The three ordered coffee for themselves, and Liliana intentionally talked to Serenity about various topics. She kept asking about Serenity's current job for many reasons. She just wanted to hear more about Serenity's misery and observe Jackson's reaction after hearing this.Jackson was calm and collected, and it seemed he was aware of Serenity's situation. Her answers did not surprise him at all. "Serenity, why don't I talk to the firm's bosses? You might be able to find a job here. You can be a cleaner and do some cleaning in the office. It's probably better than being a sanitation worker," Liliana pretentiously suggested, pretending to help.Serenity's gaze darted up to Liliana and turned cold. "I don't plan to change jobs.""Seriously?" Liliana grimaced, "You'll earn more working as a cleaner in an office than sweeping the road. Won't you consider it?""I think I know exactly what I want to do," Serenity said, her tone gradually becoming ice-cold.Liliana wanted to say someth

Jackson's words made Serenity jolt in shock. She looked up, somewhat startled, and met Jackson's clear eyes.Liliana's face changed, and she let out a dry laugh as she said, "Mr. Valor, you love Serenity so much. I couldn't tell at all. Do you plan to get married?""If she wants to, I'll gladly marry her," Jackson said.Jackson's words had Serenity's heart thundering in her chest. She turned to Jackson in disbelief, almost as if she had heard something unthinkable."Seriously?! That's impossible!" Liliana blurted out.Jackson cast a listless glance at Liliana. "How is that impossible?"The coldness in his eyes made Liliana shiver, and a kind of fear rose in her heart."Alright, Serenity, time to go." Jackson took Serenity's hand and left the cafe. Serenity followed Jackson out without objection.Benjamin looked at Liliana disapprovingly. "Lily, why did you mention your friend's past in jail? Fortunately, Mr. Valor is aware of it. If not, it'll strain their relationship. They ma

"But what I said earlier, you'd better take it to heart," Jackson reminded her.Serenity was stunned. What did he mean by that? Take it to heart? What he had said earlier was...'If she wants to, I’d gladly marry her.' Did Jackson really know the meaning behind this?Serenity's thoughts were a mess, and it went on until the two got into the car and arrived at the Valor Residence.Serenity followed Jackson out of the car. Just as they were about to enter the house, he suddenly stopped in his tracks."Oh, right. I've also starved before," Jackson said, "I've had times when I was so hungry I thought I might die."His father had died when he was a child. After cremating his father's body, he had gone home and stayed in the small, dilapidated house holding his father's urn. He was ravenous, starving even. He was so hungry that he almost lost all strength and had a brush with death.He only survived because his neighbor had come and knocked on his door, offering him some food. Seren

"Serenity just doesn't want Aria to have good things, especially when she can't have them herself!" Catherine was indignant. "If she's ruining things for Aria and Lucas, I'll tear her apart!"Grayson said instead, "Could there be a misunderstanding?"After all, Serenity was also his daughter. To be frank, Grayson did not really care which of his daughters could be with Lucas as long as he got to be Lucas's father-in-law."Misunderstanding? How can that be? Serenity is just trying to climb the ladder!" Catherine said. "How else could she get involved with Lucas after meeting Jackson? She doesn't even consider this. She's an ex-convict. Will they even take her seriously? It's just for fun."Catherine spared no effort to slander her stepdaughter, fearing that she would rob her daughter Aria's great marriage."But Aria is different. Aria has a clean record! She's Lucas's official girlfriend. Aria will become the best actress and eventually marry into the Gomez family. It's just a matt

When Serenity spun around, she found Jackson leaning against the door where the two rooms were connected, his gaze fixed on her."Who called?" Jackson came to her and asked."My father," Serenity answered. "I'm going home tomorrow night. Tell the driver not to pick me up at the Sanitation Office."Jackson's eyes were thoughtful. "Do you need me to come with you?"Serenity looked at him in surprise. Did he just offer to accompany her home? In what capacity? Besides, she was going home to deal with her late mother's affairs."No, I can go back by myself." Serenity rejected. "It's late. I'm heading to bed."In other words, it was time for Jackson to leave.Jackson narrowed his eyes slightly. He leaned forward and twirled a strand of her long hair around his fingers. "Are you going to keep me miles away?"Serenity pursed her lips and did not answer."So, tell me, what do I have to do for you to treat me how you used to?" Jackson exhaled, his breath fluttering against her cheeks.

Did Serenity really know someone so important? If so, why would she be working as a sanitation worker? Why was she working as an extra to earn more money?"I-It's nothing. It's all in the past," Serenity answered vaguely. "Oh, Xyla. I think I'm not suitable to be an extra. I won't be doing this job again. Please apologize to Mr. Gray. I'll quit the group shortly."After all, many people had seen what had happened on the set yesterday. The entertainment industry was a small world. People from show business would always bump into each other in such a small circle.Continuing to work as an extra would make things more awkward. Serenity would rather quit. It was a pity that she now had one less way to earn extra money. She would have to think of something else and try to increase her income."I see." Xyla stopped asking. She could tell that Serenity did not want to talk about yesterday. Xyla said, "Well, I'll talk to Mr. Gray later, but you’d better talk to Mr. Gray before leaving the

"Come on," Grayson Lewis said, "sit down."Serenity took a seat and bluntly asked, "Where are you going to move my mother's grave?""Let's talk about that later," Grayson waved his hand. "Let's talk about what's going on between you and your sister. I'm going to be the peacemaker for both of you today. No matter what happened, you're still family, you know. As the elder sister, you should always protect your little sister.""All I want to know," Serenity insisted, "is where you're going to move my mother's grave."Grayson grew impatient."Didn't I tell you we'll talk about that later? Let's settle this problem between you and your sister first.""Sis," Aria spoke up in an apparently earnest voice, "please forgive me if I've ever done anything wrong. I'm truly sorry."This only made Serenity put her guard up even more. The more Aria acted this way, the more she could tell that there might be a problem.And just as she suspected, the next thing Grayson said confirmed her fears an

"All you ever think about is your mother!" Grayson growled. "You never thought about your sister at all! Fine! Let's see what a good daughter you are to your own mother!"He then stomped into his room and reemerged shortly after with a photo album in his hand.Serenity froze. That photo album... was her mother's! It contained the only photos she had of herself and her mother together!The next thing she saw was her father pulling out a lighter, which he then lit up and held under the photo album."Since you never thought of your own sister, I have no reason to give you this album! Even your mother would never want a traitorous daughter like you!"The photo album caught fire, and Grayson tossed it as it burned onto the tiled floor.Serenity shrieked before pulling down her sleeves to beat out the fire with all her might.She would never let the photo album burn no matter what! Never! It was the only memento she had left of her mother! It contained her memories! She would never le

Had Serenity been disfigured by the fire, it would have saved her a lot of work. At the very least, she knew that Lucas would never take a fancy to a deformed woman.What a pity!***Serenity had no idea how she got downstairs. All she felt was that each step she took seemed to be exhausting all of her strength. The two hands that were clutching the photo album kept trembling because of her flustered emotions. At the moment, she did not even have the courage to look through the album to see how many of the photos were damaged. These were all her memories—her memories of her mother!When she finally teetered her way to the gate of her apartment, a figure walked up to her, and suddenly, an anxious voice laced with heavy concern sounded above her head, asking, "What happened to you?"Serenity felt as if she was enveloped in a shadow, and following that, a pair of arms swooped up and supported her frail wobbly body. Who was it? Who had just held her up?She slowly looked up, and

There was not a peep out of Serenity the whole time. She was perfectly still and silent, almost as if lost in her own inner world until the doctor tried to take the photo album in her hands. She seemed to come to her senses suddenly and clung tightly to the photo albums, yelling, "No!""No one's taking it away," Jackson assured her gently, "but the doctor needs to examine your hands. Give it to me, Sis, and let the doctor take a good look at your hands, okay?"As soon as Serenity heard him call her Sis, she finally looked at him and murmured, "Jack...?""Yes," he replied, "it's me. Tell me, what happened to you exactly?"Her lips trembled, and the tears that had been suppressed all this while gushed straight out as she told him in a choked-up voice, "It's burnt! The album with photos of me and my mother! It's burnt!"As she spoke, her curly eyelashes seemed to bring forth more tears from her eyes with their every fluttering movement. Jackson was astonished. So, that half-burnt a