Novels by jeanS

Anna and Elisa made their way to the ladies’ room, quietly chatting with each other.“Don't mind my family, Anna," Elisa told her with a slight twitch on her mouth. “I warned them, you know. Told them it was a stupid idea.”Anna nodded. "I figured. I could see you holding back your laughter back there.”Elisa chuckled. "It was really funny." Then she added in a serious tone, "I must say, I'm actually quite surprised that you and Dalton worked out. “I mean, back then I thought there were going to be four families among the four of us. I had given up shipping the two of you.”"Well, the future really does surprise us,” Anna told her, hoping that Elisa would stop analyzing her already.“Did it surprise you too?" Elisa asked, her eyes keenly observing Anna."In a way…" Anna said vaguely, painfully aware of Elisa’s scrutinizing gaze.Elisa gave a small sigh, letting Anna off the hook.“Well, I'm glad it all turned out well for you. But then again, you two must love each other a lot to get

Here they were, hoping to charm Anna into marrying into their family, only to unwittingly give the couple a chance to reunite early. Other patrons of the hotel were now even looking in their direction. They seemed to get the idea of what was happening, so they sneered at the Hamptons for even thinking about it. It was no secret that everyone is trying to snatch either Anna or Dalton to marry into their family once the couple divorced. But to do it this early and publicly? Why, that was quite tasteless, even for the Hamptons. And they didn’t even have the decency to succeed. That venture was all risk, no reward. They shook their heads in disappointment at the Hamptons.The Hamptons were aware of what they were thinking, so they hung their heads low. This was indeed a humiliating scenario for them. Red in the face, the Hamptons found themselves losing the appetite to eat. Except for Elisa, of course. She was soon stuffing herself full, right after recovering from the shock of seei

Anna walked back to the table where the Hamptons seemed like they were in the middle of a heated discussion. Before she could hear what they were talking about, Elisa spotted her, who then whispered, ‘behave’ into her champagne glass. The Hamptons quickly composed themselves and went back to eating. “Anna,” Mrs. Hampton called her when she sat back down. “Elisa was telling us about Nora’s upcoming fashion show. Will you be joining the event?” Anna smiled politely at her, noticing her tense tone. “Yes, Mrs. Hampton. My sister-in-law had asked me to model for her.” Mrs. Hampton’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, so we’ll see you at the runway?” Anna nodded, as Cobalt’s interest seemed to be piqued. “When is this fashion show happening?” he asked. “I’m still not sure of the exact date. Nora has yet to tell me,” Anna answered politely. Cobalt nodded at her with a wide smile on his face. She noticed warily that he seemed especially thrilled with the upcoming event. She tried to get more infor

“Anna,” Shannon hissed. “I was beginning to think that you already chickened out. What took you so long? Too afraid to face me?” “What?” Anna asked before adding when she realized something, “How long had you been standing here?” Shannon didn’t say anything, just narrowed her eyes at Anna. “Have you been here since earlier?” Anna asked in amazement, because when she first entered the hotel, she saw Shannon. Shannon had gestured for Anna to follow her in the ladies’ room when Shannon realized that she was there to meet with the Hamptons. Anna took no notice of it and went to greet Elisa instead. But thinking back, she could now remember that Shannon had looked mad. “Don’t tell me that you’ve been standing here ever since I first saw you. That had been more than an hour ago,” Anna breathed, hoping Shannon would say no. “That’s not the point,” Shannon snapped. She blushed as shame started to creep into her entire body, because Anna was actually right. She had indeed been s

“And who will be there?” Dalton asked.“Mr. and Mrs. Hampton and their children,” Anna vaguely replied.“Which children?”“Elisa and the rest.”“Does the rest include Cobalt?”“I-I believe so,” Anna fidgeted. Why does it feel like she’s doing something wrong? She’s just going to dinner.“I see, enjoy your dinner, then. I’ll call you again soon, I still have some work to do,” Dalton hung up the phone before Anna could say something.Anna stared helplessly at her phone screen wondering if she did something wrong.“I’m not an expert at this sort of thing, Ms. Anna,” Leanne’s voice almost startled her. She forgot Leanne was still there. “But I don’t think you handled that quite well.”“Huh?” Anna asked.“It’s just a hunch, but I believe you did something wrong,” Leanne stated.“You were eavesdropping on my call?” Anna narrowed her eyes on Leanne.Leanne blushed. “You had the call on speakers. I don’t think that counts as eavesdropping.”“Oh,” Anna’s eyes widened in realization.Leanne gra

Anna closed a folder. She was in a meeting with Mr. Hampton just a few weeks after the close of their last case. “As we have discussed, that is what we are going to prove in court. I’m glad you’re cooperating well with me, Mr. Hampton.” Anna stated.“I have to,” Mr. Hampton replied. “You’re helping me again, after all.”Anna nodded while gathering her things. “Let’s have another meeting tomorrow, Mr. Hampton. I’ll be off now.”“Oh wait,” Mr. Hampton anxiously stopped Anna. “I’ve been meaning to invite you to dinner later. You see, Elisa and the rest just came back home two days ago. And they were all missing you. You’ve been great friends for a long time, so I suggested going to dinner. They’re all looking forward to it.”Mr. Hampton spoke fast, afraid that Anna might leave if he didn’t get his point across at once. “Oh, of course Mr. Hampton. Tell Elisa and the rest that I will be there,” Anna answered, looking like she wanted to get this conversation over with.“That is great to h