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.

dark-colored shirt layered with a vest. He looked

after she raised her head to look at him. He probably would look good in

the underground parking lot together. He chose one of his cars that had a child safety seat installed

like a family of three

been cleaned thoroughly by the servants who had a

in her room upstairs the whole time fixing her makeup in the mirror and trying on one outfit after another. She wanted to pick the

finally heard the sound of a car engine coming from outside. As she peeked from the second floor, she

Elliot was finally here.

Elliot at her husband’s company’s annual celebration before. He was such a brilliant man that she couldn’t help but

went out with her husband to welcome their guests, only to see how much they looked like a family when

could never understand how Anastasia managed

they even brought

“Welcome, Young Master Elliot!”

Elliot greeted

holding, too, cheerfully called out,

had a fake smile plastered on her face as she stood beside Francis. “Young Master Elliot, we are glad that you have decided to pay us a visit.

then nodded

Anastasia greeted her as well. She didn’t want to embarrass

you take good care of Young Master Elliot while he is here,” Francis turned to Anastasia

on the second floor, she looked

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

didn’t have milk at home. He insisted on bringing Jared with him to buy

slightly resigned at her father doting on

too, could

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 burst of courage

name, suddenly offered to help. Erica didn’t dare show disrespect toward Anastasia

a good impression on

him before she grabbed a handful of cherries and passed them to him.

into his mouth. She, too, ate one as she looked at him. It was somewhat unbelievable

graceful in everything he

wasn’t a cherry left in her palm, so she went and grabbed another fistful for them to share. Erica was sitting across them making tea as she

jealousy right there

this friendly side of his when he was

were any other women, he would have immediately put an unapproachable front

great, aren’t they, Anastasia?” Erica asked abruptly. She wanted to remind them that she

“It’s alright.” She stopped eating the cherries after that. Instead, she started peeling two oranges, and Elliot

had

tea. As soon as the cup was in

more

two more and began peeling one of them for him. Just as she was in the middle of it, the man suddenly

erupting across her taste buds. Erica could only continue to watch their lovey-dovey

he asked in

hummed in reply. “It’s

to her mouth again. With

couple. Despite how much effort she put into dolling herself up,

staying with them, she quickly stood up as she mumbled, “Uh… I will go to the kitchen

in reply. Anastasia only proceeded to shove a whole orange

that she did it intentionally, he bit the orange

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

the orange he fed her tasted extraordinarily

mouth taste good?” he leaned in next

beside her mother, her lips pouting. Naomi could only look at her

take long before Francis had returned with Jared. Not only did the young boy have milk with him, he was also carrying an

she sternly asked, “Jared, did you pester your Grandpa into buying you a

cheeks puffed up. “Grandpa wanted to

grandson up. “I bought it for Jared. He didn’t pester me or anything. It is only normal to buy

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

Elliot’s cup, and he warmly said to the younger man, “Have

you can just call me by my name,” Elliot replied with a

Elliot it is!” Francis called out rather naturally. Truth was,

beside her for some fruit. It was then that Francis was

asked Anastasia about the identity of her son’s real father. He never had the courage to do so either. He had always regretted the five years she went

feast. For someone as greedy for wealth and power as Naomi was, there was no way she would dare to underserve a man

want some shrimp,” Jared said as he pointed to a

the shell, Elliot suddenly brought his bowl over for Anastasia

seemingly assuming the role of Elliot’s

handsome appearance, she loathed Anastasia for her deliberate

past 8.00PM by the time they finished dinner, which also meant that

the door as he reminded them to drive slowly. Erica and Naomi had also

impressive sedan leave, Francis said to the mother and daughter, “I will be back after a

how smug Anastasia was. She clearly was showing

held in a lot of rage as well. “She is trying to make us think that she isn’t an

to grind her teeth as she

look at it, she angrily accepted the call. “Hey, Alex. Where have you been these 2 days? Why didn’t you

I didn’t mean to not reply. I called you to

it?”

you now, and you can have it sent to your mom. Don’t ever let your dad find out that this photo was secretly

him to send the photo over. She couldn’t wait to know

send it over now.”

seconds before Erica received three photos of the will via message. She quickly dragged her mother back to the living room and said, “Mom, Alex

and by the time they were done, their faces had turned

they had expected, Francis didn’t leave even

Francis!” Naomi hissed

panic as well. “What are we going to do, Mom? Dad has no intentions to give us the company at all. It is all

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 Francis’ wife suddenly seemed

are we going to do,

It is only a will. We can just change

she was married to him in the first place. It

of how dangerous the secret was that she needed to

they listened to songs while she enjoyed 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 prayed for was peace and calm in

soon as they arrived at the parking lot, Anastasia caught sight of a

The second a light suddenly lit up behind the truck, she could see a huge glass case decorated with balloons and flowers, and in it was a white sports car quietly parked there. It was an

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

she asked, “Is this a gift from

at her with deep eyes and smiled. “Of course the boss has to make

She couldn’t even begin to describe

him out of courtesy because at some point, Anastasia was

him without feeling like she needed to justify her

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

to admire

you to test out

answered, “Sure!” The car was exactly the way she liked it, in

to say that she had

Lucas’ villa that night. She was slightly angered when she questioned him, “Did you go

accusatory tone. “Miss Dora, I suggest you finish

say?” she asked

you don’t get done with it. We

full well that Riley raised her for the sole purpose of carrying out his plan. Their ‘father-daughter relationship’ wouldn’t mean a thing, and could never save her life if

“I am already planning it out. I won’t

Lucas’ villa. She asked her subordinate who was sitting

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

she instructed with just

Anastasia. She knew that kidnapping Anastasia’s son would tear the woman apart, and if Elliot loved her, he would definitely try to save her

of risky operations, but she had to do it to get

call from the police right after he took

please be informed that a close friend of your

Lucas and Riley grew up together, but Lucas cut off contact with him at a later

about what went on, Elliot asked, “How

greeted each other without saying anything of

He kept thinking about which drink it was that must have been laced with drugs. It took him a

the true source of

thing. Lucas used to be a top dog in the business world, until the moment his son had wasted and lost all the family fortune. He had been getting by in recent years through investments and connections

hoped that Lucas wouldn’t involve him

then again, was Lucas really only greeting an old friend when he went

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

Presgrave,”

all these years of keeping a low profile didn’t seem like something Lucas would

respectfully call Lucas his senior. Other than that, Elliot knew nothing about what Lucas had been doing in the past

as she stood in front of the windows, which coincidentally granted her a view of the sports car downstairs. The white car carried a feeling of romance as the lights of the

he had a little bit to drink. On the other hand, Naomi, who sat beside him, would

her eyes had long taken over her feelings for her

…

the day after Christmas Eve. Many children had started to come out to play and go shopping because

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

only apologetically say to them, “I am afraid I can’t keep you company

it. You have spent a lot of your time with Jared. I will take

have David and a few others go with you. They won’t get

gave a nod of acceptance. “We’ll

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

as they walked in. There were a lot of people, and

over there!” The boy swiftly pointed to the direction

nodded as she followed after her son. The bodyguards behind them made

was also a group of people following them around. They were Aliona’s goons who Riley had trained overseas. With their ruthlessness and professionalism, they were almost as skilled as trained assassins. They had finally

female and male, who were mingling around in the crowd.

to the danger lurking all around them. The place was crowded with children and parents. She could easily lose her child if she had stopped paying attention for a second. And

David was about