Alec seemed to have recognized Joey too. Although he never interacted with Joey, he had helped Jenny investigate his stepmother, and he learned a thing or two about the boy in the process. He interjected to break the tension between the two, "Jenny, let's not get too riled up. Sit down and talk it out with him." Then, he called a waiter over to get them a quiet dining room. Joey was reluctant to follow them but had no choice because Jenny was staring at him. They took their seats in the room, and Alec ordered some food. After that, he turned to Joey. "Tell us now. Why did you drop out?"Feeling their eyes on him, he sighed and told them his story. After his stepmother was sent to jail, his dad, who had grown increasingly displeased with him, put all the blame on him. Not long after, his dad stopped paying for his school fees and pocket money. At his wits' end, he decided to quit school and work."You're only sixteen. Are you going to work retail forever?" Jenny was upset but didn't
Joey was unaware of his options, nor had he tried them out. When his teacher asked him the reason behind his decision, he merely answered that he didn't want to study anymore. Despite his teacher's attempt to change his mind, he didn't budge. Therefore, his teacher was left with no choice but to process the paperwork for him."But…I already dropped out." He hung his head in regret."I can handle that for you. What you need to do is to show up to school on time. Don't fret about it," Alec replied. Joey looked at the two with teary eyes, even though he was a tough guy. "Thank you.""Study hard and score well if you really want to thank us." Jenny was relieved after Joey agreed to go back to school. He nodded. "I will." Joey had always been good at studies, which was why he was placed in 12th grade at sixteen. If all went according to plan, he'd be taking the SAT the following year."All the best! If you get into a good college, I'll buy you a gift." Jenny finally broke into a smi
On their way home, after they made the necessary arrangements for Joey, Jenny was suddenly reminded of Justin and Lilian. "Do you have any updates on the adoptive family?" she blurted out to Alec."Yeah, I found one, but we haven't gotten in touch with them," Alec answered. He would always fulfill Jenny's request to the best of his ability. She sighed in relief after learning that. She had been busy with work and had no time to care for two children. Therefore, she sent them to Orchid Village and entrusted them to the villagers' care. Still, she couldn't leave them in the village for the long term and planned to find them an adoptive family so that they could resume their daily lives. "Share their information with me. I'll look into their background." Speaking of investigation, Jenny was proud of her skills. Alec agreed to let her take over because he knew that Jenny was blessed with detective skills. "Sure."Soon, they arrived at Perry Residence. As it was late, they wished ea
Alec's expression fell when he heard that, and he gave her a disgruntled look. "You can be one of them.""I'm not rich enough to pay for you." She shook her head as she tried to hold back laughter. Alec shut up after trying hard to squeeze a word of affection out of her. Sometimes, she could be more simple-minded than a man.After breakfast, she went to work at the hospital. Alec had offered to take her there but was turned down. According to her, their relationship was not at that level yet. It was one thing to deliver breakfast every day. If he started sending her to and from work, others might gossip.Alec protested at the injustice, "Why won't you acknowledge me then?" As Jenny looked puzzled, he had to lay it out, "Just make me your boyfriend, and I'll have a good reason to send you to work."Without hesitation, she shook her head, coughed, and replied gravely, "I don't dislike you as much as before, but…I can't make you my boyfriend.""Why? Are you disappointed with me in an
"Alec Faust is handsome, and he's good to you. I'm surprised that you haven't fallen for him. Jenny, don't you think your standards are too high?" At first, Stephanie thought that Jenny had a grudge against Alec because of the divorce, but it turned out that Jenny truly didn't have feelings for him.That sounded almost impossible. Even though Stephanie didn't like Alec, she figured she would have been moved by Alec's daily acts of service and surrendered her heart to him over time. Anyway, that was a hypothetical scenario that would never happen to her.She fell silent, wondering if she had impossible standards. During the conversation, she got off the cab and crossed the road to the hospital.Walking across the pedestrian crossing, she was distracted by Stephanie's chatter on the phone and was unaware of the incoming danger. A black car that had been waiting long at the intersection started moving and accelerating when Jenny showed up, and it seemed to be headed in her direction.
"Someone's in here!" a pedestrian yelled. Jenny looked across and noticed that Marigold was stuck in the car. Upon closer inspection, she realized Marigold had lost consciousness from the huge impact of the collision, just like Alec."Please help me pull her out," Jenny told the crowd around her. Even though she had been Marigold's target not long ago, she couldn't possibly leave Marigold's life in danger.Marigold was sent to the emergency room after Alec. At the same time, Jenny changed into her scrub and dived right into saving lives. Meanwhile, Alec's operation wrapped up successfully. Since he only suffered from a temporary concussion, the doctor didn't expect any complications. In contrast, Marigold seemed to be in a worse condition. As the best neurosurgeon in Parrington, Jenny had to jump in to help.Alec woke up at the same time as Jenny completed her operation on Marigold. His first instinct was to search for Jenny, and he panicked when he failed to find her. "Where's Jenn
Leaning against the headboard, Alec said in defeat, "I just wanted to see that you arrived at the hospital safely. That's why I followed you. I never thought that…"He didn't immediately notice Marigold's car. It wasn't until Marigold was close to crashing into Jenny that he realized something was off. Without hesitation, he drove into Marigold's car to stop it from crashing into Jenny."Don't tell me you've always followed me to work?" She stared at him, dumbfounded. He nodded and did not deny it. Flustered and helpless, she sighed. "You don't have to do this for me. Frankly speaking, we don't have a relationship with each other. If something bad happens to you in a situation like today's, it will not bring you any benefit." "You can run your little cost-and-benefit analysis because you aren't into me. But I love you. These considerations don't occur to me." He didn't have time to think twice in that urgent situation anyway.She wanted to hide from his scorchingly passionate gaze
Jenny was touched by Stephanie's concern. "Don't worry. I'm okay." Stephanie let go of her and put on a stern look. "What happened? Tell me everything." She clearly heard a crash that sounded like a collision on the phone, and she wouldn't believe it if Jenny had told her everything was fine.Jenny didn't plan to lie to her. While walking to Marigold's room, she recounted details from the accident. Stephanie felt her heart leaping into her throat when she heard how Marigold wanted to crash her car into Jenny, but she felt much relieved after hearing that Alec had saved Jenny by ramming his car into Marigold's.They arrived at Marigold's door right as Jenny wrapped up the story. Fuming, Stephanie was about to barge into the room and fight Marigold, but Jenny held her back. "She's still in recovery. We should probably leave her to the police. Don't worry. She can't run from what she did."After all, she had filed a police report, and there was evidence from the surveillance camera o
That afternoon, Gilbert called off his engagement to the Silveras. He did not pick up a single one of Lottie's calls. When he found Marigold, she was taking Caleb on a stroll around the neighborhood. It had been a while since she'd taken notice of anything related to Gilbert. She suddenly felt how nice it was to have her mental energy spent somewhere else, no longer being so hung up on that man. However, when Gilbert appeared before her, her heartbeat quickened. "Why are you here?" Marigold said, snapping out of her reverie. Gilbert smiled lightly. Without saying much else, he pulled her into an embrace. "Didn't you say that I could come to see you once everything is settled?" Marigold was stunned. She was in disbelief. "So, what you're saying is it's all over?" "Didn't you read the news?" Gilbert was speechless. "No. I didn't want to care." Every time she saw anything about Gilbert and Lottie, she felt miserable. She'd rather save herself the pain and block out anything
In the end, Esther went with Gilbert's suggestion. However, she did not trade Bradshaw Operation's projects with Jenny. She went with the Silveras. For one, she did not trust the Walters. On the other hand, the Silveras and the Bradshaws were going to be united through marriage. They deserved to be trusted more. Gilbert didn't mind. After all, if anything happened to the Bradshaws, the Silveras would not help. With those projects in hand, they would only fall further into debt. The plan was going smoothly. Gilbert had not gone to see Marigold once. He knew that before subduing the Bradshaws, going to visit Marigold would only endanger her. After all, Marigold was safe. Nothing had happened, and Caleb was growing up healthily. One month later, things began to feel off in Bradshaw Operations. After Faust Group received their money, they did not start the project. No one knew what they were doing. Esther was feeling antsy. She prodded Gilbert to ask if there was anything wro
That very afternoon, Esther and Gilbert rushed to Faust Group to sign the deal. Gilbert said he was worried that Alec would change his mind, so he urged Esther to sign it. Only through a written contract would they be able to relax. Esther thought it made sense and agreed to rush to Faust Group with Gilbert.In the meeting room, Alec looked at the two people before him, expressionless. "You have a good son, Mrs. Bradshaw." "I'm flattered. My son had Bradshaw Operations' interests at heart. He'll inevitably be a little insensitive. Please don't hold that against him, Mr. Faust." Esther smiled. She didn't mind Alec's sarcasm because it didn't matter. As long as Bradshaw Operations could truly benefit from this, she didn't care how much Alec mocked her. Alec smiled coldly and slid the contract over to her. "You may flip through it." Esther took it and read through it seriously.If this project succeeded, they would reap massive rewards. However, it required a massive upfront inv
In the following days, Gilbert headed over to Faust Group infrequently during the day. To others, he was there to talk business with Alec. But in reality, it was a different scenario altogether. Vincent brought Gilbert a cup of coffee in Alec's office. Because of all the times he'd been there, Vincent knew what he wanted without having to ask. Alec had a cup of coffee placed before him, too. Everyone thought that Gilbert was trying to convince Alec to give him one of the shares, which was why he always came there, but that was not the case. The collaboration was a set-up. As long as the Bradshaws signed the deal on the project, they would not escape unscathed. Gilbert had planned this for a long time just to trick the Bradshaws into accepting the project. However, the scheme had to be executed perfectly. Since Gilbert buttered up the project in front of the Bradshaws, Alec had to feign disinterest in his collaboration. Otherwise, it would seem suspicious if Alec, a smart ma
After the engagement party, Gilbert officially had a stronghold in Bradshaw operations. Because he was already very capable, he had a lot of supporters. No one challenged him in the company. Most of them sucked up to him because they knew that if things went well, he would be the heir of the company.Gilbert didn't really care about that. He didn't even want to be there for long. He knocked on Esther's door and walked into her office."Come, sit." Esther was all smiles when she saw him. It was more sincere than before.She used to doubt him a lot, but now, although she still had her reservations, she mostly believed in him. In her eyes, no one would reject the chance to inherit Bradshaw Operations. This was basically manna from Heaven. Gilbert just didn't know it back then, and now he did. Gilbert sat down in front of Esther and began reporting the information he had gathered, as well as his thoughts on Bradshaw Operations and his plans for the future.When he presented the inf
Gilbert and Lottie's engagement party was held at Bardoff Grand Hotel on Saturday.A ton of people showed up to their engagement party. After all, the Bradshaws and the Silveras were pretty big names in Bardoff City, and plenty of the other families knew of their true wealth. They all came to attend the party. Jenny and Alec had both received invites. Jenny was Gilbert's sister, and on top of that, they represented the Walters and the Fausts. It was to be expected. At first, Jenny didn't want to go. The party held no meaning to it. It was just a show put on for Esther. It would be a complete waste of her time. However, she was talked into it by Alec. It would be weird if she didn't go. Zack brought Janet to the party. He found Jenny and was in a daze. "Wasn't Gilbert courting Marigold? Why is he engaged to Lottie?" Jenny rolled her eyes. "What have you been doing, Zack? You're really bad at keeping up." Gilbert had been courting Lottie for a while now. If Zack paid attention
Gilbert drove to Jenny's villa, but he was in no rush to get down. He didn't unlock the doors, either. He obviously wanted to talk to Marigold. But Marigold evidently didn't want to. "I want to take my child and leave." She was afraid. What if Gilbert and Lottie married and took her child away? She no longer believed in love. The only thing she believed in was her child. Gilbert tightened his grip when he heard that. "Marigold, the engagement is only for Esther to see. I have no feelings for Lottie." "Who knows? People change. You said you didn't have feelings for me, too." Marigold found this all very amusing. Perhaps this was fate. Gilbert wanted to keep explaining, but Marigold did not give him the chance to. "Just let me and Caleb leave. If what you say is true, you can come to find us once everything is over." And if Gilbert didn't come looking for her, the truth would unfold itself, and she would give up all hope. Gilbert understood that Marigold had already made
Marigold was miserable throughout dinner, but she persevered till the end without being too dramatic. After dinner, they walked to the entrance of the shopping mall.Gilbert went to get the car. Lottie stood with Jenny and Marigold. Watching Gilbert leave, she turned toward Marigold. "I heard that you used to like Gilbert very much." "It's all in the past. It's not worth mentioning." Marigold didn't want to talk about it. She was afraid that Lottie would see that she still liked Gilbert. Most importantly, she was afraid that Gilbert's plan would be ruined. Lottie smiled. "That's true. The past is the past. You're such a nice person. You'll definitely be able to find someone better suited for you in the future." Marigold pursed her lips. Gilbert soon brought the car over. Lottie was about to get into the car, but before she did, she suddenly turned to Marigold and said, "Gilbert and my engagement party will be in a few days' time. If you have the time, you're more than welcom
Everyone was shocked to hear her speak so suddenly. Lottie was stunned, and she explained, "You've misunderstood. That's not what I meant. I just think that if the child follows his father, it'll help him develop better, and you'll be less stressed." "I don't need your concern. I can raise my child alone," Marigold snorted. She did not hold back at all. Lottie looked unpleasant. Gilbert had no choice but to step in. "We'll have our own child together. And whoever likes it the most will get to keep it." Although they knew that Gilbert had meant this for Lottie to hear, Marigold found it extremely upsetting. She looked at Gilbert, and for a moment, she was unable to tell if he was being genuine. She thought of all that Gilbert had said to her last night, saying that he didn't like Lottie and had no intention of marrying her. But he looked to be truly in love. Marigold didn't think she could tell if he was faking it. "I'm sorry. I need to go to the restroom." Marigold didn't w