"Someone gave me a hangover cure and a hotpressst night, so I''m not feeling too bad," Noreen exined.


    Sophia blurted out, "Who? They''re even more thoughtful than I am!"


    Noreen was at a loss.


    She couldn''t very well tell Sophia that a male model had taken care of her.


    That would be a bad influence on the young girl.


    After all, she still believed in love.


    Just as Noreen finished her breakfast, ire returned.


    She lookedpletely drained.


    "Have you had breakfast?" Noreen asked her.


    ire said she had, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Alright, let''s get


    this over with. Confession time."


    Noreen hadn''t gone to the office today, waiting for exactly these words.


    But where to begin?


    ire herself seemed to have no idea.


    But today, Noreen had all the patience in the world to listen to her story.


    “It''s actually a pretty cliché story. My dad and Felix''s dad were sworn brothers. They started a business together and became very sessful. Later, my dad got married and had me. One night, while they were celebrating, they arranged a childhood betrothal between me and Felix."


    "Later on, their business grew bigger and went international. They were on a business trip abroad when they were kidnapped. The kidnappers found out the Quigley family was wealthy and nned to score big. But they were face blind and couldn''t tell who was the real Quigley. So my dad posed as Mr. Quigley to allow him to escape and get help from the embassy."


    “My dad did it partly out of brotherhood, and partly because he didn''t speak English," ire said, rubbing her reddening eyes.


    "By the time Mr. Quigley returned with help, the kidnappers had already killed their hostage."


    "When my mom heard the devastating news, she fell into a deep depression for two years. On her wedding anniversary with my dad, she jumped to her death."


    Noreen had never known ire''s past was so tragic.


    In all the time she''d known her, she had always been carefree and had never once mentioned her family.


    Noreen had suspected she might not have any family, so she never asked, not wanting to upset her.


    She never imagined...


    Her heart ached for her, but besides hugging her, she didn''t know what to say tofort her.


    ire shook her head with a smile. “It''s been twenty years. I''ve epted it, so it''s not that painful anymore."


    But Noreen held her tighter.


    "After my mom died, Mr. Quigley


    took me in for a while. He wanted to


    adopt me, but my maternal


    grandfather and uncle wouldn''t. allow


    They said I still had rtives


    and there was no reason for an outsider to adopt me. They even used the Quigley family in the media of trying to take over my father''s assets by adopting me. In the end, Mr. Quigley had to give up, and my uncle''s family adopted me."


    “But the truth is, my uncle was the one after my father''s assets. After he got legal


    custody of me, he started taking over my dad''s business. Mr. Quigley saw his intentions and warned him at thepany not to cross the line. Furious, my uncle sold off all the assets rted to Mr. Quigley."


    "Unfortunately for him, he had no


    head for business. My dad''spany was ruined in just a few years under his management, and he even ended up deep in debt To pay off his debts, he decided to use me. He went to the Quigley family, citing the childhood betrothal to basically extort them for the favor my dad did."


    "By then, Mr. Quigley''s health was failing, and Felix was in charge of the family business. He tly rejected my uncle''s demands and made it clear the betrothal was off. My uncle was furious and tried to force me to marry a rich widower..."