responses before hanging up the phone. When he looked up again, there was no sign of Giselle and the man.…After Giselle picked up Emma, her heart was still racing. Her mind replayed the moment when Chester had gotten so close to her."Don't move. There's a bug i
In the dimly lit stairwell, Giselle was held by Chester's burning hand around her waist. Their bodies were pressed together, and their breaths intertwined.On the wall, their shadows overlapped, creating an air of intimacy."Gigi, help me take off my glasses." Chester's hoarse, pleasant voice carried a hint of gentle coaxing. As he kissed her collarbone, his warm breath sent shivers down her spine.Giselle's long lashes fluttered lightly. Her fair arms draped over his broad shoulders, and a soft moan slipped from her lips.Her mind was in disarray. She did whatever Chester said.As she removed his glasses, the barrier between them was gone. Chester's kiss grew even more daring.Slowly, he moved upward, and Giselle surrendered to his tenderness.Suddenly, another person burst into the stairwell. "Giselle! You whore! How dare you seduce my uncle?" Jonathan's expression was like that of a husband catching his wife cheating on him.…Giselle immediately jolted awake. Her hai
With the ten million dollars Giselle had managed to get from Jonathan, she now had a total of 16 million.She had initially planned to split the ten million with Emma, but the latter refused to take a cent.Emma's exact words were, "You keep it. Do I look like I need money? After divorcing Larry, we split the assets down the middle. If you'd known me sooner, Jonathan would've had it worse!"Giselle reluctantly accepted the money. She decided to donate half of the ten million, under both her and Emma's names, to poverty-stricken areas in the mountains. After all, one should do some good deeds.She cleaned the house while waiting for a response from the companies. She applied to nine different companies, but eight rejected her.The reason was always the same. "Our boss had someone read the company's fortune. We can't sign the contract with anyone named Stone."Giselle had expected this, but luckily, the first company she applied to passed her through smoothly. She could sign the co
The expression on Finley's face stiffened, and her pupils dilated immediately. Finley didn't expect to hear the name she hated the most from Caroline's mouth. After suffering multiple losses because of Giselle, Finley would react to her name by instinctively feeling disgusted.Finley suddenly looked pale and terrible, causing Caroline to gently ask, "What's wrong, Finley? Do you feel unwell?"Finley clenched her fists tightly and forced herself to take a deep breath. Then, she put on a fake relaxed smile and managed to look elegant. "I'm fine, Mrs. Fordham. I do have a friend who's quite close with Giselle."The unexpected answer made Caroline exchange glances with Zachary. "Oh?""But… I don't think that's true anymore. After all, they had a little conflict between them. If I talk about it, we might get too emotional."Finley was being smart about it, as she couldn't badmouth Giselle directly. If she wanted to do it, she would have to find a scapegoat. That way, if her plan failed
Giselle followed Hector outside the ward, and the nurse sensibly left them alone to check on the other patients.Hector then said, "Giselle, I have some relationship-related issues that I need to ask you about."It had been a month or two since they last talked about it, and it seemed to Giselle that his relationship with Julia had gotten worse. Julia had used up all of her leave days at the hospital, and her IP address showed that she was overseas.Hector felt frustrated because of it. If it weren't for Chester's accident, Hector wouldn't have returned to work so soon. Upon returning, he had to personally deal with all the work that had been piling up. Once he started getting busy, he couldn't even have a proper meal, let alone coax Julia.After hearing about his predicament, Giselle tried to find a suspicious loophole."When did you last see her?""It was around two weeks ago. I was drunk back then, and my friend called her for me so that she could pick me up."Hector tried hi
The next morning, Giselle headed to the hospital after she was done washing up. The scabs from her injuries were starting to fall off, and the stitches were breaking apart too. She was well on her way to a full recovery.As for Chester, most of his injuries were superficial. The worst injury he had was around his stomach. When the car flipped, a sharp object pierced into his flesh. Fortunately, it didn't injure any of his vital organs. If it had gone a little deeper, he wouldn't have survived.When Giselle arrived at the hospital, Jean was talking to Chester about Joshua. The police had interrogated Joshua the whole night, but he didn't reveal anything of importance. Instead, he kept insisting that he didn't know the driver and that he didn't hire anyone to attempt homicide.Chester had already expected Joshua to be this shameless. He leaned back against the hospital bed with a cold look on his pale face. Then, he lowered his gaze to cover the frustration in his eyes."He's not goi
From what Jonathan could remember, Giselle and Chester never interacted with each other in the past. Since the Grants and Lawsons had a marriage arrangement, Jonathan grew up with Giselle. He knew everyone she had met and befriended with.Chester had been doing his research overseas for the past few years, and he seldom came back to the country. Even when he did come back, he would leave as soon as he returned. So, there was no way for Giselle to interact with him at all.Suddenly, Jonathan realized he had forgotten something important. When they were in university, Giselle went abroad as an exchange student. If he remembered correctly, she seemed to have gone to the country where Chester was situated."Before I left, I entered Chester's office once, and he had a photo of a woman on his desk. When I returned to the country, I realized that woman was your ex-fiancée, Giselle."No one in their right mind would have a photo of their nephew's fiancée on their desk, so Chester clearly h
Right after Joshua said that, the whole room fell silent. Everyone was shocked to hear that Chester had always liked his own nephew's fiancée, and they wondered if that was how wealthy people had fun.They wanted to gossip, and they secretly paid more attention to the conversation without showing it on their faces.Jonathan narrowed his eyes in hostility, and Joshua was satisfied by everyone's reaction. Joshua happily leaned back in his chair and looked so smug that anyone would want to beat him up."Mr. Lawson, you know how I used to work at your uncle's laboratory, right? I was even an important employee there, so I know a lot of things that you don't."Of course, Jonathan knew that. When he first started talking business with Joshua, Jonathan had someone look into his background. All the information he could gather easily was what Joshua wanted him to see. To get more information about Joshua, Jonathan had to spend more effort on it.At first, he didn't know what was going on b
Looking at the call time of an hour, Chester smiled a little, and his long eyelashes cast a shadow over his eyes. He habitually took a screenshot and hid the name before uploading the picture online with the caption, "Good night."His last post on social media was less than a month ago. It might be a long time for most people, but this was Chester. He never uploaded a single post in the past, and he only started doing it a lot after meeting Giselle.The first comment came from Sam. Sam: "Were you in a video call with Giselle? Have you guys made that much progress? As expected from you, Mr. Fordham!"Hector: "It looks like someone is going to be heartbroken."Harry: "I was wondering why Giselle's line was busy when I tried calling her. So, she was on a video call with you, huh? Let's plan this out. Next time, call her when I'm done playing video games with her. I need to rank up before the season ends!"Chester didn't reply to any of the comments except for Harry's. "Scram."…
Giselle was left speechless, thinking how Chester's aloof image was completely destroyed now that his memories were in disarray. Although he was only calling her dear by text, she could practically hear it. Suddenly, she felt uneasy and didn't know how to reply to him.Just as she was hesitating, Chester's video-call came in. She answered it after switching to her phone's back camera. The footage on her phone shook a little before she saw Chester's pale dashing face appear on the screen.After her experience with him last time, she was now calmer. It was as if she had grown immune to his appearance."Hey, dear." His attractive voice came through the speaker and echoed in the huge living room. It was windy outside, and the sound of waves crashing could be heard. Neon lights shone brightly from the cityscape. Giselle ignored the weird feeling in her heart and calmly answered with a hum.Chester couldn't help looking happy when he received a response from Giselle. Since he didn't have
Giselle shifted to a more comfortable position. Since she was bored, she scrolled through Charlotte's profile on the live streaming platform and watched the latter's live stream.Charlotte had exquisite makeup on, and she had luxurious-looking bookshelves behind her, making her look extremely classy. Seeing how great she was doing at that moment made Giselle think that someone was behind Charlotte's success.Giselle didn't think Charlotte was smart enough to upgrade her setup so suddenly. After all, from what Giselle could remember, Charlotte was a stingy person. It might have to do with Charlotte's upbringing, but she was really calculative when it came to spending money.Thus, even after she returned to her actual family, she still couldn't get rid of that habit. When Giselle was kicked out of the Grant family back then, Charlotte came up with the idea to make Giselle pay them for taking care of her.Charlotte didn't make it too obvious and beat around the bush. However, she dema
Silence ensued on the call as Emma's question stumped Giselle. Was Chester faking his amnesia? Giselle figured he had no reason to do that.When Giselle didn't say anything, Emma became anxious. "Hey, Gigi! Are you listening?""Yeah." Giselle returned to her senses, but her mind was in a mess. So, she couldn't answer Emma's question for the time being. In order to stop Emma from talking about it, Giselle changed the subject."Is Linda still visiting your company recently?"The Grants were in a mess at that moment as Harold's affair had already proven to be true. As for having an illegitimate son, the Grant family wasn't sure about it just yet. They had no evidence, and there was no way Harold would admit it that easily.In the eyes of the law, if Linda wanted to get a divorce, Harold would be the one at fault. Thus, he would be on the losing side when splitting their assets. He had worked hard on his company for more than half of his life, so he would never give half of their asse