LOGINNancy answered, "Of course. People like Julian and William, for example. We need to invite them."Neither name sat well with Christian, but he kept his tone indifferent as he said, "Sure. You can handle it."Nancy glanced back at him, a little thrown. "Shouldn't we be deciding this together?"The truth was, he didn't particularly want to deal with any of it.Right on cue, his phone rang. It was Lionel calling."Mr. Lane, I managed to get a meeting with Mr. Kessler, the one you asked me to reach out to. He just flew back in from overseas today, and he's agreed to dinner. Would you like to go tonight?"Christian didn't hesitate to say, "Yes. Set it up."In that moment, he realized that he was almost relieved to have an excuse to get away from Nancy.After he hung up, he pocketed his phone and turned to her. "Something just came up. I have a dinner meeting to get to."It's still early, so stay here at Elmwood Estate for a while and have a look around. If there's anything you need
Christian held the envelope in his grip, turning it over once before finally tearing it open. The paper inside had yellowed with age, clearly a few years old, but the handwriting was neat and delicate, every letter carefully formed.He didn't read it closely, but even from a quick skim, he could sense how young, earnest, and completely unguarded Talia had been when she wrote those words.She must have loved him so desperately back then.There wasn't just one envelope. There were five or six, and he picked up each one, glanced at it, then clenched them all together in his fist.Staring down at those aging pages, something in him hardened, and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to tear them to shreds.His hand moved to do it, but just before his fingers closed down, something held him back.He placed the envelopes back into the box, exactly as they'd been. He had barely closed the lid when the sharp click of heels echoed from the hallway.Christian glanced toward the door. N
As far as Talia was concerned, Quentin had more money than he knew what to do with. When she didn't reply, he went ahead and video-called her instead.She answered the call to find him still in bed, wearing a gray silk pajama set with his hair falling carelessly across his forehead. He hadn't made any effort to clean up, yet he was unfairly handsome.The sight of him caught her off guard. A flush crept up her cheeks before she could stop it, and she glanced away, suddenly too flustered to hold eye contact.Quentin didn't seem to notice. "Please, honey. Come car shopping with me. We'll pick one you like."Talia frowned. "Why do you need a new car all of a sudden?"He lied without missing a beat. "I got into an accident. The car's totaled."Her eyes went wide as she asked, "You were in an accident? Last night? Why didn't you tell me?"The genuine worry on her face sent a small sting of guilt through him, causing him to come clean a second later. "Okay, that's not what happened. Mo
The silence between Monica and Quentin stretched, taut and suffocating.But Monica refused to give in. She swallowed her fear and met Quentin's gaze head-on. Even though the look in his eyes was fierce enough to devour her whole, she didn't back down an inch."I'm not getting out," she told him stubbornly. "This seat should've been mine in the first place."Quentin watched her plant herself in the passenger seat, and he shrugged like it meant nothing to him. "Suit yourself. I'll just buy a new one."He pushed the door open and stepped out of the car. Only when Monica realized he was actually leaving did she scramble after him. "Quentin, wait!"He didn't so much as glance back. He walked away without a second of hesitation, as if he hadn't heard her at all.Monica wanted to chase him, but Quentin had already flagged down a cab. When it pulled over, he climbed in, and the car started to roll away right in front of her.Then the rear window slid down. Quentin leaned into view, his
Once he had buckled his seatbelt, Quentin floored the gas, and the car pulled away. The thugs watched the vehicle disappear down the road, each of them spitting after it in disgust.Inside the car, Monica kept stealing glances at Quentin. His eyes were fixed on the road ahead, and his hands were steady on the wheel. Something about it made her smile to herself.But the next second, the car slammed to a hard stop.Monica hadn't bothered with her seatbelt. The sudden brake threw her forward, and she almost hit the windshield before she caught herself against the dashboard.Before she could even adjust herself, Quentin's voice cut through the silence, low and flat. "Get out."Monica went rigid. She turned to stare at him, disbelief written across her face. "What?"He stared at her, unblinking, his expression cold and distant. He repeated himself with measured patience. "I said, get out of the car."But Monica still didn't move. She said, "You do care about me. I know you do."Quen
Quentin slammed the car door shut behind him.The sound cracked through the quiet street like a gunshot, and the men circling the woman all froze. They turned to look.When they saw that it was just some guy stepping out of a luxury car, they weren't intimidated. One of them sneered. "Hey buddy, don't think that you can play the hero just because you've got a nice ride. This isn't your fight. If you know what's good for you, walk away."Quentin didn't flinch. He pulled out a cigarette, shook it loose from the pack, cupped his lighter against the wind, and lit it.He took a long drag, then looked at the men through the smoke with one brow raised. "I'm making it my fight. What are you going to do about it?"That was Quentin. Unapologetically bold, unreasonably stubborn, and not the least bit interested in playing nice.The men scoffed. "You're not doing a damn thing, pal. Get lost before we make you."Quentin acted like he hadn't heard a single word they had said. Instead of backi
Seeing Talia silent for so long, Quentin grew inexplicably anxious. "Sweetie, did that con artist say something to make you upset?"Quentin had indeed told Harold to tell Talia that he was the good man he foresaw in her future. But since he wasn't there, he didn't know how Harold had said it to Tal
Quentin stood in the crowd. He was tall and handsome, so many passersby glanced at him as they walked by.At that moment, he stood in the midst of all this attention, but his gaze rested on Nancy. He looked at her, his smile faint.Quentin had eyes on him, but he was looking at Nancy. So quite a f
Melissa's words sent a chill through Talia's whole body.Fortunately, Melissa had other matters to attend to, so they didn't talk for long before parting ways.After thinking it over, Talia decided to go to Jubilee Manor to check on Yvonne.On the drive there, Melissa's words kept echoing in her
Talia leaned against the wall. Although she felt completely drained, her heart was racing wildly.Yvonne's cries echoed out from the room. She was sobbing her heart out, each wail tugging at Talia's heartstrings.After all, her daughter was her own flesh and blood. Hearing her cry like this, Talia







