"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
"You can ignore your parents, but I can't," Jenny said. Christopher could treat his parents however he wanted, but Jenny was sensible enough not to do the same. As an outsider, she did not share his privilege. He didn't object in the face of her insistence and said, "Sure. I'll pick you up tomorrow.""Great."Soon, their plane landed at Bardoff Airport. Once Christopher and Jenny exited the terminal, they spotted the cars that Christopher had arranged to fetch them. He opened the car door for her. "Let's go. I'll send you to the hotel.""Thanks," she thanked him without fuss since it was hard to hail a cab at that time.The chauffeur, an old man and a long-time staff of the Spades, placed her luggage in the trunk. He was puzzled by Christopher's polite attitude toward her and wondered about the lady's identity, who forced an attitude change in the arrogant young man."Could she be Christopher's girlfriend? But I've not heard of any girlfriend," the chauffeur thought. He shook of
"Steph, I know what's on your mind. Don't you dare think that!" Jenny raised her voice sternly to her friend, "I don't see this as trouble, and your parents share the same sentiment. We do this willingly for your freedom. Got it?"Stephanie clutched her phone as tears welled up in her eyes. She understood that no one thought she was a burden, but she felt guilty toward them anyway."Steph, quit overthinking, and don't act differently. Go about your day as usual. Give us some time," Jenny comforted Stephanie. She wasn't actually angry at her friend."Okay. I got it." Since they had a plan, Stephanie didn't want to worry too much and chose to trust Jenny by leaving the matter to her. After the call, Jenny finally had the time to rest in bed. She checked the news and realized Alec had announced his breakup with Natalia Cruz. Instead of feeling happy, she was upset—Alec dated Natalia right after they broke up, which she had no issue with if he had feelings for Natalia, but he announce
Ben and Evelyn put on serious faces when they brought up the purpose of their visit. He nudged her, only to receive a glare. She thought, "Is he seriously making me the bad guy every time?"Still, she collected herself and said to her son, "Christopher, I heard that you brought home a woman from Parrington—that small city."Although the couple was not the heir of the Spade Group, they were highly interested in every single move of their son. They immediately received the news when Christopher showed up with Jenny and hurried to the Spade Manor.Christopher's face soured even more when they brought up the issue. "So what?" He glared at them and reined in his anger."We shouldn't interfere in your life because you're an adult. But you have to be careful when it comes to marriage," Evelyn went on. When she noticed Christopher's silence, she added, "A woman from a small city is not a good match for you. You're going to take over the Spades business. If you marry someone from a dinky pl
Right as the father and son were about to get into a fight, Harvey shook his head in defeat and sighed softly. "That's enough! Do you want to cut my lifespan short?""Grandpa!""Dad!"Ben and Christopher yelled simultaneously, but none wanted to give in.Harvey waved his hand and dismissed them. "Leave, the both of you. As Christopher's grandfather, I'll make the arrangements for his marriage. You and Evelyn don't have to worry about it."Ben and Evelyn appeared dissatisfied and wanted to protest, but they shut up under Harvey's sharp glare. "Remember whose money you're taking. If you push me to my limits, I'll not give you a single cent."The couple fell silent after hearing Harvey's threat. No joke! How could they go about their lives without money? They left the manor in no time but had no plans to give up.Christopher took his seat when his parents were gone. "You shouldn't have spoiled them, Grandpa. You should've kicked them out earlier." To him, Ben and Evelyn were the tw
Christopher arrived on the hotel's seventh floor the next day, where he found Jenny eating breakfast. She looked at him and smiled. "Have you eaten?""No." He came to pick her up and hadn't had time for breakfast. She signaled at him to sit and said slowly, "There's no rush. We have the time for breakfast." She seemed calm and peaceful, as though there were no worries in her mind. Influenced by her attitude, he sat across from her and slowly ate his breakfast."I asked Grandpa yesterday if he'd tell you everything. Guess what he said?" Christopher tried to get her attention. She glanced at him and smiled softly. "From your question, I could tell that he's agreed to tell me everything. You wouldn't have looked at ease otherwise."Had it been the other way, Christopher would have been too embarrassed to show up before her, not to mention enjoying breakfast."How smart of you," he sighed and thought that he shouldn't have let her guess in the first place. She lifted a brow at him
Jenny frowned in displeasure. "Madam, despite having 'bad manners,' I still treat everyone with respect. How about you?"She hadn't planned on getting into a fight with Christopher's parents, but Evelyn was too rude and offensive. As a guest, she didn't come to ask for favors and refused to be bullied."You!" Evelyn banged on the table and stood up as though she'd beat up Jenny, but Jenny stared her down fearlessly.Christopher finally gathered himself and hurriedly shielded Jenny. He flashed a stern look at Evelyn. "What do you think you're doing? Jenny is my guest.""She's a guest? Does she deserve to be the guest of our family?" Evelyn didn't attempt to mask her disdain and great dislike for Jenny, who had the guts to talk back to her. She thought, "If this is how she behaves before she marries Christopher, what would happen after she joins the family?"Enraged, Christopher turned to the butler at the door. "Call the guards over and kick them out!" He didn't want to see his par
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