Yvette refused without hesitation. "Please tell her that Xavier and I just got back not long ago, and we haven't had a proper rest. It's not convenient for us to go over."Given Xavier's current condition, she didn't know what kind of trouble would arise if they went to Lane Mansion."Alright then," Zoey didn't press further and relayed Yvette's message to Shannon while adding a bit of her own twist.Shannon, who already resented Yvette for leaving Noah behind and going abroad, became even more displeased upon hearing Yvette's refusal. "She's growing outrageous. Who does she think she is?"Zoey explained, "Mom, don't be mad. Yvvy has always been like this. Just the other day, she forced my stepmother and my family to return her money.""What money?""It's her father's money from when he was alive. She somehow forged a will claiming the Snyder family's original fortune was supposed to be hers."Shannon's dislike for Yvette only deepened at those words, even though she was well
"Mom, how about we send the child to his room? It's better for him to not hear certain things we're about to say," Zoey suggested to Shannon.Staring at the beautiful but sinister woman in front of him, Noah coldly barked, "Go away!"For some reason, Zoey felt a chill run down her spine at Noah's outburst. Her hand clenched slightly as a murderous intent flashed through her mind—she wanted nothing more than to rid herself of Noah to eliminate any future threat."Little one, you need to mind your manners."Noah spat at her. "Our teacher says manners are for human beings, old hag."Zoey's exquisite face twisted in fury. If it weren't for Shannon being present, she would have ripped this brat's mouth apart on the spot.Yvette didn't want Noah to be influenced by the two women. So, she bent down and said gently, "Noah, go back to your room for now. Your grandma and I have important things to discuss. Don't worry, Grandma won't bully me." She looked at Shannon. "Right, Mom?"It had b
Shannon's gaze was cold. "Yvette, the Lane family deserves more respect than you're showing. I want you to get on your knees!"Yvette's throat tightened, but her back remained straight."Why should I kneel? I haven't done anything wrong.""How can you say you haven't done anything wrong when you left your son alone and went to another man?" Zoey added fuel to the fire.Yvette was speechless. She looked coldly at Zoey. "Are you implying that women shouldn't have male friends?""There's no such thing as men and women being 'just friends' in this world," Zoey said mockingly.Seeing this, Yvette decided not to hold back any longer."From what I know, Ms. Yandell, you frequently change your dance partners. Not only do they dance with you, but they also engage in various forms of physical contact. Isn't that even worse than what I did?""That's for work! It's not the same as what you did.""So you're saying that while 'just friends' is unacceptable, but 'just colleagues' is?" Yvette
The crowd turned in the direction of the voice and saw Xavier and Mark standing at the door. Xavier's face was as dark as it could be. Yvette hadn't expected him to return, so she was rather shocked to see him there. "What's wrong?" she asked. She figured Xavier would take Shannon's side anyway. To her surprise, he said, "You let just anyone come inside?"Just anyone? Zoey's expression changed. Even Shannon looked upset. Shannon said, "Xav, what are you talking about? I'm your mother."The gloom on Xavier's face didn't dissipate despite her words. "Mom, it's between me and Yvette. It has nothing to do with you." Yvette thought he'd regained his memories after hearing what he said. A lump formed in Shannon's throat. "Okay. It's none of my business. You can do whatever you want in the future."She glanced at Xavier and, seeing that he wasn't hurt, said to Zoey, "Let's go."Zoey glanced at Xavier too. He looked just fine. He wasn't injured like Jeremiah had described. "O
All of a sudden, Xavier grabbed Yvette's hand, making her stop in her tracks. "Tell me, why did you come back?" he asked. He still couldn't remember why Yvette had returned or that he'd lost his memories two days ago. Helpless, Yvette could only explain things to him again. "So, you disappeared with my children for five whole years?" Xavier voiced the question again. Yvette didn't feel like explaining any longer. "We went through this before. I don't want to talk about it anymore." She was exasperated, but Xavier still didn't let go of her. His grasp tightened instead. "Yvette," he said, his voice grim. Yvette wanted to wring her hand free from his grasp but failed. "Let go of me," she hissed. Instead of letting her go, Xavier hooked an arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground. With her feet dangling above the ground, Yvette yelped and said, "What are you doing? Put me down." Anxious, she quickly gripped his arm. "Be careful. There's a table right in fro
Xavier couldn't see anything. Where could he have gone?Yvette quickly asked all the household staff to look for him. After approximately ten minutes, one of the maids found him and called Yvette to head over to where Xavier was. "Mrs. Lane, Mr. Lane's near the pond beside the rock garden," the maid informed Yvette. "Got it." Yvette hung up and rushed over to the pond, where Xavier stood in the shade of a huge tree. She heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing him and slowly and gingerly made her way over to him. "Xavier," she called out. She had no idea if Xavier's memory was messed up again, so she didn't dare get too close to him. Xavier's gaze wasn't focused, but he seemed clear-headed for now. "What is it?" he asked. "You… Do you remember me?" Yvette asked."Don't worry. I'm the same as yesterday." Xavier's reply put her worries to rest. "Great." Yvette sighed in relief. "Why are you here?" "I needed some fresh air." Xavier turned in the direction where Yvette came fr
Xavier couldn't help but ask, "I've never met your teachers before?"Noah pouted. "Nope. You and Mom were always busy with work, so Mr. Septer takes me to school."Mr. Septer...It wasn't just a small piece of Xavier's memory that was missing. Even with Mark filling in the gaps, there were still things he had forgotten, like Ray."Why Mr. Septer?" Xavier asked.Noah replied frankly, "Because Mr. Septer is awesome! Mom said only he could protect me. And he's super popular with all the kids and teachers at school. So if they seem disappointed when you show up instead, don't feel bad, Dad."He'd said that last part with the intention of getting under Xavier's skin. Xavier's eyes narrowed slightly as he picked up his phone to call Mark, who was in the car behind theirs.Mark quickly answered the call. "Mr. Lane.""Who's Mr. Septer?""Ray Septer is Mrs. Lane's personal bodyguard," Mark replied immediately.Xavier's expression relaxed slightly. A bodyguard wasn't something to worry
"Yvvy, the courthouse has frozen all of Yara's assets, but word is, she's got less than ten million left," Matthew said over the phone, shortly after Yvette finished breakfast.They had anticipated this news for a while now, as Yvette had been secretly monitoring Yara's financial movements. She knew Yara had already funneled most of her money to Zoey."What's strange is that Yandell Group's account doesn't have much left either—only about 200 million dollars has been accessed." Even Matthew was surprised by this. How could a company as large as Yandell Group only have such a small amount of liquid capital?"Did they move it ahead of time?" Yvette asked."I doubt it. We've had people watching closely, and we've got insiders within Yandell Group as well.""Then it's just poor management on their part." Yvette stared out the window. "It's fine. We'll take whatever we can get. It's better than nothing.""Agreed."After hanging up the phone, Yvette realized she hadn't seen Yara in