Jenny tried her best to ignore Jolene throughout the meal, but her half-sister kept throwing insults across the room now and then. If only she could switch off her hearing."You should have greeted me politely when you saw me earlier. After all, I'm a manager, and you're just a lowly saleswoman. Anyway, I'll let this go just once since you're my big sister. But keep that in mind next time," Jolene shot out again after Jenny ignored her the nth time.Jenny's colleagues all shot each other helpless, annoyed looks. "Now she's done it," Jenny thought. She sighed and turned to Jolene. "Did you forget to take your psych meds, or are you just plain dumb?"Her response had everyone tense up in shock. None of them had expected Jenny to be so blatant."What did you say to me?" Jolene stood up angrily, not expecting Jenny to speak to her like that in public. "How dare you?!" she screeched, pointing her finger at Jenny.Jenny left her table and went up to her. "I just do. What are you going t
The staff's respect for Jenny only increased upon hearing that. Jenny had a powerful background, and it took a truly selfless person to be able to not care about it all.After dinner, Jenny brought them out for karaoke before finally going back home. It was already late when she reached Walter Castle. Jolene spotted her in the doorway and tucked herself beside her mother, murmuring, "Wonder what shady business she's been up to, coming home so late.""You're young, Jenny, so we understand if you want to have some fun after hours. But you still need to watch yourself. The public now knows you're Graham's daughter, after all," Rowena cautioned, seemingly kind.Jenny spotted Graham sitting beside the mother and daughter too. "He must've stayed up to wait for me," Jenny thought."I had dinner with friends at work, Dad. Got caught up in traffic. You don't need to wait for me to come back from now on. I can handle myself," she explained. "Dinner." Graham nodded. "Already making friend
Jade clocked out from Jeneration Group once she was done with her work. There was barely anyone out and about in the streets anymore. She sighed and was prepared to hail a taxi when a white luxury car stopped before her. Her expression fell the moment she recognized it.The car doors opened, revealing a man and a woman Jade knew very well."What are you doing back in Bardoff City, Jade Weston?" The woman asked, hooking her arm around the man.Jade sneered. She was Maria Biscotti, her best friend, once upon a time. The man she was holding was none other than Hayden Lowe, the man she had deeply loved long ago. These two people had betrayed her trust, forcing her to divorce Hayden without taking even a cent for alimony, and even made her leave the city.Jade ignored them and walked off, but the two swiftly caught up with her. Hayden even grabbed her wrist, dragging her back. "You said you'd never come back to Bardoff, Jade. What are you doing here now? Having second thoughts?"Jade b
"This is for your own good, Jade. You could expand your skills anywhere and however you wanted outside of Bardoff City," Hayden insisted, stopping her from leaving.Jade frowned. "You want me to leave because you're scared I'll take away everything you have, aren't you?""Scared?" Hayden stiffened. "You really are still as proud as ever. Do you think you're that capable? Trust me, I have nothing to be afraid of, whether it's Jeneration Group or some startup of yours."Hayden was only giving her this alternative because killing her would claim a lot of resources. "Funny that it gave her this impression," he thought.Jade wasn't upset at all. She had long grown out of the limited perspectives that held her back all those years ago, especially her uncontrollable temper. "Then there's no need to waste your breath here. Goodnight." She made to walk away, but Maria stepped in front of her."I know you hated me for stealing Hayden from you, Jade," Maria began. "But I truly do love him. B
"How dare you?" Jade yelled angrily. Hayden really hadn't changed one bit. He was still as violent as ever."Try me, bitch!" Hayden snapped back, swinging his hand. Though he had divorced Jade, in his mind, she still belonged to him, so he felt he had the right to do whatever he wanted to her.Jade stood still, waiting for Hayden's hand to land. The moment it did, she would call the cops on the bastard. But the slap never landed. Instead, a man stepped in front of Jade, protecting her."Max?" Jade gasped. Shouldn't he be in Parrington?"You alright?" he asked briefly, turning to glance at her.Jade nodded, still curious as to what he was doing there.Max didn't explain. He turned to glare at Hayden instead, flinging his hand away. "What kind of cockless sonuvabitch would hurt a woman?"Hayden stumbled back from the force. Jealousy burned in his chest when he saw how close Jade was to Max. Jade was his whether or not they had divorced, so there was no way he would allow her to be
Jade took a while to recover her senses on Max's car, then started gnawing at her gums as to why she had hopped on in the first place. "Uhm…thank you for earlier," she said hesitantly. She didn't know what else to say, embarrassed as she was. Very few people had seen her so unhinged before.Max shrugged, oblivious to her embarrassment. "No need. I'm glad to have helped.""What brings you to Bardoff City?" Jade asked, switching the topics.The car stopped outside a restaurant before Max answered, "Let's grab something to eat.""No, thank you. I've eaten." She really just wanted to go home and rest.Max gazed at her longingly. "Can you stay with me while I eat, then?"Jade reluctantly agreed and followed him into the building. She couldn't be rude now, especially after he had just helped her. Max got them a table and ordered several dishes that Jade felt were the food she liked. When their meal was served, Max asked, "Was that man really your ex-husband?""Yes. I told you I'm a
Jade couldn't actually hold her weight in alcohol, save for beer, but this was white wine she had. Right now, she was lounging in Max's lap, hand caressing his jaw and eyes roaming across his face. "Be careful with those eyes of yours, kid. Else I eat you right up," she cooed.Max's heart leaped, but he didn't show it. "Really? How do you plan to do that?""I plan to…" Jade smiled, then gently pressed her lips against Max's. She had wanted to do this for a long time but never had the chance to while sober. Only when her mind was uninhibited could she let these desires run free.The moment their lips touched, Max's temple throbbed. He really was holding back as much as he could."You're playing with fire, Jade," he groaned. He hadn't imagined someone as proper as Jade to be such an enchantress after drinking.Jade ignored him and arched in his lap instead. She huffed. "You're the one getting burned."The next second, Max had lifted her up by the waist. He went upstairs to where
Jenny massaged her aching temples and went to the bathroom. She nearly jumped at her reflection. "I look like I got mugged," she mumbled, amused. She really did look awful.Her dreams were lost to her. All that she remembered was the fact that they were nightmares.After washing up, she put on makeup to hide her exhaustion and went downstairs. Graham was already having breakfast with Rowena and Jolene. They turned to look at her when she reached the first landing."Good morning. Come join us for breakfast," Graham offered.Jenny nodded and went over. Her hunger had tripled from the exhaustion and nightmares last night, so she began devouring her food like a starving beast.The sight made Jolene cringe internally."Hey, Jenny, why did you choose to go to the sales department? They have a minimum target to hit every month, don't they? Aren't you worried you won't make any sales? It's not like you know anyone in Bardoff yet." Before Jenny could answer, Jolene faked a shocked gasp. "
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