Pearl focused on the trash around her feet. They were of various sizes and shapes, and she’d be in danger if she ignored where she was walking. If she were to fall onto the piles of trash, her image would be ruined. She could not accept that, so she focused all her attention on the ground. So, she didn’t hear the other things Darius said. Darius tucked his hands in his pockets. When he saw Pearl had no intention of answering him, he frowned and said, “Pearl, it’s fine even if our records are here; there’s no way we’ll track them down by ourselves. Of course, that’s only the first and least important reason. We need to remember that we hail from wealthy families—recreating our records is as easy as snapping our fingers.” He thought she’d be happy to hear this, but he was wrong. Pearl looked up at his words and frowned. “Darius, that’s where you’re wrong. Those records were penned by different people at different times, and I have no way of tracking them down. Even if I were to loca

It was a call from Erin, which made Darius frown. She should’ve been busy at this time; the fact that she was calling meant something serious had happened. He took a deep breath and lifted his hand from Pearl’s shoulder. His eyes were still on his phone, but his words were directed at Pearl when he said, “I’m going to answer a call; wait here for Edward. When he returns to his senses, we’ll find our records in no time.” After that, he left. Pearl remained rooted to the spot as she watched him leave, feeling like her shoulder wasn’t the only thing that felt like something was missing. Her heart felt the same, especially since she’d gotten a glimpse of who was calling. She knew Darius had left to attend to work, but she still couldn’t help looking bitter at the thought of Erin’s face. She had the sinking feeling that she couldn’t compare to Erin, no matter how beautiful she was. A flurry of thoughts flew through her mind, but there was no one around to pay attention to her. It was

Alfred had secretly helped Darius out many times before he returned to the Reid family. Darius shut his eyes as he took a trip down memory lane to the first time he’d met Alfred. Back then, he was still poor and worked at one of the university’s cafeterias to make ends meet. In the process of serving one of the students’ dishes, the plating had gone a little out of shape, and the student in question had immediately wanted to hit Darius. To this day, this incident made Darius sigh and lament the wicked ways of the wealthy. Up to that point in his life, he’d experienced many similar situations after working so many odd jobs and knew he had to do everything to placate his customers. Even if they were supposed to also be fellow students, Darius knew he couldn’t really think that. He stood there and waited for the student’s blow to land on his face. It would’ve been easy for him to dodge it, but he knew he couldn’t—it would only aggravate the student more. As he waited for the pain t

Fraser thought about it for a second, then grabbed the lackey who’d spoken earlier by the collar and flung him to the ground by Darius’ feet. He bellowed, “How dare you interrupt me! Or do you think you have the right to represent me? Besides, do you think you deserve to speak to someone like Mr. Reid?” He made a show of reprimanding his lackey, but Darius caught him sneaking a glance at him out of the corner of his eye—he was waiting to see how Darius felt about this. Darius smiled, and Fraser relaxed, feeling he’d probably changed Darius’ impression of him. The lackey was obviously indignant but didn’t dare say anything. He looked at Fraser and asked in a small voice, “Boss, did I say something wrong? Why are you suddenly on his side? Isn’t he a pauper? Didn’t you say you hated people like him the most?” The lackey’s eyes turned red. “Darius is standing right before you, but you took out your temper on me just to make him feel good about himself.” Fraser scowled and forced out

"Besides, I know Aurora—my fiancée—will stick with me, no matter what." Alfred finally moved his gaze away from Aurora to look at Darius. "That's why I'll never take my life, even if it's only for her sake. Anyway, Aurora isn't any worse than me in terms of her capabilities."Aurora had been silently watching Darius for a long time now. Suddenly, she said grimly, "Darius, I know you're an outstanding man, and I've also heard of the Reid family before. You've already helped us plenty today—more than Alfred did for you. However, I still have a favor to ask of you."Darius looked at her. It was his first time looking her in the eye—in the past, he felt he didn't deserve to look at her because of how poor he was; after returning to the Reid family, he hadn't had the time to. Now, he finally had the time and status to face her as an equal. His attention wasn't on her face, though she was undeniably beautiful. Instead, he looked at her body and raised an eyebrow. All else aside, she had to