LOGINThe man craned his neck and shouted, as if afraid someone might not hear him, "Quit pretending. You've been hiding behind this woman so we wouldn't find you, haven't you?"Thomas, let me tell you something. I haven't settled the score with you yet for toying with my sister's feelings and knocking her up. It's you or me today!"The surrounding crowd seemed to sense something was wrong and gave them a wide berth.Before Sharon could react, the men were already closing in.Thomas said in a low voice, "Stay back. Don't move."The next second, he moved.Sharon had never seen Thomas like this.He moved so fast she could barely follow. His punches were vicious, each one landing precisely on his opponent's most vulnerable spot.Someone grabbed a beer bottle from nearby and swung it at him. He sidestepped, then seized the man's wrist with a backhand. The joint made a sound that set her teeth on edge.The bottle hit the ground, the sound of shattering glass mixing with the screams of th
After wandering a while longer, Sharon's attention was caught by a ring toss stall.All kinds of little prizes were on display: stuffed animals, small ornaments, and mugs. At the very back sat a pair of exquisite bunny plushies that looked soft and incredibly cute.Sharon turned to Thomas. "Thomas, do you know how to play ring toss?"Thomas shook his head. "I've never played it before."Since childhood, he had only been trained in combat, shooting, and tracking. He'd truly never touched a kids' game like ring toss.Sharon said, "Why don't we give it a try? Those bunnies are so cute."As she spoke, she pointed at the pair of bunny plushies at the very back.The stall owner said with a smile, "You've got a good eye, young lady. That's our grand prize. Ten rings for twenty bucks. Want to give it a shot?"They had nothing better to do anyway, so Sharon decided to give it a go.She took out twenty dollars and got ten rings.She tossed a few first. They either went wide or just gra
The noise around them suddenly seemed to fade, leaving only their breathing, light and shallow, mingling together.After a long moment, Thomas slowly pulled away.His low, husky voice sounded by Sharon's ear, "Mm. It really is sweet."His breathing was still a little unsteady, and there was an unmistakable smile in his deep voice. It seemed charged with electricity, sending a tingle straight into Sharon's heart.Her face turned bright red.Thomas didn't seem to notice her awkwardness. He simply took her hand, lacing their fingers together as naturally as could be.Her hand was held firmly in his. Her heart was still racing, but a hint of sweetness welled up inside her, like the taste of the sugar art.She glanced up at him. The warm yellow light fell on his profile, making him look especially gentle.They walked on a while longer before her heartbeat finally settled.The deeper they went into the night market, the livelier it got.There were stalls selling trinkets, ring toss
Samantha's eyes lit up. "You mean...""Thomas is Sharon's boyfriend. But what if Julliard believed that Thomas would hurt Sharon?" Victoria said and smiled faintly. The flickering city lights outside the window reflected in her eyes."We'd be handing Julliard the perfect excuse to break up Sharon and Thomas. How could he not take it?"The two exchanged a look and laughed at the same time....After dinner, Sharon and Thomas strolled hand in hand along the river.They happened to wander onto a night market street.Night had fallen. Stalls were popping up one after another along the street, strings of warm yellow lights flickered on, and the air was filled with the aroma of all kinds of food. The place was bustling with life.Sharon turned to Thomas. "Thomas, have you ever been to a night market?"Thomas shook his head.He had been to night markets, but always while running from people trying to kill him. He had never really taken the time to enjoy one.Sharon said, "Do you wa
The two of them getting together was only natural.The shippers celebrated wildly for quite a while.When Weston found out, he was disappointed but graciously offered his congratulations. When he'd met up with Sharon before, he had already felt Thomas's intense hostility.What's more, Weston strongly suspected that his appearance had given them a push and sped things along between them.Not long ago, when he'd hung out with Sharon, she'd said they weren't together. And now, they had made it official this quickly.Weston felt pretty pathetic.Everyone sent Sharon their best wishes. Only Julliard, upon hearing the news, smashed everything in his house.Julliard's villa was a wreck. Vases, picture frames, tables, and chairs lay shattered across the floor. Only the photos covering one entire wall remained untouched.The photos were so densely packed that they nearly hid the whole wall. Every single one was of Sharon.In some, she was laughing. In others, her head was lowered. In o
"Julliard?" Samantha Malcolm frowned. "Are you sure?"Samantha had met Julliard and knew who he was.Since she was keeping close tabs on both Carter and Sharon, she naturally knew that Julliard was Sharon's friend as well as Carter's close buddy.Samantha said, "Julliard seems so refined and gentlemanly. People like that are the most rigid and principled. It'll be hard to buy him off, won't it?"Victoria Kalen smiled faintly, "Seems principled... but that's only how he seems. Samantha, you can't judge some people by appearances."Samantha caught the deeper meaning in her words. "Victoria, do you know something?"Victoria didn't hide it from her. "Julliard has a ton of photos of Sharon hidden at his house. He's been secretly watching her all along. He's nowhere near as upright as he looks. The real Julliard is dark and obsessive. He's no simple character."Samantha never would have imagined Julliard was that kind of person.She asked in a low voice, "Victoria, how do you know
After speaking, Theo looked up at Carter cautiously, anxiety written all over his face.Ever since he could remember, his grandmother had been whispering in his ear that he was the future heir to the Biggs family—a child destined to be different from the rest. He might still be young, but he wasn't
Damien had no interest in continuing the conversation. He said, "If you have the time to talk to me about this, you'd be better off figuring out who that woman really is, and whether she deliberately approached Grandpa."Seeing his cousin shift the subject, Cole didn't press the issue any further.
Sharon suddenly asked, "Who are you?"Damien paused, momentarily thinking she truly didn't know who he was. He was just about to speak when she continued, "And why should I listen to you?"That made it clear—she wasn't ignorant of his identity. She was provoking him on purpose.A cold smile curle
The moment Wendy saw who it was, the smile on her face froze."Xavier."Xavier glanced around. "Sharon hasn't returned?"Wendy shook her head. Worry clouded her eyes. "I've been calling her, but she hasn't answered, not even once. Her phone's still on, though."She looked at Xavier. "You haven't







