Chapter 9

Calvin’s sudden question startled Hannah. She knew Liam held an important place in his heart. The man had taken over the role of a caregiver when Godrick and Miranda were busy running their business. He personally took care of Calvin’s wants and needs since the latter was five years old. In addition, Liam was known to be a responsible man. Many citizens in Greenville had told Hannah that she was blessed to be adopted by him. In short, Liam was like a second father to Calvin. The atmosphere in the car grew tense. Calvin’s expression darkened soon after he asked the question. He did not give Hannah the chance to speak and purposely avoided her gaze. Instead, he called Zac and instructed, “Meet at Club Dazzle one hour later.” Zac immediately responded enthusiastically, “Sure, we’ll be there!” Since Liam’s passing, Calvin had never taken the initiative to hang out with his close pals, Zac from the Paddock family and Hunter from the Yeats family. The trio was childhood friends who had known each other throughout their whole lives. A look cold and distant crossed Calvin’s face as he glanced at Hannah soon after hanging up the phone. He ordered, “Put on the clothes in the back seats.” “What clothes?” Hannah asked. She turned around and realized there were numerous bags of female clothes in the back seats. She wondered, are they all for me? I thought he was going to leave him alone after driving off. Who knew that he went to purchase all these clothes! Calvin interrupted her thoughts when he explained, “I’ll get an earful from Dad if he sees you in the same outfit again tomorrow.” Hannah was reminded of an incident in the past where Liam had instructed Calvin to accompany her to the mall. To save himself from trouble, Calvin ordered his men to purchase all the latest outfits and gifted them to Hannah. Since then, she knew that he was an efficient man. Memories of the past again came back to torture Hannah and she felt the weight of the grief crushing her soul.

After a short pause, she muttered, “I’m wearing a new outfit. There’s no need to change again.” Calvin snapped, “Just do as I told you so.” Hannah protested, “Didn’t I say that this is new? It was given to me by Jay…” The woman suddenly realized she had spoken the wrong thing. Calvin was a possessive man who expected everyone under him to follow his orders. He did not care about the opinion of others. True enough, Hannah’s mention of Jay incurred Calvin’s wrath. He bellowed, “What did you say?” Afraid of agitating the man further, Hannah kept silent and hurriedly crawled to the back seat.

She found herself surrounded by heaps of clothes and randomly picked a dress from the pile. Hannah then attempted to cover herself with the shopping bags while changing out of her clothing. However, Calvin was annoyed by the rustling of the shopping bags and chided, “Why bother hiding? I have seen it all. Hurry up!” To offer the woman some privacy, Calvin adjusted the front mirror and activated the tinted glass separating the driver and back seats. “Why didn’t you pull the glass up earlier?” Hannah complained as she was almost done changing. She rolled her eyes when Calvin replied flatly, “I have forgotten about it.” Hunter was the owner of Club Dazzle, the largest nightclub in Greenville. As such, the highest floor of the club was specially reserved for the trio to hang out. Hannah had been to the club twice when Liam was still alive. However, she had never gotten the whole experience because she was still underage. Everyone at the club had treated her with great affection as she was the daughter of the Fullerton family. Only she knew that the lavish lifestyle she now enjoyed was a luxury. After all, she led a difficult life before she was ten years old. Having experienced the pains of hunger, she swore to cherish whatever Liam had bestowed on her. As a result, she was devastated when she learned of the hurtful truth. Hannah secretly vowed to put behind her troubled past one day and escape to a distant place to start afresh. “Over here, Calvin!” Zac bumped into Calvin and Hannah when he exited the washroom. The man was a casanova who had shattered the hearts of many Greenville ladies. Many had fallen for his flirtatious antics and sweet whisperings. Zac caught sight of Hannah and immediately grabbed her by the arm. He questioned, “What are you doing here?” Hannah’s involvement in Liam’s death was the talk of the town. Everyone thought that the Fullerton family would never forgive Hannah.

Hence, they were surprised to see Calvin and Hannah hanging out together. Calvin shook Zac’s hand away from Hannah’s arm and stated matter-of-factly, “Didn’t Tracy tell you that Hannah and I are married?” Tracy and Zac enjoyed a tight bond due to the Elkins and Paddock families’ close business relationship and proximity. Zac was in disbelief as Hannah and Calvin’s relationship would have been negatively affected by Liam’s death. “You guys are married!? How’s that possible!” He let out a grunt and continued, “I was talking to Tracy earlier and she didn’t mention anything about this. How can she not share this with me!” Zac knocked himself on the head when he managed to connect the sequence of events. He uttered, “Damn it! Way to go, Hannah! Did she release the photo herself and Mr.

Fullerton saw it? I have underestimated her all these while.” After rationalizing to himself for some time, he turned to Calvin and asked, “Hold on a second, why did you bring her here?” Zac thought to himself, why did Calvin bring Hannah along if he hates her so much? Moreover, everyone has a negative impression of her now. It’s such a turnoff to be around an evil woman like her. Meanwhile, Hunter set out to find his friends after they had gone missing for a long time. When he entered the corridor, he discovered the group’s whereabouts. He knew that Zac was unkind with his words when he saw Hannah’s reddened face. He had developed a good relationship with Jay as he frequently went abroad for work. As a result, he was aware of Hannah’s personality and did not believe that a woman like her would be capable of such heinous acts. Hunter asked, “Why are you guys standing here?” Leaning against the wall in his classic cool pose, Zac pursed his lips at Hunter and Calvin and exclaimed, “They are married!”