After listening to what Julia had said, Giselle was no longer sure. She needed ample time to digest this complicated information.The moment she got home, Hector called. "Ms. Stone, do you have time tonight? I'd like to tell you something face-to-face."Giselle paused for a moment before saying, "Send me the time and address."Great. Now, another problem had appeared.Should she tell Hector that he was a replacement for someone else? If so, there was no reason that he had to continue trying to appease Julia.It would be better for them to part amicably. After all, they hadn't made things official. …Hector had reserved a five-star restaurant in Seaworth City for 7:00 pm, and he asked if Chester would like to come along. Chester was standing by the window, looking tall and lean. He ended his call and looked up lazily at Hector. "If I go with you, it will look too obvious."Hector raised an eyebrow. "How is it obvious? It's very reasonable for two good friends to have dinner t
Giselle was silent.No wonder Hector and Julia had found each other. Both of them were treating the other as a replacement, even though they had no idea that they themselves were also a replacement.Giselle, who knew the truth, decided to remain silent.Hector continued, "She has a very similar personality to my first love. However, after spending time with her, I realized that I seem to have fallen for her."He wanted to resolve the weight on his heart, so he had to be honest with Giselle. Hector had felt embarrassed at first, but now he had come to terms with it.During all the nights that he had been unable to fall asleep, he had thought through all the possibilities, and the only thing he couldn't accept was being separated from Julia. They had an ambiguous relationship, but he was the one who stood to lose. "If your first love came back right now, would you still choose your current partner?" Giselle fixed her gaze on Hector's face.She wouldn't miss a single change in
Giselle said nothing and allowed Chester to keep holding her around the waist.Chester's lips curved upward at her compliance, and the last vestige of his annoyance vanished."That's impossible! Chester, you're lying to me, aren't you? You can't have a girlfriend!" the drunk woman suddenly began screaming. She broke down completely and lunged toward Giselle. Her teeth bared in a grimace as she reached out to claw at her.Chester's eyes narrowed, and he pulled Giselle aside to dodge the attack. There was a flash of revulsion in his eyes.He shielded Giselle, and his authoritative air made the other woman sober up almost instantly.Jasmine Sinclair's hand froze in midair, and she turned as pale as a sheet as terror washed over her momentarily.What had she done?She had tried to hit Chester's girlfriend right in front of him!No, that wasn't right! She had paid money to find out, and there had been no mention of Chester having a girlfriend!"Chester, you're lying to me, aren't
Chester stood tall, a suit jacket draped over his arm. His hair fell slightly tousled across his forehead from the wind. His well-defined eyebrows framed his eyes, which made him look relaxed and easygoing.Hector struggled to maintain a serious expression, desperately trying to hide his laughter. It was clear that he had tipped Chester off about his meeting with Giselle. Coincidence didn't exist in this scenario. It was amusing how Chester tried to play it off. Nothing was simply destined to occur. In reality, it was all part of his plan.Giselle replied calmly, "What a coincidence."The exchange between the two resembled a human-machine interaction. Hector found it fascinating and wished to observe it a bit longer, but a sharp glance from Chester silenced him immediately.Hector cleared his throat and said, "I left something in the private room. I'll get it. You two chat first."After that, he left.Once he departed, Giselle felt a wave of awkwardness wash over her and contem
"Madam, please check the screenshot I sent you via private message. A woman named Charlotte is imitating you in her live stream. I watched it and found her values to be distorted.""Did you see it as well? I was furious! Who in their right mind would encourage a young woman to become pregnant before marriage? The reporting was unsuccessful. It's appalling how those greedy capitalists operate. Absolutely disgusting."Giselle silently read the comments but didn't respond directly. Then, she transcribed the memo onto paper and showed it in the livestream."A 35-year-old man, 180 cm tall and weighing 66 kg, is a finance expert and owns a private club. He has three houses, five luxury cars, and a yacht in Seaworth City. "He offers the woman 30 thousand dollars in monthly allowance and wants her to work for his company in the future. He grew up in a poor family, is not good at speaking, is a workaholic, and expresses his sincerity through financial support."After writing, Giselle stre
Giselle quickly changed her clothes and hurried to the police station. As she approached, a loud commotion echoed from within, capturing her attention before she even entered."What did you do to my daughter? You persuaded her to run away with that man. Why would you want to harm her?" A loud cry of grief followed.Charlotte felt dizzy and looked upset. She retorted, "What does it have to do with me? She asked for my advice, and I gave her reasonable suggestions. How was I supposed to know she would make such foolish choices?"The police on duty quickly stepped in to separate the two before a fight broke out.Charlotte entered the interrogation room, closely followed by Giselle. A female police officer introduced herself and provided a brief overview of the situation to Giselle. "Ms. Stone, a woman reported that her daughter has been missing for three days without any contact. We've checked her social accounts and found a private message sent to you before she disappeared."The
This clearly showed just how important Charlotte was to Sebastian."Where's Jonathan?""I didn't want to worry Jonathan, so I didn't tell him. It's my fault this time. Would it have been better if I had stayed silent? Sebastian, do you think I messed up?"Sebastian gently rubbed her head and replied, "You meant well. It's not your fault."Sebastian had a general idea of why Charlotte was at the police station but not the details. He sympathized with her struggles over the last 20 years and wanted to support her as much as possible. Even if Charlotte was at fault this time, he would stand by her unconditionally.Charlotte was deeply touched, her eyes brimming with tears. "Sebastian, you're so kind to me."Her coquettishness helped Sebastian relieve his mental fatigue.Charlotte held his arm affectionately and asked, "Now that you're back, you won't leave again, right?""Yeah. Everything is finalized. I'm ready to take on Dad's job starting tomorrow."They were chatting as they
The sharp sound of the slap froze the surroundings. Giselle's head tilted, and her fair face turned red and swollen from the force of Sebastian's slap.Sebastian opened his mouth, but instead of the words he had planned to say, a sharp accusation escaped. "Giselle, don't push it."He never thought about hitting Giselle. She had been his sister for over 20 years, even without a blood relation, and the Grant family would accept her as long as she remained compliant. Unfortunately, Giselle always opposed Charlotte, making it clear that he would choose his biological sister over her.Besides, Giselle owed Charlotte everything, so she had no right to bully her. This thought quickly erased Sebastian's guilt.Giselle looked down, her long eyelashes casting shadows on her face, hiding the emotions in her eyes. She gently touched the sore spot inside her cheek with the tip of her tongue. The pain brought clarity to her thoughts.All eyes were fixed on her. After a moment, Giselle smirked
Half an hour ago, Charlotte was already getting ready for bed when a man suddenly barged into her ward.That man said that he was going to take her to see someone.When she realized that the person he wanted her to meet was Jonathan, she became overcome with fear and staggered a few steps backward, refusing to comply.The incident from the other day left an indelible shadow on her soul.She still wanted to live.Meanwhile, Jonathan really wanted to kill her.The caretaker smiled and said, "Ms. Grant, I'm just notifying you. I wasn't asking for your input."Charlotte clenched her hands into fists. The wound that had finally healed tore open once more.The pain made her face turn pale, while the fear caused her entire body to tremble.The caretaker continued, "Ms. Grant, there's no need to be afraid just yet. I forgot to tell you one thing. Mr. Lawson—your dearest Jonathan—has lost part of his memories. He no longer remembers you."Hearing this, Charlotte froze for a moment.
Caroline said, "I will tell Jean about this. You haven't done anything wrong." She had also heard of Jonathan and Giselle's history.As a woman herself, she could empathize with Giselle the most.She, too, had her partner commit adultery but had instead become the one who was labeled the adulterer. Just the thought of it was aggravating!Caroline said, "If you ever find yourself having to fight him again, just remember to stop before he becomes a cripple."Chester answered, "Okay."Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Jonathan was lying in the hospital, drowning in a haunting nightmare. Vivian stood to the side, mumbling something to Jean. Eventually, Jean interrupted her and said, "That's enough. I'll be here. Go home now. You have school tomorrow."Jean was exhausted. Tons of things had been going on at the research institute recently, and Jonathan had only added more to her plate. Couldn't he just let her catch a break?Jean rubbed her temples. She took her phone out and
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.