Chapter 1000 - 521: He Has Arrived

The night streets were packed with cars coming and going. In the most bustling city square, in a most hidden, unremarkable corner, a man was standing there quietly. In his deep-set eyes there was the mysterious charm of the East, and also the seductive allure of the West. He raised his gaze to the men’s clothing store ahead, glowing with enchanting lights, and in a daze he saw a beautiful woman standing there gently.

It was just her silhouette, yet his heart was hooked there instantly, his eyes unable to move away. Spring nights had already turned warm; he wasn’t even wearing a jacket. A simple black shirt made his whole figure look even taller and more slender. He stood there like a perfect statue, his alluring face tinged with pain.

He could only stand here in secret, not even daring to go too close, watching from afar as she carefully helped customers choose clothes. Even at such a distance, he could still see the expressions on those men’s faces—greedy, admiring, full of desire.

Her beauty was enough to make a man lose control. He thought that if he could just look at her once, just confirm that she was still safe and sound, then he would be satisfied enough to leave. But it was useless. All those thoughts had completely gone out of control from the first moment he laid eyes on her.

She seemed thinner, her little face sharper, heartbreakingly delicate. The high heels and fitted uniform set off her young, graceful body. There was always a lethal pull about her, tempting and confusing. Watching her show that gentle smile in front of other people, Joshua Hughes’s face began to tense, his fists slowly clenching. His complexion turned slightly pale, those sharp, thin lips pressed together. It had only been a few days since he’d last seen her, yet it felt like an entire century had passed.

He’d thought he could quietly be her guardian, that as long as her whole life was safe and happy he would be content. But those thoughts collapsed in an instant the moment he saw her. He couldn’t bear her smiling at other men, and even less could he imagine that someday in the future she might become another man’s woman, another man’s wife. Just the thought of it made his limbs go cold, and his heart turn numb.

From afar he could see her walking a client to the door, smiling warmly, bowing a full thirty degrees. How tired was she? How long did she have to stand every day? How many customers did she have to serve? Right under his nose she was living such a hard life, and yet there was nothing he could do. It was too cruel.

Even on such a spring night, after ten o’clock there was still a slight chill in the air.

She tugged her coat a little tighter, changed out of her uniform, and put on something simple and plain, like a student, which somehow made her look all the more pitiable. She pushed open the heavy glass door—her shift was over. Her exquisitely clear little face carried a hint of fatigue. Joshua Hughes followed at a distance in his car, as if her figure were the only thing that existed in the whole world. So she wouldn’t easily notice him, he’d switched to another car, the kind where you couldn’t see who was inside from the outside at all. He was afraid of frightening her, afraid she would leave this city and go live somewhere he could never see her again. So all he could do was follow quietly.

She got on a bus. There were no empty seats, so her hand wrapped around a hanging handle on the bus. Her wrist was still as slender and fragile as ever, with the contours he knew best. He knew she wouldn’t forgive him so easily—maybe she would never forgive him. From the moment she’d stood on that terrace, the decisive look in her eyes had already told him how desperate and sorrowful she truly was. That was why she could hate him enough to disregard everything, willing to die herself just to avoid him, to escape. When the bus reached the stop, she got off, moving with a trace of languor and weariness. Where she lived was a full hour’s bus ride from where she worked. Joshua’s heart ached as if an invisible hand were mercilessly wrenching it tight, cramping with pain. He gripped the steering wheel hard, forcing himself not to go to her, not to provoke her. His bloodshot eyes stared at that shabby little building, and only when the warm orange light came on in her room did he remain sitting in the car, staring in a daze, until the light went out and everything went dark...

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In just a short time, the Hughes Clan was already caught in a storm; the stock price still hadn’t picked up, while Joshua Hughes had turned into a complete playboy. The man who had always kept his tracks hidden had stepped straight out from behind the mysterious Hughes Clan into the public eye. For a while, every young girl fantasized about having such a man as her boyfriend, holding his arm as she attended banquets—even just once would be enough.