Vivian was slightly surprised. She did not expect something like this would come out from her mouth, given the nature of her work. She turned her head around and looked at her unexpectedly. “Hehe, I'm just talking nonsense. Don’t mind me.” Jasmine laughed dryly. Then, as she started her car, she asked, “So, where are you heading to? I’ll send you there first.” Vivian thought for a while and then replied, “Do you mind if I use your phone? There’s someone I would like to call right now.” She h
Vivian did not say anything and made her way towards the second floor. The texture of the carpet beneath her feet was soft and it could absorb all sounds. She created no noise as she ascended the staircase. When she was on the second floor, she stood in front of a door to her left that had been left slightly ajar. She waited for a moment before she knocked on the door. “Come in.” Edward’s voice erupted from the room. It occurred to her that the room was rather huge as his voice sounded a lit
Edward's voice had taken on a raspy edge, and it was not difficult to imagine what he was about to do next.Standing straight like a ramrod, it took Vivian several deep breaths to make herself less rigid. She walked up to him with slight animatronic stiffness. His gaze was invasive and equally hungry. It made her body tremble, but she displayed resilience. Slowly, ever slowly, she bent over before him. She stretched her arm forward, and her shaking fingers found the button on his shirt. Edwar
She hated the man. She hated him so much that she wanted to pull out his tendons and skin him alive. If possible, she wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood. He looked back at her through the window and held her gaze. In the end, as if he finally had enough, he let go of his hand. He took a step back and observed her with downcast eyes. He realized she had not given up yet as he could see the flames of rebellion flowing in her eyes. Although she looked beyond miserable, her expression w
Before she got out of the car, Vivian gave her her phone number. After that, she said, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me tonight, Jasmine. I really appreciate it. If I get the chance, I'll certainly repay your kindness. However, there is one thing I must tell you. The relationship between Mr. Levin and I isn’t like what you think. I’m afraid you are going to be disappointed.” “Huh?” Jasmine was a little embarrassed after being busted. She quickly explained, “I meant no harm, Miss Ca
Vivian secretly locked the CD away in her office drawer, hoping that one day, she could use it as evidence against Edward Levin.Despite the series of tribulations that befell her, she did not skip her workday. Instead, she delved into her daily work with newfound enthusiasm. She interacted with more people every day and handled more stuff. She was trying to make herself as busy as possible in an attempt to thwart Edward's monitoring.Her old classmate had sent her a detailed report about Levi
She turned away from Claude and sent the message. After that, she deleted the message record before shoving the phone back into his hand. “What was it you wanted to talk to me about? Is it about Noelle Jones?” Claude still could not come around to his senses. He stared at Vivian with disbelief thick in his eyes as he nodded blankly. Then, he asked timidly, “What happened, Miss Carraway? Did I offend you? I didn’t mean anything else. I just want to buy you a meal to show you my gratitude after
Truth be told, Vivian had to garner a tremendous amount of effort to keep herself from telling him that he was not, that the information he provided was, in fact, helpful, and that she was very grateful for his help. She bit the inside of her mouth to force the compliments rolling on the tip of her tongue down and lowered her head, focusing on the food in front of her instead.During the weekend, Vivian drove to a shopping center alone. She went up to the counter and bought a coat similar to Ja
Did you know, Vee?I’ve thought of this more than once. If only our beginning from that night wasn’t so unbearable, how wonderful would it be?… The light from the setting sun spilled towards her from the side, casting a glow on the piece of paper, illuminating the words on it, and giving them a slight shimmer. Just like last year, when she emerged from the ultrasound room in the maternity hospital, weak after a mere two steps, she had to lean against the corridor. She covered her mouth with
Vivian arrived home a little late. She parked the car at the side of the road first, then collected her subscribed newspapers and magazines from the mailbox at her gate. She flipped through the mail as she walked in. To her surprise, she found a letter. It was an envelope made from kraft paper with her name on it.It was a rare handwritten letter with the faint print of a bamboo tree, drawn with Chinese calligraphy ink. The bamboo was tall, straight, and fierce just like the script on the lette
“It’s been three months now, why isn’t the little one moving? When will the baby quicken?” he asked her, “Can it hear me? Will it remember my voice?”He even asked, “Who do you think it’ll look like, Vee? Will it be a girl or a boy?”She knew very well that he was harboring evil intentions, but she gave into him and crumbled anyway. She sobbed and screamed, “Kill me, Sean Jackson. Kill me. I will never give birth to this child even if I die! Never!”He soothed her, “Alright. Don’t give birth
His lower jaw tightened. The lines on his face stiffened icily like the cold edges of a knife. In reality, he had given up long ago. His heart was as dead as ash. However, refusing to accept this, he grasped at everything, hoping to find a straw that could save a life, not to save himself but to save his child’s life. That was how well he knew her. He knew that once she escaped, she would never spare his child. Did he hate her? Yes. He hated how he couldn’t shoot her dead. Love triumphed over ha
“Then, what should we do?” his aide asked.A hero’s end was, inevitably, death. He wasn’t afraid of death, but he was simply plagued with remaining grievances. After a bout of silence, Edward calmly said, “Do something for me. Once that’s done, just slip away. There are no lives in your hands and you aren’t in the cops’ database. No one will notice you.”This aide had received a great debt of gratitude from Edward once, so he was solely loyal to him. He became distressed when he heard this, so
“You deserve it for all of the crimes you’ve committed!” Vivian screamed, losing control. Her emotions felt strangely steady after that scream. She threw the gun away as her sparkling, dark eyes were filled with renewed determination. She stared at him and spoke, enunciating every word, “Sean Jackson and those brothers of yours, you’ve all got your justice. Beaten to death, right? Arrested, was it? But when you willfully hurt others and view their lives as nothing more than weeds, you should hav
She hadn’t slept the entire night, and she was extremely high-strung. However, she was feeling slightly fatigued. Perhaps because of the comforting glow from the brightening day outside, she lay down on the bed with her clothes on after a bout of hesitation. She had only intended on taking a nap but unexpectedly fell into a deep sleep.Vivian suddenly woke up, startled. She had lost track of how long she had been asleep. She found a figure standing in front of her bed when she awoke and was gre
Vivian was taken aback by his question. “You haven’t caught him?” she exclaimed in astonishment. She thought that they had already apprehended Edward based on the expression on Jake’s face.“Our men have surrounded the condominium,” he answered simply, “He and Wade seized a hostage and hid inside the study. Both sides were caught in a deadlock for a while, but when they burst the study door open, they only found Wade and that hostage inside.”Vivian trembled uncontrollably as she listened to h
The wedding day was drawing to a close. Vivian stayed at the condominium until the day before the wedding. Then, she moved to Edward’s villa by the lake to wait for the wedding ceremony. Edward drove her there himself, feeling reluctant before he left. He turned around and looked at her, then softly said, “Wait for me. I’ll come for you tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”Vivian didn’t respond and simply stood at the doorway, quietly watching him.For some reason, the sight of her like this