“Ruth?” The woman sounded surprised. “You actually came back? Why are you out here shopping instead of looking after your stupid company? Oh my, you even have money to buy clothes?”Pearl cocked an eyebrow and sized Ruth up arrogantly while looking down on her. They were wearing the same dress, but when Ruth wore it, she made it seem as if the dress was custom-made for her. Along with her light makeup and fashionable earrings, she looked like a queen. Pearl then discreetly observed herself; she looked like a normal consumer who had run into a promoter. Frustration burned in her eyes. White she was observing Ruth, Ruth was doing the same to her. The woman had exquisite makeup, and her wrists as well as neck were adorned with jewelry. Both her clothing and accessories were tasteful on their own, but, when they were put together, they created a bizarre image. “You’ve changed styles, Ms. Harlem. What a coincidence, it’s the same as mine again, but your aesthetic is just so-so.”
Ruth entered the changing room with the clothes Abel recommended. Meanwhile, Pearl remained frozen on the spot with a red face. The man’s demeanor and posture alone showed that he was not a normal person, but he was Ruth’s husband?Ruth really had a good life. Even if she was abandoned by the Goldwell family, she still managed to get herself such a rich and handsome man as her husband. Her jealousy and competitiveness made her unable to move. Then, her gaze landed on the clothes Ruth went in to try out. Five minutes later, the doors to the changing rooms opened simultaneously. Abel stared at his wife and nodded in satisfaction. Then, he saw the person from the changing room beside Ruth’s, and he frowned. She ruined the dress again. The difference in aesthetics between them was too clear. Pearl would be fine if she wore the dress with no one else to compare to, but, when she stood beside Ruth, who looked like a model, she instantly lost her splendor. She noticed it as w
Ruth only needed the time required to blink to understand what he meant. Pretending to be cool discreetly was the most lethal weapon. These were clothes from an international luxury brand, and he just generously bought almost all of them to fill up their walk-in closet. He even said that she complained that the walk-in closet was too big…Well, she DID say it, but saying it during such a time was just brutal. When Ruth saw Pearl’s face turning red, then pale, she felt great. However, that amazing feeling only lasted for two minutes. When they went to pay, Ruth saw the bank card he took out, and her smile slowly disappeared. She grabbed his wrist. “Did you take the wrong card?”Abel was calm. “No.”He came out in a hurry today, so he only brought with him a black card with no credit limit. If he used that card, he would just expose himself. Hence, he stopped himself in time and opened Ruth’s handbag to take out the card he used to buy the mansion. “Do you have any i
They were in an elegant French restaurant.Ruth tentatively placed her order and shifted her gaze to Abel. “Please tell me you didn’t ask for your salary in advance to pay the bill. You can’t do it! You can’t take your salary in advance until you finish paying off your debt!” she warned him in a low voice.She tightened her hold on her small wallet since she did not let him carry the bag this time.“Why hadn’t I noticed that you were such a miserly person before?” Abel said. He was humored by her antics. “Do you really love money that much?”“Who doesn’t?” Ruth asked, since she found this natural. When she looked into his eyes, which had a hint of a smile, she suddenly recalled the purpose of the trip. She cleared her throat and said, “I’m very generous! I’m just being careful about spending my money recently because I’m a little short on cash right now!”She could not let him think that his “sugar mom” was stingy, because he would be even more rampant in rejecting her in the fu
Her man deserved to be worshipped that way.She reached out to him. “Let me have a look at the card.”Abel’s hand froze, but he eventually handed the card to her after a brief pause.“The Executive President of Grand Empire Entertainment, Joseph Hansford… Damn, that was Joseph Hansford?!” When Ruth was abroad, she had heard about him, but she had never seen any pictures of him or even met him.Abel’s expression was still as calm as before. “Yeah, have you heard of him?”“Everyone in the entertainment business knows him! Artists from Grand Empire Entertainment make up half of the entertainment industry, and it is mostly thanks to his role in training and managing them!”Abel did not say anything, which indicated his agreement. Once the incident that had just happened fully sank into her mind, Ruth squinted at Abel. “Why did he treat you with so much respect?”Abel picked up his fork and said, “He has been studying a script recently, and he often asks me to practice with him. It
Even though she was exposed, Ruth did not feel embarrassed. She grinned and said, “Oh, it’s not a big deal. It’s just that your dear wife ran into some problems at work and needs some help.”Abel snorted lightly and said, “You’re my ‘dear wife’ when you need help, but you’re my ‘sugar mom’ when you don’t?”Ruth went silent. It did sound a bit too shameless.“My legs are a bit sore from all the shopping today.”“I’ll give you a massage when we get back! My skills are superb, and I’ll satisfy you tonight.”The hands of the waiter coming to them with a tray trembled because Ruth’s voice was a little too loud.But, since he had received professional training, he served the food calmly and with a perfectly schooled expression before retreating.The corners of Abel’s lips curled upward as he observed her trying to please him. He felt that the two hours of shopping had not been completely in vain. “This restaurant is mediocre. The food here is not good.”“Let’s go somewhere else,
Their faces were only a finger’s length apart. When he turned his head, his cheek brushed the corner of her lips. They were cold but soft. Because Ruth wanted to cotton up to him, she stopped massaging him. She supported her arms on his shoulder and rested her chin on her arm.Suddenly facing his deep and bright eyes, she was taken aback for a moment.She did not notice his attractiveness until she was up close to him. His skin was as flawless as hers with no visible pores, and his facial features were as sharp as a knife. His thin red lips immediately pulled her thoughts back to the kiss in the morning. Her legs felt weak thinking about it. Her hands slid down, and she propped herself on the table. Then, she pressed her arms on his shoulders and used her height to her advantage to lean in closer. She blinked her beautiful eyes before saying, “We’re a couple. Why do we need a distinction between us?”Their breaths intertwined, and they got even closer. Abel leaned back c
Abel went upstairs and left Ruth alone at the dining table. She stared at the plate of vegetables while spaced out for a long time.A wedding…It was a little difficult to hold one right then. She did not want to publicly announce her relationship with Abel, since Lockton Corporation was still in the hands of others. What if they attacked him?But they could have the rings. After clearing her mind, she noticed the plate of greens in front of her, and she stared at it for a few seconds. “Was it that bad?”She grabbed a fork, took a piece of vegetable, and put it in her mouth.Her expression changed the next second, and she swiftly stood up, then bolted to the toilet. She rinsed her mouth several times after spitting the vegetable out.She could not help but feel admiration toward Abel. “He really is a warrior! He swallowed it expressionlessly despite how disgusting it is.”Abel went to review some papers in the study while Ruth went to bed after taking a shower and brow
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!