“Hello, Ms. Atkinson,” greeted Mark as he tucked his phone away. Rushing to stand, “Hello there, Mr. Valentine,” Nancy responded with her cheeks slightly flushed. “Where’s Summer?” Nancy was stunned to hear him calling Summer by her first name, ‘Since when were they on a first name basis?’ “She went to get coffee,” Nancy replied. What she had heard made her extremely curious, so gathering up the courage, she asked him, “Is it fine for me to say that you seem close with Summer?” “Yes. We are indeed very familiar with one another,” with his eyebrows raised, his lips moved again as he continued, “In fact, we’re married.” Nancy’s expression turned tense as her face darkened. Feeling as if there were thousands of needles pricking on her heart, making her bleed uncontrollably, she felt out of breath.As she thought of Summer’s reply saying she wasn’t close with Mr. Valentine, she felt furious. She clenched her hands tightly to the point that the print of her nails remained on he
Watching Charlie’s expression, Grace scoffed, “I’ll gouge your eyes out if you don’t stop looking at me that way!” Right after, Mark stepped in, followed by Summer who walked behind him.“The stars of the day have finally arrived! We truly shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Who could have ever thought innocent-looking Summer was so wild behind our backs!” Referring to the night of the incident before, Grace mocked Summer as she faced her. Since she did not dare to mock Mr. Valentine, she could only tease and make fun of Summer. “You better zip it, Grace! You’ve said enough!” scolded Summer lightly as she felt embarrassed. “I don’t get what you meant by that. All I know is I wasn’t invited to a wedding I was supposed to attend, so you have to compensate me somehow. As your punishment for not letting us know about the marriage, how about you kiss Mr. Valentine in front of us for 2 minutes? Starting now!” Summer felt her head throb and told her off, “Stop fooling around!” “
Meanwhile, feeling furious from what she witnessed, Nancy’s chest heaved. The ‘punishment’, however, did not persist as the oh so powerful, Mr. Valentine had spoken up in Summer’s defense. “Tsk tsk, you sure are protective of her!” Grace sighed as she could not stand the gentleness of his tone. Complaining, Billy huffed, “I was rendered exhausted to the brink of death during your first night! Don’t you think this punishment is too light, Mr. Valentine?”Mark smirked as he replied in a graceful yet lazy tone, “What do you propose then?” As he heard the unusual tone, Billy gave a light cough before suggesting, “How about a few rounds of billiards?”Facing Billy, Charlie scoffed lightly and booed at his suggestion.“Why don’t you give it a go? You don’t know what I’ve been through,” Billy said defiantly. As he did not want to end up like Billy, Charlie gave a simple excuse, “Before I get married and had my first night, I’ll pass for now.”Billy rolled his eyes in playful ann
Mark's gaze landed on her with his eyes narrowed. His eyes looked deep and bottomless. He shifted his brows slightly but said nothing. His expression gave away nothing at all. Nancy could feel his sharp gaze on her. She felt even more conscious after saying what she did. She was as taut as a bowstring on the verge of snapping. Neither of them spoke, and it was silent for a moment which made Nancy's heart feel even tenser. She heard a voice in her head say, 'This is your only chance of getting close to Mr. Valentine. If it slips away, you won't get another chance again!' As the picture of her fantasy was getting clearer, she felt more determined as she knew what she had to do. She knew there was no way for her to turn back now, and she had to own up to what she had said and decided. She did not regret it one bit; on the contrary, she felt proud. 'What is there to lose if I could be with this man?' she thought. After taking a deep breath, she gritted her teeth as she he
‘Can this woman hear herself? I can’t believe her,’ Summer thought begrudgingly. Meanwhile, Nancy spotted something which made her look in a daze. Her eyes glinted as she was staring at Summer. Nobody could tell what was in Nancy’s head at that moment. As for the women’s conversation, it seemed to get more vulgar as compared to the men’s conversation. Especially with the presence of Grace, their conversation would only revolve around such topics. Only Nancy has kept silent from the beginning towards the end. Both her expressions and eyes looked glum and dull. Long after, it was getting late. After receiving a call, Grace picked up her red fur coat from the couch and left immediately.Mark and the gang had entered the room after finishing their game of billiards. Hanging his coat on his arm casually, Billy gracefully pulled Sherman close to him and bade goodbye before leaving. Charlie squinted his eyes and looked around as if he was looking for someone. Mark, who was stan
As the window wound down, a familiar face came into view. Jazz was slightly taken aback to see his brother as he greeted, “Hi, Mark.”Jazz looked troubled when he saw Summer, and Mark just stared at him in silence.He did not want to greet Summer as her brother-in-law. With eyes carefully speculating him, Mark knew why Jazz was feeling troubled for, yet he purposefully asked, “Why don’t you greet your sister-in-law?”Jazz’s eyes darkened, and without letting them notice, he clenched the fists on his sides as he bit out, “Hello, Summer.” Summer still felt uneasy as she greeted him in return. Just as she wanted to speak up again, Mark’s deep voice could be heard as he said, “Explain to me what and why are you here.”“Since I felt too bored at home, I’m just fully utilising my break now and being more productive. By working here, I could also get a break from mom’s constant nagging.”Jazz shrugged his shoulders as he explained. With snow falling onto his hair, he looked nonchalan
Gordon came across as so commanding that she couldn’t help but react instinctively.“Meet me in the living room in half an hour. Come down with Mark.”Gordon’s voice was strong and sonorous. After seeing Summer’s reaction, he turned and left.She breathed a sigh of relief. When she returned to her room, the man in the bed was already awake. He propped himself up on his hand under his chin, looking lazy.He squinted at her, looking a little sleepy, and spoke in a distinctive husky voice, “Good morning, Mrs. Valentine…” His chiseled, handsome face was softer and more relaxed than usual, looking more alluring under the soft, warm light.Summer’s heart was racing uncontrollably. The moment she saw his bare chest in the air, warm blush rose to her cheeks. She turned sideways, “Grandpa told us to meet him in the living room in half an hour.”Then she turned and went to the bathroom. Having washed her face, she started to brush her teeth. Suddenly, the bathroom door was pushed open.
Summer quickly looked away when their eyes met. The moment she recalled the bathroom scene, she blushed, shaking her head and gritting her teeth.This man’s elegance could put almost everyone to shame, and when he was acting dirty, no one certainly could be his match!The outcome was that they had to do workouts every morning from then on.Gordon said this to Summer himself after Mark went to work.Hearing this, she felt a headache but dared not disobey.Gordon was the one she feared the most in the family because he was intimidating without even trying.At noon, she called Nancy. “Nancy. How’s Howard?”“He’s home already.” There was no emotion in Nancy’s voice.Summer didn’t mind, but she was a little worried. She talked to Nancy for a while before she hung up.On the other side, Nancy held the phone tightly, and her face looked grim. She pressed the number and called.But no one knows who she called.Meanwhile, Summer could not sit still at the Valentine mansion, so she de