LOGIN“Isn’t there any way around it?” she asked unwillingly.“Only if you can prove Mr. Gibson committed fraud,” the lawyer said. “But I imagine that would be very difficult.”Xena dragged a hand through her hair, pain flashing across her face.Felix really was ruthless.Had he planned to keep her trapped for the rest of her life?Or was this his way of punishing her for everything she had done before? Did he hate her for destroying his marriage to Miranda?A surge of resentment rose in Xena’s eyes.So this was the price she had been running up all these years every time she pushed too far with Felix.Even now, when he already had other ways to save Susan, he still refused to let her go.She had to admit it. She really had gone too far before. She had been reckless and self-indulgent. She had kept testing his limits over and over again.She remembered the way she had flaunted things in front of Miranda. The way she had deliberately created situations that made her relationship wit
Felix’s hand trembled slightly where it braced against the door. He drew in a deep breath. “I know I have no right to ask, but...” He looked like he was summoning every bit of courage he had left. “I care about you.”Miranda looked at him quietly, her eyes calm and unreadable, without hatred or even a ripple of emotion. “If I ever get remarried, I’ll let you know.”Felix’s breath hitched hard. His chest rose and fell for a few seconds before he said hoarsely, “Are you two already talking about marriage?”Miranda had no idea why he was suddenly reacting so strongly. She frowned. “Felix, it’s over. It’s all in the past.”“It’s not in the past.” His voice came out almost like a shout. “I know I don’t deserve anything from you. I just... I just need to know if I’ve really lost you for good.”Miranda froze for a second, then instinctively took a step back. The man in front of her suddenly felt like a cornered wild animal, unpredictable and dangerous.Felix saw her retreat and realiz
In the conference room, Dr. Smith went over Susan’s latest progress. Because of her age and her underlying health issues, her treatment plan still needed to be adjusted carefully as she recovered. Even so, all the signs pointed in a positive direction.“I put together a list of the data,” Miranda said as she opened her laptop. “These markers show a very high degree of overlap with Mrs. Gibson’s sequence.”Felix immediately rose and walked over. He leaned in to look at the screen, their shoulders nearly touching.Miranda’s brows pulled together slightly. She leaned back in her chair a little before continuing. “I need more samples for comparison.”“I’ll contact her and have her cooperate,” Felix replied in a low voice.Just then, Dr. Smith’s phone rang. He picked it up, gestured to the two of them that he needed to take the call, and stepped out.That left only the two of them in the room.Felix turned his head and looked at Miranda’s profile from close range. His dark gaze moved
Xena bit down hard on her lip. For once, Miranda’s words left her with nothing to say.“But no matter what, he still did all that for me,” Xena shot back, still trying to get under Miranda’s skin. “Did he ever do that for you?”Miranda let out a cold laugh. “I was never a research subject he needed to manipulate. He never had to do any of that for me.”The meaning was obvious. In Miranda’s eyes, Xena had never been anything more than part of the research. Everything Felix had done was only what was necessary to keep her cooperating.A flicker of frustration flashed through Xena’s eyes. Since when had Miranda become this clearheaded? Wasn’t she supposed to be rattled?“If you want this to end well, there is only one way,” Miranda said coldly. “Cooperate and do what you are supposed to do. That is what is best for both of us.”Clutching her purse, Xena shot her a glare. “Miranda, just because you are standing on his side now doesn’t mean he will ever truly care about you. The peopl
Xena bit down on her lower lip and thought back to the day Felix had gone over the stock transfer with her himself.He had explained every clause personally, and at the time, she had taken it as something special. It had felt as if he were feeding her poison one sip at a time with his own hands, and she had accepted it gladly.He could have sent a lawyer. He could have had an assistant handle it. But he had done it himself, and to her, that had made it mean everything.Who could have guessed that what he had been offering her was not a spoonful of honey, but a cup of poison?Looking back now, she was sure that agreement had been full of hidden traps, all carefully designed so Felix could take everything back whenever he wanted and force her to keep giving in.Xena’s face turned paler.Then she suddenly thought of Miranda.Miranda was working in Felix’s lab now. Was this her revenge?All she had to do was come up with some convenient excuse, and Xena could be ordered in to give
Back then, he had been like a magnet to her, drawing in her eighteen-year-old heart so completely she had never stood a chance. Even now, at twenty-eight, just seeing that photo of nineteen-year-old Felix still made her heart clench with the same fierce, familiar feeling.Her phone was full of candid photos of him. But now, every one of them felt like a record of her unreturned love and all the ways she had humbled herself for him.Meeting someone too extraordinary that young wasn’t a blessing. It was the kind of heartbreak that could shape a person’s whole life.For ten years, she had done everything she could to make herself worthy of Felix. She learned piano, forced her way into elite circles, and used every means she could to get closer to his world. No one knew better than she did how hard she had fought.But none of it had ever mattered to him.Felix was like a man without a heart. She had poured herself into the role of loving him, while he had remained nothing more than a
Xena read the message, frowned slightly, and replied, “Okay. Come pick me up tomorrow.” After that, she sent over the location of her hotel.Early the next morning, Miranda and Mike agreed to leave at eight to go to the military medical hospital. Miranda put on a coat and stepped out of her room. M
The question rang out so clearly that all three adults froze.Vivian blinked in confusion and asked curiously, “Mia, why would you say that?”Mia widened her eyes and answered matter-of-factly, “That’s what Aunt Sienna told me. She said Uncle Leo is going to be family.”Susan’s face flushed insta
In the cafe, Mike turned to Miranda and asked quietly, “Do you want to avoid them? We can rebook if you’d rather.”Miranda had already checked. The next available flight was not until eleven. She wanted to arrive early to prepare, and Zion was on the same flight anyway. There was no reason for her
“Dad,” Mike called out helplessly, though the smile at the corners of his eyes was impossible to hide.“All right, all right. I’ll stop,” Justin said with a hearty laugh. “Miranda, our family is not big on formalities. I’m leaving on a business trip tomorrow, but I’ve told Mike to bring you by the







