Take My Breath Away

"Well, yes. I don't know anything else. I never went to college," Chantel replied. She grew up in a remote village, and her family was one of the poorest in that community. She didn't have the money to attend college in the city. Her parents had passed away long ago, and she'd been taking care of her grandfather until he died two days ago. So, she simply gave up on the idea of going to college.

After pondering this for a while, Gifford blurted out, "Do you want to go with me?"

Chantel's eyes widened in surprise.

Gifford explained to her, "Let's get out of here—the village, I mean. I'll help you find a place to stay. It's better than staying here and feeding chickens."

"But... I can't do anything except farm work."

"Can you wash clothes, cook and clean?"

"Of course. I mean, yes!"

"Those are basic maid skills. You could draw a paycheck on those."

"But what about Grandpa's chickens?" Chantel's grandfather had raised hundreds of chickens, and they were almost mature enough to be sold.

Gifford said helplessly, "Give them all to the villagers. Do you want to take all those chickens with you?"

The girl didn't know what to say.

Soon, Gifford asked someone to bury Chantel's grandfather, and then gave all her chickens away to the other villagers. He didn't have to ask twice. At last, he left the village with the girl—and without the chickens.

Chantel left the village with Gifford. On that fateful day, she never would have imagined that she'd move to a big city. And never in her wildest dreams would she expect to become an international figure in the future.

At Li family house

The moment Blair saw Chantel, she suddenly lost her interest in the baby Ethan. She immediately handed off the boy to Wesley, who had to struggle to adjust his arms to cradle the child. He'd been caught off-guard. Blair half-walked/half-ran over to her son and the girl, a big smile on her face. "Son! You finally have a girlfriend! I'm so excited!"

Gifford was already 32 years old, and hadn't found a girlfriend yet. She was close to arranging blind dates for him.

Although the girl in front of her was dirty all over, she might look pretty after a good shower.

Wesley couldn't help blaming Gifford, "What did you do to her? Why don't you show her where the shower is?"

His mood now gloomy, Gifford tried to explain. "It's not what you think. I was on a mission, and she was taken hostage. I rescued her,

r? It would be fun to have a sister to play with when I'm there. Or a brother...I'm not picky."

"Erica Li!" Blair was so angry that she wanted to beat Erica with a broom.

Before her mother said anything they'd both regret, Erica had hung up the phone immediately.

At ZL Group

Erica pointed the camera at her husband, who was hard at work and didn't even lift his head. "Matthew, come on, say cheese!"

The man didn't raise his head. "I don't like having my picture taken."

"But my teacher asked us to hand in some portrait studies by tomorrow. Just one pic. Pleeeaase!" She'd never met a more photogenic man in her life. It was like he made love to the camera. If she got a pic of the ultra-handsome Matthew, she'd get high marks for sure.

"No way!" Matthew refused bluntly.

Erica thought for a while. 'Wait. He told me I should be more persuasive if I ask him for help.'

At the thought of it, Erica put the camera on his desk, sat on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

In fact, she felt so gloomy. Why couldn't Matthew just help her once without asking anything in return?

'Damn it! No wonder he's a businessman. Everything he does for someone has a price tag of some sort. But no! It's not equal at all. He takes advantage of me every time! He's such a horn dog, ' she thought angrily.

Satisfied with what Erica had done, Matthew wrapped his arms around her waist in response.

Three minutes later, Matthew whispered in her ear, "Mrs. Huo, do you want to wrap me around your little finger? And you can do whatever you want?" His voice was hoarse and tempting.