Nevertheless, he certainly had no feelings left for Serenity! It was a pity that he could not possibly tell Jenny the truth now, but he was still anxious that Jenny might misunderstand him."Jenny," he said after taking a deep breath, "there are some things that I just can't tell you even if I wanted to."Jenny stared at Zeke for a while and asked, "Does Serenity Lewis have anything to do with Joy's injury?"Zeke stared back at his fiancee in astonishment, completely unable to utter a word. Still, his silence and expressions were enough to let Jenny know that her guess was correct."So she really does have something to do with it," she said, before continuing to speculate, "Did she make a new friend in prison? A friend with some connections, maybe?"Before Zeke could answer her, a voice suddenly rang out, "So my injuries were Serenity's doing, huh?!"Joy walked into the room with a limp. She had merely intended to come over to tell her brother and Jenny to return to the living

Joy almost passed out due to the shock. How could she ever guess that Jackson Valor would be the one behind her injuries and that he had ordered the attack to help Serenity?!Why would he do such a thing for a woman like that?!After all, his fiancee, Mira Hall, was a renowned beauty! As for Serenity... Well, Joy had to concede to the fact that she used to be beautiful in the past, but after being in prison for three years and now becoming a sanitation worker sweeping the streets all day, she would never even have the time to take care of her appearances, so how pretty could she be?!How could it be possible that Jackson Valor, a man so used to being surrounded by great beauties, would ever be interested in a woman like Serenity?!"That's why you must never harm Serenity ever again," Zeke warned his sister. "Also, don't ever tell anyone about anything I said just now, not even Mom and Dad! Jackson told me that he doesn't want anyone to know about this. In fact, I've probably made a

A cold shudder spread through his body as Zeke thought about this, and he turned to look at Jenny beside him. Right now, the Hall family and the Shaw family were each other's close allies, so even if Jackson Valor was currently interested in Serenity, he would probably never go so far as to... declare war against the two wealthy families just because of a woman like her, would he?After all, Serenity had no one else to blame but herself for all the bad things that happened to her back then, right?!***Serenity felt as if she had been stuck in an unending nightmare.In it, she was back in prison where no matter where she tried to run and hide, no matter how much she begged for mercy, she could never escape any of the torture she was subjected to. Bitterly cold water, disgusting filth, all the feet that had stepped on her head, pinning her to the ground as they mocked her, "Isn't that the great lawyer, Miss Lewis? Look how far she has fallen! She used to be an intellectual, yet now

"But... The clothes you're wearing are..."He seemed to only realize then that he had been wearing the same clothes he was when having dinner with Zack last night. Jack would never have been able to afford any of these clothes.Still, after all that had transpired last night, he no longer planned to hide his true identity anymore, especially considering he had to reveal it to her eventually, anyway. What difference would it make if she found out a little earlier now?Besides, it would be easier for him to keep her under his wing of protection once she learned who he really was."Even if my clothes are different," he smiled at her and asked her, "I'm still the same Jack, aren't I?"By that point, even if Serenity had been a complete idiot, she would still have easily detected something wrong and realized that the truth had not been as she imagined. "You're not homeless?""No," he confessed."Then... Then why did you pretend to be homeless?"She started to feel as if she had be

A feeling arose in him, telling him to protect her at all costs.So many people had cursed at him for being cruel and cold-hearted in the past, yet none of them would ever imagine that right now, he would have such a strong urge to protect a woman."Don't worry," he assured her, "what you feared didn't happen last night. I managed to stop it just in time when I got there."So... he really had saved her!Serenity raised her head and stared bewilderedly at the face that was merely inches away from hers and asked, "But how did you get there in time to save me?"He had not even gone to town with her yesterday!"Have you forgotten?" He smiled gently. "You called me, so I managed to rush there just in time."But it was just a call! How had he managed to get there in time to save her when he was almost a hundred miles away?!Serenity's heart was suddenly filled with an inexplicable shock.As he spoke, he carried her back onto the bed and carefully tucked her under the blanket before

Jackson hung up the phone as soon as he had finished his sentence.Master Zack stared at the phone screen silently for a while before giving it back to the nurse beside him.Was there really no need for him to worry? It would be great if that was true, but sometimes, being uncertain was often the scariest thing. He was reminded of how his own son had once assured him by saying "Dad, I'll never neglect all my duties to the Valor family just for a woman!".Yet in the end, his son had abandoned the Valor family and even sacrificed his life just for a woman!"Go find out who that woman actually is," he ordered. "I want to know every little detail about her."A voice answered, "Yes, sir."The voice had come from a corner of the room where a man clad in a black suit and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat with a laptop in front of him, his fingers flying over the keyboard.*** Serenity lay on the hospital bed, her mind still in a jumbled mess. Too many things had happened sinc

She opened her bag and checked the contents. All her belongings were still there. As for her phone, she recalled that it had been snatched away from her at the Foster's house when they discovered it. Her phone was turned off, so she turned it back on only to find that there were tons of missed calls and unread messages.Some of those were from her grandmother, some from Lisa, and others were from unknown numbers.Serenity had a good guess of why her grandmother would call her. As for Lisa... She scrolled through her phone and found that Lisa had called her more than twenty times, so she called her back right away.Lisa picked up almost as soon as the call went through and asked, "Is that you, Serenity?""Yes," she replied, "it's me. I... turned off my phone yesterday, and I saw your calls just now when I turned it back on."Lisa sighed in relief and said, "Oh my God, I was so worried when I couldn't call you last night. You told me you were going to your grandmother's house for th

Just then, she could hear her grandfather's goading voice through the phone saying, "Why haven't you told Serenity to rush over to the police station and tell them to release her uncles and the rest?!""Release them? Why should they be released?! They committed the crimes themselves, so they should be locked away for as long as they deserve!""Have you forgotten that they're your children?! How could you take the side of someone with a different surname?!""What do you mean ‘someone with a different surname’?! She's my granddaughter! Since her mother's gone, it's my job as her grandmother to support her!""Aren't you worried that no one will take care of you when you get old and frail if you act this way? Or are you counting on that granddaughter of yours who's been in prison before to take care of you?!"The old couple continued to argue, almost as if they had forgotten that the call was still ongoing. After a long while, Serenity's grandmother finally remembered that she was sti

Her tears always made him feel strangely helpless, almost as if he could do everything for her just to make the tears stop flowing from her eyes.Serenity suddenly sobbed and threw herself into Jackson's arms before letting it all out and crying even harder than before.Even she was unsure why she would do such a thing at the time. She just felt that as she hugged him and leaned her face against his chest, she no longer had to suppress any of her feelings and that she could express all the pain she had suffered without needing to hold anything back.Jackson lowered his head and looked at the woman who was crying in his arms. He held her gently and let her cry her heart out.Serenity had no idea how long she cried, but in the end, she gradually stopped and found that she could no longer shed any tears.Jackson took a tissue and gently wiped away the tears that had not yet dried up on her face."Can you tell me what happened now, Sis?""It's Grandma," she replied, sniffling."Did

Serenity merely watched quietly all throughout the process. There was not a trace of perturbations in her expression even as she looked at the ugly cuts on the palm of her hand.It was only when the nurse was reapplying the bandages on her right hand that she frowned ever so slightly due to the pain although she never made a peep of noise to complain."Let me do it," Jackson told the nurse. "You can leave now."The nurse then left the room very respectfully. Jackson picked up the gauze and very skillfully and effortlessly wrapped it around Serenity's hand. His every move was so gentle and cautious that she almost felt no pain at all.Once he was done, he put down the gauze and said, "Try your best not to use your right hand over the next few days, and don't ever clench your fist like that again. You've bled enough."She looked at the bandages neatly wrapped around her hand and noticed how even the knot was tied beautifully, so she commented, "It looks like you're very good at doin