Seeing how Madam Jewel's grip on Peach's hand was not causing her any pain, Elijah held back his desire to interfere, knowing that the situation wasn't that threatening. "There is more to tonight, so I am hoping that you can stay a bit longer," Madam Jewel said calmly, her hand loosening its grip against Peach's wrist, allowing Peach to pull her hand away as she lowered her head slightly to avoid anyone noticing how uncomfortable she was. A frown settled on Elijah's face because he could tell from Madam Jewel's words that she had something up her sleeve, her tone and expression had him suspicious of what exactly she meant. "But," Peach whispered, darting her gaze to meet Elijah's eyes, feeling hesitant to agree. Trust wasn't something she wanted to give to Madam Jewel and her family, knowing too well the danger of doing so since Madam Jewel had always been crafty and manipulative with whatever she did, and she had never hesitated to use whatever means available to her. "I would lo

The hall was quiet until Melina suddenly burst into a chuckle that vibrated throughout the ballroom and caused quite a few people to frown in annoyance at the sound of such amusement coming out of Melina. The other guests glanced at her with confused expressions, not being able to understand what the problem was. The laughter finally died down, as Melina wiped the corners of her eyes from cracking up, and said in a soft tone, "Peach, I'm sorry if my reaction upset you, but why do you look so horrified like Grandmother is not doing you a big favor... Is it that you don't want to settle down because of my ex-husband, huh, my dear cousin?" 'What is this troublesome child doing now...' Madam Jewel thought as she raised a brow in anger. "Your daughter is going to go against Mother's wish for tonight... Why haven't you taught her some sense!" Tommy lashed out at Martha in a low tone. And a look of worry crossed Martha's features as she watched her daughter walk over to where Elijah an

As Miss Grace stood in front of her daughter's room door, she raised her knuckles to knock, but then hesitated before grabbing the doorknob, and pushing the door open. Quietly, she stepped into the bedroom to see Peach in bed, sleeping soundly, hugging a pillow. A smile graced her lips, and she stared tenderly at her daughter, and after a moment of that, she was about to leave when a file on Peach's desk got her attention. A feeling of hesitation filled her as she approached the desk, and as her hand hovered over the folder, she took a deep breath. Finally, Miss Grace pushed aside her fear of invading Peace's privacy, picked up the file, opened it, and read the contents. Her heart skipped a beat when she got done, and she hastily rushed over to her daughter's bedside and tapped her gently on the back. "Peach, wake up." Miss Grace's voice echoed in Peach's ears softly. Her eyes blinked open slowly as she looked at her mother standing above her, watching her with a concerned l

Looking at Michael squared in his face, Elijah couldn't stop himself from glaring at him with his hard and narrowed eyes and said, "It wouldn't be necessary coming back here... You heard Peach, didn't you? Didn't you pick up the word, 'Never,' in what she said?" His voice was so venomous and it sent chills through Michael's body. But he remained strong even though Elijah wasn't making it easy on him. When they were close enough, Elijah leaned in and lowered his voice, glaring into Michael's eyes and whispering threateningly in his ear, "Showing up in someone's face that doesn't want you to is call harassment, and do you know what happened to people who don't know how to take a hint, huh?" Chills ran through Michael's body, and he felt Elijah's warm breath hit his ears as he spoke, and he could feel goosebumps rising on his skin. 'Why does he have such an aura...?!' Michael thought, feeling frozen and helpless against his intense and dangerous presence, but didn't want to show

"Peach, honey, you can't stay in your room forever!" Miss Grace said, unable to get over the fact that it was two o'clock, but her daughter was still sleeping. Squeezing her eyes shut, Peach rolled back to look up at the ceiling. If only her mother would leave her be and let her be alone, she wouldn't have to deal with all of this! "Peach," Miss Grace said again, a bit louder than before, "you're not sleeping! I know that!" A frown crossed Peach's face, and finally, she got out of bed and stumbled to her room door, throwing it open, and then sighed softly at her mother who stood by the front door. "What all did you not tell me about last night?" Miss Grace asked sternly as Peach walked back into the room. "Mama, not now," Peach cried, flopping onto her bed and burying her face into her pillow. "We have to do this now, Peach." Miss Grace repeated as she closed the door behind herself, moving closer to her daughter. "Why did Elijah tell Michael that you are already taken, and war