She was so excited that she forgot where she was and she did not care if she embarrassed herself in front of Mr. Hoffman. “Denise is just an orphan we adopted. Her life is worth nothing to us. It’s not worth falling out with us because of her. It just isn’t worth it!
“Where are you now? Do you need us to send someone to pick you up? As long as you are willing to come back, me, you and your father will still be a loving and happy family, okay?”
Steven furrowed his brow as he quietly listened to what his mother had to say. After a while, his mother finally finished what she wanted to say.
He took a deep breath and said, “Mother.”
His voice sounded heavy. “Gwen and I would like to sit and eat with you and father.”
Mrs. Hughes grabbed her phone tightly. After a while, she raised her brow as she blurted, almost screeching, “Who do you say you want me and your father to eat with?!”
On the other side of the phone, Steven took a deep breath and said solemnly, “Gwen and I.
“Gwen, my girlfriend. I wish you and Father will share a meal with us so I can introduce her as my girlfriend to both of you. I’ll be together with Gwen in the future.”
The color of Mrs. Hughes’ face turned from white to red, and then from red to white again. After a long while, she gritted her teeth while gripping her phone tightly. “Steven, are you crazy?”
It was not like he did not know who Gwen was. The only reason Gwen was here in Saigen City was to get close to Steven because of Luke, and Steven, of all the other people, should know it more than the onlookers like them.
Why would he want to be with this unpredictable woman? This woman might kill Steven in his sleep for Luke. Was he not afraid of that?
“I’m not crazy.”
Steven took a deep breath and solemnly added, “I like Gwen, and she likes me too. We both have feelings for each other. This has nothing to do with Luke.”
While he was talking, he turned to the side to look at the woman sitting beside him in the car. Gwen was reading a text message Bethan sent over.
The afternoon sun shone on her face from the window. It strongly emphasized her jawline, and she looked incredibly pretty.
Steven was bedazzled by her beauty.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Mrs. Hughes’ angry voice pulled Steven back to reality. Her hysterical voice was transmitted through the phone into Steven’s ear. “That woman gets close to you because of Luke. All she thinks about is how to kill you so her Luke will come back! Aren’t you afraid that one day you might not wake up in the morning being together with her? Steven, you’re crazy. Your father and I will never agree to let you be with her!”
“You can’t stop me,”
Steven interjected as soon as she finished her sentence. “I don’t care what any of you think; I want to be with Gwen. This is between the two of us, and is none of your business.”
All of a sudden, he recalled the reason he had called his mother in the first place, so he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. “Mother, you’ve misunderstood all this. Gwen and I truly love each other, and if you don’t believe me, feel free to come to visit us, and bring Father along, too. Gwen and I will show you how genuine we are.”
Mrs. Hughes could not help snickering when she heard this. “You’re going to show me how genuine your are? How naive of you to think you truly love each other! You’re just a gullible man being strung along by a calculating witch!”
She sneered and added, “My dear son, please open your eyes and see that woman for what she truly is! All she wants from you is your life!”
Steven curled his lips into a smirk. “Mother, I’ve already told you; if you and Father come visit us, you’ll see for yourselves just how in love we are, but if you don’t…”
He paused for a moment before saying, “I’ll do what Denise did and leave Saigen City with Gwen, and we’ll spend the rest of our lives in Sea City.
“We’ll be waiting for you at The Orient tonight. The ball is in your court.”
With that, he let out an exhale and hung up.
A glimmer of malice flashed through Mrs. Hughes’ eyes as she gripped the phone tightly, listening to the dial tone.
Finally, she slammed the phone onto the ground and shrieked, “That bitch!”
It was one thing for Denise to run away and elope, but another thing entirely when her only son threatened to do the same. Not to mention he was tricked into doing this by that calculating bitch!
“Don’t lose your temper.”
Mr. Hughes, who had been sitting next to her all this while, had overheard the entire conversation. He sighed and took his wife’s hand in reassurance. “I’m sure that Steven is just temporarily swayed. Besides, didn’t he invite us to dinner with him and that woman? Why don’t we take him up on his offer and see just what other tricks that bitch has up her sleeve?
“We’re his parents. As long as we show that we care, I’m sure he’ll eventually return to our side!”
Mrs. Hughes finally began to relax at this.
“Mr. Hughes is right.”
Mr. Hoffman, who had been eyeing Denise lustfully all this while, quickly piped up, No child would bear to hurt their parents like this, do they?
“I’m sure the only reason Young Master Hughes is acting this way is that he’s being seduced by that woman. As long as you talk things out, he’ll eventually realize his mistake!”
With that, he shot Denise a lewd glance and pulled her into his arms. “Well, since we’ve signed the contract, you guys should go ahead to meet Young Master Hughes, and leave Ms. Hughes here with me.
“He’s your biological son, after all, so naturally he matters more. As for this adopted daughter of yours…”
He reached out to grab Denise’s chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’ll help take care of her.”
Mr. and Mrs. Hughes exchanged a glance.
A split second later, they stood up and said, “Alright then. Thank you for helping us take care of Denise,
Mr. Hoffman. Please excuse us.”
With that, the two of them turned and left.
The door slammed shut behind them, and within minutes, the only people left inside the room were lascivious Mr. Hoffman and his poor victim Denise.
The Orient.
When Mr. and Mrs. Hughes arrived at the restaurant, Gwen was entwined in Steven’s arms, being fed pieces of fruit.
The door was half–shut, and even from a distance, Mrs. Hughes could hear Gwen’s gentle voice saying, “
Steven, I want you to feed me.
“Yes, I want some oranges, please. I want you to peel it and feed it to me piece by piece. That’s how Luke used to do it.”
Steven’s heart lurched in his chest as he stared at the soft, babyish woman sitting in his lap.
He knew better than anyone that Gwen was just acting, yet he still could not help feeling his heart race.
He knew that he would never be Luke, but this tiny sliver of tenderness he received from Gwen was more than enough.
He curled his lips into a smile as he peeled the orange and gently pried it into tiny pieces, then proceeded to pop each piece into Gwen’s mouth.
Peeking through the sliver in the door frame, Mrs. Hughes immediately caught sight of the content smile on Steven’s face, and this sent her boiling with rage.
Steven could pick any woman he fancied, so why did he have to fall for this bitch?
It was clear Gwen did not like Steven for who he truly was!
If she did, she would never bring up Luke in front of him!
At the thought of this, Mrs. Hughes burst into the room and demanded, “What the hell are you doing?”
The truth was, Gwen and Steven already knew they were approaching.
At this moment, they were both wearing tiny earphones with Nigel and Neil on the other end.
Even though they were thousands of miles away, Nigel’s exceptional hacking allowed him to break into the hallway’s surveillance camera system and Neil was able to give Gwen real–time instructions.
Therefore, Gwen already knew that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were heading their way.
However, despite having everything under control, she still feigned shock when Mrs. Hughes stormed into the room.
She leaped out of Steven’s lap in a scuffle and shot her an awkward smile. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hughes.”
“Don’t address me that way!”
Mrs. Hughes’ eyes almost bulged out of her face. “You bitch! You’ve already killed Luke; are you trying to kill Steven too? Let me tell you this: We’ll never accept you into our family, and we’ll never allow Steven to date, much less marry you!
“If you’re smart enough, you’ll break up with Steven right this instant, or else–“
“Or else what?”
Gwen interrupted her curtly.
She grinned at Mrs. Hughes. “Are you going to lock Steven and me up like how you did to Denise and Sean? And send Steven a few ‘better options’ of women?”
Even though her voice was soft and gentle, there was no denying the disdain in her eyes when she said this.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.