There was a small boy on the stroller, his hands grabbing on to the edge so he could get a better look
around. Since he was still such a small child, he was still struggling to make coordinated movements.
Nevertheless, the tireless smile on his pink face did not waver.
"Eddy," Anne called out. Warmth surged up in her heart as she saw her son. She had been thinking of
him day and night, and the sight of him made her feel incredibly excited.
By the time Eddy saw her, she already had her arms wrapped around him.
However, being separated from his mother for a long time, he was no longer as familiar with her as
before. His big eyes looked up at Anne curiously as his smile slowly faded away.
Anne gently cradled him closer to her. With his ear against her chest, he could hear her steady
heartbeat. There was a sudden feeling of familiarity when he heard her heart. Raising his head, he
looked up at Anne and tilted his head.
"Ma..."
Even though his words weren't that clear yet, Anne couldn't help but beam widely.
It didn't matter if this little child said 'mom' or 'marsh'. What's important was that he still recognized her
and tried to talk to her.
"You haven't seen me for such a long time, Eddy. Did you miss me?" Anne asked as she gently
caressed his smooth cheek with her finger.
As if by instinct, he boy pressed his face against her hand as he flailed with joy. His sweet laughter
rang melodiously in the air.
The sight of this little boy made her heart melt. At that moment, she felt that her persistence had been
all worth it.
"Daddy," Eddy suddenly chirped.
All of a sudden, Anne's hands stiffened. Why did he call out for his daddy out of the blue?
Was Kevin taking care of Eddy when she was absent?
For a brief moment, she felt a pang of sadness. Her son was the most important thing to her, and now it
felt as if that had been taken away from her.
However, she then thought that there was no need to be this unreasonable and selfish. After all, this
showed that Eddy must have gotten along with Kevin really well, and that Kevin was being a good
father.
"Don't call me daddy, sweetheart. I'm mommy, okay?" With a soft smile, she planted a soft kiss on his
forehead.
Eddy's big, bright eyes blinked at her, seeming to be concentrating hard on something. After a while, he
lowered his eyes, his cheeks as pink and delicious as a peach.
"M... mommy."
Hearing his clear voice, Anne felt a bit relieved. 'Maybe it's all just a coincidence,' she thought. 'Maybe
he just learned that word from somewhere. Besides, Kevin's servants were always the ones taking care
of him. They probably always taught him to call dad first.
Soon, her thoughts began to spiral. 'Maybe Kevin didn't treat Eddy well at all. No one was there to stop
him anyway.'
"Anne, what are you thinking about?" she sighed quietly to herself. "You can never expect anything
good from that guy, can you?" Hugging Eddy closer to her, she took a deep breath and closed her
eyes, trying to clear her thoughts.
In AN Group.
The floor to ceiling glass walls, the leather sofa, and the overall minimalist design made the office of the
CEO exhume with class and elegance.
Despite its noble appearance, it went without question that Kevin was still the most formidable thing in
that office.
He wore a black, tailored suit. There was a cold aura surrounding this man as he sat behind his desk.
There was a constant, intense look on his face. His angular jaw and high nose were sharp and defined.
Whether he was busy at work or was just casually looking around, it looked as if his face was always
ready to be shot in some big, blockbuster movie.
No one except Daniel had the courage to approach him.
"Mr. Kevin, here's the document you wanted," Daniel said.
"Hand over the cooperation work with Hess Group to Director Gao and let him be fully responsible for
it. If he fails to accomplish this, fire him at once," Kevin responded in a desolate tone. It was as if he
was speaking about something as casual as the weather, and didn't even bother to look up from his
desk.
"But Mr. Kevin... Director Gao's father is one of the AN Group's major shareholders. Wouldn't this put
our company in jeopardy?" Daniel said.
If it was just an ordinary employee, that person would get fired immediately once a mistake had been
made. However, Director Gao had a very powerful father.
"Why? Do you think it would jeopardize the company?" Kevin raised his head and glanced at Daniel
with an imposing manner.
"Not at all, Mr. Kevin," Daniel replied, trembling slightly. "But if we do something like that, Director Gao's
father might target the AN Group."
"Don't worry about that. He just holds two percent of the shares of AN Group. If he's no longer a part of
our company, there won't be any heavy repercussions. Just let him go," Kevin said, lowering his eyes.
Suddenly, Daniel understood Kevin's intention.
Director Gao didn't really have the best work ethic nor did he have an outstanding record. The only
reason he held a position at this company was because of his father's power. Things would have been
alright, if only greed had not gotten the better of them. They had embezzled a large amount of money
from the company's public funds.
In the end, all of the blame was put on Director Gao. In Kevin's eyes, those two were nothings but
cowards.
There was no excuse for their actions. At this point, Kevin saw that nothing else could be done but to
kick out the father-and-son duo from the company for good.
"I understand, Mr. Kevin. But if he leaves, we will still lose a lot of money, even if it's just two percent of
our shares," Daniel bargained.
There was indeed a lot of money in the AN Group, and two percent of their funds was really a
considerable amount of money that they would lose.
"Don't worry. Money is not something we have an issue with. If we don't have enough to keep the
business going, I'll just use my private funds to make up for it. In the meantime, give the shares to
Anne."
There was an inexplicable smile on Kevin's lips when he mentioned Anne's name.
Flustered, Daniel blinked his eyes, not knowing what to say to Kevin. He knew that he had to be careful
when he talked about Anne in front of Kevin. There was nothing more important to this man than that
woman.
"Mr. Kevin, Miss Anne already has thirteen percent of the company's shares. If she gets anymore, I'm
afraid that..." The words trailed off into silence.
He was worried about what Kevin's mother would think when she finds out about this.
"Stop worrying about it," Kevin sneered. "Let her have fifteen percent of company shares. She can
even have half of my shares if she wants!"
In the past, he thought that Anne was only with him because of his money. Later, he realized that she
was not the kind of person he thought she was.
Anne was a stubborn and cold woman towards him. It was so rare for him to encounter a woman like
her. As a result, the more she pushed him away, the more he wanted to protect her and make her his.
Leaning back on his seat, Kevin clasped his hands in front of him and looked carefully at Daniel.
"So, what's the news on that rumor that surfaced? And the matter regarding Rose?"
"It's all on the document, Mr. Kevin. I haven't dared to read it, not do I plan to without your permission.
This is your private affairs, after all." He had brought with him all the information about the doctors that
had checked Rose before. As for Rose's latest examination, as soon as it was finished, he took all of
the documents at once to ensure that the results wouldn't be tampered with.
Hearing this, Kevin gave a small, approving nod. "I see. You can leave now."
As soon as Daniel left, Kevin took a deep breath and slowly opened the document.
In the East Mountain Villa.
The night was studded with bright stars.
There was a fresh breeze in the air. Even though it was a little chilly, it added to the charm of the night.
As Kevin pulled up in the driveway, he saw the silhouette of a woman and a child through the window.
With a smile, he got out of his car and walked inside the house.
"Eddy, come to daddy!" Kevin greeted cheerfully, like a burst of sunshine after a rain.
Although Anne didn't want to be a selfish mother, she couldn't help but frown to herself. Seeing Kevin
genuinely care for the child made her happy, but she didn't want time taken away from her when she
was having some alone with her son.
More importantly, she really didn't want to be in the same place as Kevin was.
As soon as Eddy heard Kevin's voice, he tried to desperately to reach for him. With one arm around
Anne's shoulder, he extended his hand to Kevin, his little fingers pointing towards him. Because of his
excitement, he started to kick and flail around in Anne's arms.
This caught her off guard, and made her stumble on her feet. She closed her eyes and wrapped her
arms protectively on Eddy's head, anticipating the fall.
In a split second, Kevin quickly went up to her and kept her steady.
"Are you okay?" he asked nervously.
Slowly, Anne opened her eyes, and saw Kevin's face next to hers. His deep, attractive eyes looked at
her in concern. Flustered, she quickly withdrew her gaze, fearing that she would get bewitched by
these eyes if she looked at them a second longer. 'No. Stop it,' she scolded herself. 'You know better
this time. You won't be as stupid as before!'
After regaining her footing, she cleared her throat and flashed an indifferent smile. "I'm fine."
"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Eddy," Kevin replied with a smug smile. In one, swift movement,
he took Eddy in his arms and tapped the tip of his little nose.
All of a sudden, Anne's face flushed with embarrassment, her hands clenching into fists at her side. In
Kevin's eyes, she was not a good person, and it brought him joy to embarrass her from time to time.
'The nerve!' she screamed in her heart. 'This man knows that Eddy is too small to understand what's
going on around him. How can he deliberately make fun of me like this?'
Then, she saw how much more intimate and comfortable Eddy was in Kevin's arms than he was with
her. Her heart ached seeing them like this. A while later, she suddenly noticed a slight pain on her
ankle.
Apparently, it got twisted earlier when she almost fell. After applying a bit of weight on it, she shrugged
it off and thought that it wasn't anything serious.
"Now that you're home, you can go take care of him. I'm going to finish the design draft," Anne said
dismissively.
As Kevin heard this, his face went cold. "I thought you said that you wouldn't leave to work anymore.
Now, as soon as I get here, you're telling me that you need to go?"
Meanwhile, Eddy continued to laugh and squirm in his arms, oblivious to the sudden tense air between
his parents.
However, Anne straightened her back, not planning on backing down.
This woman had a sharp tongue--a fact that Kevin seemed to forget before questioning her.
"Mr. Kevin, do you have any idea how long it would take to find a new employee to finish this job that
I'm doing? Don't you know that the business will get suspended and even the whole company will be
effected because of this?" she said calmly, a sarcastic smile plastered on her face. "Perhaps you don't
remember any of these things, because you've been too busy living such a happy like with your
sweetheart. You are so stupid and ignorant!"
With that, she turned around and walked towards the front door.
Even though he was displeased with her words, a smile crept up his face. "You sound jealous, Anne. Is
it because you still like me?"
She froze in her tracks, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Her little secret had been discovered.
But she managed to keep her cool. After all, she was used to talking to snarky businessmen all the
time. This little comment he made was nothing to her.
Turning around, she looked at Kevin directly in the eye. "Mr. Kevin, you're not only stupid and ignorant,
but also apparently very narcissistic. Let me make this clear, okay? I don't like you. If a part of me
accidentally starts to like you, I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to get rid it permanently."
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