Abel could not believe she was reacting to the situation this way. He patted her back and asked patiently, “Were you scared?”Ruth shook her head and nuzzled against his chest, but she said nothing. Galen got out of the car and was just about to greet Abel when his phone rang. He went to the side to answer the call. It was from his subordinate, who was reporting the situation on his side. After hanging up, Galen walked over and saw how Ruth was huddled up like a frightened bird in Abel’s arms. His expression twisted into one that cannot be described by words. Perhaps it was because his stare was burning into her back, but Ruth was able to get herself out of her funk. She looked at him. “Did they seriously manage to escape?”Abel scowled in displeasure. “They ran?”Galen shook his head. “No. They’re all in the MPV. We managed to capture all of them.”Ruth nodded. “That’s good.”Galen continued staring at Ruth’s calm face. In the end, he could not quell his curiosity and a
Ruth did not turn down having lunch with Abel. Soon, the hotel delivered their lunch to their room. It smelled great and looked appetizing. Ruth was salivating just by looking at it. She had not had lunch, and, after the ordeal, it was already past noon. In fact, it was approaching dinner time. Somehow, Ruth managed to elegantly wipe her plate clean of food. Then, she looked at Abel, who had spent the entire time cutting up her food for her instead of eating. His plate was practically untouched. “Aren’t you going to eat?”Before he could say anything, she decided to answer her own question instead. “Makes sense. Despite being so busy, you always make sure you eat all three meals on time. It’s now too late for lunch, but too early for dinner. You wouldn’t be able to stomach your food.”She took the bowl of soup Abel passed to her and elegantly took a spoonful. “Unlike me, who was abandoned and abducted while hungry.”Abel nodded. “True. You fought against your abductors with
Abel was surprised. He did not expect her to ask this question. When he saw her inquisitive and anxious eyes, his heart fluttered. “You’re worth it.”“But—”“No buts.” Abel cut her off before she could launch into any sort of self-doubt. “Didn’t you say you wanted to apologize? Are you trying to change the topic?”He did not like seeing her look so vulnerable and helpless. She should shine brightly and confidently at all times. At the sight of him asking for her apology so sternly, Ruth snickered before she put on the face she always had when she talked about something serious. “Alright. Did you think that I didn’t want to go watch a movie with you because I wanted to see Caelus?”Right after the words left her mouth, Abel’s expression froze, and he fell silent. The silent agreement verified Ruth’s theory. With an expression that said, “I knew it,” Ruth explained in resignation, “That wasn’t the case. Brendon Hollis sold the formula for the medicine, and Caelus was the buyer.
Desire burned in him, and he hugged her tighter so that she was pressed flushed against him. “You didn’t sound like you were apologizing. It was more like a complaint.”Ruth blinked innocently. “Was it?”Pressing his forehead against hers, Abel whispered, “Yes.”Their breaths mingled together, and there was only an inch between their lips. But he did not move any further. He only gave a hint. “Besides, I taught you how to show your sincerity if you want to be forgiven. Have you forgotten how to do it?”His warm breath fanned her face. Passion burned intensely in them, but Ruth’s mind was clear. She did remember. When she revealed that she was Harper Williams, he had shamelessly reminded her that she could show her sincerity by initiating. As she looked into his dark eyes and saw the desire burning in them, she felt like that same desire was burning her. Her throat became dry, and she gulped. “Do I have to?”Abel said nothing and only watched her with a smile. The implicati
Abel had looked her over just now; Ruth was not injured. Besides, considering how gutsy she was and how she had actually waited for Jasper to arrive, there was no way Jasper could have actually scared her. So, what exactly happened that made Ruth feel so down when she came back? Abel had never seen Ruth behave like that before. She was dejected, frail, and in despair. In fact, she looked like she was doubting everything, including herself. Ruth’s eyes were partially shut. She nuzzled against his chest and said in a drawl, “What could he have possibly done to me? You should be asking what I did to him.” Abel looked down at her and asked, “What did you do to him?”Ruth sneered and looked at him. “You already know. I asked Eilam to beat them up and strip them naked before leaving them there.”“You knew that I would send someone to pick you up, and that’s why you made sure they couldn’t leave?”“Nah.” She did figure that Abel would notice she was in trouble, but she did not kn
They fell silent. But something between them had changed. As Abel stared at her dumbstruck look, he smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. It was as if a switch was flipped with that kiss. Ruth’s entire face lit up with a bright smile. She pushed him away, and her voice was filled with glee. “Tell me more.”Abel just looked at her with a smile and said nothing. “I love listening to those things. Praise me more! You don’t have to use such plain words, either. You can use some metaphors or hyperbole. My memory for this sort of thing is really good. I’ll remember it very well.”Ruth’s eyes were sparkling with joy, and she was smiling so brilliantly that all her gloom and frailty from before was gone. She regained her usual prideful and smug behavior. Abel sighed in relief and chuckled. He hugged her and changed the topic. “What do you want for dinner?”“Come on. I don’t want dinner. Let’s just talk!”“But I don’t like talking while under a blanket. If you’re not hungry
Meanwhile, the Goldwells were panicking. Callum looked ten years older ever since the police told him they arrested Jasper.Bella cried day and night until her eyes were swollen. When Luna finally returned, Bella started asking her for help as she wept. “He’s your brother. You have to do something! Ask Mr. Nicholas to help get Jasper out of detention, please! We’re a family! We could have just settled this behind closed doors. Why did she have to kick up such a big fuss?”Luna scowled impatiently. She always had to do something in exchange for favors from Nicholas. She had nothing to offer Nicholas to help Jasper. After a moment, she said, “It’s not that I don’t want to help, I can’t. Jasper offended Abel Blakewell this time. No one can save him.”Bella started crying again. “How on earth did he end up offending someone like him?!”“How else? It’s all because of Ruth.”“My poor son! Why is he so unlucky to have someone like Ruth as his sister?!”Luna took a look at Callum.
Each of the Goldwells had differing motives as they hosted Gabriel nervously. Luna silently observed Gabriel before she softly said, “Did you come here for my sister, Mr. Gabriel?”Gabriel put down his teacup and gave Luna an intimidating stare. “Your parents haven’t even spoken to me yet, so you have no right to speak to me. Did your parents even teach you any manners?”Luna’s face immediately turned red in shame. She had always been praised by her relatives and friends, and she was outstanding in everything she did. She had only wanted to alleviate the tension in the air, because it was clear that her parents were shocked and terrified by the situation. Hence, she did not expect Gabriel to rebuke her so mercilessly. But this was good. This meant that he was not pleased with the Goldwell family. He might even be here to force Ruth into divorcing Abel. “Don’t be so harsh on her, my friend. Luna is just worried about her sister and wants to be closer to you. She did not mean any
Galen stood nervously at the side. At first, he wanted to step in and help, but he held himself back.In the end, he gave up and watched the fight.The more he watched, the more startled he was.Despite her delicate frame, her moves were calculated and ruthless.Many of her moves were lethal.She was a young woman who was loved. She was pampered and adored by everyone. How was such a person so ruthless in combat?It was as if she often fought to the death…Mr. Watson was shaken as well. He covered his neck with one hand, while his other hand hung limply by his hand. He looked at Lily in shock. His other hand hung weakly by his side. He looked at Lily in shock.How could such a small and delicate-looking person possess such strength? Was she really the heiress of the Cavendish family?“Do you want to verify it? The wounds match with the one who attacked me. I broke his right wrist on the spot, though. After that, I didn’t wait for reinforcement to come. I moved immediately an
Her hand paused while hefting the silver fork.Ruth’s husband was really very considerate. He loved her sister truly and everyone in her family.She decided to find a boyfriend like him for herself in the future.“I definitely will!” She thought.She stood in the spacious living room and looked at the man beside Galen who wanted to get to the bottom of this investigation. Her fingers tightened on the fork. “Words might not be enough to explain. If you don’t believe me, why don’t you give this a try?”Galen had not reacted when Charles spoke, nor when Abel had talked about switching it to a blunt weapon, but he definitely did now. “Nonsense!” he said sternly and stood up.Lily’s fighting spirit was ignited, but his stern rebuke deflated half of it. “Why not? Is it now allowed? You said attacking a police officer wasn’t allowed, didn’t you?”“He doesn’t count!” Galen said with disdain.Lily’s aggressive stance was completely deflated. “Well… if he doesn’t count, then his skills
The seemingly innocent question was directed at the young police officer.He looked troubled.Her delicate appearance did not help.The young police officer turned to the stern-faced man beside Galen for some help. The man pursed his thin lips and spoke in a deep voice.“Your Excellency… Madam… the nature of this case is severe, but the process of investigation is smooth. If your daughter doesn’t reveal the whole truth, it’ll be difficult for us to reach the crux of the issue. I assume that you don’t just want the result from this investigation but also the truth?”His firm voice was authoritative yet respectful.Charles turned to look at him. His brown eyes were calm, and he was sizing up this person.The police officer’s cold demeanor momentarily faltered. He quickly looked away and did not dare look him in the eye. “We’re just following procedures. To prevent this matter from escalating further, we hope for your cooperation.”He sounded intimidated yet resolute. It seemed
He was already determined to stake everything on his plan.“Right,” Lily said, “What about those bodyguards assigned to protect me? How were they swapped?”“Abel offered them ten times the price and bribed the group of bodyguards hired by Denver. The two poor people were taken down. The rest were replaced by our own people,” said Galen icily.Lily was shocked. She looked at him and then at Abel, who was driving calmly.Ruth looked at her husband with the same shocked face.So, this was how money made the world go round!When Denver had transferred money to that company, Lily had caught wind of it, but it seemed Abel had found out even sooner.He had already made arrangements to take drastic measures.“Don’t they have any morals? I heard that those kinds of organizations have principles. They won’t willingly betray the ones who employed them,” said Ruth.“As long as it’s not a terrorist organization, every organization needs connections. William’s group was already in dire stra
It was mainly because Denver clearly fabricated an alibi. But he had appeared on the scene and had been taken away.It was indeed quite puzzling.At that point, everyone looked at Abel in confusion.Abel looked straight ahead and did not speak. He only spoke when he was asked directly.“The father and son lost because they didn’t know each other’s motivations. It’s easy to bribe their people to send a message to the other and get them to the scene…”Before they set off, Sean received news that Denver was going all out and wanted to go down with Lily in the manor in the suburbs.Sean did not doubt it because Denver had been acting increasingly strange recently.He was transferring his assets and buying and renovating manors. It was as though he was prepared for death.He had even arranged for his funeral.Afraid that his son was taking things too hard, he put down whatever he was doing and rushed over to the scene.Since that was taken care of, it was easy to deceive Denver af
“See what you are doing? What if something happens to your sister?”Charles was not known for showing affection or caring about people outright.However, when his daughter cried and threw a tantrum, he could not stop himself.Charles stood by Lily without hesitation and scolded Abel for his incompetence.Ruth was originally filled with resentment and wanted to vent it out on Abel too, but when she saw that the father and daughter duo had joined forces to attack her husband, half of her resentment dissipated.With four bodyguards that had been arranged to deal with two outsiders, coupled with Lily’s abilities, her life was indeed not in danger…She glanced at Lily hesitantly. At this moment, Galen had cleaned up all the stains on her palm.Other than the redness between her thumb and index finger, she did not seem too badly hurt.All the resentment was gone. In fact, she was even a little protective. “Why did you have to deal with the four bodyguards?” Lily lowered her head an
Everyone was speechless.This discussion was fruitless. Everyone had their own opinions, and no one wanted to give in.In the end, Reina and the old man took a car, while Ruth, Abel, Charles, Galen Barker, and Lily got into another.The fire slowly died down.The cars left one after another.After Mr. Lockton got into the car, his cloudy eyes became shrewd. He asked his daughter, “Do you think that police officer is also interested in Lily?”Otherwise, why would he be so active and rush to the front? Why would he find such a lousy excuse to be the one to drop her home?“I think so, but unfortunately, Lily doesn’t seem to be as interested as before,” Reina said helplessly.Otherwise, why would she reject such a good opportunity to get into his car?Wouldn’t she have acted pitiful enough to earn his sympathy to get into the car?Mr. Lockton frowned. He was in deep thought.The last time he had heard that his granddaughter had fallen in love with another man who happened to be
Also, she was sure that if it was Luna being attacked at that time, he would have helped her without hesitation.This man was just like Notus. He was stupid, stubborn, and hypocritical.The reason why she spoke on his behalf was that she could not stand Luna’s smug face. Even if she wanted to drag someone down, she had to ask first.It was just the truth. She would not die if she made that clear anyway.Luna’s smug look cracked as she stared fixedly at her. Her gaze shifted from doubt to resentment and unwillingness.Aquilo was not surprised when Lily accused him. He knew that he had done something wrong. If not for Abel’s careful consideration, they would have died here today.However, he was quite surprised to hear her defend him.As he was handcuffed and escorted to the police car, he could not help but turn to look at her.“Lily…”Lily was about to walk to her car.She paused for a moment and turned to look at him calmly.Her usually playful eyes were indifferent at that
Aquilo opened his mouth but did not know what to say.Just then, a team of uniformed police officers rushed over to the scene to rescue the hostages.Looking at the people standing before them, they could not tell which ones were the hostages.Galen Barker walked over from behind and glanced at them. “What are you still standing here for? Get out quickly!”This manor had an ancient Sommersetese courtyard.The place where they were gathered was a small open space in the courtyard.After passing through the desolate artificial mountain pavilion, they arrived at the large courtyard outside the manor. There were many people gathered there, with many police cars parked nearby.A fire truck had also arrived.To Lily’s surprise, Sean Lovehart and his father were also there and were being escorted into the police car.When he saw her coming out, Denver’s face filled with hatred. He wanted to rush to her and strangle her. “You’ve got guts! You risked your life to drag us down with you!