Ben snuck upstairs when he saw that people were distracted with giving their gifts to the old madam.Even Lily had asked him to accompany her to her room earlier to get her own gift but because he was suspicious she might try something funny, he refused.He told her he would just wait for her to get back with the gifts and then they could go together to the old madam.Lily readily agreed because she thought appearing together in front of the old madam will surely give away some hint and Ben won't be able to back out.He got to the first floor successfully unaware his mother had begun to seek his whereabouts as she wanted him to accompany her to pay respects to the old madam.Ben opened the rooms one after the other but aside from staring at beautiful interior designs, there was no one else in there.He was almost losing hope when he opened the last room at the far end of the hall.There she was, sitting gracefully on a stool as her beautiful fingers brushed softly against the surface

"Ben, what has gotten into you?" Mrs Palmer was dumbfounded. "Lily is the one you are going to marry, not that nameless orphan.""Don't you understand? She's a fake. If it wasn't because of the Powell's, she wouldn't have a last name. Is that the person you want as a wife?""Yes!" Ben released her hand gently."Lily is only someone you have decided for me to marry like you always do. You decide my life and coerce grandfather to support you knowing fully well I can't go against him.""Mom, I have been filial and obedient to you two for years. If you don't let me make decisions on my own now, you never will. I'll return to the barracks and never show up here.""Ben," His mother panicked as he zipped up the box. "Do you know the trouble you have caused for Estelle tonight? Are you going to leave her?"Ben scoffed. "Mom, you really haven't changed. You switched sides quickly and started to blackmail me with her. I'll take her along with me if she agrees to come. Even if she doesn't, I'll s

"Ha!" Mrs Powell cackled. "What gave you the nerve to come here and still demand to see her after everything? I'm telling you as her mother. You are not allowed to see her!""She's an adult and you don't have the right to control her," Ben flared up. This only angered Mrs Powell."We are her parents and we have the right to decide who she gets to see or not. Because of the last respect I have for your grandfather, I am not asking the guards to throw you out now so leave."Ben ignored her and walked to Mr Powell. "Uncle, why don't you let me see Estelle just once? I—"Mr Powell sighed and shook his head. Although, since they adopted Estelle, he never treated her wrongly nor did he give her any preferential treatment.Ben's actions tonight have caused Estelle a lot of trouble but he didn't interfere because this also concerned his own biological daughter.He couldn't just ignore Lily's predicament, he overlooked his wife's brutal actions tonight. This was the exact reason why Ben could

"You wanted to see me?"The silence on the rooftop was uncomfortable for Eric. They had been sitting at this high end restaurant in the rooftop spot Jed chose for them just staring at the city.Eric wanted to say something since he got there but he didn't dare say anything and waited for Jed. He didn't expect the latter wouldn't say a thing after they got there so he was forced to ask that question.Jed couldn't have possibly asked him out just to sit in silence."Mhmm," Jed breathed in deeply and pointed at the natural scenery. "Isn't it beautiful? I haven't gotten a chance to sit and admire nature like this for as long as I can remember.""But the city looks the same. Barely a little thing changed except the people in it."His words engulfed Eric with guilt and so he called out, "Jed, I—""Look at that," Jed suddenly exclaimed pointing at the flight of beautiful birds flying past. This species of birds are only seen in the country."Did you see these beautiful creatures while you wer

Ben and Jed parked their cars in an obscure area just a few meters away from the Palmer's residence. Two men met with them and handed over some uniforms to them."Sir, we are only doing this because you have assured and shown us proof that you were our young master's old roomie. We won't hesitate to take action if you pose a threat to him.""You won't be safe either," Eric teased as they exchanged clothes. The guards kept quiet but knew it was necessarily not true. They wouldn't have given away their uniforms to these men if they didn't do a background checkup."You should follow our map later and don't deviate from the plan. It is better if you are only caught when you get to the young master's room than being caught without even achieving your goals."Jed nodded, "Don't worry. We won't put you two into any trouble." As soon as they had changed, they left. Because these guards weren't on duty the previous night, they naturally didn't know what had transpired in the Palmer's residen