The pounding on the door caused the nightlight by the bed to tremble.Giselle was startled awake. She sat up and turned on the light in annoyance before walking to the door. She could see a man outside through the peephole.He was leaning against the door, his fist pounding on it relentlessly.Giselle couldn't tell who it was, so she called for security. While waiting for them to arrive, the man continued pounding on the door. The strength of his knocks went from weak to strong, then back to weak again. Giselle couldn't help but admire his persistence. Five minutes later, the management and security guards arrived. They tried to restrain the man but hadn't managed to touch him before he threw a punch, knocking one of them back. Chaos ensured. Two burly security guards were no match for one drunken man. Giselle was speechless as she watched the scene unfold from inside her house. After some thought, she decided to step in. Amidst a chorus of groans, Giselle opene
People usually couldn't get over their first loves.When Larry was pursuing Emma, he clung to her tirelessly and won her over with his persistence. He once promised her she would never regret choosing him and even declared that she was the only one for him. But that wasn't the truth. As they spent more days together, his feelings eventually died. The allure of other women outside their relationship began to tempt him. However, he lacked the courage to pursue anything. It wasn't until Charlotte gave him some advice that he changed his mind.It wasn't that he didn't love Emma anymore. He simply realized that he needed some excitement in his life. He was dissatisfied with the monotony of their everyday life. Day after day, Larry felt he was on the verge of becoming an emotionless shell of a man. And so, he started an affair with a college girl who resembled Emma. Being with her made him feel like he was reliving the thrill of their early courtship.But he became even mor
The last time Giselle had felt this way was during her first love.Back then, she and Jonathan couldn't get enough of each other and spent every moment they could together. They always checked in with one another before doing something.But their conversations quickly turned one-sided. The chat was filled with her updates and messages, while Jonathan replied to only the last message or none at all. He would divert the topic too.She tried to communicate and fix things, but it proved useless. Jonathan no longer cared about her feelings. Whenever conflicts arose, his go-to strategy was to give her the cold shoulder, certain that she would eventually cave in and apologize.In their seven years of dating, Giselle had spent about six and a half of those feeling neglected and wronged.Looking back now, she realized how foolish she had been. She had wasted so much time on someone who wasn't worth it.Snapping herself out of her thoughts, Giselle set aside her emotions and didn'
Giselle accepted the card. "Alright, Mr. Barton."Having more friends meant more opportunities. Though Chris' favor wasn't ideal, it was better than nothing.Who was to say? She might come to need it someday. Even if she didn't, Emma might. Considering Larry's actions, they needed to stay on guard.Once the deal was settled, Larry was finally allowed out of the interrogation room. His expression turned ugly when he saw Chris. "It's you?"Larry hated Chris' guts. His half-brother was just three years older and overshadowed him in every way. Their father even entrusted the family business to Chris. As for Larry, people may respect him for being part of the Barton family. But he was just a disposable chess piece.Chris glanced at him coolly. "Didn't your mother teach you manners? Not even a word of thanks?"The atmosphere tensed. Giselle was waiting for Emma to arrive and perked up at the commotion. She quietly moved closer and found the perfect spot to eavesdrop.Larry
Both the slap and Larry's voice rang in the quiet night. Giselle calmly withdrew her hand while Larry clutched his face and stared at her in disbelief."Sorry, it was a reflex." Giselle shrugged.Larry lunged toward her. This wasn't her fault! Giselle would never admit the slap was personal. She wasn't stupid. Larry was infuriated. "Giselle Stone! Do you have a death wish?"The anger he had been suppressing went out of control. But before he could act further, someone suddenly rushed out from behind Giselle.Another slap. Larry's other cheek now matched the first. The fiery sting on both sides of his face only fueled his rage. But he froze when he saw who hit him. "Emma?""What are you doing, Larry? Looks like you're the one with a death wish!" Emma stood protectively before Giselle, shielding her while her eyes brimmed with disgust. She hadn't expected to hear Larry threatening Giselle after months of separation.She wasn't going to just let this slide. If they wer
"Here's the settlement fee—from Chris," Giselle said.A look of surprise flickered across Emma's face when she heard the name. She asked, "It was Chris who came to bail Larry out?"The relationship between the two brothers was deteriorating by the day. Why would Chris personally come and bail Larry out? On the day Emma got married to Larry, Chris did not even attend their wedding ceremony. All he did was send a wedding gift over.Perhaps they were on better terms now? No, this seemed implausible.Chris was a complicated person. Emma simply could not wrap her head around it.Eventually, Emma gave up trying to figure it out. She returned the bank card to Giselle and said, "Keep this, Gigi. I'm sorry about Larry. I didn't know he had people following me…"Had Emma not returned to Giselle's place to get her things, Larry would not have harassed Giselle.In the end, she was the one to blame.Giselle responded, "Why are you apologizing? Larry's got nothing to do with you anyway. Be
"I have decided. I will not be going even with Cody anymore. I'll be the one to shoulder all our living expenses."His money will be used to pay off the mortgage and the car, while the rest will be saved for the wedding."Maddie appeared determined as she came to this conclusion. Not a single word was said in jest.Giselle forced an affectatious smile and said, "It's such a waste.""What is?" Maddie asked.Giselle answered, "It's such a waste that I'm not a man, or I'd be the first one in line fighting to ask you out."Maddie smiled bashfully and said, "Stop teasing me, Giselle."Giselle was lost for words.All hope was gone. There was no cure for Maddie anymore. She could not even tell when someone was being sarcastic.Giselle had her fair share of meeting people like Maddie before. Those who heeded her advice had a happy ending. As for those who ignored her advice, all they could do in the end was cry in regret.The girl sitting in front of her was stubborn beyond salvation
"A reasonable amount of help is fine. But don't you see that you're like a walking ATM to him? What has he given you in this relationship?"Giselle bombarded her with multiple questions at once, leaving Maddie stunned for a moment, unable to answer her.Giselle continued, "You can take your time to answer my question. Text him now and ask him what his plans are for the evening."Maddie followed her orders without question.Two minutes later, she lifted her head and said, "Cody said he'll be out drinking with Mr. Lawson and some clients at the nightclub down at the city center."He had even mentioned the location. It was apparent that he did this to lower Maddie's suspicion. At 30 years old, he really was a seasoned veteran.But Giselle could see through his act. In that instance, Giselle locked eyes with Maddie. With quiet resolution in her eyes, she said, "Maddie, come with me somewhere tonight."…It was nightfall, and neon lights began flashing in the city center. There was
Chester looked into Giselle's eyes as he raised the corners of his lips slightly. "You're my wife. You can do whatever you want."After his last accident, he had taken advantage of the situation with Giselle under the pretext of amnesia. He would call her his "wife" or "Gigi" interchangeably.Until now, he had not had the time to come clean to her about this. Chester needed more time.Giselle was overwhelmed by the sudden profession of love.For some reason, her entire body suddenly felt warm. She looked away quickly, rolled down the car window, and let the wind blow upon her face. It was only then that her pounding heart settled into a calm rhythm.Chester caught everything from beside her.A trace of delight flashed across his eyes at the speed of light. When their gaze met again, however, it had disappeared without a trace.Chester decided to take it slow and easy.He straightened up and said, "A new restaurant recently opened in the suburbs. Should we go there for lunch?"
"You don't have to explain anything. Me and Jonathan? We're just aunt and nephew to each other."You're trying to ask him out, aren't you? When you finally win him over, don't forget to address me as Aunt Giselle, okay?"It was a soul-crushing blow.Giselle used their unique relationship as an opportunity to attack them without mercy!The greatest part about this was that they could not do anything to her.Charlotte's and Jonathan's expressions matched, which was a rare sight. Jonathan clenched his teeth in anger. His eyes hardened as he said, "Giselle, you're truly something else!"She knew to hit where it hurt. How did he not know that Giselle had this side to her?Giselle feigned humility. "You're too kind."The whole fiasco between the trio was becoming something of a movie to the passersby. Even when lunchtime was almost over, they were reluctant to leave.Some really were born with the talent to gossip.If they had to choose between money and gossip-worthy news, they
One could easily find Giselle's, Chester's, and Jonathan's names online through related keywords.The news came from an insider, so the credibility was 99.99%.The atmosphere between the two became heated.When Jonathan finally managed to suppress his negative emotions, Giselle's phone rang. Instantly, his heart skipped a beat. Alarm bells started to ring in his head.Sure enough…"I'm sorry, Chester. I forgot that you're no longer at Lawson Group."Giselle addressed Chester affectionately without any hesitation.She did this on purpose, of course.Jonathan was rendered speechless. He was so mad that he could even kill someone right now.But when Jonathan recalled his mother's admonition after his fight with Chester, he did his best to hold his anger back.From the phone, Chester could be heard saying, "Just stay there. I'll come over right now."When the call ended, Giselle could hear Jonathan's sneer. "Do you have to get on my nerves, Giselle?"His resentment was as cle
Jonathan was practically running on autopilot mode as his legs carried him toward Giselle.Meanwhile, Giselle was waiting for Chester's reply.All of a sudden, a shadow loomed over her, followed by a familiar voice that called, "Gigi."Both of them were good-looking people. Their standing side by side drew many people's attention.Passersby—including the employees—looked in their direction. They had even slowed down subconsciously as they walked by, just to catch a glimpse.Giselle's gaze went from casual to chilling in a split second.There was coldness hidden in her eyes, and a look of vexation settled on her face.Giselle took two steps away from him, putting some distance between them.Jonathan felt like someone was gripping his heart tight, making him feel suffocated.Dismay instantly replaced the feeling of excitement he had felt earlier. He stared at Giselle with woeful eyes. "Gigi…"Giselle did not buy into his words and pitiful act.She grunted. "Jonathan, is this h
An hour later, the car arrived at Lawson Group.The sky looked gray and hazy, while the air was hot.It was now lunchtime, so there were a lot of people going in and out of the building. Giselle texted Chester, letting him know that she had arrived.At the same time, Jonathan, in his sleep-deprived state, was staring at his phone. The expression on his face was so dark that Rick, his assistant, was trembling with fear when he came in to brief Jonathan on his schedule. He did not even dare to breathe."M-Mr. Lawson…""This had better be important!"Jonathan was like an explosive that could detonate any second.Rick gulped. "Mr. Lawson, I've notified the board that the meeting will be held at the conference room at 2:00 pm…"His voice trailed off at the end.With a loud bang, Jonathan threw his phone to the ground.When it crashed onto the floor, the screen shattered into pieces.That immediately shut Rick up.Ever since Jonathan had returned from the hospital, his temper had
It was the weekend today, so the café was crowded.The chaos swallowed the woman's voice. Nevertheless, Giselle could still hear her clearly.She paused for a moment to ruminate on the things the woman had just said.Her husband had an affair, and the mistress happened to be a very cunning person. More importantly, the woman's daughter was on the mistress' side.To be hit with betrayal on both sides knocked the wind out of her. Every day, the woman had been drowning in her own tears.Judging from her mental state, depression seemed imminent.Giselle took a sip of her coffee before she asked with a calm tone, "The reason you've approached me is because you want to get back together with your husband and daughter, is that it?"In the public's eye, Giselle was someone who helped mend relationships. In fact, she was a professional who had been mending relationships for a long time.One could just search her name on the internet and find nothing but positive reviews.A majority of
Giselle only went home after it turned dark outside.Penny had transferred some money to Giselle and thanked her once again for today.Penny texted, "I'm not sad at all anymore. If you hadn't gone with me today, I think I would've already died from frustration." As for the aftermath of the storm, Eugene took care of everything. Every single penny that she had spent on Zayn would be retrieved through legal means.Giselle replied, "You're welcome."Only after that did she have the time to check out the link Yvette had sent to her.It was about the incident from earlier today. Videos from the live stream had gone viral.Obviously, it was not from her own live stream but a third party's.Her fans, who had gone down to the location, had captured everything on camera. There was an explosion of comments beneath related videos.One of the videos was of Jonathan. It had been edited to look like he was the hero coming to his damsel's rescue.With the accompaniment of some background
In the past, Jean had reminded Jonathan more than once to keep his distance from Charlotte, but those words fell on deaf ears every single time. He never took her words seriously.It was too late for regrets now.Jonathan lowered his head. With a pair of sad eyes and a dejected voice, he mumbled, "I've said it before, Mom. I won't have anyone as my wife if it's not Giselle."His only wish was to marry Giselle. But everyone was telling him that he had cheated on her.Jonathan found it hard to believe that he would cheat on her. He was certain that there had to be some kind of misunderstanding.And the missing piece to this puzzle was none other than that woman named Charlotte. Jean, Francis, and Martha remained silent. Jonathan was hopelessly in love with Giselle. But if he was so madly in love with her, why did he cheat on her?And if he was not madly in love with her, then why had he not gotten over her yet?But wait. The reason he was still not over her was mainly due to t
It was merely a second ago when Giselle had told him to keep a distance from her, yet she was now in his car voluntarily.Jonathan did not move an inch. He still had his back against the inside of the car door as he faced Giselle, intently looking at her."Women are really fickle. Giselle must still have feelings for me. She's just too proud to admit it," he thought to himself.As for the rumors about her and Chester, they might just be putting on an act.Giselle did not know that Jonathan was in the process of gaslighting himself. When she noticed that he was not about to drive any time soon, she frowned and said, "If you're not going to drive, scram."Only then did Jonathan fix his position. He started the engine, and they headed for the hospital.At first, he was in a joyous mood. He tagged behind Giselle upon arrival at the hospital. It was not until he had reached a ward and saw who was seated on the hospital bed that his expression turned sullen.Giselle had gotten into