I woke up sitting on the floor by Aren's bed, my hand stretched to hold his while he slept, my upper body twisted in a weird, uncomfortable position. It took me a while to stand as my stiffened muscles refused to work, punishing me for my awkward way of falling asleep. It was four in the morning when I swayed back to my bedroom to lie down in bed and try to relax. I couldn't. The image of Aren, desperate and mortified in his sleep, haunted me each time I closed my eyes. What could cause him such pain? Was it something from his past? "Lanfen..." I muttered, staring blankly at the ceiling. It was probably a Chinese name. I wondered if it was his family member, but I had never heard him mention that name before. And what was it that he was calling? "Buyao zou"? I wondered what it could mean. Should I ask him in the morning? Would he answer? For the first time, I wasn't sure that he'd tell me the truth... I was scared. I couldn't explain it, but something fragile had broken between us.

Perhaps, he said. Perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut. With a stiff smile on my face, I tried to contain my boiling emotions. The sting of jealousy was painfully spreading throughout my body and made me hate Lanfen even if I didn't know her. Why had I even mentioned that I would look for her?! I didn't want to find my husband's ex! If she was out of his life, then it would be better if it stayed that way! I hated the way her name and the memory of her could stir his emotions. It made Aren agitated and anxious. She caused it, and, as much as I didn't like to admit it, I envied her. I bet that she knew Aren before he decided to lock all of his emotions away. She could have had his love, but she rejected him. Whoever she was and whatever her motives were, she didn't deserve to come back to his life. "Sunshine, are you worried?" Aren asked, smiling. "Of course I am!" I snapped. "No girl likes to hear that her man's ex is in town!" I might have gone a little overboard with the volume

Aren and I left the Wintons' mansion soon after I had promised to meet with Augustus after the weekend."You did an excellent job, my beautiful wife," he commented as we were going back to the penthouse."You knew that your grandfather would approach me, didn't you? Was that why you suddenly chose to leave me alone in that hall?" I narrowed my eyes at him.He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "Of course. I knew that my grandfather would naturally assume that you are naïve. That was why he waited for the moment I wasn't around you. He was afraid that if I was listening to your conversation, I would make the choices for you, and I would make you refuse his offer.""Now, he thinks that I am willing to listen to him and use the diamond as an investment. What do we do next?" I asked.Aren sighed. "We would have to use the fact that you're going to meet my grandfather in his office, but the plan that I'm thinking of is a risky one…""What do you mean?" I asked, my heart speeding as I saw his

We decided to be cautious and check what was on that flash drive once everyone left the company. It was a little after 10 PM, and since we weren't certain if the drive was password-protected, Aren and Neil met us in our full of equipment computer office. We locked the doors after making sure that all the other employees were gone from that floor, and ceremoniously plugged the USB into my computer. I checked if the flash drive wasn't infected before I opened its content, holding my breath. There was a single audio file on it. Aren, Norton, Alan, and Neil sat around me as I opened it. The recording started with some cracks and distorted sounds, which lasted about a minute. It felt discouraging. I skipped the record on fast-forward until finally, we heard two male voices. "The police want to reopen the case. Someone must have tipped them off," the first man said in a low-pitched hoarse voice. "What do you mean, someone?! It was your fucking job to make sure that no one ever digs in Lil

I leaned back in my seat, my head spinning as I couldn't process what Jack had just told us. Anger buzzed within me as I thought that Callan was messing with us even after he died."This is absurd! You told us before that the pathologist couldn't find any evidence that Callan's death was a murder, and now you can be accused of killing him?!" My frustration went beyond the limits I could handle.Aren placed his hand on top of mine. "Calm down, Cora. We will find a solution; we just need to think carefully."I inwardly slapped myself for enjoying Aren's touch and then slipped my hand away from his. As I did, he glanced at me with a hint of odd sadness flashing in his expression. Was he surprised that I was going to avoid his touch? Well, too bad he hadn't thought about it before degrading everything we had to casual sex.Jack noticed our change in behavior right away. "You two had a fight?"My "yes" came simultaneously with Aren's "no." We looked at each other slightly awkwardly.Jack c