Rosalie frowned slightly and was about to refuse when Mary squeezed her way out of the dance floor. She sat down boldly next to Rosalie and scrutinized the man.He looked well-mannered enough. His features were well-defined even under the dim lighting of the bar. He was not exactly muscular, but he was not skinny either. His entire outfit probably cost about fifteen thousand dollars. She rated him an eight, just about.Mary did not give Rosalie a chance to turn him down after that. She said brightly, "Sure! Do you have any other friends? They can come along too!"The man's seat was right next to theirs. He noticed the ladies when they stood up to dance, and he knew that they had come here together. Since Mary had given him the green light, he turned around and called his friends over. All of them looked handsome enough, and they were dressed in branded goods too. When they came over, they brought the expensive wine bottles on their table with them. The men were respectful of the

At the same time, in the VIP room upstairs, Byron was expressionless as he watched a bunch of pot-belled middle-aged men toasting to one another.When he picked Estie up that afternoon, she had been feeling very down. When they reached home, she even threw a tantrum at him.Byron could guess why she was in a bad mood. It was probably because she had not been able to meet that woman, or rather, the fact that the woman had become so distant to her.The root of the problem lay with him, though. That woman was keeping her distance from Estie because of him. As a result, Byron had been in a bad mood all night too.The middle-aged men had been discussing for hours now, yet they could not come up with a proposition he could accept. Byron's impatience grew."Go on, you lot. I'm going out for some fresh air," Byron said coldly, standing up. The other men did not dare to stop him, watching him leave awkwardly.The room was overlooking the dance floor. When Byron stepped out, his gaze

Everyone was taken aback by that voice. Rosalie stiffened slightly. She knew that man too well. She could imagine how cold his expression was now from the sound of his voice alone.Besides, she did not know how to face the man behind her after everything that had happened lately.By then, however, Byron had walked up to them. Hans noticed him and then followed his gaze to Rosalie. His expression shifted slightly. "President Lawrence, what are you…?"He was not aware of any other woman in Byron's life other than Wendy Fuller.However, the way Byron looked at the woman next to him aroused his suspicions.Byron recalled the way Rosalie had clinked her glass with his earlier, and his gaze on Hans was completely cold. "Master Reed, you should be careful when you pick up women in bars. You should at least avoid women with children."He looked at Rosalie as he said that. Hans was stunned to hear that. Rosalie had children? He could not tell at all.Rosalie did not expect Byro

They made it back to her manor. As Rosalie was about to help Mary out of the car, the man in front of them suddenly spoke up.“If you’re worried about the kids, why did you go to a place like that?”His expression in the rearview mirror was slightly cold.Rosalie paused and said, “You make it sound like going to a bar is highly immoral, President Lawrence. Weren’t you there too?”Byron said, “I was there for work, Miss Jacobs. Unlike you, I wasn’t surrounded by such pleasurable company.”He was not hiding his hostility at all. Rosalie could not help but frown, recalling his words earlier at the bar.“You’re a mother of two now, so I advise you to stay away from such vices. Even if you don’t care about your reputation, what about your children? If they knew their mother had gone to a place like that, having a good time with men she barely knew, I wonder what they would think,” Byron said softly.This was not their first time discussing this topic.Maybe it was the wine, but Rosa

Her rocky relationship with Byron left Rosalie increasingly troubled when it came to facing Estie.Every time Lucian and Nox mentioned the girl, she would try to change the topic.Eventually, the perceptive boys sensed that their mother’s attitude toward the girl had changed. They did not avoid her at school, but they became much more distant to her.Estie had just learned how to speak, and she could only say a handful of words. In fact, she only occasionally said a word or two when she was interested in the topic. Now that the boys stopped initiating conversations with her, and as it had been a few days since she last saw Rosalie, Estie slowly regressed and stopped talking altogether.Only Byron noticed the changes in his daughter’s demeanor.When he first brought her home, she would sometimes say a word or two. Recently, though, she refused to speak again, no matter what.Byron was worried about her condition, but the only person who could help her had clearly stated that she w

Byron frowned, his thoughts inevitably wandering to that woman.How had she managed to get Estie to slowly open up?For once, he was at a complete loss. He had no idea how to do what she did.“Do you want to see her that badly, Estie?” Byron noticed that Estie only reacted to questions about Rosalie, so he tried asking again.Estie nodded instantly and fervently, then she looked at him with anticipation written all over her face. She seemed to think he could help her meet Rosalie.Byron’s gaze dimmed at the hopeful look on Estie’s face. He silently looked away. “She really likes you, but she’s probably really busy with work lately. She doesn’t have the time to pick up the boys, that’s all. Don’t worry.”That was not the answer Estie wanted. She looked down in disappointment and nodded weakly.After that, she would only nod or shake her head no matter what Byron said to her. Alternatively, she would rummage in her bag for her notebook to write a reply.She only reacted more acti

Early the next morning.It was almost half-past seven when Rosalie opened her eyes.She glanced at the time and abruptly sat up in bed. After washing up quickly, she rushed to send the boys to school before she could even get a bite to eat.Lisa was only in charge of picking them up from school. Rosalie would drop them off on her way to work every morning.She had made sure to be extra early lately to avoid Byron.However, work had gone on for too long last night, and she could not wake up in time…The entire journey there, Rosalie silently prayed that she would not bump into Byron.As soon as she stepped out of her car, though, she saw a Bentley with a familiar number plate come to a stop behind her.A moment later, the man carried Estie out of the car.Rosalie hastened her footsteps in an attempt to drop the boys off and slip away before Byron and Estie saw her.“Good morning, Miss Jacobs!” Miss Leigh Ann greeted her enthusiastically.Rosalie paused, her heart sinking.On

"Is something the matter, President Lawrence?"Rosalie stopped and looked at the man behind her detachedly, as though he was nothing more than a stranger. Byron frowned deeply as he met her gaze.Her attitude toward him was the reason why he reached out to her as she was moving away, surprising even himself. It felt to him like she would truly vanish from his sight if he did not reach out to her. He did not respond, so Rosalie tried to pull her wrist away with a frown. "If there isn't anything, please let go. I need to get to work."Both of them were very good-looking, and the parents who sent their children here were all prolific members of society as well. Almost all of them knew who Byron was.As such, Byron and Rosalie were already starting to attract some stares.Rosalie was terrified that rumors would start circulating about them if they kept getting tangled up like this. That would cause her another boatload of trouble.Byron noticed that she was struggling against

Byron's gaze darkened, and he was about to continue when a phone ringtone interrupted the strange atmosphere between them.Rosalie coolly looked away from him and took her phone out of her bag, glancing at the caller ID.Leon's name was displayed clearly on the screen.She secretly heaved a sigh of relief. The call came right on time for her. After giving him a curt nod, Rosalie answered the call and headed toward her car.This time, Byron did not try to stop her again. As she walked past him, Rosalie finally felt her heart settle back in her chest. Byron watched her leave, thinking back to the name he saw on her phone. If he remembered correctly, Leon had invited her out for a meal together not too long ago. They seemed to have had fun. Judging by his name in her contact list, they were even on a first-name basis.They had to be even closer than he imagined. Byron's expression gradually darkened at the thought. …"Is something the matter, Leon?"The two of them ex

She was excited to meet these heavyweights and learn from them, so Rosalie quickly put down her cutlery and accepted the invitation. She thanked Leon profusely. "Thank you for thinking of me, Leon! I'm really looking forward to this!"She reacted like a child who had just been given some candy.Leon was all smiles to see her get so excited for once. "Don't need to thank me. You left in a hurry after you performed that surgery for my family, and I didn't have the time to thank you properly. Everyone back home is nagging me to treat you to a meal because they feel bad. Think of this as a token of our gratitude."Rosalie was thrilled at the chance to attend the conference, and she simply smiled in response to his words. "I was in a hurry to pick up my kids that day. Besides, I only did what I was supposed to."She added concernedly, "Oh, right. How is that patient doing now? I didn't have enough time to give him a checkup after the surgery."Leon said, "He was transferred to the norm