The Xavier family’s mansion was in Lake Bay. The scenery around it was lovely, and it was a quiet place, typical of an area where the rich lived. The servants respectfully led Adina and her two children into the courtyard. “Addy, you’re finally back…”Mdm. Xavier had been waiting at the entrance for a long time. When she saw Adina walking over, she felt as if she was looking at her deceased daughter. Her pitiful daughter had lived a short life, and her pitiful granddaughter’s life was full of hardships…“Grandmother…”Adina rested her forehead on Mdm. Xavier’s shoulder and let herself feel a moment of peace. If she had to name one other person besides her children whom she loved, it would be her grandmother. She had lived in a small town abroad during the four years, and her grandmother had often sent people to persuade her to come back. However, Adina knew that most of the Xaviers would not welcome her, which was why she delayed her return repeatedly.“You must be A
“Grandmother, I came back to make a business deal with the Xavier family.”Adina opened her bag and took out a set of documents. She placed them on the table and said coolly, “I majored in computer science, and over the past few years, I did postgraduate studies in Harfard and developed a smart chip. It’s not sold in the market yet, and I’m currently searching for business partners. I hope that the Xavier Corporation may become one.”“Hmph. Adina, aren’t you tooting your own horn? Why should we work with you just because you asked us?” Sophia pouted in disdain. “The Xaviers own one of the top ten corporations in Sea City, and plenty of companies want to work with us, but we don’t even spare them a glance! So why should you be any different?”Mdm. Xavier was about to speak, but Richard interrupted her. He took a step forward and said, “Mom, Adina is my niece, and I pity her too, but we can’t do business with her just because we pity her. Right now, Xavier Corporation is trying to
Countless pairs of eyes trained on Sophia after her words. The sharpest stare came from Madam Xavier. There was a warning in her eyes, along with displeasure. If it were not for the fact that there were so many people around, Sophia had a feeling that her grandmother would have actually struck her with the cane. She gulped and took an indignant step back, which made her step on her son, and he started crying from the pain. Enraged, Sophia slapped him. “Why are you crying so much? What happened, are you mourning someone’s passing?”Leo Gardner, her six-year-old son, began to cry harder. “You’re horrible, Mommy! You’re a witch! I hate you the most!”Sophia was already in a bad mood, so when her son said that he hated her in public, she got so angry that she wanted to slap him again. The atmosphere in the living room became hostile from their actions. Madam Xavier’s expression turned dark, and she said, “Addy, once you sign the contract, come to my study room.”Adina nodded.
Boiling water flew at Sophia and splashed all over her chest. The water was so hot that she jumped, and her palm missed Melody’s face. “Who threw hot water at me?!”Sophia was fuming. When she looked down, she saw Alden holding an empty glass. The moment she saw him, she threw all caution to the wind and ran over to grab him by the collar. Then, she swung her hand at him. Adina grabbed her hand midwing, even if it felt as if her bone was about to be crushed. “Abusing my kids while I’m not around, Sophia? It’s been years since we last met, but you’re as uncivilized as ever.”Adina flung her hand away and bent down to hug Alden and Melody. Sophia was so angry that she felt as if she was about to combust. She pointed at Melody and roared, “Your daughter slapped my son! Either let me slap her, or do it yourself!”Adina looked over and saw the palm print on Leo’s face. But Melody never took the first step to hurt others. “Mommy, it’s not Mel’s fault,” Alden said. “Leo c
Adina went to Xavier Corporation to insert the chip she developed into the company’s products. This way, the data in the chip could be inserted into the programmes of the products. Adina and her children sat in the backseat of the car while waiting to arrive at their destination. “Alden, play with your sister in the waiting room later. Once I’m done, we’ll go back home together, okay?”Alden nodded. “I won’t let anyone hurt Mel, Mommy. Don’t worry. You can just go to work.”“Good boy.”Adina stroked his hair and kissed her daughter’s cheek. The girl’s pretty face was soft, just like cotton candy. Adina could not resist pinching it. “Mommy, why are you bullying Mel again?!” Alden quickly stopped her. Adina felt a little guilty. “Well… Mel is just too cute, you know? I couldn’t resist…”Suddenly, the car came to a screeching halt. The three people in the backseat were all thrown forward. There was a loud noise from the front of the car. “I’m sorry, Miss Adina. I seem
Adina was absolutely certain that the man they met was Duke Winters. But why did he deny it?She recalled everything that had happened a moment ago, and her expression turned dark. Did Duke Winters think that she used Melody to approach him?Could he be any more narcissistic?Adina rolled her eyes in an extremely unlady-like fashion. Then, she looked down at her daughter, only to notice that Mel’s eyes were still fixed on Duke’s car. “Mel, do you know him?” she asked with surprise.But her daughter did not give her any response. It was only when the car vanished that Mel looked away and hugged Adina’s neck. Adina checked the driver’s hand and said guiltily, “I’m sorry. When Mel gets worked up, she sometimes bites. I’ll bring you to the hospital to get it treated…”The driver waved his hand in dismissal and said, “It’s normal for children to bite people. My son often bites me too. This is nothing. Miss Adina, you should get back into the car.”Adina sighed. She had b
The door of the meeting room opened, and a woman in a white suit walked in slowly. She had long black hair falling behind her back and light makeup. Her eyes were long, same as her eyebrows, and her lips were red. “Isn’t your corporation getting arrogant? How could you make your business partner wait for thirty minutes—”Dew turned her head around while mocking the woman, but her voice died away halfway through her sentence. The woman’s eyebrows, eyes, and other features were the exact same as her sister’s!But didn’t Adina die four years ago?She might not have burned alive, but she had jumped into the river and drowned!Why then… Why was she standing in front of her?“A-Are you a human, or a ghost?” Dew’s voice quivered, and her face drained of blood. Even though she did not personally kill Adina, she had engineered her downfall and had nightmares over the past four years of her sister turning into a ghost and coming back to take revenge!“Would you prefer if I were a h
Adina’s return made Dew forget her purpose for coming to Xavier Corporation, and she left the company in a panic. Alden followed Dew's figure as she passed by the first floor’s waiting room. She was his mother’s half-sister and the person who, four years ago, had forced his mother to go to another country. ‘Dew Daugherty, the heiress of the Daugherty family, huh? ‘Hah!’ Alden scoffed. He turned to the computer in the waiting room and walked over to it. Melody was reading a picture book on the carpet and did not notice that her brother had left. She was completely immersed in her own world. Alden turned on the computer. It was a little low in specs, but it was still capable of doing what Alden needed it to do. He started typing away on the keyboard, and the screen turned blue. Rows of code appeared. His mother was an expert programmer, while he was an expert at deciphering already written code. In other words, he was a hacker. He easily hacked into Daugherty Corporat