As Julianne saw that Irvin showed signs of wavering, she cried even harder. "Irvin, I didn't! I didn't mean to kill her! I just wanted to make her angry. It was really an accident that she fell off the cliff and got so badly hurt."She continued, "If I really wanted to kill her, I would have let them do it when they kidnapped her. Why would I wait until you arrived? "And you know that cliff isn't even that high. Why would I choose such a short one if I wanted her dead? I really, really didn't mean for her to die. That was just an accident…"Julianne sobbed pitifully. It was such a heartbreaking sight that even the coldest person would feel sorry for her. Let alone Irvin, who had pampered her so much that it had become a natural instinct to him.Moreover, deep down, he had always believed that she wasn't truly evil. And so, he believed her. He believed that Julianne never intended to kill me.That she didn't do those things out of malice but because she was mentally unstable, beli
I hadn't even taken my exam, and I already promised to buy two meals.Noah insisted on accompanying me to the exam center after we finished eating. He claimed he had nothing to do at home, so I agreed.We soon arrived at the exam center. Once we alighted from the car, I told him to find a café and wait for me there. I would call him once I was done with the exam.As soon as I finished speaking, someone else butted into our conversation."Exam? No way, Emilia! Don't tell me you're talking about the exam for grad school? Why would someone like you even try getting into one?" said a female voice.I turned toward the direction of the voice with my brow furrowed. It belonged to Lily's mother, Susan Walter.I involuntarily grimaced as I recalled our last encounter. She had incessantly tried to set me up with that nephew of hers—I think he had a Ph.D."No offense, Emilia, but aren't you too old for that?" Susan asked without waiting for a response. "Why are you trying to get into grad
Following the direction Landon was pointing at, Irvin spotted Noah. His eyes darkened, but he didn't respond.Landon said, "Emilia is beautiful and wealthy. She'll be swarmed by suitors very soon now that she's divorced. I really think you were too impulsive when you gave all your assets to her. If you want to have a chance of winning her back, I suggest you figure out how to get some cash on hand, Irvin."Otherwise, you won't be able to win her back. Not only that, you'll have to watch helplessly as another man snatches her away. Or worse, she might even be scammed out of her money and love."Landon genuinely felt Irvin had made the wrong move. Regardless of how remorseful he was, he still shouldn't have transferred all his assets to me.We lived in a capitalistic era, so what could Irvin possibly have without money? Without it, he had nothing and was a nobody. Forget about getting me back, he would probably have no choice but to watch as I was snatched away by someone else.Irvi
My exam spanned two days.Irvin stood outside the exam center and watched me the entire time. His gaze was so intense that his buddies even felt heartbroken for him. Thus, they found a way to let me know what he had been doing in hopes I would feel sorry for him.However, I didn't feel sorry for Irvin when I found out he had been following me this whole time. Instead, I thought he was a stalker and passed him a warning through his buddies. I told them to tell him I would call the police if he continued following me.His buddies were taken aback by my reaction. Having witnessed how strongly I had loved Irvin, they couldn't believe I was completely unsympathetic. In fact, they were shocked when I had even threatened to call the police.…I went through my answers with Mr. Holland after the exam was over. Once I had confirmed I had no issues passing it, I finally relaxed.Coincidentally, it was just in time for Julianne's criminal trial for my near-death kidnapping.Mom and Henry h
I felt the heat from a malicious glare the moment I entered the courtroom.Upon meeting Julianne's hateful gaze, I could tell she wished I was dead. Smiling arrogantly, I challengingly cocked an eyebrow at her.The look on my face seemed to say, "Oh? You want me dead? I'm not the one who's finished right now—you are!"Julianne's hatred instantly intensified at my cocky provocation. She had never wanted me dead as much as she did in this moment. However, her fervent wishes were all in vain. She knew she was no longer a match for me now. I was no longer the dirty doormat beneath her shoe.Julianne knew she would be lucky if she could walk away from this criminal trial unscathed. She also knew she couldn't make any mistakes during the trial session. Thus, she didn't glance my way again. Even so, she couldn't stop her hatred for me from brewing. She absolutely despised me.Julianne had received praise for her looks since she was young.When she joined the Quill family, she had di
I continued ignoring Henry and Mom. I acted as though I didn't hear a thing no matter how they cussed at me.After the trial was adjourned, Mark and I immediately busied ourselves with finding a breakthrough in this case.We needed to convince our key witness to stick to our original agreement. In addition to re-identifying Julianne as the mastermind, we also wanted him to testify that Irvin had interfered with the judicial process.As we were in the midst of figuring out how to do this, we suddenly received news from the detention center—Julianne was dead!She had always had a sickly body. Additionally, she had lived a pampered lifestyle. Thus, she couldn't bear the conditions in the detention center.On the third day after Julianne had been detained, she started to feel unwell. Then, she fell seriously ill by the fifth day. She had also been sick yesterday. As the doctors at the detention center weren't equipped to treat her, she had been sent to the nearest hospital to receive
I glanced at Irvin.I couldn't help feeling the corpse before us wasn't Julianne's. I believed she had faked her death and that Irvin had helped her do so.Hence, when I saw how red and swollen his eyes were, I sneered. He was putting up such a good act.Irvin seemed to know the reason behind my sneer. However, he wasn't comfortable speaking while the police were still present. Thus, he didn't say anything to me and instead turned to my parents."Henry, Catherine, please don't be like this. It's not Emi's fault. It was just an accident…" Irvin teared up when he mentioned the last part."Accident? Impossible!" Mom exclaimed. "This wasn't an accident! It's that bitch's fault that Lianne is dead. It was Emilia—" An idea seemed to come to her mind as she spoke because in the next second, she grabbed onto one of the officers and pointed at me."That's right—It was her. She did it! Getting Lianne imprisoned wasn't enough for her—she wanted her dead too! So when she heard Lianne was r
Cordelia heard about Julianne's death after she returned from vacation. She also learned I was in denial about it.Because of this, she told me that while love and hate were completely opposite emotions, they actually weren't very different.Loving someone too much would lead one to do anything to ensure the person was happy. Then, if the person suddenly passed away, it would feel unbearable. One would feel the person shouldn't and couldn't have died just like that.On the other hand, hating someone too much would have one doing everything to make the person suffer. And if they abruptly died, one would lose the target of your vengefulness. Similarly, one would also be in disbelief over their death.Cordelia claims this was the reason I felt Julianne wasn't dead.I was at a loss for words.What she said made some sense. However, my hatred toward Julianne hadn't reached the point where it was all-consuming. I just…"Oh, come on! Stop thinking about her!" Cordelia exclaimed, interr
William wasn't the type to repay a life-saving favor. So, for the past two years, Julianne had always wondered why he treated her so well and was especially attentive to her health.It was only after she returned to Claudeville that she finally understood.It turned out William had a sickly niece he cherished dearly—one whose survival depended on Julianne. Upon learning this, she suddenly felt she had the upper hand again.While she still couldn't figure William out entirely, she had come to understand him somewhat. She knew he would continue to tolerate her—for the sake of his sickly niece—as long as she didn't do anything out of line.To be clear, Julianne made my life difficult because she hated me. But as long as she didn't harm me, she knew no one would hold it against her. After all, William's niece needed her blood to live.The more she thought about this, the more pleased she became.I could see it plainly in her eyes. Her expression seemed to say that even after all thes
Seeing how determined I was, Emma didn't press any further.Just as we were about to leave in the car, another car pulled up beside ours. When I saw who stepped out of it, my eyes widened in shock.Emma saw them too and tugged at my sleeve in surprise. "Emilia, isn't that your ex-husband's brother and sister-in-law?"I was just about to say yes when Grace suddenly collapsed into Irvin's arms. He picked her up and rushed toward the hospital.Seeing this reminded me of how I had wished that Irvin would come and save me when I was drowning.I chuckled mockingly.Noticing something was off with me, Emma turned to me. "Emilia, what's wrong?"I withdrew my gaze. "Nothing."Then I told the driver to start driving.As the car drove out of the hospital, Emma stared at me. She hesitated at first, but then curiosity got the better of her "Emilia, looking at how you reacted to your ex-husband's brother… Is it true that he's actually not Timothy, but Irvin?" she asked.She had been with
Only after our car had driven far into the distance did William finally withdraw his gaze from Noah's car."Was Ms. Quill's assistant rescued?" he asked.Matthew immediately replied, "Yes, she's been taken to the hospital. She's out of danger."William hummed indifferently in response, then got into the car and left.…By the time I woke up in the hospital, night had already fallen.I was surprised to see Noah sitting at my bedside—surprised that I was still alive and that it was Noah who had come to save me.Seeing me awake, Noah stood up excitedly. "Emi, how are you feeling? I'll get the doctor!"I wanted to tell him I was fine, but my voice came out hoarse when I opened my mouth.Suddenly, I remembered something and quickly reached out to grab Noah before he could leave to call the doctor.Before I could even ask, he already knew what I was going to ask. "Your assistant's fine. She woke up even earlier than you," he said. Hearing that, I breathed a sigh of relief.Noah
Emma was also quite smart. Once she calmed down, she immediately understood what I meant. She wanted to say something, but I had already opened the car door and pushed her out.Seeing several people swimming toward us, I shoved her again, urging her to leave quickly.In the face of life and death, survival would become an instinct for everyone. So even though she didn't wish me harm or want to leave me behind, she swam away with tears in her eyes. Not long after she left, those so-called "rescuers" surrounded me.When they noticed someone had swum away, they exchanged hand signals underwater, planning to send some after her and others to capture me. Realizing this, I quickly pointed at myself, trying to tell them that I was the one they were looking for. Then I turned and swam in the opposite direction, hoping to lure them away and buy her more time to escape. But even though they understood my gesture, they didn't believe me. They still sent people after her.They were very
There was only one road from the airport to the city, and William's car was right behind ours.Matthew, who was driving, immediately sensed something was wrong when he saw our car suddenly accelerating at an alarming speed.He quickly said, "Mr. Ashford, something's wrong with Ms. Quill's car!"William, who was busy reading the documents, immediately looked up. His gaze darkened when he saw how recklessly the car in front was moving."Catch up with them!" he ordered. At that moment, his phone rang. It was Noah calling, and he sounded anxious on the other end. "Uncle Will, are you with Emi right now? I just heard that Madeleine is planning to kill her! "I don't know the exact plan, but I heard they're making a move on the way from the airport to the city. You need to be careful! I'm heading to the airport right now!"Noah's words made William's expression grow even darker. …While Emma was still processing the situation, I noticed something strange about the driver. If the
Just like that, we came back alive from the brink of death in an instant. It felt like we were in hell one moment and in heaven the next.Perhaps I was still too scared. So scared that even after the plane had stabilized for a while, I still couldn't find any strength in my body. I was still shaken by the fear and couldn't fully snap out of it.William was also holding me tightly the entire time, not letting go. The softness of my body in his arms stirred something in him that he couldn't describe. He instinctively didn't want to let go.It wasn't until a flight attendant knocked on the door to check on us that I finally returned to my senses.William also let go of me instantly. The sudden emptiness in his arms left him feeling rather hollow.He came to realize something, and his already deep gaze darkened even more, making it even harder to read.After the flight attendant tidied up the cabin and left, William, who had been perfectly fine and warm just moments ago, suddenly tur
The flight attendant knocked on the entrance to the suite to signal her arrival and served our meal. Then, she left swiftly.William and I were eating and discussing our AI chip factory when his face suddenly turned red. He couldn't say a word.The moment I saw that, I immediately realized what was happening and rushed over to him.I moved behind him, wrapped my arms around his abdomen, and clenched my fists. With my palm facing upward, I tightened my arms and pressed my left fist forcefully into his upper abdomen again and again, until he finally spat out the seed of a fruit.He had accidentally swallowed the seed while eating dried fruit, and it had gotten stuck in his throat.William stared at the seed he'd just coughed up, looking flustered. A man like him, who was so strong and composed, had choked while eating. He couldn't believe it had actually happened.Especially in front of me!William, who was usually composed no matter the circumstances, now had a face flushed wit
William handed me a glass of champagne and said, "I heard Grace gave you a hard time again at the airport lounge."I hummed in response, confirming it. At the mention of Grace, a thought struck me, and I turned to him. "Mr. Ashford, many of your company's products seem to compete directly with the Hardwells'."Although most of my focus had been on research, I did know a little about the business world. After all, I had a company myself. "Yes, why?" William raised an eyebrow at me."If you're planning to enter the mainland market, wouldn't the Hardwells be your biggest competitor?" I asked.Upon hearing that, William's dark eyes lit up with interest. "Are you trying to join forces with me against the Hardwells?"I knew that I couldn't hide my intentions from someone like William, so I answered honestly, "I'm just thinking ahead. I wanted to see if you had similar plans. If so, maybe we could work together in the future."Going against the Hardwells alone was definitely impossi
At the same time, the same video was also delivered to Noah's grandfather, Mr. Hull Senior."This is the woman Noah's interested in? He refused a marriage alliance with Ms. Charter because of her?" Mr. Hull Senior questioned incredulously.His butler, who had been by his side for decades, lowered his head respectfully and answered, "Yes."Mr. Hull Senior scoffed. "What kind of judgment does he have? It's no wonder he doesn't measure up to his uncle."Noah might be excellent, but at his age, William had already built up the Ashfords into the wealthiest family in Redwood. In terms of cunning or any other aspect, he was still far behind William.The loyal butler remained silent as he respectfully stood off to the side."If anyone else was still left in this family, I'd never even consider passing it to Noah!" Mr. Hull Senior exclaimed, pounding his cane hard against the floor.The Hulls had built their fortune from casinos. Their business had shady beginnings, which meant they also