"She deserved the consequences for doing what she shouldn't have," Lucas responded casually, almost as if it did not matter at all.When Serenity heard that, her heart skipped a beat. Had Lyra been banned and forced out of the entertainment industry? She would no longer be a star and would have to return to an ordinary life.However, would she be willing to accept her fate? Not many people would accept a mediocre life, particularly those who had tasted success. Mediocrity would be unbearable to them."Why? Feeling bad for her?" Lucas stated, looking straight at Serenity, "Lyra was rude to you the other day.""I'm not feeling bad for her. She probably doesn't need my sympathy," Serenity answered, "Don't bother treating me to a meal to apologize. I have to catch the bus back to Solaria.""But I insist. I must treat you to a meal," Lucas said.Serenity rejected him, disinterested, "I don't want to. Are you going to force me to?""I don't like to use force, but it would be nice to d

Serenity wished she had nothing to do with Jackson anymore, or so she thought. After all, his existence had been a nightmare to her. She could not believe she was thinking of him, wanting him to save her!"Why did you come here?" Lucas's cold voice rang in the car."My grandmother is sick. I'm here to visit her," Serenity answered. She could refuse to answer, but he could find out with a little investigation."Your grandmother lives in this town?" Lucas asked."Yeah.""So, you... Have you lived here before?" Lucas asked with some hesitation in his voice."I lived here for some time as a kid, but I went back to Solaria when I grew up," Serenity explained."Is that so? Did anything special happen to you when you lived here as a child?" Lucas's fingers on the steering wheel tightened a little as he asked this question."I don't understand what you mean by something special," Serenity replied. "Besides, I was very young when I was here. Even if something special happened, I may not

"I see," Serenity responded. She somehow had a feeling that Lucas was telling her all of these things on purpose.Lucas continued speaking, his penetrating dark gaze pinned on her. "I was separated from a girl in the hospital many years ago this day. She told me about this restaurant, which was her favorite. That's why I would spend some time here every year on this day and have a meal.""She must be someone dear to you," Serenity said. Lucas sounded like he missed her a lot."Yeah. She is. She's probably the most important person in my life." Lucas's tone was very indifferent, almost as if he was talking about something that seemed natural to him.Serenity, on the other hand, was shocked. Did Lucas care that much about a lost person? Serenity's original view of him was very different. She thought he was cold and heartless. He showed no mercy to his ex-girlfriend and constantly changed girlfriends—his feelings were like a ripple in the water and would die down as quickly as they fo

After all, Lucas had first met the girl in this small town.After asking Serenity a series of questions, Lucas thought about it again. It seemed like he was overthinking it."You're not her," Lucas stated indifferently. Serenity was not the one he was looking for.'Not who?' Confusion flashed in Serenity's eyes. When the restaurant owner came over and served the food, Lucas spoke. "Okay, let's eat. Do you want some wine?"Serenity thought of her previous experience of getting drunk in Jackson's presence and shook her head. "No, I'll just have a bottled drink." Lucas then asked the owner to bring over two bottled drinks."Are you not drinking?" Serenity raised her eyebrows."I won't drink. I have to drive later," Lucas said.Serenity's expression darkened, thinking of the car accident years ago. She had been charged with drunk driving despite not drinking at all!"By the way, you were in a car accident because of drunk driving, weren't you?" Lucas's voice rang out abruptly,

Serenity had had very little time to sleep every day for the past few days. She had work during the day and was busy researching and knitting gloves at night. Early this morning, she had taken the bus to the town and had a busy day.Therefore, it was not long before Serenity closed her eyes and unknowingly drifted off to sleep.Lucas glanced at Serenity and turned down the volume slightly.The sleeping Serenity reminded him of the young girl in his memory. In fact, Serenity resembled the young girl when awake, but there was a striking difference in her eyes. The present Serenity had a depressed look in her eyes like she had been beaten up by life, but the young girl's clear and bright eyes had been filled with endless hope.When Serenity woke up, the car was already parked at the entrance of her residence area.Embarrassed, she quickly unbuckled her seat belt. "How long have I been sleeping?""Well, not long," he said.Serenity hurriedly got out of the car and took her bag. Ho

Serenity then heard herself singing ‘Walk of Life’ in her childish voice."W-what if we get caught again? What if we can't escape?" The little boy's voice rang again."Silly. Why can't we escape? I'll definitely get you out!""If you leave me behind, you'll surely escape.""I won't leave you behind! I promised to protect you, so I will protect you! I'm not afraid of those bad guys!""Why won't you leave me?""Because we're friends!""Ah!" Serenity jolted out of sleep and sat up from the bed. When her eyes fluttered open, all she saw was the dim light.She was still in her rented place!Serenity breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the time. It was only 3 am.Was that a dream? She seemed to have dreamed about her younger self. She had been talking to a boy and singing the song ‘Walk of Life’ by Teresa.'Oh, God.' Serenity wondered how she could have such a dream. Did she dream of singing the song because she had listened to it countless times in Lucas's car earlier?Howev

The part-time job Xyla introduced was acting as an extra. Serenity only needed to register her name and leave a contact number on the line to apply for the job. They would not check her records.A background actor would receive a daily rate of 80 dollars, and lunch was provided. Dinner would be provided in case of overtime, but no overtime would be paid. According to Xyla, Serenity could work as a background actor during her rest day. She would be free, anyway, and she could earn money each extra day she worked.Serenity had a few rest days in a month. If she could work on every rest day, she would have a few hundred dollars extra in that month.A few hundred dollars would not mean much to most, but it was good enough for Serenity.At the end of the shift, Serenity looked at the finished gloves and called Jackson. "The gloves are ready. Should I send them over, or would you prefer to send someone over to pick them up?""I'll come and get it," Jackson said."Alright, then," Sere

"Y-you came." Serenity spoke, but her throat felt dry. She moved sideways and let Jackson into the room."Have you been waiting, Sis?" Jackson smiled and went to the table. Then, he saw the papers spread out on the table. Serenity had left the case file on the table and did not have time to clean up.Jackson's dark eyes narrowed slightly. He reached out, picked up some of the documents, and glanced at them. "Hmm? Are you looking at the case again?"Serenity stiffened slightly. She did not know his true identity before and had mentioned the case to him. After learning of his real identity, talking about the case again made her feel awkward and helpless.Serenity might think she was not guilty, but the car accident had indeed happened, and his late fiancee had died in the car accident!"Sis? What's wrong?" When she did not answer, he looked up at her."I'm just..." She swallowed and answered, "Casually looking." "By the way, you mentioned that you were accused and not guilty. Sin

"Why not?" Jackson asked in reply."I would eventually have to marry someone in my life. Would an early or late marriage make a difference? Besides, Mira is quiet and obedient enough. An arranged marriage with the Hall family would help the Valor family's business in the shipping industry, so why not?"Serenity felt a little unsettled listening to Jackson's business mindset.Jackson spoke as if he had no love at all. Even marriage was just business to him. For a man like him, what was important to him?"But now, I think it'd be nice to marry a woman I find interesting," Jackson added with a smile, his blazing gaze focused on her.Jackson's words seemed to imply something, and Serenity turned away uncomfortably. She told herself not to overthink. Both of them were simply living in two different worlds. They were very different. She thought it would be unlikely for them to cross paths again after giving him the gloves."Oh, um..." Serenity said hurriedly, "I'll give you the gloves.

"Yes, it is." Serenity was certain. "For me, the truth is more important than anything else!""The car accident happened three years ago," Jack reminded her. "There might have been surveillance footage and evidence, but they would be gone by now. It's hard to overturn the conviction, let alone find out the truth."Serenity let out a bitter laugh. She naturally understood his intention. Jackson would overturn the conviction for her, but the truth did not matter to him. Mira's thoughts and her suicidal driving which had led to the car accident—it did not matter.Jackson had never had any feelings for Mira. Mira's unfortunate death meant nothing to him. All he had lost was just a candidate for marriage. "Jackson, you never loved Mira at all," Serenity suddenly said in an unmistakable tone.Jackson lowered his gaze slightly, "I never said I loved her.""Then who do you love?" When her question sounded, an answer instantly came to his mind.He looked at her for a moment in a daze. A