Marcus didn't say anything. He just held her tightly.

After spending what seemed like an eternity in his arms, Melissa said in a slightly hoarse voice, “Frankly, I don't hate you. On the contrary, I'm very grateful to you, because you were really nice to me. I know you must be wondering why even though I say I don't hate you, I still refuse to be with you.

Actually, Violette is not the main reason for my refusal to be with you.

As far as I'm concerned, if it wasn't her, someone else would have become Mrs. Fowler."

Then she turned in his arms and her eyes looked like they had tears in them. "It's because I don't want to push myself this hard," she went on in a soft voice. "Yes, what you offer is so good. But for someone of my origin, there's no way I can really enter into your world, and I don't want to force myself to struggle so hard. That's all."

“What about Matthew? Did you think about him while taking this decision?" Marcus asked curiously.

"I can take Matthew with me to Heron. It won't affect him very much," she explained.

Marcus looked at her in silence for a moment.

Then he said with a sneer, "It seems you've already thought about it."

Melissa couldn't deny it. She really had planned this before now.

Now, Marcus' heart, which had softened in the middle of the night, became hardened again. He lowered his head, lit a cigarette and took a slow and deep drag. "Okay then. Let's see how far you can go," he said in a tone of finality.

With that, he opened the door and started the car. Clearly, he was not happy at all.

Two streams of exhaust gas streamed out of the rear of the car as the vehicle was revved harshly.

Melissa quickly took a few steps back, keeping enough distance between herself and the car. Then almost immediately, it sped off.

When Melissa got into the house, it was very quiet and dark. She sighed deeply and leaned against the door for a long time.

Early the next morning, at breakfast, Melissa tried talk to Julie, but Julie seemed to be absent-minded, which was quite rare. Believing that she did not have a good sleep, Melissa didn't think much about her absentmindedness. But just as Melissa was about to go to the company, the doorbell rang.

She thought it was Marcus again and she couldn't help but frown in displeasure.

But when the door was opened, the person she saw standing there was Julie's son, Shawn Wilson.

Shawn had been a very irresponsible individual for the past two or three years. He loved gambling, which led to him owing a lot of debts. His wife and child had left him because they just couldn't cope with him anymore. Julie often cried over that her son had turned out the way he did.

But Shawn never asked Melissa for help. Instead, he always brought some delicious food for Matthew whenever he came by for a visit.