Never Too Far Novel

It was at this exact moment Elliot’s phone started ringing. At that, he swiftly turned to Anastasia and said, “Go ahead and sleep.”

Not wanting to bother him when he was on the phone, she went out of the room. She was already behind the door when she vaguely heard the man bark in a grave, furious tone, “Is this how you do your job?!”

Still in the presence of the gentle Elliot just seconds ago, Anastasia could feel her heart skip a beat at that.

It only got harder for her to fall asleep after she went back to her room. She couldn’t help but wonder what new troubles he was facing this time.

…

Christmas Eve had come at last.

Anastasia promised her father that she would bring Jared home only for dinner, not for lunch.

After the boy had woken up from his sleep, Anastasia first made breakfast for him before she prepared lunch for Elliot, who she thought would only wake up at noon.

It was already 11.30 AM in the blink of an eye.

Anastasia got to the door of the master bedroom with light steps to see if the man was still sleeping. As she stood there, she gently twisted the doorknob before walking in as quietly as she could.

Just like she had expected, he was still sound asleep in the king-sized bed covered in gray sheets. She was suddenly tempted to take a closer look at the man who rarely stayed in bed late.

With that in mind, she trod wearily to the side of the bed like a kitten before she lightly propped her arms on the bed and leaned over to look at the man. She first noticed how his thick eyelashes had cast graceful fan-like shadows under his eyes.

She couldn’t help but acknowledge that there were men out there that didn’t even need to lift a finger, and could make people have bad intentions with just their sleeping faces alone.

Anastasia had to swallow the drool that was threatening to spill as she looked at the man’s sexy collarbones peeking out from the collar of his pajamas. Not only that, she could see the outline of his ripped muscles even though his slender, but sturdy body was hidden from plain sight by his pajamas.

Thank you for creating this masterpiece of yours, God!

Her head was filled with nonsensical thoughts when Elliot’s eyelids suddenly shot open, and he stared straight into her eyes. She was so startled that her arms went soft and her whole body fell flat on his chest.

Anastasia started scampering to get up, but with a tug of his long arms wrapped around her waist, she had been moved onto the bed like a ragdoll.

I only wanted to admire your looks for a bit! Even though she was thinking that, she started coaxing him, “I won’t disturb you. Go ahead and sleep a little longer.”

Without saying a word, he buried his face in the crook of her neck and planted a kiss there.

A tingle darted through her body but when she regained the strength in her limbs, she pushed him. “I was wrong! I shouldn’t have disturbed your sleep… Please, spare me!”

Despite her resistance, Elliot still proceeded to drag her under the blanket warm with his body heat. She felt as much comfort as she felt the danger of it.

This was what people meant when they said that men who had just woken up in the morning were dangerous.

Elliot was like a naughty child still foggy from sleep when he caught her in his arms, and he kissed her anywhere and everywhere he could.

“Elliot…” Anastasia whispered. She could feel how hot the man’s body was against her as she pushed him away.

After a long time of not saying a word, he finally protested in a low voice, “It’s just a quick hug.”

Hearing that, she couldn’t help but grumble to herself, Quick hug, my foot!

“You will be mine eventually anyway,” he hummed as he pressed his lips to the crown of her head.

He wanted to own her before she was officially his woman.

However, Anastasia somehow managed to find a chance to get out of bed. Now that she was looking at the man who had sat up in bed, a lazy and seductive air surrounded him, and she thought it didn’t seem like it would be a loss on her part if she were to jump him now.

She quickly said, “Uh… I made lunch. How about you get up and eat something?”

Rather than answering her, Elliot asked, “When are you and Jared going home?”

“We are going in the afternoon.”

The man lightly stretched before he flipped open the blanket, and that was when Anastasia saw the sight that made her immediately turn around in embarrassment. Does he really see me as his wife or something already?! she gulped.

Seeing that, Elliot began teasing her in a thuggish way, “Why did you turn around? This thing here belongs to you.”

Anastasia fled out the door the next second as she couldn’t bear listening to him any longer.

As she ran out, she could hear his bright laughter echoing in the room.

He sounded like a hooligan then.

After she was done preparing his lunch, the man, dressed in a luxurious outfit, came sauntering down from the second floor like a noble king.

He then asked, “Where is Jared?”

“In the playroom on the third floor,” Anastasia answered as she brought out the food she whipped up.

Elliot suddenly looked at her and said, “Give your dad a call later and ask him if he would be okay with adding one more place on the dining table tonight.”

Upon hearing that, Anastasia narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. “You want to have dinner at my house?”

“I will go to your house for Christmas Eve, and you can come to my house on Christmas. Sounds good?” He was determined to go to her house tonight for the eve celebration.

She didn’t oppose his idea, so she swiftly nodded and said, “Sure. I will inform my dad in a while.”

As Francis had a busy job, he was still working overtime at his company on Christmas Eve.

Today, however, he was sitting here dealing with some personal affairs rather than the usual work matters. He was writing a will. Even though he wouldn’t need it for the time being, he wanted to prepare himself in order to get certain things done, as he had had multiple health issues as of late.

Alex happened to be at the office to sign a document when he found out that Francis was still there as well. He then dropped by to greet his employer.

As the younger man opened the door, he saw Francis looking at some document and quickly covering it with another document when he saw Alex walk in.

“Oh—there you are, Alex!” Francis greeted him.

“It is Christmas Eve, President Tillman, and yet you are still working overtime.” Alex then caringly added, “Please be mindful of your health.”

“I understand. You can go ahead and leave! Come back to work after Christmas.”

Alex was an unusually sensitive person, and he had already noticed Francis’ frantic behavior just now. But before he could say anything about it, Francis’ landline began to ring.

“Hello? Okay. I will be down in a minute.” Francis stood up after finishing the call. “I will make a trip to the warehouse. You can go home now!”

“I’ll go with you, president,” Alex offered, only to be rejected right off the bat.

“There’s no need for that. I am only going to check a few samples of the materials.” Francis waited for Alex to leave his office with him, and he closed the door behind them.

Alex then pretended as if he was walking toward the finance department. When he saw from the corner of his eye that Francis had entered the elevator, he turned around to see if he was alone before he prowled his way back to Francis’ office.

Francis was not one to lock his office door during the day, which made it easy for Alex to enter. When the latter reached the desk, he saw the hidden document that looked a lot like a will. Instead of spending his time going through it word by word, he took out his phone to take a photo of it instead.

After he had finished taking photos of all three sheets of paper, he put the documents back to their original place and scurried away.

It was only after he returned to his car that he could be at ease to check the photos he took.

A cold smile appeared on the corners of his mouth when he finished reading the contents of the will. Sure enough, Naomi had been spot-on with her worries. It seemed that Francis had no intention to hand over the company to the mother-and-daughter duo—Anastasia was the only heiress of the company. Francis might have had it in his will to distribute the other assets to Naomi and her daughter, but none of those could compare to the company which had a net worth of more than one billion.

Alex was suddenly reminded of the trust the mother-and-daughter duo had in him. It seemed like he would have his share of Tillman Constructions as long as he could make Erica fall for him.

At the same time, Francis was chatting with the employees in the warehouse when his phone rang. He took a glance at it before he reached out to pick it up. “Hello, Anastasia! Are you home yet?”

“I haven’t started my journey yet, Dad. I called you to inform you that Elliot will be coming over tonight for dinner.”

“What?!” Francis’ mood instantly lifted when he heard his daughter’s words. It was his honor to have a guest such as Elliot. ”That’s great! I will tell Naomi to prepare a feast to properly welcome the Young Master!”

After Francis cut the call with Anastasia, he immediately called his wife to inform her that Elliot was coming to their house for dinner. Naomi, of course, was taken aback as well.

“What? Young Master Elliot is coming to our house for dinner? We have to prepare more food, then!”

“Prepare as much good food as you can. We can’t afford to disrespect him,” Francis requested.

As soon as the call ended, Naomi quickly instructed the servants to go to the supermarket again. Naomi had initially prepared some dishes that Anastasia didn’t like after she knew that Anastasia was coming home. However, now that Elliot was coming over, she would not dare to offend the Young Master no matter how much she loathed Anastasia.

What was more, it was a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to meet a man whose net worth was hundreds of billions. She still had some other plan up her sleeves.

Naomi then quickly called Erica, who had gone shopping in the early morning. Erica was so excited after she picked up the call and learned that Elliot was coming over that she almost passed out.

“Mom, is it true? Is Elliot really coming to our home?” she squealed.

“That is what your Dad told me. It must be true, then.”

“Mom, I can’t talk now,” Erica suddenly said. “I have to buy some clothes.” After she hung up the call, she dragged her friend along to ransack the boutique they were in for clothes.

She was determined to dress her best for Elliot tonight.

Even if all Elliot did was take a look at her a second longer, it would keep her happy for a very long time.

Elliot received a call from Harriet, in which she told him that she was at Brenda’s before she asked him if he would come over. Needless to say, she was caught by surprise when he told her that he was going to have dinner with Anastasia’s family.

Oh, how she hoped that Elliot would quickly make Anastasia his wife!

Around 3 PM, Anastasia dressed up her son like a fashionable and handsome child model.

gray casual suit, with a dark-colored shirt layered with a vest. He looked just like an awe-inspiring young

her head to look at him. He probably would look good in a

of his cars that had a

a family of three on their way

The whole place had been cleaned thoroughly by the servants who had a feeling that

trying on one outfit after another. She wanted to pick the one

peeked from the second floor, she saw an impressive-looking sedan driving

Elliot was finally here.

a brilliant man that she couldn’t help but hope

how much

managed to tie a man like Elliot

that, they even brought along that b*stard child

“Welcome, Young Master Elliot!”

Elliot greeted

young boy he was holding,

“Young Master Elliot, we are glad

nodded and

as well. She didn’t want to embarrass

Young Master Elliot while he

down from the stairs on the second floor, she looked at Elliot, who was walking in, and greeted him excitedly, “Young Master Elliot, you are

in acknowledgement. Anastasia then invited him to sit on the sofa, while she

at home. He insisted on bringing Jared with him

felt slightly resigned at her father

was getting annoyed looking at her husband but she, too, could only watch on as her husband pampered

secretly thought how nice it would be if her own daughter would hurry up and give

that, and she immediately understood what her mother was signaling her to do. Out of nowhere, she had a

Erica, who usually called her sister by her full name, suddenly offered to help. Erica didn’t

to leave a good impression on

obediently gave the teapot to Erica, she sat beside him before she grabbed a handful of cherries and passed them to him.

looked at

a man look so graceful in everything he

palm, so she went and grabbed another fistful for them to share. Erica was

die from jealousy right there and

would only show this friendly side of his when he

women, he would have immediately put an

cherries! They are great, aren’t they, Anastasia?” Erica asked abruptly.

eating the cherries after that. Instead, she started peeling two oranges, and Elliot only

had been in her hands

of tea. As soon as the cup was in his hand, he took a small sip of it before

more oranges,” he

as she was

at first, but she soon began to enjoy the sweetness erupting across her taste buds. Erica could only continue to

good?” he asked in a serious voice,

hummed

it to her mouth again. With that, her mouth was full with that

watched the couple. Despite how much effort she

stood up as she mumbled, “Uh… I will go to the kitchen for

to Erica in reply. Anastasia only proceeded to shove a whole

bit the orange

a tomato at that. She could never win every time she tried to tease

orange he fed

in my mouth taste good?” he leaned in

stood beside her mother,

had returned with Jared. Not only did the young boy have milk with him, he was

Anastasia saw it, she sternly asked, “Jared, did you pester

up. “Grandpa

added to back his grandson up. “I bought it for Jared. He didn’t pester me or anything. It

a second ago, but now, his back was as straight

and he warmly said to the younger man, “Have some tea, Young Master

Tillman, you can just call me by my name,”

Truth was, he had already thought of Elliot as his

then that Francis was surprised by the resemblance between Elliot

never had the courage to do so either. He

a feast. For someone as greedy for wealth and power as Naomi was,

shrimp,” Jared said

before she peeled some shrimps for her son. As she continued to get rid of the shell, Elliot suddenly brought his bowl over for Anastasia to place a peeled shrimp

to peel a few more for him. Naomi started to feel anxious as she looked at Anastasia seemingly assuming the role of Elliot’s wife. Anastasia has got a complete hold on Elliot, she thought. This can be

much as Erica was attracted to Elliot’s gentle and handsome appearance, she loathed Anastasia for her

time they finished dinner, which also meant that it was time for Elliot to take Anastasia and

to drive slowly. Erica and Naomi had

the mother

left, Erica finally exploded in irritation. “Mom! Just look at how smug Anastasia was. She

“She is trying to make us think that she isn’t

teeth as she growled, “Mom,

the call. “Hey, Alex. Where have you been these 2 days? Why didn’t you answer

am sorry, Erica. I’ve been busy dealing with the company’s inventory. I didn’t mean to not reply. I called you to tell

it?” she

will send it to you now, and you can have it sent to your mom.

heard that, Erica immediately urged him to send the photo over. She

will send it over now.” Alex then hung

dragged her mother back to the living room and said, “Mom, Alex secretly took photos of Dad’s

time they were done, their faces

didn’t leave even a small

Francis!” Naomi hissed under her

Dad has no

empty-handed. It seems like your Dad has never thought of people important to him, huh?” She scoffed. “I finally see his true colors.” All those years Naomi had been

going to do,

a will. We can

first place. It would be a forever thorn in her heart

that she could never tell anyone, and it was exactly because of how dangerous the secret was that

the bustling night view of the city outside the car window, whereas little Jared was quietly playing his Rubik’s Cube under the dim lights in the car. Wealth and power were the least of her priority—all she

drove straight into the compound of the villa when they reached home. As soon as they arrived at the parking lot, Anastasia

huge glass case decorated with balloons and flowers, and in it was a white sports

The young boy beside her

had come to a stop beside the truck then. After he got out of the driver’s seat, he went and opened the door Anastasia was at. “Come on,” he

she asked, “Is this a gift from

gazed at her with

went red in the face. She couldn’t even begin to describe her joy. She had to admit that the man

will gladly accept it, then.” She had stopped rejecting him out of courtesy because at some point, Anastasia

a present from him without feeling like she needed

is so kind to you!” Jared also said something nice on Elliot’s behalf in hopes that she would be so touched she

after standing in front of the glass case to admire the new sports car, she got her phone and took a photo

will accompany you to test out the car

was exactly the way she liked it, in

was safe to say that she

angered when she questioned him, “Did you go to Riley behind my back? Are you not afraid that Elliot will

heard her accusatory tone. “Miss Dora, I suggest you finish your father’s plan as soon as

say?” she

of this as long as you don’t get done with it. We are all

Riley raised her for the sole purpose of carrying out his plan. Their ‘father-daughter relationship’ wouldn’t mean

already planning it out. I

Lucas’ villa. She asked her subordinate who was sitting beside her, “How

preparations. All we are doing now is wait for an opportunity to kidnap

she instructed with just

child was easier to kidnap. Plus, Aliona detested Anastasia. She knew that kidnapping Anastasia’s son would tear the woman apart, and if Elliot loved her, he would

plan this time involved a lot of risky operations, but she had to do it to get

a call from the

of your father’s, Lucas Dora, has come to visit Riley Presgrave

showed a slight surprise after he heard the officer’s words. Lucas and Riley grew up together, but Lucas cut off contact with him at a later time.

Elliot asked,

only greeted each other without saying

you.” Elliot hung up the phone. He began to recall what happened at the last charity auction held by Lucas. He kept thinking about which drink it was that must have been laced with drugs.

glass of alcohol was the true source of the

why Lucas would help his daughter do such a shameless thing. Lucas used to be a top dog in the business world, until the moment his

wouldn’t involve him in his

an old friend when he went to Riley, or did he have some other ideas

immediately gave Rey a call. “Investigate Lucas’ son who is abroad for me and also, find out the

Presgrave,” Rey

had an illegitimate daughter after all these years of keeping a low

the years when his father was still alive, and would respectfully call Lucas his senior. Other

of the sports

had fallen into a deep sleep after he had a little bit to drink. On the other hand,

her eyes had long taken over her feelings for her

…

started to come out to play

couldn’t bore him at home all day. It was necessary to

can’t keep you company today. I

a light-hearted chuckle, “Don’t worry about it. You have spent a

get in your way.” He was still worried about them going

She gave a nod of acceptance. “We’ll

son set off at about 9.00AM with four bodyguards in tow, whereas Elliot

a week. Anastasia held Jared by his hand as they walked in. There were a lot of people, and most of the visitors were children. The

there!” The boy swiftly pointed to the direction of

her son. The bodyguards behind them made sure to blend in within the crowd, their eyes intently watching the

had trained overseas. With their ruthlessness and professionalism, they were almost as skilled as trained

more than a dozen of them, both female and male, who were mingling

all around them. The place was crowded with children and parents. She could easily lose her child

looked like a normal parent suddenly appeared and bumped into David. Just as David was about to