The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Zachary and Harry tried to persuade Portia. Touched by Zachary's maturity, Portia let out a soft sigh. "All right. I'll listen to you two. I'll wait until tomorrow morning to go." At her agreement, Zachary smiled faintly and said, "Great."

Portia then guided Zachary to sit beside her on the couch. She fetched an ice pack and carefully pressed it to his swollen face, her heart aching at the sight.

"This must hurt so much. What's wrong with Steven? It's like he was trying to beat you to death. You're his son, not his enemy. What was he thinking, hitting you like this?"

Zachary didn't argue. "Probably because he screwed up his life. He lost his wife, decided he didn't want his kid, and now he's alone and has no one left to talk to at home. Guess it fried his brain a little." Portia raised an eyebrow and looked at Zachary. "That must be it."

Seeing her side with him made Zachary grin, but the smile tugged at his injured face, sending a sharp jolt of pain through him.noveldrama

...

Meanwhile, Steven sat alone in his car. The phone call with Jessica was finally over. After reassuring her, his mind was somewhat calmer.

Steven had already lost his wife and child because of Jessica. If he lost her, too, he would be left with nothing.

The streetlights were out, and the world around him was blanketed in darkness. There was not a soul in sight.

The loneliness felt almost suffocating. He turned his gaze toward the balcony where Annalise and Zane sat side by side. Their laughter and the warmth in their expressions made it clear-that they were happy and content in each other's company. Steven's heart tightened painfully. It should have been him and Annalise sharing that connection. He had always thought he was a strong man who didn't have any weakness, but tears began to blur his vision.

Why was it always like this? Why did he never appreciate the good things when they were right in front of him?

Steven watched as Annalise and Zane conversed, though he couldn't hear their words. Annalise then stood up and extended her hand toward Zane. He took her hand, and together, they turned and left the balcony. Steven remembered that when Annalise had just married him, she used to do the same thing. She always sought affection from him. But each time, he rejected her as his heart was preoccupied with Jessica. Over time, Annalise had learned to keep her distance, and their once warm home had become a place of cold silence. They coexisted but were strangers to each other.

Steven couldn't understand. Both he and Zane had their hearts set on someone else, yet Zane had managed to build a life with Annalise. Why hadn't he been able to do the same?

...

The next morning, Paula's company finalized the book cover and sent it to Jessica.

After dropping her son off, Jessica logged into her account and saw the message from Paula. She immediately understood her intention and was about to upload the comic to the homepage.

Suddenly, an idea struck Jessica.

Instead of just posting the cover, she decided to create a promotional video using the one Paula had designed. At the same time, she called the person in charge of marketing her comics.

"Hello?"

"How may I help you?"

Jessica said solemnly, "I'm going to publish my new comic."

The other party was clearly surprised. "You two reached an agreement?"

Jessica replied truthfully, "Yeah. She's planning to feature my book on my homepage first to test the sales, then decide how many copies to print. So, I'm hoping you can help with the marketing. If the numbers look good, they'll probably print more copies."

Jessica was aiming to do better than Annalise.

"No problem."

Jessica knew full well that getting help from others came with a price. "Should I transfer another million dollars to you this time?" "Sure."

When she went to the bank last time, Jessica found the transfer process a bit tedious, so she went ahead and set up a small company. Transferring money through the company was much more

convenient.

After the money was transferred, she received a confirmation that the marketing campaign would begin. With that, Jessica uploaded the book cover to her homepage and posted a video to promote it.