James and Jenny sat in a private booth in the restaurant.Jenny wanted to ask him how he was doing, but she didn't know how to phrase it. She was afraid that she'd make him upset."I've been so busy lately that I haven't had the time to catch up with you. How have you been?" James asked. He had a smile on his face as if things were just like before.Jenny felt even more worried seeing him like this. "I'm doing pretty well. What about you?""Me?" James raised his eyebrows and slowly poured her a cup of coffee. "I'm fine."In fact, with someone to yell at every day he got home, he felt even better than before.Jenny wanted to ask him about his situation with Jolene, but she knew it would upset him if she did. She had to keep it to herself.Not long after, the waiter served them their food."You've lost weight. Have things been hectic lately at Walter Inc?" James asked, handing her a plate of mashed potatoes.Jenny shook her head. "Not at all. On the contrary, I think I gained we
It took a long while for Jolene to prop herself up. She looked at James and Jenny standing together as if they were the couple and she was the mistress.A thunderstorm of emotions surged through her chest."I'm your fiancée, James! How could you do this to me?" Jolene looked at James with tears in her eyes, holding back her pain. She thought he would appreciate her effort these past few days and would at least stand up for her at that moment.Alas, he did not.Jenny looked at her coldly, but James' gaze was even colder.He walked toward her and lifted her chin. "Who let you in here? Who do you think you are?""I…""If you want to stay in my house, you'll have to suck it up. Don't you dare say that something is going on between Jenny and me. Even if there was, you have no right to point it out." His tone was ice cold. He was gripping her hard, and her chin quickly turned red.Jolene was so angry that she burst into sobs, but crying was no use. James would only hate her even more
Jenny had no idea what Rowena and Jolene were conspiring, but she had her own line of defense.Jenny knew something was up the night Rowena snuck off with someone for a secret meeting. Once Jenny learned of the person's identity, she knew at once that Rowena was planning something.Rowena probably didn't know that she had long been targeted by Jenny. The moment she did anything to harm the Walters, Jenny would instantly be able to use something against her.But before Jenny could find out Rowena's secret, Randy found her."Jenny." Randy looked at the beautiful woman before him, his eyebrows furrowing.Jenny was a little surprised to see him. "What's up, Randy?"Since leaving Walter Inc, Jenny had been looking for a job at a hospital. What she truly wanted was to be a doctor."I have something to ask you," Randy said. "The Glasses have been losing quite a few projects lately, and our research shows that it might have something to do with Walter Inc."He stared hard at Jenny as i
Blake raised an eyebrow. She walked toward Randy."Mr. Glass," she said. Although she disliked Randy, he was still the successor of the Glasses. She could use him to her advantage.Randy immediately cleared up the expression on his face when he heard her. When he saw that it was Blake, he smiled. "Miss Watkins. What a coincidence that you're here.""Yes. Alec and I are here on some business," she said, looking at Alec.Randy only now realized that Alec was there, too. He deflated a little. "Oh, it's Mr. Faust."Alec was the director of Faust Group. Everyone called him Mr. Faust to not embarrass him since he was part of the Ten Elites. However, he was only a pawn to the Fausts. He would basically never reach the inner workings of the company."Why don't we have a meal together since we've bumped into each other?" Randy looked at Blake with a smile. He directed his question to her and couldn't care less about Alec.Blake hesitated. She looked at Alec, who was walking over. "I have
Everyone was spreading rumors about them being together. Since both Alec and Blake had not cleared anything up, it was considered a confirmation.They were in agreement. Blake would help him inherit the Fausts if Alec agreed to be with her."How can I tell them about something like this?" Blake shook her head. Her parents would rage at her if she did.Moreover, Alec might think that what they had was fake, but Blake didn't share the same sentiment.She noticed he was unhappy and said, "It's fine if you don't want to go. We're just going to have a simple meal. I told my father you wished to be the Fausts' next heir. He thinks favorably of you. He's probably inviting you over to talk about this."Alec did not want to join the Watkins because he did not think he and Blake were a couple. At most, they were collaborators.But Blake was a psychologist. She saw through Alec's heart clearly. She knew that what he wanted right now was to inherit the Fausts. Hence, when she brought the mat
For whatever reason, when Derrick heard that Jenny was still uncertain, he sighed in relief. Did that mean that Jenny might not get the job after all?Jenny didn't know what he was thinking, but when she saw his face visibly relax, she felt speechless.What did her interview have to do with him? Did he have to care so much?"Why did you suddenly resign from Parrington Hospital? Did something upset you?" Derrick was curious.Jenny shook her head, not wishing to tell him too much. "It's a personal reason. Didn't you also mention that Bardoff Hospital offered more career advancement?"She hadn't forgotten that gleeful look on Derrick's face after he mentioned that he worked at Bardoff Hospital. Why was he so unhappy now that she was here?Derrick smiled dryly and rubbed his head as if to relieve himself of the awkwardness. "That's true. You're brilliant. You'll definitely shine in Bardoff Hospital.""Thank you." Jenny smiled.Derrick glanced at the time and said, "Have you eaten y
Jenny quickly forgot about her encounter with Derrick. She hadn't even taken it to heart and hadn't the slightest idea that she was already marked.After leaving the hospital, she went to the company. Not Walter Inc, though. She went to Jeneration Group, which was being managed by Jade and Alfred. Though technically, it was mostly Alfred doing the managing. Jade was spending most of her efforts on designs.Jenny didn't think it was a bad thing. Jade was best at fashion, after all. She was working extra hard, probably because of her ex-husband. She wanted to take the brand to greater heights to surpass the company she had once built.Alfred was in his office when he saw her and said, amused, "Oh, a rare visitor.""Oh, stop it." Jenny rolled her eyes, though she felt guilty. It had indeed been a while since she last came there.If it weren't for Jeneration Group making it on the news, letting her know that it was growing bigger and stronger, she would have forgotten all about this c
Jenny nodded. She had been considering it for a while. She thought that she was being too passive. If she inherited the Walters one day and had no means of gathering intel, a lot of things would be stuck in passive stages. Hence, she came to talk to Alfred about building a channel through which they could gather information.After a while, Alfred spoke. "We could do that, but I have no idea how."He had not done anything like it before. If he ever needed to find something out, he would have hired a private detective or gone to ask someone he knew. He had not wondered about where they got their information."Actually, it's easy. Do you know what makes people talk?" Jenny smiled as she popped the question at him. She obviously already had something in mind.Alfred was stunned. Tentatively, he said, "Alcohol?"Jenny nodded. That was precisely it. People were only willing to talk when they were drunk. On top of that, they would talk with no filters over their mouths."Are you suggest
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