Ruth’s icy cold demeanor terrified the manager. He did not ask any questions and just said, “We do. It’s the clothes Demi Barker wore for a press conference yesterday. We haven’t had the time to return them to her.”What?Ruth’s anger faded away as she slowly turned around and gave Apollo a strange look. Apollo waved his hand in denial. “Don’t misunderstand! Something happened during the press conference, but she couldn’t go to her changing room, so she thought of changing her clothes in a car. Her manager wasn’t around, so she used my car!”He was talking at lightning speed, and there were two suspicious blotches of red on his cheeks. His manager, too, realized what was wrong with what he said, and he explained the situation as well. “That’s right. She only used our car to change her clothes. Apollo did not go out during the entire process, so there’s no way any paparazzi got photos of them. Don’t worry!”It sounded like a suspiciously specific denial. The more they talked,
Apollo knew Eilam. He was Abel’s personal bodyguard and took up a lot of special missions in the past. To Apollo, he was the most capable person, second only to his brother. Ruth gave him a scrutinizing look and felt quite speechless. Even so, she said, “You followed me? You saw me calling someone to pick me up, then? Why didn’t you think about helping me, if that’s the case?”“I didn’t know you called someone to pick you up,” Eilam answered methodically.Both Ruth and Apollo fell silent. Ruth thought. “Gee, thanks. You make it sound like I called a cab or something.”Ruth went to the gynecology department. Eilam tailed her but kept his distance. However, when he saw the checkups she received, his eyes lit up with understanding, and he realized that something was off with Ruth. Awkwardness showed up on his face. He brought out his phone and sent a message. Meanwhile, Apollo and his manager were busy playing detectives in the basement. “Say, do you think my brother real
This was good news. But the bad news was: the Blakewell Jewelry jewelers who passed the preliminary rounds all worked for Nicholas. Meanwhile, the two best, influential, and most famous jewelers were eliminated at the preliminary round. Rumors spread within the corporation that Nicholas was Callum’s son-in-law and had ties with Seema. He was going to use his cooperation with Seema to gain decision-making power of Blakewell Jewelry. The results were a clear signal. The rumors were true. The leader of Blakewell Jewelry was about to change. “Miss Luna is the one in charge of the preliminary rounds, but she doesn’t care for the competition, and she doesn’t understand how the selection works. Seema’s group didn’t join the selection, and no one knows what the selection standards are,” the person-in-charge explained feebly why their two jewelers were eliminated. Abel casually flipped through the name list. “Is this the final result? When was it announced?”“It is the final re
When the person-in-charge closed the office door behind him, Abel massaged his temples and leaned back against his office chair in exhaustion. He liked being a “kept man” and enjoyed having Ruth protect him, but he did not want Ruth to ask her “male friend” for help. It was fine for him to not work with Seema for the time being. His phone vibrated. It was a message from Eilam. He frowned. Ever since they came back from West City, Eilam stopped telling him about Ruth’s whereabouts and was willing to protect her. Why was he messaging him?Was he reporting her whereabouts to him again?Abel threw the phone on the table. There was no need for him to monitor her life. In any case, she had plenty of friends. Even if something happened to her, she did not need his help. He went back to his work. Five minutes passed, but he did not move his mouse. His phone vibrated again. Abel pursed his lips. In the end, he picked up the phone and opened the message. Eilam: Mr. Abel, th
All sorts of emotions raged in Abel’s eyes as he stared at the closed door. Then, it swung open. The first person Ruth saw was Abel. He was leaning against the wall with his shirt collar unbuttoned and his suit jacket draped over his arm. He no longer looked as aloof and regal as he usually was. In fact, he looked quite defeated. The morning light shone into the corridor and landed on him. It cast a shadow on the floor. Ruth was surprised. “Why are you here?”Abel just stared at her. “Why are you at the hospital?”Ruth was briefly stunned before she thought of something. Understanding flashed in her eyes. “Well, not here for food, obviously.”“Give me the medical report.”Ruth then remembered how nervous she had been and what the report stated. Her expression stiffened, and she instinctively hid it behind her. Abel went forward and grabbed her shoulder with one hand while he tried to take the report with the other. Ruth took two steps back and knocked into the door. T
Abel did not need to look at the report. Based on the conversation with the doctor, he could understand what had transpired. Ruth thought that she was pregnant, but was told that it was just irregular period. The doctor then thought they were preparing for a baby and said that they were in too much of a hurry. The result allowed Ruth to stray away from the potential “problem”. But it could not quell his anger. Ruth’s actions alone were problematic. If she were really pregnant, would she have quietly gone for an abortion?Would she not care about anything else for the sake of achieving her goals?Just what was he to her?Ruth frowned, and her confusion turned to realization. Her gaze turned cold, and she retorted coolly, “You’ve already guessed it, haven’t you? Why are you asking me?”He clenched his fists, and his voice turned cold as ice. “I want to hear it from you.”Ruth pursed her lips. Her eyelashes fluttered due to her nerves as she stared at him. The dim light
Feeling guilty, Apollo looked away and went after Ruth. He went beside her and eagerly supported her. “Are you feeling sick? Are you okay?”“Let me go!”“Stay away from her. You’re an eyesore to me as well!”Two voices spoke up at the same time. The first one belonged to Ruth, who was wary. The second belonged to Lyla, who scoffed at Apollo. But Apollo fearlessly followed them with a smile. “Don’t worry. No one can recognize me when I’m dressed like this.”Abel and Gabriel continued talking to each other after the trio left. After a few seconds of silence, Gabriel asked, “What exactly happened?”“It’s just a small problem. Apollo blew it out of proportion,” Abel answered coolly.Gabriel scrutinized him. “Did you two really come to the hospital for Ruth’s health checkup?”“Why else would we be here?”“Your grandfather’s here too. I thought that you two were arguing because of your grandfather.”Abel shut his eyes. He felt a little tired. Ruth had attacked Frank a long t
Gabriel and Frank were stunned when their gazes met.Gabriel was a coward who preferred to keep things peaceful. He would not confront Frank directly. But he also could not pretend that he did not see Frank and leave, especially after seeing Frank’s angry expression.After much deliberation, Gabriel forced a smile and walked to Frank. Although it was awkward, he still greeted Frank warmly. “Dad, you’re discharged from the hospital? Abel and I were on the way to your ward!”Frank said nothing. If he had not seen them getting into the car, he might have believed Gabriel.Frank’s expression darkened as he found Gabriel’s words mocking.Instead of asking whether his body had gotten better, Gabriel just talked about how he was discharged from the hospital. Was Gabriel mocking him for pretending to be sick?Frank always thought Gabriel was an honest man, but he did not expect him to be so calculating.It was only then that Frank realized Gabriel had deceived him. Gabriel had been pret
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!