The moment Hanson was released, he rushed to the apartment to look for Essie. However, she wasn't
there, and all he found was an empty room. When he came out the door, he received a message from
Essie.
"Hanson, I apologize. I can't run off to Italy with you. After thinking it over, I've changed my mind. I am
now the lady of the honorable Rong family. I have gained so much power from my affiliation with this
family, and the possibilities are limitless. It would not be worth it to give it all up to become a nobody.
Perhaps, like other women, I also like the idea of materialism and vanity. I neither have the confidence
nor courage to start off in a new place with nothing. I know that love is valuable, but bread is more
important to survive. If I were to choose one, I would rather choose bread. There was a time I resented
you for choosing Bella over our love, but I now understand that you were in fact making the righteous
choice. We could only be happy if we had wealth and power. If we had love but were poor, we would
end up living a life of regret, and would live the rest of our lives unhappy. Just forget about our
relationship, I don't deserve your love. Find a girl who can love and take care of you."
When Hanson saw the message, he was on the verge of breaking down.
He had known Essie for so long and knew that she was not a materialistic girl who loved vanity. There
must be something or someone that was forcing her to send such a message.
He drove quickly, rushed into Jobson's office and yelled, "Tell me where Essie is now! Did you lock her
up?" He pounded on the table and roared.
Jobson was calm and emotionless as he took a drag of his cigar. He replied, "When I asked someone
to take her, she was seen leaving with the Rong family's men. She has probably returned to her
husband's side by now."
Hanson eyebrows furrowed with a torrent of rage, and slowly his face contorted into a venomous
outburst. He swiftly turned around, rushing to find Essie, but he was soon stopped by Jobson's men.
"Are you going to run after her in Dragon City? Do you think you even have a chance when it's Zac
you're competing with?" Jobson sneered and continued, "You are not powerful enough to defeat him.
With your strength, you would be defeated before you even lift a finger."
Hanson could feel his anger boiling up inside. He clenched his fists and a crunching sound was heard
from his strength. "I will demolish that man. Even if it takes the rest of my life," he retaliated.
"If you risk your life, you won't have a chance to have a future with Essie anymore," Jobson said in a
low deep voice as he leaned back against his chair. He continued, "I've thought long and hard about it.
I will hand over Bella to you completely and you will be the man in charge of the company. I think your
best option is to take charge of the company and bring it back to power so you can defeat Zac and win
Essie back. This way, you can find the proper strategies to deal with him."
His remark provoked Hanson and quickly evaded his unstable emotions, turning his fury into a will to
fight back.
Now that he had come back to his senses, he was motivated as ever to become stronger so he could
protect Essie and give her the life that she deserved.
While he was lost in thought, Jobson walked up to him and patted him on his shoulder. Entrusting him
with the company, he said, "From now on this office is yours. Focus on your job and do it well. Don't let
me or Bella down."
By this time, Essie had already returned to Dragon City. While they were in the car, she stared blankly
out the window, watching the stars twinkle in the deep dark night. She didn't say a single word
throughout.
She was exasperated in all the possible ways: physically, mentally and emotionally.
Zac sat beside her with his chiseled face as still as the Arctic iceberg. With a stone hard cold
expression on his face, he silently burned with rage and jealousy.
He didn't bother to take her back to the Rong Mansion but brought her to the villa instead.
She entered the villa and went straight to lay on the sofa, threw off her shoes and placed both her feet
on the coffee table in a very rude manner.
Essie thought to just cause havoc and disruption until he reached the point that he couldn't be able to
stand her anymore. When that time came, he wouldn't be able to bear her nuisance and just drive her
away.
Linda came over with a plate of fruit. She was surprised to see Essie's rude actions.
Essie moved her leg to make space for Linda to place the plate of fruit and without saying a word, she
turned on the television. She watched quietly and ate some fruits, completely ignoring Zac, who was
just sitting right beside her.
Zac seemed to have noticed what she was up to and went upstairs without saying a word.
When he was gone, she quickly put her feet back down. There was no use to act out when he wasn't
there.
She switched off the television and went upstairs to take a shower.
When she went inside the room, Zac had already finished bathing. He leaned his head against the
headboard of the bed and read the weekly commercial. His strong body was exposed, wearing only a
pair of trousers while the light and shadow outlined his toned muscles.
She walked towards him with a frisky glance and sat down next to him. She put on her headphones
and played some music on her iPad. Then she suddenly started to sing very loudly. "Reverse battle. It's
a war of wildness. The trump card is going to let out..."
In her mind, Essie thought while she sang, 'Pfft! I hope this will make your eardrums numb and your
nerves collapse.'
She sang one song after another until her throat was sore. However, the man beside her remained
expressionless. He sat in stony silence next to her, completely ignoring her existence.
His ignorance was getting to her nerves, so she quickly stood up and began to sing and dance on their
bed. She was a little overexcited, however and fell back.
She closed her eyes and screamed, thinking that she was fated for a severe fall. Mid-scream, a strong
arm stretched over like lightning and held her midair. He gently pulled her back and with relief, she fell
into his arms.
"If you've had enough, let's go to sleep," he said with a stern and serious voice. He let go of her and lay
back on the bed. Despite his considerate and sweet actions, he still maintained a cold expression.
Essie thought that he was starting to reveal his true self and was not using sugar coated words to give
her an illusion of love.
In her opinion, she much preferred this, as she didn't want to be fooled into thinking his intentions were
true anymore.
She turned off the music and lay down quietly on her bed. After a long, lingering silence, she asked out
of the blue, "Have you really given up on taking over Bella?" This time, Essie had to make sure that he
wasn't just fooling her to come back. Since he had lied to her before, she didn't want to rely on him and
most especially not trusted a man like him.
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