When Victoria returned to Zion Estate, it was already early morning. Her excitement over Benjamin's promise to give her the deed for Zachary's house kept her up. She kept tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep.She decided to stay awake and browse her phone. It was past 4:00 am when she finally drifted to sleep.The next day, she was awakened much later than usual by the sound of her phone ringing."Hello?" she answered irritably.Roman's warm and affectionate voice rang out through the speakers. Victoria had goosebumps listening to him.He said, "Victoria, it's me, your father. Did I wake you up? It's almost 8:00 am. You should be heading to class. Why are you not up yet? You need to—"Victoria was already in a bad mood. His words annoyed her further."Don’t bother me!" she snapped.Then, she got up to get ready for school.When she stepped out of her house, she saw Quinton in the corridor. He was holding a folder.Victoria asked with a smile, "Are you taking Benj
Soon, it was the day of Colette's birthday party. Although the recent scandal involving Colette had caused a huge commotion and brought disgrace to the Jameson family, most of the socialites and celebrities invited still attended the party. Victoria arrived at the party by taxi. When she got there, the driveway of the Jameson family manor was already filled with luxury cars. A temporary tent had been set up in the front yard. There were refreshments and servants to tend to the guests. Victoria glanced inside and noticed several men with cameras. They were clearly journalists. She knew that Ginny and the others were up to no good. Inside the Jameson family manor, the lights were bright. People were mingling, raising their glasses, and chatting.Victoria was dressed in the same outfit as the last time she had visited the Jameson family—a black hoodie paired with ripped jeans of the same color.She stood with one hand in her pocket, maintaining the same aloof and cool expression a
Victoria and Yves looked like a matching couple as they walked off. Roman was ecstatic as his gaze followed them.He straightened up. He wanted nothing more than to announce that the woman who walked off with Yves was his daughter.He would soon be Yves' father-in-law.Zachary silently reproached Victoria for being flirtatious. He wanted to go after them, but Nicole grabbed him. "You mustn't offend Yves!"After leaving the hall, Victoria and Yves went to the backyard.She casually leaned against the wall and looked at him. "Why have you come?"Now that Colette's reputation had been damaged, no one wanted anything to do with her.Afraid of getting involved with her somehow, hardly any marriageable young men attended the party.Yves couldn't resist the juicy gossip. "Hey, Mrs. B. Are you really Roman's daughter? Were you born out of wedlock?"Then, he mumbled, "But it can't be. You won't be engaged to Zachary if you're an illegitimate child.""If you're curious, you can always
Zachary could not contain himself. He jogged all the way to the swimming pool.However, it was empty. There was no one there.He glowered at the thought of Victoria tricking him. Fury replaced the excitement in his eyes.He turned to leave, but he had barely taken a few steps when he saw someone running toward him.Zachary's eyes lit up. He was about to exclaim in glee when he realized that person was Colette, and his face fell. "Why are you here?"Colette frowned. She sensed something off about his tone. Then, she seamlessly switched to a hurt expression. "Who were you expecting, Zach? Victoria?"Zachary's heart softened when he saw her expression. But then, he quickly remembered that she might have AIDS and could spread it to him.Thus, his heart turned cold again. "I'm engaged to her. Who are you to stick your nose in our affairs? I have other matters to tend to. I'll be leaving now!"Colette felt dejected. Only now did Zachary remember he had a fiancee.Why did he not ment
Roman kept his excitement in check. He said matter-of-factly, "Victoria's not an illegitimate child. She's our precious daughter."When she was born, her health was frail. She had to be kept in an incubator. Ginny and I were a bundle of nerves then."Later on, we found a skilled tarot reader. He instructed us to entrust Victoria to someone in the countryside. We were also to keep her existence a secret until she was 18, after which we could bring her home."To keep her safe, we never told anyone about her, including Lettie."Roman gazed affectionately at Victoria as he expressed his remorse, "Vicky, I'm sorry we couldn't be with you when you were growing up, but we did it for your sake."You've turned 18 now. You're safe and sound. We can finally live together again. I'll certainly make amends. Say the word, and I'll give you anything you desire."Will you give us a chance to make it up to you?"As he ended his passionate speech, tears rolled down his cheeks.She was his precio
A reporter bolted after Roman and Nicole. Afraid they would miss such scandalous news, the others did the same.Ginny paled as she fell to the ground. She screamed, "Stay where you are, all of you!"Everyone ignored her.The guests exchanged glances and excitedly went after the reporters.Soon, most had left the hall. Even the Jameson manor's housekeepers joined in the commotion.Ginny was furious yet worried. Trembling all over, she rose to her feet.She stumbled a few steps forward before she saw Victoria. Her expression contorted with fury.It no longer mattered to Ginny that Yves was right behind Victoria. She pointed a finger at Victoria and screeched, "It's you, isn't it? Are you behind this? Do you think you can marry Zachary by doing this? In your dreams!"Yves thought she was being too mean. Concerned, he glanced at Victoria and decided to speak up for her.Was Ginny kidding?Victoria already had Benjamin. Why would she be interested in Zachary?Victoria stopped him
Colette looked at Zachary in disbelief. There was a flicker of hatred in her eyes as she denied loudly, "No! That was not what happened. I-I didn't drug you!"Zachary did not believe a word she said. He retorted, "You did it! You drugged me! You did that so you could stay with me!"Upset, Colette shook her head vigorously. "I came here because I saw you from upstairs … I just wanted to explain what happened with Ronald."I-I only hugged you because I was scared you would leave. You were the one who suddenly turned around. You kissed me and held me down. Zach, h-how can you blame it on me?"She put on a fragile, pitiful look and tried to garner pity.However, her cheek was swollen from Nicole's violent slaps. She did not look pretty at all.Besides, most of those present did not believe what she said. They thought she was pretentious.Colette hugged her knees and curled into a fetal position. She thought there was something weird about the way they looked at her.Irritated, she
Colette, who did not know how to swim, shouted for help. After flailing around in a panic, she soon latched onto Zachary who was also in the water.Zachary hated Colette so much that he felt sickened by her touch. He desperately tried to get away from her.Colette was afraid of dying, so she hugged him tighter. She wrapped her limbs around him and refused to let go.Thanks to her struggling, Zachary ended up choking on water a few times. His face turned livid; he wanted her to die.They were both undressed—especially Zachary, who was wearing nothing. The reporters hurriedly adjusted their cameras to record this potentially earth-shattering news.Victoria stood by the side of the pool and watched disdainfully as Colette coughed pathetically.Her intimidating air shocked Yves. He nervously swallowed as he watched her clench and unclench her fists.He had a feeling Victoria wanted to kill Colette.With Colette dragging him down, by the time Zachary swam to the side, he was panting