After a Rocky Valentine

When the people around heard what was happening, Michael couldn't help asking, curiosity written all over his face, "Oh, do you know her, Mr. West?"Ivan's expression shifted. There was some annoyance there, maybe even a hint of pity, but he quickly covered it with his usual cold indifference."Oh, she's just a waitress who used to work for me," he said, making no effort to hide the mockery in his voice or the disdain in his eyes.Then, he wrapped his arm around Kelly as if putting on a show and walked away. That cold attitude of his hadn't changed a bit, and it was still as detestable.I turned to the staff and tried to explain, "You're mistaken. I'm not here for work. I'm waiting for someone."The staff just laughed, a mocking look on her face, like she had already figured me out. "Miss, this is a members-only club. Please show me your membership card."Of course, I didn't have one. I was here with my husband, Alex Ward, and the membership card was with him.When she saw me lo

As that figure came closer, I finally saw his face. It was indeed my husband, Alex. If he saw me caught up in a scene with my ex-boyfriend, he would definitely get jealous all over again.I quickly shook off Ivan's hand.Thud.Something fell out of my pocket.It was a rough, unpolished diamond, its outer layer still dark and dull."I thought you looked down on this stone, Millia. Why are you still carrying it after all these years?" Ivan asked, his voice sharp. "You're really going all out to get my attention, aren't you? Let me be clear. I'll never get back together with you. Take the money and just leave. Stop playing games."He actually believed I had broken up with him just because of that Valentine's Day gift.The cracks had appeared when I was hospitalized with gastritis and had called him, only to find out he was out shopping with Kelly. When he had made me drink dirty water through deception just to make Kelly laugh. When he had gotten drunk over Kelly going abroad and h

All the other business owners around us in the lounge looked like they wished they could disappear, terrified that Alex might take his anger out on them. If they had known how things would turn out, they never would have gotten involved in the first place.One by one, they shrank back, barely daring to breathe.I nestled into Alex's arms, glancing at his sharp jaw, and I couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth inside. Thank goodness he was here to protect me. Mom, you can rest easy now. There was now someone protecting me in your stead.My nose stung, and tears nearly spilled over. I choked up as I said, "I forgot my phone. I just didn't want to make things harder for you by exposing that I'm Mrs. Ward."Alex looked down and met my eyes. The endless gentleness in his gaze completely unraveled me. The tears wouldn't stop, no matter how many times I tried to wipe them away.Alex used his thumb to gently brush away my tears, his voice soft and reassuring. "Milly, I'm not upset with

Alex focused and probed his memory for anything about Kelly."Darn… I remember now. Do you remember the first time we met? The night you almost got hit by that car after work? I had someone look into it. The car was registered to Kelly's cousin. I saw Kelly's photo in the file my personal assistant gave me."Alex's words pulled me back to three years ago. That was the day I broke up with Ivan. I had just started working at Alex's company, and that night, a speeding car had nearly hit me as I was walking home.At the time, I had thought it was just an accident, but after he saw that I had merely gotten knocked down, the driver had actually reversed and nearly run me over again.If Alex hadn't shown up when he did, I might not have survived that night. As luck would have it, all the security cameras on that street were out, and the driver was never found. Kelly's cousin had claimed the car had been stolen.With no evidence, the whole thing had been swept under the carpet.But now,