The woman's father was furious with his son. Because of his son's offending Alison, all of their company's shares had dropped by 95%, a crazy amount. This was tantamount to bankruptcy for the Hartman family. The woman's father shook his head in surprise."You're such an idiot," he said in a weary tone. This made him depressed. "I don't know who you're offending, but what you're doing is destroying our family. If you weren't my son, then I would have killed you long ago."The woman stood silent, her face paled. Her breathing was laboured. She could feel the dissatisfaction flowing from her father through the look in his eyes. In her heart guilt pierced her heart, hurting like a sharp thorn. It was just that she still didn't understand what was wrong. He only knew that he had made a mistake."Our stock dropped 95%. This is all because of you, " her father continued, his voice echoing in the awkward room. "This is tantamount to bankruptcy for our family. 95% is no small number. You compl
Alison knew that the insinuations were directed at her and that they were annoying. With a sudden burst of courage, she retorted, "Maybe you'd be better off discussing yourself instead of gossiping about me. Do you feel better by putting others down?" Alison looked at one of them. "I've heard that you had an encounter with two guys at the gym. Two handsome young men."Alison's words shook things up. The woman she was looking at had a panicked look on her face. How could she not? That was precisely what had happened. She was getting stares from some of her friends. It made the elite woman flustered. Sweat dripped from her forehead."Don't think you're all holier than thou." Alison looked at the other women. "You're just the same. You once secretly met a young man even younger than your son back then. You even gave him a car."The woman fell silent. Hearing Alison's words frightened them because it could be gossip about them that Alison was discussing. The group of women fell silent, lo
The archery range, located behind the tea shop, was filled with spectators. The atmosphere was tense. Alison was belittled. The elite woman with a haughty attitude drew her arrow. One second later, she fired.The woman immediately smiled. "Look, I got an 8, Alison. Do you know what that means? You're going to lose to me. You're no match for me," she taunted, turning to Alison in a mocking tone.Alison, despite her heart pounding, just nodded slowly. She would focus on herself. "I'll try my best," she replied in a calm voice.Alison drew her crossbow while catching her breath. When she was calm and confident. She fired. Alison chuckled in annoyance. As the arrow shot out and the shot missed, she only scored a 6. This was a poor start for her."Hahaha! I told you, you can't compete with me," the arrogant woman continued, her voice full of satisfaction at Alison's results being worse than hers.Some other participants also shot, and Alison's score was the lowest. That made some people in
Upon arriving home, Alison was greeted by Carson, who was waiting for her in the living room. He smiled at Alison, and Seeing Alison's gloomy face made Carson curious. He got up and walked over to Alison. He also helped Alison take off the jacket his wife was wearing."How was your day? Anything interesting?" Alison asked, a warm smile gracing her face. She tried to greet Alison with a smile.Alison walked towards the sofa and finally sat on the couch. Carson sat next to Alison. "It sucks, but it's interesting too. I managed to get a perfect score in the archery competition and I won it." Her eyes lit up as she recounted her experience. "But there's also something annoying. There was this woman who bet with me, but she didn't do what she promised. That's not fair."Carson listened intently, his eyes not leaving Alison's face. "You want to tell me more?" asked Carson, slightly annoyed."He even refused to apologize after I won. Even though in the stakes, he should have apologized for i
Alison stood in the kitchen, stirring the cake batter. She wanted to please her family, but this was the first time she made cookies like this. She was very excited, especially since she was baking with her husband and son this time. Of course, it was even more fun.She turned her head in the direction, and suddenly, the glass on the table fell. The glass shook and rolled before shattering on the floor. Alison's heart skipped a beat as she saw the galas almost hit Charlotte. Only for Charlotte to move as fast as lightning. In an instant, Charlotte's small hand caught the glass just before it hit the floor, and the broken glass hit her, too."Lotte. What did you just do?" Alison asked, her voice shaking between fear and astonishment. She rubbed her eyes, making sure that she didn't see wrong. "You caught that glass without refusing at all? How did you do that?""It was an accident, Mother. I don't know what happened; it all happened so fast," Charlotte replied with a confused face, sti
Carson sat in the warm living room. He was now in the home of an old man. The house was surrounded by classical elegance. From the large windows, the afternoon light shone into the room, expensive paintings, Gramophone instruments, and the sound of W.A Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. It created a gentle atmosphere. All this atmosphere made Carson calm. Although, his eyes were focused on the old man before him. The man was gracefully pouring hot tea.The man was holding a dark green ceramic teapot, his frail hands gripping the teapot tightly. He lifted the teapot with slow, thoughtful movements as if performing a holy ritual. His face bowed slightly, showing a deep reverence for this moment. Hot steam swirled from the teapot's mouth, dancing gently in the air and filling the room with the soothing aroma of tea.As he directed the golden-colored stream of tea into the tiny glass before him, each drop seemed like a beautiful work of art. The soft sound when the liquid touched the glass
"You want me to check on your son?" the old man asked, his eyes full of astonishment.He was shocked by the story Carson had just explained. It was surprising that there was such a thing, something that wouldn't happen to most children—only 0.5% of children experience that. She was also curious and wanted to take a closer look, although she was a little hesitant.Carson nodded. "Yes. This is very important. I want a serious examination of it. You can do it, right?" he replied, emphasizing the critical situation.The old man was silent for a moment, still thinking about his decision. This was interesting, but somehow, he was still hesitant, even though this was just a tiny request—something that didn't require risking his life. He was getting a costly gem. Strangely, her heart was beating 1.5 times faster. I wonder why that happened. It didn't make sense.The old man took a breath and exhaled softly. Then he nodded. "Alright. I'll do it, but I have a condition that you must do. How abo
Alison and Carson arrived at the beach. They had gathered there and started having fun. It had been a long time since they had been together like this, and it had been a long vacation. This made them all very happy. Of course, this was their first time vacationing together since Charlotte hadn't been around before.The sun began to dip over the horizon, creating a sky that graded from orange to purple. As Alison, Carson, Charlotte, and Paula set foot on the warm sand, the sound of crashing waves broke their bliss, providing the perfect backdrop for their fun.Her hair shimmering in the wind, Alison stared at the rolling waves. "Look. The waves are so big. Who wants to splash with me?" she exclaimed, excitement burning in her eyes.Charlotte raised her hand. "Me... me," she said.Carson, who was still organizing his bag, shook his head. "Don't play too far. Be careful. Dad, he's busy, so take care," he said, but his smile showed that he couldn't help but be happy to see his wife and da