Chapter 1946

“Nicole, let me tell you this. Regardless of whether you’ve lost your memory or not, you’ll be mine for the rest of your life. You belong to Jared Johnston! If you even dare to think about another man, your lips won’t be the next thing to hurt.”

As soon as he had spoken, he studied Nicole from top to toe.

Niki began sweating profusely at once. She could not help but feel that Jared had gained a complete understanding of her body.

“You rascal!”

That feeling of being sized up made Nicole feel insulted. Having lost her appetite, she got up and was about to leave when Jared grabbed her hand, pulling her back and pinning her to her seat.

“If you do not want me to do it again, you better sit down and finish your meal!” he roared.

“You-” she stopped, thinking he was unbelievable.

Niki looked at Jared sadly. Although she knew some self-defense techniques, the injury she had sustained from that plane crash was a major one. Her body was heavily wounded, and because of that, she could not fight him head on.

Gritting her teeth, Niki continued eating.

However, she was still dismayed as she muttered, “My name is not Nicole. I’m Niki.”

Seeing that Nicole had sat back down to resume eating, Jared returned to his seat once again.

Then, he passed the document, which he had prepared earlier, to Nicole.

“The current you, who has lost her memory, does not get to decide what your name is. Only the old you gets to do that. Here is some information about you before you lost all of your memories. It includes your family, friends and other information. I’ve written everything in there. If you’d like to know more, you can take a look,” he explained.

Niki glanced at him with doubt and suspicion in her eyes.

Deep down, she was dead curious about it. However, she did not want to read it in front of him.

“Leave it there. I’ll read it when I’m free,” she said.

Noticing how stubborn she was, Jared remained silent. He knew her well enough to know that she would definitely read it.

Jared was trying his best to suppress his desire to force Nicole to regain her memories in a short span of time. But as long as she read the information given to her, her attitude toward him would change. If the document could help Nicole regain her old memories, even if just a tiny fraction of it, Jared would be happy.

Under Jared’s pressure, Niki finally finished her meal.

Then, she quickly left. Before she walked off, she realized she had forgotten about her documents, so she quickly spun around to grab the documents, glaring at him while she was doing so.

Jared remained silent nonetheless. He would just wait for her to peruse the materials, confident that Nicole would look for him on her own accord.

Suppressing her heartbeat, Niki ran upstairs. Once she had entered the room, she leaned against the door and panted.

‘Since when did this dude become so imposing?’ she thought.

“Mom, what happened?”

When Nolan noticed how odd Niki was acting, he could not help but frown and ask, “Did that bad guy bully you again?”

Niki immediately collected herself. “No…”

Yet, her head was still focused on that kiss, and in an unconscious move, she licked her lips.

However, it was then that Nolan noticed that Niki’s lips were gashed. “Mommy, what happened to your lips?”

Worried that her own son would see it, Niki quickly looked away. “Nothing, I accidentally bit it while eating. Don’t worry about me. Have you had your meal already?”

When they were abroad, Niki used to accompany her own child during meals. As such, she was not sure if Nolan was used to eating alone yet.

It was only then that Nolan calmed down. “I’ve finished eating already. The dishes were quite palatable.”

Niki raised her brows. “My little one. Aren’t you a picky eater, usually? You were never fine with Ramania’s best restaurants, but today, you actually said the food here is palatable?”

Niki had never heard him uttering those words before.

Nolan scratched his head awkwardly, “I’m not sure why but it was just palatable…Perhaps, it’s western cuisine?”

Western food was commonly found abroad, but Ramania had never offered authentic ones.

“There was a dish called Garlic Butter Fish. It’s delicious,” he said, remembering the name of the dish.

Niki raised her brows again, noting that this little kid of her really loved to eat. Otherwise, he would not remember the name of the dish.

However, she could still not brain how Jared knew her and her son’s preferences.

Chapter 1947

After thinking about it for a second, Niki could not help but stare at the folder.

Meanwhile, Nolan had also noticed the document she had brought in. “Mommy, what is this?”

Niki took a deep breath and patiently went on to explain what it was to her son.

“That devil knows that I’ve lost my memory. So, he passed me some information about the old me. I guess he’s trying to make me recall my debt from the past,” she said.

Niki’s sixth sense informed her that there must be some unpleasant news contained within the document.

The instant Nolan heard Niki’s reply, he snatched the document away at once, “If that’s the case, let’s not look at it! Godpa has said this before, that he does not want you to regain your memory. Living a carefree life like the one we have now is the best!”

This stunned Niki, who was not expecting Nolan to mention what Leo had said before. For the past five years, Niki had thought of regaining her memories. She had even tried to look for any information about herself on the internet.

But every time Leo found out about it, he would tell Niki that her past consisted of a lot of unhappy memories. This made her consider if she should just leave the people and incidents in the past.

So, from that point onwards, Niki had not attempted to rediscover who she was, not even after she had a peaceful childbirth. This was because Niki did not want her own child and her peaceful life to be disrupted.

But this time around, she felt a strong sense of familiarity the moment she returned, and just like that, the urge to regain her memories was revived.

At that thought, Niki slowly replied, “Nolan, your Godpa was just concerned about me. However, I have the right to know my past, don’t I? That way, I’ll know what kind of rivalry I had with that devil. I’ll also know how to pay him back, so that the both of us can leave this place. What do you think?”

Niki was genuinely concerned about this.

In spite of that, Nolan pouted. “Don’t worry! Just ignore that demon. After all, Godpa will come and rescue us. We won’t be here for long, so there’s no need for us to know these things.”

Grandpa used to tell Nolan a lot of things. ‘To take good care of Mommy, you must always make her happy!’ ‘You must not let Mommy regain her memories!’

That was Nolan’s agreement with his godfather, one he would not dare to breach.

With that in mind, Nolan immediately threw the document out of the window.

“Hey! Nolan!” Niki instinctively tried to grab the document, but alas, she was too slow.

All she saw was the document flying off the window and plummeting into the swimming pool.

“Oh no!” Niki yelled, having not seen any of it yet.

If she knew this would happen, she would have read it earlier. That was free information from her captor, and as such, it must have been very detailed.

“You little brat!” Niki grabbed onto Nolan and was about to hit him.

However, before she could do so, Nolan had run off. “It’s all for your own good!”

Niki was left feeling annoyed. All she could do was watch as her own son ran back to bed and hid under the sheets.

She stood at the balcony, looking at the papers in the pool, and heaved a sigh of defeat.

In the middle of the night, the butler knocked on the door of the study room, whereupon Jared coldly allowed him in.

The butler brought a stack of wet documents in. Although he had dried them halfway, it was obvious that the documents had once been soaked in water. The words on it were already fading.

“Sir, this was found at the swimming pool. Judging by the location, it seems that Miss Niki had thrown it into the pool.”

Jared frowned. “She…threw the document?”

He had not gone to sleep at that hour because he was waiting for Nicole to come over and talk to him.

Unexpectedly, the answer he had been waiting for had returned with a document tossed into the pool.

If she had read it, she would know that Jared had personally organized the document himself. It included everything from her family to every memory she had shared with him.

‘Is she really that reluctant to remember her past? Or is it possible…that she already has another man in her life?’

Chapter 1948

At that thought, Jared began fuming as he was on the verge of erupting out of jealousy.

He immediately called Max on the phone, “I want you to glean every single detail about Nicole over the past five years. Also, pay close attention to signs of other guys by her side.”

Max immediately understood what Jared meant, and so, he solemnly replied, “I will definitely find out!”

It was only then that Jared ended the call.

Then, he looked up at the butler and heaved a long sigh. “Throw it away.”

The butler looked at Jared in distress. Ever since Nicole had gone missing, Jared had been suffering from insomnia. He thought that he could finally get some good sleep, now that Nicole had returned. But that night would most probably be another sleepless one as well.

“Sir, get some rest,” the butler said, took those papers with him, and left.

Jared was left alone in the room as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to relieve his headache.

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. Niki had been eating and drinking during those two days at the villa. She had even received news from Ian that he had just returned to Ramania and would soon find a way to save her.

But within the two-day period, the demon, Jared, had not come to find her. This made her wonder why.

‘I’m not sure if he’s doing so to continue holding me hostage. Or is he actually waiting for me to be mentally ready and then make me…pay the debt with my body? No! I won’t let him. He can keep dreaming!’ she thought.

Lying on the bed, Niki could not help but mutter, “I really regret this. If I had read that document, I might be able to regain some of my memories.”

For the past two days, she had been attempting to search on the internet for any information about herself. But for some reason, she could not find anything in relation to the name, ‘Nicole Riddle’.

It was as if someone had deliberately hidden that name…

Since she could not find out about anything, Niki could only play with the computer out of boredom.

On the other hand, Nolan had been using the other laptop to accept more tasks in an effort to level up on The Hunter.

As for Niki, she could only use the previous system provided to her by Leo. She had heard that there was a useful electronic badge there. The only problem was that someone had locked the system.

Initially, Leo had hired people to crack the system. However, no one was able to successfully crack it. Therefore, Niki was the only one left who could give it a shot, and she knew full well how important that thing was to Leo.

As to why she wished to do so, Niki had always wanted to repay Leo for the care she had been receiving from him over the years. That was why she had accepted the task. As long as she managed to crack it, she would be able to fulfill her obligations to him.

As she thought about it, Niki continued to work on cracking the system. Before long, she decided to take a break, during which she stood at the balcony with a cup of coffee in hand.

She had to admit that the demon, Jared’s, coffee was delicious. It was just the way she liked it.

All of a sudden, Niki’s gaze landed on a big house outside of the manor, the sight of which left her hypnotized.

‘This should be that house which looked familiar from the entrance, right? Why does it seem even more familiar from the back? It’s as if I’ve lived there before. T-that’s impossible!’

Niki was left in a state of shock at her own thoughts. Unable to resist, she took a closer look at the backyard of that house.

Previously, it seemed as though there was a lady sitting in a daze at the garden with a grandma beside her. The two of them seemed to be accompanying each other in silence.

Chapter 1949

Niki was unable to determine why a cloud of sadness was hovering over her as she watched those ladies.

Then, her nose began to itch. ‘What is going on? Do I… know those two ladies?’

“Mommy, why are you crying?” Nolan asked, his voice blaring out beside her.

It was only then that Niki realized that tears were streaming down her cheeks. “Don’t worry. I think the sun is too bright for my eyes.”

After she had spoken, Niki quickly carried her cup of coffee into the room.

When Nolan noticed her mom crying, he quickly comforted, “Mommy, are you afraid? Don’t be afraid. That big bad wolf would not do anything to us.”

Niki turned around and looked at his son in relief. Fortunately, Nolan was there with her, ensuring that she would not be lonely.

“Mommy is not afraid. I have you with me. What should I be scared of?” she answered, deriving her strength from both of her children.

But the thought of Lana being left at home made Niki worried.

Although her daughter was quite clingy, she had stayed at Leo’s house for two or three days with no issues before. However, it would take longer for her to return this time. As such, she was unsure of how the little girl was doing.

She did not dare to give Lana a video call, either. She was worried that she might make Lana cry.

What stuck out to her was that Leo knew about her situation, and yet, he had not bothered to call her. Perhaps Leo knew who Jared was just trying to be careful. Additionally, Niki could not afford to expose his identity as well.

“That’s great, then. Don’t worry Mommy. I’ll make sure to bring you out of here.” Nolan looked at Niki with a wicked smile on his face..

Niki raised her eyebrows, sensing that something was off. “What did you do again?”

In response, Nolan said, “I’ve hacked into the security camera system, and studied every corner of the house.

“We’ll wait till night-time…and escape then,” he finished with a whisper.

Niki could not help but frown. “You naughty boy. Don’t you think we’re already in a precarious state? Do you think that kingpin will let us off the hook so easily?”

There was little point in escaping unless they could immediately get on their private jet as soon as they stepped out anyway. Even then, the man could instruct an airline to turn the flight around if he had the power and influence to do so.

“As long as Godpa is here, he has to let us go!” Nolan proudly said. “I’ve done my research. Although this guy is very powerful, Godpa is now the most powerful person in Mecrounia. All we have to do is to prepare ourselves. After we’ve escaped, Godpa will be there to fetch us. What can this big bad wolf do?”

Niki remained silent. ‘What Nolan said does make sense.’

However, she felt guilty as soon as she thought about how Leo would have to trouble himself just to rescue the both of them.

“Don’t make a move yet. We’ll wait for your Godpa to call and decide on this. If possible, try to prevent him from getting into a direct confrontation with that demon. Your Godpa has done a lot for us, I don’t want to owe him anything else.” Niki sighed, feeling extremely conflicted.

Suddenly, Nolan smiled. “If you really do not want to owe Godpa anything, you can just accept him and become his girlfriend.”

Noticing how Nolan was smiling, Niki rolled her eyes. “You don’t understand anything!”

Indeed, how could they date each other without having any feelings for each other in the first place? Although Niki was very grateful to Leo, there would always be a barrier between the both of them. Consciously, she had always distanced herself from him, and she was not sure as to why that had happened.

“Godpa is a nice person. He’s nice to me and Lana, so I’m not sure what you are hesitant about,” Nolan added.

Ever since Nolan was old enough to remember things, he had been enamored of his Godpa, and whenever he went to kindergarten, he would ask his Godpa to act as his real father. He always felt that it would be great if his Godpa could actually be his father. Therefore, he had always taken every opportunity to bring his mom and his Godpa together. Still, he was not sure why his mom would never develop feelings for his Godpa.

“Did you just state what I am hesitant about?” she replied. “Yeah, your Godpa has all the good traits. So, why would he marry a person like me with two extra burdens? With his qualities, he can easily find an even better person.”

On top of that, Niki was not sure who her kid belonged to. Because of that, it would be too unfair for Leo.

Chapter 1950

“We are not burdens!” Nolan yelled, unhappy that he was labeled as a burden. “Godpa loves me and Lana a lot! The two of us are your best allies! If we didn’t work together, Godpa would have been seduced by that red shirt lady already!”

Niki felt dizzy as Nolan bombarded her with all of that information.

“Alright, stop talking nonsense now. What do you mean allies or seduce? Nolan, you better stop watching the eight o’clock shows!”

As it turned out, the boy had already learned all of those negative influences.

“I am not talking nonsense! Godpa likes you so much! Why did you have to reject him!” Nolan got angrier as he spoke, wanting to understand what Niki’s thoughts were.

It was then that they heard a loud bang, and the room door swung open. Standing at the doorway was a slender and tall figure with a cold presence.

Then, the man tucked one of his hands in his pocket and walked in sternly. “Let me tell you why.”

Once the guy had spoken, he immediately went up to Niki, hugged her tight in his arms, looked down, and kissed her.

Niki did not have the time to react, though she attempted to push him by the chest once she had returned to her senses. Unfortunately for her, he grabbed her arms before she could, giving her the impression that he had already predicted her every move. With his other hand, he clasped the back of her head, restraining her range of movements

With a man who she had barely known going all out on her lips, Niki’s eyes widened, and she began struggling with all her might. But for some reason, an image then flitted across her blank mind. It seemed to be a scene in which she was kissing the man as well.

‘H-how is that possible? I’ve kissed this guy before?’

That shocking memory made Niki freeze. She widened her eyes even more and carefully looked at the handsome face up close, as the flash of memories became ever more vivid in her head.

“Let go of my mom!” The kid suddenly yelled.

This snapped Niki out of her trance, whereupon she saw Nolan rushing over to hit Jared.

In response, Jared released Niki temporarily. Then, he picked Nolan up!

“You naughty boy! I think you’re looking to get a beating,” he said.

Right away, he subdued Nolan and spanked him in the butt multiple times.

Niki was stunned for a moment before she came to the realization that her son was being beaten. She was not sure if she was losing her sanity. In fact, she actually felt that the scene she was witnessing was akin to a father teaching his son a lesson.

Furthermore, she had also noticed that Nolan’s brows were somewhat similar to Jared’s!

“No! I must be losing my mind!”

With a loud cry, Niki immediately snatched Nolan back. “If you hold any grudges with me, you deal with me! Don’t hit my kid!

Seeing the way Niki hugged Nolan in her arms, Jared calmed down a little.

“Deal with you? Then tell me, how did you teach your son? So much so that he actually pushed his own mother to abandon his father, just so that he could get her together with his Godpa!” Jared almost laughed out of anger.

The day before, Jared had already received the paternity test result. He was actually trying to process the happy news without scaring them. However, when he arrived at the door, he did not expect to hear that brat urging Nicole to get together with that man!

“What father and Godpa? What are you talking about?”

Niki was just about to offer a rebuttal to him when she realized that there was another implication in his words.

“See it for yourself.”

Initially, Jared had wanted to explain the situation to her in a gentler manner. But at that moment, he did not have any patience left in. He instantly produced the result slip that was nicely folded from his pocket and threw it onto the bed.

“What is this?” Nicole’s heart began racing.

However, she was worried that she would miss out on the chance to read it again like the last time. So, she quickly picked it up and read it.

The moment she opened it, the expression on her face froze.

“Mommy, what is this?” Nolan hurried over, able to tell that there was something unusual about his mother’s expression.