One of them leaned back in his seat and sneered mirthlessly. "It's not a crime to have a poor husband, but it is a crime to come to your highschool reunion with the cheap things he bought you. If you don't respect yourself, at least respect the people you'll be meeting." Rose Goldberg exhaled calmly, a smile tugging the corner of her lips as she folded her hands underneath her bosom and rebuked the male classmate. "That's too much too say. I think the right thing to say is to at least borrow something decent. You don't have to show the world you're married to a pauper and living a miserable life." "I can't exactly remember where I heard it before, but it did say to keep asking and you'll receive. Chloe William, don't tell me you left the house dressed this way so you can beg us for alms." One of the male classmate who had welcomed Chloe turned to her and questioned."Huh? Is your family really lacking? You should say something if you're in need. Most of of us here, if not all of
Chloe squinted as she closely examined the car's license plate number and furrowed her brows in surprise."Ethan?" She wasn't surprised he found her, but she was taken aback by how quickly he had arrived at the Pearl Hotel, especially since it was closing time at Honey's and he had made it his duty to pick her up to and from school every day.Unless Claire called him, and instead of going home, he drove straight to Pearl Hotel with Honey.Chloe glanced down at her covered thighs and fidgeted with her fingers, her heart easing knowing Ethan was here.She hadn't realized it yet, but she felt more at peace whenever he was with her."Huh? Leonard, weren't you driving a Mercedes-Maybach S-Class just a few days ago? How is it that you're driving such a sleek and stylish sports car today? When did you get it?""Woah, Leonard! This looks really expensive! I don't need to ask how much you paid for it to know it must've cost a lot!""I would kill to ride in your car, Leonard. Please, let me dri
Claire was walking out of her room when she bumped into someone, causing her phone to call.She straightened up and gasped upon seeing Chloe. Then she quickly placed a hand on both of Chloe's shoulders and quietly scrutinized get from head to toe."Chloe, you're back. How did the reunion go? Hope you didn't let anyone walk all over you as usual? Your hair isn't wet. That's a good sign things weren't half as bad as I imagined them.""What are you doing?" Chloe asked, pulling on a faint smile while trying to hide the fatigue in her eyes.Claire stared into Chloe's eyes in relief."Making sure you're fine. I begged Ethan to come for you, but Honey wouldn't let him leave the house without her.""It's just a reunion between former high school classmates, and I knew it'd definitely be weird if your husband and daughter showed up in search of you. You'd stick out like a sore thumb.""I mean, who brings their husband and daughter to a high school reunion? So I just asked Ethan to stay while p
"Mom, that's such a bad way to talk to your daughter, especially in front of your granddaughter," Claire couldn't take it any longer and threw her chopsticks on her plate."What? I only call it as it is. If I don't, how will her daughter know what kind of mother she has?" Matilda huffed, not feeling a tinge of remorse.Claire leaned back in her seat and folded her hands underneath her bosom."And why would you say Chloe quit because of a little harassment? A man was trying to use his position to sleep with her. It's only right that she felt uncomfortable and didn't want to have anything to do with him, which was why she called people's attention to it.""Even if everyone is bashing her for not doing what he wanted her to do, as her mother, you should be on her side. After all, she's your daughter."Matilda raised her eyes and shot back at Claire, pointing her chopsticks in her face. "One of the sisters I play cards with has a daughter who works as a teacher there too. She pointedly sa
Very early the next morning, Ethan was resting on the balcony with his phone pressed against his ear and humming to everything Josiah Haworth was reporting. "The Wellington family have confirmed that you're back to Springdale, but they don't view you as a threat. But your half-brother is intent on crushing you.""He's quite unpredictable. He hasn't made any move yet, but I have a feeling he'll soon do so. From what I've gathered, I'm not the only one he has keeping eyes on you." Ethan's mouth curved into an "Oh," and he said nothing else. "Daddy?" A sleepy voice belonging to a child called out.Ethan turned to see Honey still in her pink astronaut pyjamas yawning and rubbing her eyes sleepily. His hard eyes softened and he turned to her, forgetting he was on a call. He glanced at the time and squatted in front of her worrieody. "Today is not a school day, baby. You can sleep as much as you want." Honey lowered her hands to her side and pouted cutely. "Honey wants to go somewhere
The place was silent for a moment before some members of the William family quickly went over to help Lewis up.Adam William fully walked out of the conference room with a pale face and barked furiously at Chloe when he saw her standing beside them."What is this? Have you no shame? Standing aside while your loser husband beats up your cousin! What kind of person are you?""Cousin...?" Chloe's dull eyes instantly lit up. She had expected the worst on their way here, and she didn't even expect Adam to speak to her.Even though he was furious at her and wasn't using the best of words with her, she was glad he still remembered she was Lewis' cousin.If he no longer saw her as his granddaughter and didn't want her to be near him anymore, he would never make a mistake like that.Nervous that Ethan would do something else to anger Adam more, she quickly turned to him and began slapping him on the arm while yelling in a loud voice."Why did you hit Lewis? I knew tagging along with me was a b
One, two...ten seconds went by without Jeremy Radford getting no response from Ethan.The Radford family was a second-tier family in Springdale, and Jeremy Radford was the family's helmsman.Back when the William family was struggling to keep their position as a third-tier family, they visited every family they could in a bid to score an investment deal with them.Even though the Radford family's income had remained stagnant ever since Jeremy took over its reins, it still made enough to take care of their needs.The Jubilee Corporation never went up the rank, neither did it go down. It just remained stagnant.Adam figured that going into business with such a family that knew how to keep themselves afloat was a nice idea.As long as the Radford family never fell, the William family would be fine.For several months, everyone in Stellar Corporation had tried to come up with ways to sign a contract with Jeremy Radford, but all attempts proved abortive.Finally, after Stellar Corporation'
"I knew Mr. Haworth would be on my side. Hurry up and chase this rascal out of here before... wait, what?"Jeremy held his breath when Josiah's words made sense to him.Given Josiah's status, a pauper like Ethan wasn't worthy of looking into his face. It was even unlike him to speak up for anyone.So Jeremy concluded Josiah Haworth mistook the meaning of what he said for something else and hurriedly rephrased."Mr. Haworth, I'm afraid you've mistaken my intentions. I'm not trying to involve myself in the William family's business. This scumbag here is not a member of the William family. He's not even worthy of being here, talk more of seeing an influential figure like you!""I bet this will be the closest he'll ever be to an influential figure. Now hurry up and get this eyesore out of here, Adam William!"Josiah's eyes clouded over heavy and he glanced at Jeremy Radford. "Is Mr. Radford insisting that I spoke without thinking?"Cold sweat instantly broke out on Jeremy's forehead as he
Wexford That evening, Declan Wellington felt cooped up at home, so he left the house to spend the day golfing with a close friend of the Wellingtons who owned a golf course. They golfed together for three hours before they got tired and drove to his house to rest. Marvin Phelps poured him a drink before asking politely, “This may be out of place for me to ask, Mr. Wellington, but you seemed out of it throughout today. Is anything the matter?” “What?” An absent-minded Declan didn’t know when he blurted out, glancing at him. Marvin Phelps sat up, now fully convinced there was something on Declan’s mind. With a serious look on his face, he cautiously continued, “What is the problem? Is anyone troubling you? Say the word and I’ll have that person’s legs crushed to bits and forcefully drag them here!” Declan raised his eyes to look at him. Even if he said nothing, his eyes lit up a little when he recalled who Marvin was. The Phelps family was headed by this man despit
Scott William was instantly taken aback. Then he gritted his teeth in rage and resisted the urge to grab her by the collar as he yelled at her angrily. “What do you think you’re doing? He’s your son-in-law, how could you think of doing something so despicable to him!”“I know you’ve been looking for ways to get rid of him, but he’s having a psychotic breakdown? Matilda Brown, are you out of your mind?!” However, the woman ignored him and reached into her bag for a file. She placed it on the counter and continued speaking to the officer with a straight face. “Here. This is the result of the psych evaluation. You can check with the hospital he took it at just to be sure.” Scott closed the distance between them and grabbed her arm firmly, “If you have nothing better to do, then turn around and go back home.” “I know you’re scared of this affecting our family, but you don’t have anything to worry about because I’ll take care of this!” “Ethan didn’t do what they’re accusing him of
The sergeant and the other officers were slightly taken aback by his sudden compliance. Given that Charles and Kane were questioning their every word, they assumed they would have to use force to get him out of here. However, not only was he complying, but he was even flashing them a faint, non-aggressive smile. It was as though he had the situation under control which caused them to wonder why. They were yet to be reached by anyone from the higherups, so what was this guy doing. Since Ethan was coming with them willingly, there was no need to cuff him at all. So the sergeant nodded and led him to the station. The reception was decvoid of people, but those who were in their rooms before a few minutes ago, were all standing beside their windows watching who was getting arrested. Ethan walked to the passenger side of the car and glanced around him with an unbothered smile before proceeding to get in. In Wexford County, in the Wellington family residence, Declan Wellington was w
Ethan’s eyes darkened instantly. Almost immediately, he felt a call come into his phone and checked the caller to see it was Declan calling. He was silent for a few seconds before assured her calmly, “I’ll bring them back. Chloe and Honey, I’ll make sure they come back without a scratch.” “For now, focus on getting better. Neither of them would like it if return to see you in such a terrible state.” Then he ended the call without waiting for her response and answered Declan’s. As soon as the call connected, Declan’s bubbly voice sounded in his ears, “Your little bastard is a little too pretty. Truly her mother’s daughter.” “Your genes almost lost the fight, but her eyes saved you. Hopefully, if your other bastard lives, it would put up a fight to look exactly like you.” Ethan tightened his grip around his phone, but said nothing. He remained expressionless, but his eyes beamed furious. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything in really. Declan had truly blinded him from
Ethan didn’t react immediately. He was silent for several seconds before he responded. “You’re the highly esteemed head of the Welllington family. Why resort to threatening your enemy with somsone close to them when you can face them head on yourself?”Declan yawned boredly from the other end. “What nonsense are you talking about? My enemy? You? You really think I think of you as my enemy?” “In what world did you think a bastard like you is worthy of becoming an enemy of Declan Wellington?” “We may share the same father, but to me, you’re nothing more than a confused rat. Sure, you’ve spent a few years in the army and earned yourself a few lackeys, but vagrant like you should know their place.”“Simply talking to me is a privilege you should never have. Whatever I’ll make you go through is a privilege you don’t deserve. Even if I kill you, you should be grateful I let you die by my hands!”Ethan chuckled calmly and went on to reply. “I was told you sent one of the best men your
Meanwhile, Charles Wilkins was looking into the people who crashed into Claire’s car and took Chloe. He tracked them down to their base in a nightclub. The club had lax security. Hence, he wasn’t stopped by the hefty men standing the door as he walked into the club. It was a few minutes past 7 in the evening and the club was getting filled by people. He stood in the middle of the room and glanced around before he spotted the VIP section and strutted straight to it. It didn’t take him long to find the room of the club’s own given that there were six hefty bodyguards in front of the door. Inside the room, a short and fat man was sitting on the couch with two of his colleagues while watching three unclad ladies dancing on a strip poles. Because the music in the room was so loud, he didn’t hear the tussle outside and only realized something was wrong when an unfamiliar man walked into the room wiping his hands seemingly clean hands clean. Charles didn’t look at anyone as he
As soon as Lewis William ended the call, he stood over an unconscious Chloe with a lewd look in his eyes. Ever since he knew right from wrong, he was always told of her lucky he was to have such beautiful cousins. Had Chloe not fallen out of grace with the William family and most people in Springdale, he had no doubt his life would still be filled with words of how lucky he was to have Chloe and Claire as his cousins. He never saw the beauty everyone saw, but now that he was alone with her and could see her up close, he finally saw it. Was she not his cousin, he would’ve slept with her first before handing her over to this gallery director. As he walked out of the house, he received a call from somsone. “What do you think you’re doing? I clearly told you the person I am after is Claire William!” Vivian Martell yelled from the other end as soon as the call connected. Lewis sucked in a deep breath to keep himself from screaming back at her and retorted calmly, “There’s no need to
A minute later, Charles turned to Ethan and reported solemnly, “Mrs. Black wasn’t taken by Declan Wellington. She was taken by the William family.” In the William family residence. Adam William paced to and fro in the living room, his hands clasped behind his back and brows knitted together in worry. “Grandfather, after today, I will make sure our William family will no longer be looked down on by other families!” Those were the words Lewis said to him this morning before he left the house. Ever since Astoria Corporation pulled away their investment, other companies followed suit. They were not only knee-deep in debt, but every valuable thing in their house had been taken by the bank and everyone they were owing. They took everything ranging from jewelries, electronics and furnitures. Even the expensive looking lights were not left out. Adam had run to those whom he had helped when the William family were at its peak a few months ago, but they all hung up on him the moment th
He called her three times and each time, the phone wasn’t answered. There was no denying it now. Soenthing had really happened. His brows knitted into a tight frown as he switched to calling Claire. But just like Chloe, Claire didn’t answer her phone either. As soon as the third call ended, the screen of his phone lit up with a call from Claire and he eagerly answered it. “Where are you? I’ve been calling Chloe. Did something…” He was suddenly cut off by a voice that didn’t belong to Claire. “Hello, this phone belongs to a woman involved in a car accident. Seeing that your contact is saved with ‘Brother-in-law’ I thought it was wise to return your call.” His pupils instantly dilated and he strutted quickly to the window, away from Honey’s earshot.. He pressed the phone against his ear rig heed and repeated in disbelief, “Accident? She was involved in an accident? What about the other woman in the car with her? Is she badly injured? In fact, tell me which hospital you are!” In