Mag-log inGavin followed Chris into the changing room. When he heard that, his cold eyes paused slightly.“Yes, sir.”Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated.He took it out and saw a new message.Gavin didn’t open it. Instead, he handed the phone to Chris.Chris had been wiping sweat away with a towel. His hand paused, and his eyes darkened slightly as he tapped the message open.It was from Winter. “Roy, are you home?”His fingertip brushed lightly over her profile picture. Then his thumb moved across the screen.“Yeah. I was just about to go grocery shopping.”Winter replied almost instantly.“Stay where you are. Zion and I are coming over now.”Chris held the phone and said calmly to Gavin, “I’m heading out.”Gavin didn’t need to ask where he was going.He nodded. “I’ll draft the clarification statement right away.”Chris’s gaze was cool and unreadable. He said nothing more, changed his clothes, and left the changing room.When Winter arrived at Roy’s door, she pressed t
Winter wondered whether Chris had played a part in pushing Zac and Nina’s engagement forward.William looked in the direction Zac had left and said meaningfully, “There goes another brokenhearted man.”After parting with Winter, Zac drove onto the bridge over the river.It had rained for the past two days, and the river had risen a lot.Zac drove onto the bridge and stopped the car.From the pocket of his suit pants, he took out a diamond ring.It was the ring he had prepared for Winter four years ago.Unfortunately, he had never gotten the chance to use it then.And now, he never would.He watched the diamond catch the sunlight, bright and dazzling, just like her eyes when they lit up.“Winnie…”Zac lowered his head and kissed the ring, as if he were kissing her eyes one last time.On one side was his father.On the other was Winter.Chris had forced him to choose.Tears slid down his face without a sound.Then he threw the diamond ring out the window.But the instant
Winter shook her head and said honestly, “Never.”How could she ever think Zac was pathetic?Back when she had been kidnapped, he had risked his life chasing after her at sea. Even after he was shot, he had still tried to protect her.She remembered everything he had done.She had felt the love he had kept buried for so long. But even now, she still couldn’t see him that way.“In my eyes, you’ll always be the older brother who protected me.”The bitterness in Zac’s heart only deepened. He coughed a few times, and the slight hollowness beneath his eyes made him look even more worn down.He thought back to all those years ago, before she had ever said she wanted to marry Chris. He had spent years quietly watching over her from a distance. Then, after she married Chris, he had quietly left for three more years.Added together, he could no longer remember how many years it had been.He had once thought those carefully restrained feelings were not that deeply rooted. He thought tha
Even when Zac had made it clear from the beginning that he wanted to pursue her, Chris had still held back when he went after him.Later, when the Davis family and the Zeller family teamed up against Xander Corporation, Chris still hadn’t touched Eugene.It wasn’t hard to guess why Chris had finally made a move now.It was because of Winter.Winter wasn’t especially surprised. When Chris wanted to ruin someone, he would never handle it politely.William added, “Zac is getting engaged the day after tomorrow. I heard he and his fiancée went in for health screenings today.”Winter only said, “Oh. I saw the news about his engagement.”“You don’t feel anything about it?” William leaned back in his seat. “You don’t even have to guess. Zac is being forced into it. The person he likes is you.”The words “being forced into it” made Winter think of Chris.Back then, Chris had also been “forced” to marry her.In the end, he had fooled her with a fake marriage certificate.For a moment,
Winter stopped, and General stopped beside her.She stood beneath the porch, sunlight spilling over her. Then she turned back to look at Mr. White, who remained inside, just out of reach of the sun. Her throat tightened.“Mr. White, why are you asking me that?”Mr. White took a few steps forward. His voice sounded even hoarser than usual. “You look unhappy.”Before Winter had first come to the Xander estate, Mr. White had been in a car accident. The car had exploded, leaving burns on his face and damaging his vocal cords.He had only been discharged from the hospital and returned to the estate a month after Winter arrived. Because of the burns, he had undergone some reconstruction on his face, but the damage to his vocal cords had never healed. His voice had been hoarse ever since.Winter patted his shoulder and smiled. “I’m not unhappy. Actually, after I stopped loving Chris, I feel much lighter than before.”“Do you really?” Mr. White asked.“That’s enough, Mr. White. Let’s n
“Yes, Mr. Xander.”The medical staff were led down to the basement by Gavin.The basement door opened, then closed again.“What are you doing? What are you trying to do?” Skyla struggled violently as she watched the doctor and nurses approach her.Gavin stood off to the side. Then he walked over and struck her sharply at the back of the neck.Skyla, who had been thrashing just moments ago, lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor.Gavin looked at the stunned medical staff and said flatly, “You can proceed with the bone marrow aspiration.”For someone ruthless enough to kill Mrs. Young, there was no need to waste anesthesia.*When Winter woke, a dim lamp was on in the room.It was enough for her to see where she was.The moment she recognized the familiar room, she sat up abruptly.But very quickly, she realized this wasn’t the villa on the island.There was no sound of waves. No floral scent in the air. Everything in the room looked almost the same at first glance, b







