“If getting a lofty gift troubles you, then you can balance the trade after you get your first salary. Buy me dinner.”That was it? A dinner was supposed to somehow be equal to a luxurious piano? Deirdre found the idea wild, though admittedly, she had no other excuse. The reminder of her salary eased her mind a little too, so she agreed. “Okay.”The call ended. She took a seat behind the piano and began to learn the songs on her sheet. As it turned out, Deirdre was quite possibly musically gifted, as it took her only an afternoon to master all but one song on the entire sheet. She was strapped for time to learn the last one, so she took the music sheet book to work. The front-desk girl immediately caught sight of the wooden book. “What’s that?!” She gasped. “Looks like the sort of stuff you’d keep in your cabinet of curiosities!”Deirdre flashed her a smile. “A friend gave it to me as a gift.”“Dang, hon! That’s code for ‘not-your-typical-friend’ if I ever heard one!” the front-d

As soon as the man made the offer, the others cheered. “Vyn, you are so generous! You’re even willing to spend so much money on this ugly woman. Being rich is indeed different!”“Since we are in the nightclub, women will definitely come to serve you. You’ve been thinking too highly of this woman. I think she’d certainly be willing to drink just for 200 dollars.”At the moment, Deirdre would have been too naive if she hadn’t sensed their hostility. She was getting so uneasy that she hurriedly went to open the door to leave.However, a hand suddenly stopped her and threw her violently against a wall. “What the hell are you doing? Escaping?”The man was furious. Even though Deirdre managed to protect herself with her arms when she was thrown against the wall, her chest was in so much pain that she was nauseous.The group burst into laughter. “After seeing so many beauties, it’s indeed quite interesting to see this kind of ugly woman with a distorted face! Do you think she’ll change i

This kind of humiliation and anger further intensified Charlene’s hatred for Deirdre.“What are you staring at?” scoffed Charlene softly. With hostility, she added, “Don’t forget your attitude when you were trying to date me. You said you could do anything for me. And now you feel sorry for a blind woman? Give her a hard lesson! Destroy that book!”She hated it when she saw the book.Vyn received the command and shot a glance at the others.Deirdre finally found the book. However, before she was able to enjoy this moment of happiness and secure it in her embrace, a seizing force struck her and took it away from her.Deirdre shuddered at the sharp, tearing pain in her elbow. She ignored it and instantly stretched out her hand and implored, “Please give it back to me, please. I will drink the wine in return! Yes, I will drink it!”“It’s too late.” Vyn weighed the relatively heavy book in his hand. Then, he dropped it to the ground. “It’s no longer interesting to see you drinking. T

A man walked in. He had heroic features and a frigid aura, and when he saw that Deirdre was a mess and looked obviously beaten up, fury overtook him.“F*ck you!”When Vyn saw that the man was Brendan, he was shocked. Before he could explain himself, Brendan had given him a punch that broke a few of his teeth.Covering his mouth, he cried in agony. Quivering, he pointed at Brendan and threatened him inarticulately. “Brendan! You f*cking b*stard! Do you think that you can do anything you wish? How dare you beat me? My dad will definitely get revenge for me!”Eyes red, Brendan lunged at Vyn, grabbed his head, and dunked it on the dishes on the table, causing Vyn’s face to get covered in oil. Looking gloomy, Brendan went on clutching Vyn’s head and smashed his face against the wall.If Sam hadn’t stopped him, Brendan would have tried to kill Vyn.“You’re Vyn Austen, right?” While glaring at the frightening Vyn, whose face was bruised and swollen, Brendan pointed at a pile of vegetabl

Brendan’s black pupils dilated as shock churned in him. Meanwhile, complex and intricate feelings filled his heart as though he had just been cut.He had thought she cared only about this music book and the piano. It turned out that she was that invested… just because of him?She had been trying to secure the music book he had given her, which was why she was so miserable that she was sobbing.Something seemed to have struck him, and Brendan picked Deirdre up and walked out of the private room.He put her in the passenger seat. When he fastened his seatbelt, he unconsciously glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a car behind him that looked inexplicably familiar.After taking a second glance, he saw the license plate number and an emotion flashed across his black, frigid eyes. He then made a call.In a washroom located in the private room next door, Charlene was hiding, trembling in fear.While Vyn had been giving Deirdre a harsh lesson, she had unconsciously looked downstairs

As soon as Charlene had such a thought, a malevolent plan hatched in her mind.She hadn’t expected that woman to be so professional about deceiving Deirdre. It seemed that her plot to fool Deirdre was no longer effective.She made a call. “If I give you a woman’s photograph, could you find her personal information?”…Brendan didn’t immediately drive Deirdre to the hospital. Instead, they went to a nearby hotel.Deirdre was covered in greasy food, and her hair was stuck together. Brendan turned on the hot water tap and reached out to unbutton Deirdre’s clothes.“What are you doing…” Deirdre shrank back, bit her lip, and said, “I’m too dirty… Don’t…”“You know that you’re dirty?” Brendan pulled her hand away and pulled her clothes off her body. “If you don’t take a shower and change into clean clothes, do you think the doctors will be able to do anything?”Deirdre was surprised. She then lowered her head and muttered, “I’ll take a shower on my own.”“How can you do it when your

She had not managed to protect the music book, which had been torn into two anyhow. It made her feel uneasy, as if its destruction had verified that something was about to happen. Brendan could see that she was sad, so he said, “The music book is not completely destroyed. It was only torn down in the middle. We should be able to restore it if we get a professional to fix it.”“Really?” Deirdre turned around and clutched Brendan’s hand out of excitement but loosened her grip due to the pain. There was a look of anticipation in her eyes. “Hmm.” Brendan stared at her. “When have I ever lied to you?”Afterward, he filled the bathtub with fresh water and left Deirdre soaking while he went outside to call up Sam. “Today’s incident aside, I believe that Vyn has committed quite a number of crimes too. Look into the things he’s done and send him to jail so he can experience some hardships.”Brendan spoke in an ice-cold voice that did not leave room for any resistance. Sam wanted to do

“You’re leaving tomorrow?” Deirdre was jolted back to reality, and her grip tightened ever so slightly. “So soon?”“It’s not soon. I’ve already stayed for two weeks. Don’t you worry, I’ll come back when my treatment is completed.” Maeve caressed Deirdre’s face and said smilingly, “I hope that when I’m back, you and Brendan will give me grandchildren so I can dote on them.”Deirdre’s lips moved, and she felt her heart wrench in pain and bitterness. She wanted to tell her, “You were supposed to have a grandchild, but it was taken cruelly by Brendan because its existence went against his wishes.”“What time will you be departing tomorrow?”“In the morning, at around ten o’clock, I guess. Why, would you like to see me off?”“Hmm!” Deirdre suppressed the urge to cry. “I don’t know when I will be meeting you again. Mother, you must take good care of yourself and come back soon.”Maeve hugged Deirdre with a dreary look in her eyes. She’d think about how great it would be if Deirdre was

‘You still have me.’In the past, Deirdre would not have been relieved. Instead, she would have been haunted by Brendan’s remark. However, Deirdre lowered her gaze now and felt her heart, which was sealed in ice, begin to crack slowly. She actually found Brendan’s remark convincing; perhaps it was due to Ophelia’s presence that her withered heart had been restored. She had found a way to pursue her dream and she was no longer living like a zombie. Similarly, she would not attach any hope to Brendan, like she had in the past. She felt that her current life was pretty great. Her mother would return to her when her illness was cured, and she would be working in the meantime. That was already enough for her, and she would be able to leave without feeling any disappointment and live a life that belonged to her when Brendan was bored of her. “Hmm.”She answered nonchalantly in a very soft tone, as if the voice came from her throat. However, Brendan managed to hear her reply, which

The narrow single bed suddenly felt wide, and Deirdre propped herself up with her hand on her forehead. ‘What time is it? When did Brendan leave?’She found it a pity because she had been thinking about asking Brendan why he wanted her not to hate him when she was awake. She wanted to find out the meaning of his remark. All of a sudden, the door to her room opened. She assumed that it was Maeve, so she raised her head and said smilingly, “Mother? What time is it? Is it morning already? If not, why are you here so early?”“Mother? Are you calling out to Maeve O’Keefe?”She was caught off guard by the spurious laughter. The smile on Deirdre’s face froze instantly, and she stared in the direction of the door cautiously. “Charlene, what are you doing here!”“How could you speak to me like that, Ms. McKinnon? I feel sorry for you for being deceived by a bunch of people and getting treated like a clown, so I’m here to warn you out of kindness.”“Out of kindness? Don’t you think that