In his office, Alec took out his mobile phone and called Natalia."Hello, my dear boyfriend. What can I do for you?" In the middle of a manicure session, Natalia was surprised to receive Alec's call since it was the first one since they made their relationship public.Hearing her call him her boyfriend, Alec wasn't pleased, but he didn't make a big deal out of it. Going straight to the point, he said, "I am going to issue a statement to announce a breakup, and you are going to do the same."Since it was all just business, Alec informed her to make sure they were on the same page.Natalia was taken aback, "Break up? So soon?" They had only publicly announced their relationship two days ago. If they broke up so soon, her parents would be furious.Alec explained, "The issue on my end has been resolved."Frustrated, she asked, "Am I merely a tool to you? You're so ruthless."Alec was displeased. "What do you mean? Didn't we discuss this before?"Natalia clarified, "I didn't know y
When Jenny met Stephanie's parents, both of them had unpleasant expressions on their faces, and it was obvious they never expected that Stephanie was the root of their problems. What surprised them more was that their daughter had taken the initiative to go to her aggressor for their family's sake. Upon knowing that, they were angry and distressed.Stephanie's father, Charles, thanked Jenny for informing them about the situation. "Jenny, thank you for telling us. Otherwise, we would have thought that we somehow miraculously solved all the problems that came out of nowhere," he said with a wry smile.Jenny shook her head. "Let's not talk about that for now. We need to find a way to get Stephanie away from Paul."Charles was torn between his anger toward Paul and his concern for Stephanie's safety. He knew rescuing Stephanie could ruin the Walkers' business, but his daughter's safety was his priority."Jenny, please bring Stephanie to us. We'll take her away. At worst, we'll leave
Natalia was a little embarrassed. She could feel Jenny's hostility, but she understood. After all, she was still Alec's girlfriend in name."I just came to see you," Natalia said with a dry smile. She didn't know why she was there; the whole situation felt absurd.Annoyed, Jenny walked over to open the door. Looking back at Natalia, she said, "Come in and talk." Although she didn't like Natalia much, she hadn't done anything to her. Besides, it wasn't nice to make her talk to her at the door.Natalia didn't refuse and followed Jenny into the house. Seeing Natalia enter, Jenny tried to intimidate her by saying, "You really came in. Aren't you afraid that I'll hurt you?"Natalia was stunned. She hadn't thought about that. Both Jenny and she were girls; she assumed that Jenny wouldn't be a threat.Seeing how unassuming she was, Jenny wondered what Alec liked about her. Was it her identity or status? Jenny pitied Natalia a little. She walked over and poured Natalia a glass of water.
Natalia sensed that things were not as she had expected. Given Jenny's reaction, she appeared to harbor a strong dislike toward Alec."I...I just want to wait a little longer," Natalia said after a while, feeling that things were spiraling out of control."You want to wait?" Jenny frowned, not quite understanding what Natalia meant.Natalia quickly explained, "My parents also know about my relationship with him. They'll think it's my fault if we break up so soon. I don't want them to think that way, so even if we break up, it shouldn't happen so quickly."Jenny listened and began to grasp the situation. Alec and Natalia's relationship was due to Natalia's social status, and both families had met each other."But he insists on breaking up, and you can't stop him," Jenny said calmly.Natalia nodded and responded dejectedly, "His father initially supported my relationship with him, but now it seems he can't do anything about it, so Alec wants to break up with me." She thought Jenny
Alec was busy at the Faust Group when Natalia arrived. Frowning, he asked, "What are you doing here?" He didn't want to be seen with Natalia by the media as they were about to break up, and he didn't want to give them any reason to speculate.Natalia was embarrassed but decided to talk to Alec after witnessing Jenny's behavior toward her earlier that night. "Are you still busy?" she asked as she approached him.Alec was not in the mood to entertain her and asked, "What's the matter?" He viewed their relationship as strictly business, so he didn't see any need to be polite.Nonetheless, Natalia smiled and asked, "After we break up, are you going to make up with Jenny?"Alec's expression changed suddenly, and he glared at her. "Have you been spying on me?"Natalia chuckled nervously. "Do I need to spy on you? Your breakup with Jenny is common knowledge."Alec didn't understand why Natalia was concerned about the topic and said, "What does that have to do with you? If you're rea
Natalia was scared by Alec's angry expression and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go first. Bye!" She hurriedly left, fearing Alec might harm her if she walked slowly. Though unsure of what had happened, Natalia sensed she had said something wrong and left quickly.Alec was left standing with a headache. Without time to think, he drove to Perry Residence. He wanted to explain to Jenny before the news of their breakup went public tomorrow. Upon reaching Jenny's door at midnight, Alec knocked, feeling that explaining clearly would prevent any misunderstandings from escalating.Jenny was already asleep and unhappy to be woken up by Alec. When she opened the door, Alec started to say, "Jenny—""Mr. Faust, can you check the time? Have you considered that you might be disturbing someone?" She thought Alec was being extremely selfish for not considering her feelings.Alec noticed her sleepy eyes and apologized, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to explain to you—""Explain what?" Jenny cu
"What kind of person am I to you?" Alec asked Jenny. His tone was calm, without anger or emotion. Jenny's brows furrowed. After a moment of thought, she answered, "You're just a big fat liar!"She saw Alec's face turn pale, likely hurt by her words. But could he really blame her? He had told her many lies."Okay, I understand." Alec sighed, nodding lightly. He turned and left. What did he understand?Jenny didn't chase after him to ask what he knew. She just stood there and watched him disappear. For some reason, she felt a trace of pain in her heart.She didn't know how long he had been gone before she closed the door and returned to bed. However, she couldn't sleep a wink. …Christopher anxiously awaited Jenny's arrival at Parrington Airport as the boarding time drew near. He worried that she had changed her mind about going to Bardoff City. Even if she didn't want to know about things related to herself, she still needed to help the Walkers, right?Just as he was about t
Alec looked up at Vincent. "Did she go to Bardoff City?""Yeah, she left just now," Vincent answered. Already frustrated, Alec felt even more suffocated upon hearing that. "Who did she go with?" He didn't believe that Jenny had left Parrington alone, for there was no good reason for her to visit Bardoff City.Vincent paused, worrying that Alec couldn't accept the truth."Christopher Spade?" Alec could hazard a guess without Vincent's answer. After all, only one man around Jenny hailed from Bardoff City. It couldn't have been anyone else.Vincent nodded and was filled with worry for Alec. "I believe she has a different reason for visiting Bardoff City. It probably has nothing to do with Christopher Spade."Alec scoffed. Vincent knew that Alec didn't believe him, but he was helpless because he genuinely had no clue about the reason for Jenny's trip to Bardoff City."Why don't…you go to Bardoff City and explain to her?" Vincent asked cautiously.Alec glared at him, annoyed. "Why
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