There were certain things that although Shawn was unwilling to face, he was aware of them. Serenity did not have an influential figure to lean on, but his mother was Mrs. Lowe. The Lowes were considerably wealthier and more powerful than Serenity. There was no way Serenity could survive against his mother’s tactics. The only thing left to do would be to leave Wiltspoon. “I don’t want you to try. You must let go of your feelings for her!” Mrs. Lowe ordered. Keeping to her word, Mrs. Lowe summoned two bodyguards and instructed them, “You are to follow Shawn wherever he goes from now on. Report to me if he ever goes near Wiltspoon School.” Shawn turned ashen. Meanwhile, the Lowes’ chauffeur drove Jasmine to the shop. Serenity had moved all the display racks into the shops and packed up her crafting tools and materials. She even cleared the unfinished groceries out of the fridge and bagged them along with the snacks. She was ready to bring them all back to her house. The sh
Zachary, who was dubbed the petty guy by Serenity, took a few hours of sleep at the office before waking up. He opened his eyes and found a thick jacket draped over him. Removing the jacket, he looked at the time. “It’s nine at night,” Zachary cried, unable to believe that he slept that long. There were a few thermal lunch boxes on his desk. It must be the dinner brought by the manager of the subsidiary company. The manager must have seen him asleep and did not want to wake him. The thick jacket over Zachary must be from the manager too. Straightening his back, Zachary sat in silence for a while before heading to the bathroom to freshen himself up with a good splash of cold water to his face. He walked out of the bathroom several minutes later. Having returned to his seat, he opened the food containers. The food was still warm. He sat behind his desk and dug in. Zachary pulled out his phone and checked his messages. Other than the messages from his senior executives about
Josh had no words. He commented, “What’s up with you two? You were getting along just fine and giving us front-row seats to your public display of affection, but now another fight broke out. No wonder Serenity went to a bar. It was all because of you.” Zachary replied, “Look into where they are right now and how long they’ve been there. Are they drunk? Give me a reply if you hear anything back.” “Alright. I’ll get right to it.” Josh swiftly hung up the call and dove into investigating the girls’ whereabouts. While waiting for an answer, Zachary contacted his private plane crew and instructed them, “Prepare to fly back. I want to return to Wiltspoon in a few minutes.” He did not want Serenity to drop him off at the airport when he needed to go away for business. One reason was he had to return to the office, and the second was he did not have a plane ticket ready. Zachary took a private plane abroad. Following Zachary’s last-minute notice, the crew started flight preparati
Zachary gave up on dialing Serenity’s number. A call from Josh could not come at a better time. “Where are they drinking, Josh?” Zachary went right to the question the moment the call was connected. Hearing the anxiousness in his tone, Josh took the chance to tease Zachary. “Feeling desperate? Do you have ants in your pants? Can’t wait to get back here?” “Josh!” This was the worst possible time to make fun of him. Zachary was so desperate, he wished he had wings to fly all the way back to Wiltspoon. Josh chuckled. “I couldn’t pass up on the chance. Only Serenity can bring the anxiousness out of you.” Zachary had always remained stoic in the face of adversity. To get Zachary restless was not something Josh could see every day. “They’re at Neon Nights. They arrived half an hour ago. Jasmine and her young brother are with Serenity.” Zachary frowned. “How old is Jasmine’s brother?” Why did Jasmine have so many brothers? Although Shawn was her cousin, they shared
“I’m still sober. Another couple of drinks won’t make me drunk.” “You should quit while you’re at it.“We came here to have a drink or two. Too much is not good for you.” Serenity stared at her eerily. Jasmine fell silent for a moment before getting up to leave. She reminded her brother to watch Serenity. A while later, Jasmine returned with a pen, papers, and a glass of wine in hand. “This is your last drink. I asked for a few sheets of paper for you to draw on.” “Jas, Serenity’s drunk. Can she still draw?” Serenity claimed that she was sober but the truth was, she was drunk. Instead of answering his brother’s question, Jasmine handed the pen and papers to Serenity. Serenity took the stuff and started drawing on the paper without taking the drink. First, she drew a ball. Drake was speechless. It was not hard to draw a circle in a drunken state. Drake believed it was a no-brainer. Serenity then drew a lake with way too many wavy lines along the shore. Following
“Is that you, Ms. Sox?” a voice interrupted the trio. Jasmine and her brother turned their heads toward the source of the voice. Serenity calmly drank her wine as though she did not see Josh. “Mr. Bucham?” Jasmine was surprised to find Josh here. Josh explained, “I got together with a few buddies to let loose here since it’s the weekend. I wasn’t expecting to see you here, Ms. Sox.“Do you mind if I sit here?” Jasmine replied with a smile, “Well, you already sat down. Are you waiting for your friends?” She saw that he was alone. Josh sat down and said hello to Serenity. Serenity merely bobbed her head as an acknowledgment to his greeting. “My friends have left.” Looking at the drawing, Josh asked Jasmine, “Who drew this? Can I have a closer look?” With Jasmine’s eyes turning to her best friend, Josh got an idea of the artist behind the artwork. Serenity went on drinking without a word. Taking it as a no, Josh did not pick the drawing up, but he was still able to
“Seren.” Jasmine immediately went to help Serenity up. “I can still drink…” Despite being held up, Serenity was mumbling away about having more drinks. Looking at the state Serenity was in, Josh did not feel right to pull out his phone and take a video of her. Nevertheless, there was security surveillance in the place. He could pull the security footage and show it to Zachary. Zachary married a wonderful wife but could do better at cherishing her. They often fought and got into silent wars while the people around him were dragged into the crossfire. “You’re drunk, Serenity. I’ll take you home.” Jasmine got up and said to Josh apologetically, “Serenity had too much to drink, Mr. Buchan. I’m going to take her home now.” “I don’t think you can drive since you had something to drink too. I didn’t drink, so I can drive you home.” As Josh came here for Jasmine, he did not have a drop of alcohol. He was looking for a chance to get Jasmine in his car. “Thank you, Mr. Bucha
Zachary clutched the paper without a word, but judging by the bantering look on Josh’s face, he could guess the drawing had something to do with him. He had seen Serenity’s artwork before. Serenity would often draw samples for her crafts and she was a good artist. “Zac…hary…” Nestling against Zachary’s chest, Serenity mumbled. Zachary carefully carried her into the car and sat her down at the backseat. He then sat next to her and propped her body against his before she slipped down from her seat. “I’m here.” He breathed a husky voice into her ear, “I’m here, Seren.” Serenity had no idea. She was so wasted that she could not open her eyes. Held tightly in Zachary’s embrace, Serenity drifted between sleep and mumbles. Sometimes, she could voice her strong opinion about Zachary, but other times, it was hard to catch what she was saying as she murmured under her breath. Jasmine and her brother stood outside the bar and watched as the sedan drove off. “Who was that man