Never Too Far Novel

Anastasia walked backstage to greet Felicia. After all, Felicia and her design team were the stars of the product launch party.

“Your designs are so beautiful this time, Felicia,” Anastasia commented as she flipped through the art book. Everything in there was well-designed.

“I hope we didn’t disappoint you.” In Felicia’s mind, Anastasia was the boss.

“I believe in you, Felicia.”

“Anastasia.” Suddenly, a lady called out from behind them before Katrina swiftly moved to stand behind Anastasia.

“Katrina,” Anastasia greeted with a smile.

“Do you mind if we talk in private?” Katrina nervously asked. She currently found it hard to talk to Anastasia because she exuded an oppressive pressure that Katrina did not like.

Felicia gently patted Anastasia on the cheeks. “I’ll help the team out now, Anastasia.”

The moment Felicia was gone, Katrina took a deep breath. “I know Bourgeois is looking for a spokesperson for their product. I was hoping I could have a chance to be in your advertisements.”

“That is up to marketing. You can attend the interviews for the job.” Anastasia smiled.

Katrina bit her lip. “Anastasia, can you make an exception for me just this once? Please? My brother helped you all those years, after all.”

Naturally, Anastasia knew exactly what Katrina was thinking. The woman wanted compensation for Mason’s help all those years and if the one making the request had been Mason, she would have gone along with the plan before asking about why.

When Anastasia remained silent, Katrina continued, “I know I should not be greedy and take advantage of something owed to someone else, but we are like a family. Can’t you make an exception?”

Anastasia knew that Mason was not someone to ask for reparations either. “I’ll have to ask the team about it. I’ll let you know when I have news.”

“Thank you, Anastasia.” Katrina smiled. When Anastasia left, she let out a sigh of relief. Her brother would not ask for anything in return because he was a proud man, but she was not like him.

She would use anything she could to help herself since she was not doing well as a model. If she wanted to become a celebrity, she would have to be famous first.

When Anastasia returned to her seat, Elliot was chatting with Larry, who then stood up the moment he noticed her return. The show started the moment she returned.

Lights beamed down onto the stage as masked models strutted while decked out in jewelry made by Bourgeois. Naturally, Katrina was one of the models. She had all her attention focused on doing the best she could. However, when she walked by, she would stare at Elliot.

Anastasia noticed it, of course. She knew what kind of woman Katrina was. As long as there was an opportunity, Katrina would do anything to seduce someone.

Before the show, Anastasia had been contemplating giving her a chance because of her connection to Mason. Now, however, all of those thoughts had been chucked out of the window.

“I have to answer a call, sweetheart,” Elliot softly said.

She merely nodded in response as she was engrossed in the show. Then, just as he stood up, one of the female celebrities stood up as well. Although she left in the opposite direction, the corridors outside the hall were all interconnected.

That celebrity had been waiting for her chance. Using the excuse that she had to head to the bathroom, she walked out of the hall. When she eventually made her way over to the other side, she saw Elliot taking a phone call while standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

Elliot was like a magnet that attracted the gaze of every woman present that evening. No matter where he stood, he would become the center of attention.

After all, he was a man whom people rarely saw. Any woman with brain cells would know not to waste any opportunity that came along.

The celebrity’s name was Cathryn Windsor. She was considered one of the most popular celebrities of the year due to a popular show that had recently aired. Due to her fame, she had recently been announced as the spokesperson for Bourgeois’ new products.

However, her ambitions did not end there. She wanted a strong and powerful benefactor, someone like Elliot Pregrave, who stood at the top of the food chain.

Elliot ended the call and turned to return to the event hall. At the same time, she pretended to be busy talking on the phone and acted as if she did not see him there. When she crashed into him, he reached a hand out to her shoulder to stop her from falling to the ground.

Cathryn hastily apologized, “I’m sorry, President Presgrave. I didn’t see you there. This is all my fault!” She then reached out and patted his arm. “I hope I didn’t hurt you!”

Elliot waved his hand and answered, “It’s fine.”

“Oh, sorry about the lipstick stain on your suit. Let me take care of it.” Rather than removing the stain off his arm, she tried to reach out to stroke his chest after saying that.

His arm prevented her attempt right away, and he said in an icy tone, “No need.”

Cathryn let out a frustrated sigh as soon as Elliot walked away. She saw this as an opportunity to stimulate his interest in her. No one could approach him because he behaved in a way that was true with what she had heard about him.

Why was he married if he didn’t like women?

Right after Cathryn left, Felica came out from around the corner. She had just come out from the bathroom when she saw this scene, and she thought it would taint her sight for the day.

She wasn’t often the kind to pry into other people’s business, but she felt it was necessary to alert Anastasia about this. If an actress went out of her way to try to seduce Elliot, then she was not the best choice to represent Bourgeois as a spokesperson.

Anastasia’s phone lit up with texts. She checked it and saw it was a text message from Felicia.

‘I just saw Cathryn trying to flirt with your husband in the hallway, Anastasia. You should take note.’

She read the text calmly and her eyes went to where Cathryn should have been. There was no one there.

‘Thank you, Felicia,’ Anastasia replied graciously. At this moment, Elliot had returned and his large hand went out to grasp hers with the intention to caress it.

She then raised her head to meet his gaze. Despite the dim lighting, the man’s eyes gleamed with affection. When she noticed this, she smiled sweetly and kissed his cheek, showing her affection in public.

Cathryn happened to see their affections as she was going back to her seat. She started to feel a little scared as she thought about the foolish thing she had just done. She was worried that Anastasia wouldn’t let her off the hook if she knew about the flirting earlier.

She was glad Anastasia didn’t know about it.

Who would know what Anastasia knew, though?

When Elliot saw just how bold she was to kiss him in public like this, he gave her a contented smile that made her heart flutter.

Her face started to blush as she felt the gazes of everyone on them. Her confession of love for this man was publicized.

This was a warning for anyone who wanted to take him away from her.

The press conference went smoothly while the online media reaction was spectacular. A great deal of support and encouragement was shown to them with some exceptional items being promoted as well…

After they left the conference, Elliot took her to a posh restaurant for dinner. Tonight was the night of their date.

In addition to that, he had another surprise in store for her. He was pleased to get the most beautiful brooch that was being offered at the event, and he planned to give it to her as a present tonight.

“Oh! When did you get this?” Anastasia was a little surprised, but she was excited that he had just given her something out of the blue.

“It looks good on you,” he told her, praising both the brooch and her.

Anastasia took the gift as Elliot placed his chin on his folded palms and looked at her affectionately. “Since you accepted my gift, Mrs Presgrave has to reward me tonight.”.

“Oh! So, there’s a secret motive here!” Anastasia’s eyes narrowed as she said, “I think I need to pay closer attention to what’s going on around me. I can’t always be fooled by you.”

Elliot kept looking at her with love in his eyes and told her, “I wouldn’t care how stupid you are because you still have me wrapped around your fingers.”

Was he calling her stupid?

She protested, “I’m not stupid. I’m actually quite clever.”

“You are correct. My wife is the most clever woman alive,” he said as his grin grew more endearing. It was as if he would never get tired of flirting with her in this manner.

How could Anastasia continue to fight after noticing that he was being affectionate with her? At this moment, he continued to fill her plate with food. “Sweetheart, you need to eat more in order to have enough energy tonight.”

This caused her to quickly blush. “Is that all you can think about?!”

“Is there anything else?” Elliot closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking about what he was going to say. Then, he said, “I don’t want anything else tonight except you.”

After hearing this, Anastasia didn’t waste any time in lowering her head to start eating, and this man immediately began piling more meat onto her plate. Why did it seem as if he was feeding her to be slaughtered later that night?

The next Monday, there was a meeting at Bourgeois in the morning.

Anastasia sat at the chief designer’s seat and she was dressed in a beige suit with her hair tied back. This gave her delicate and lovely face a natural and tidy appearance.

The first topic she wanted to discuss with everyone today was the termination of Cathryn’s endorsement contract that was recently signed.

“President Tillman, we just invested 10 million dollars on her. If we break our contract with her, we have to compensate her for liquidated damages.”

When Anastasia heard that, her eyes turned cold. “Then, you should figure out how to avoid compensating her for terminating the contract.”

Everyone cringed at this statement. They initially thought that she was more pleasant, but they certainly never expected her to throw such a serious challenge at them on her first day.

“President Tillman, may I know the reason why you are terminating Cathryn’s contract?”

“I don’t like her,” Anastasia answered bluntly as she elegantly twirled her long hair around her finger.

Her response was both arrogant and straightforward.

“President Tillman, I understand. I’ll take care of it right away. We will have to discuss our new spokesperson after launching the new product at the conference. Do you have any recommendations?”

“You may suggest a few for me to select from,” she replied.

Felicia was the only one aware of the rationale for her decision.

Anastasia asked Felicia to stay. “Felicia, please remain. The rest of you may return to work!”

looked at Anastasia with admiration

appreciation. “Felicia, thank you

to openly flirt with President Presgrave. You

wouldn’t upset me if I didn’t know about it, but I’ll take action

came into Cathryn’s office from Bourgeois’ advertising and planning department to

is wrong with my artiste? The contract has been signed. I don’t think

was made by

Vice-president Young, correct? He was there when the contract was

our

your big boss?” the agent asked

Presgrave’s wife, has taken over as president of Bourgeois Jewelry

agent, who quickly responded, “If you do this, you will be in breach of contract! Bourgeois would be obliged to pay liquidated damages in this manner! This is definitely something that we do not want to happen. We also

additional clause. If we believe the artiste has not fulfilled the

from Bourgeois engaged in a lengthy discussion, but Cathryn’s

questioned her. “Cathryn, have you been involved in any scandals recently? You were dismissed by Bourgeois due

anything and my past is clean. How could they treat me like this?” Cathryn was filled with resentment, believing

call it off. Did you offend her in

“You mean, Vice-president Young?”

the current president of Bourgeois. Out of so many people, why would she

her. It couldn’t have been because

was reluctant to let such a large endorsement fee slip away so easily. She eventually got a hold of Anastasia’s general office

was holding a cup of coffee. She had just finished reviewing her

and she reached out to answer it. “Hello?

this President Tillman? My name is Georgina Redding. I am Cathryn Windsor’s manager. I’m sorry to bother you, President Tillman, but I have to clarify something. The popularity and reputation of our artists are great, so I’d like to know exactly what it is about our artists that does not fit the standards of your company. We’ll do all we can to resolve the situation as soon

the day of the press conference. Tell her, if she does anything like that again, she will no longer be a part of

that, she

on the day of the press conference?” Georgina questioned Cathryn, who was seated on the

could I

better tell me

quickly elaborated, “I saw Elliot answering the phone in the hallway the other day. I simply wanted to make an impression on him so that he would remember

with Elliot! His wife was there at the press conference!

realize I’m wrong

said to me? She threatened to throw you out of the industry if this happened again!” Georgina scolded, “Out of everyone, the person whom you’ve chosen

she really so powerful?”

disappear in an instant. Forget about the

still full of enthusiasm. After a short break, she quickly drafted another schedule. She was a member of the company’s design team in terms of jewelry

and Mason

said with a smile

we get off work,” he insisted. Then, he

“Mason, you’ve been kind to me. If you really want

it. Thus,

has never really taken off, so I really hope

of organizing the event to allow her

out a long sigh of relief. There was no denying

often ask me for help. I had to do

Mason left, she called the relevant department thereafter and asked them to make some arrangements. As long as Mason asked of her, she was willing to help

on again and she said, “Come

assistant, Grace, bringing in documents, but it was a tall, charming man who casually

with a smile as he had

are you doing here?” Anastasia stood up

hug before lowering his

were open, her face became flushed. “The blinds are

Elliot didn’t

wanted. After

you like a massage from your husband?” he asked in a

she shifted her head

content when he saw how happy she was. Then, he acknowledged, “You

her nose playfully and replied,

and took two steps back before checking her

observed her in this manner because it made her feel like he was admiring a piece of art.

him grin before he said, “Your

gaze at him. “Do not try anything silly at the

laugh out loud. “Does this mean I can do whatever I want

know what to say, so she gave him a shy, angry look, but she was still happy in her heart that he

you?” Elliot inquired as he drew a chair for himself and took a seat before he gracefully crossed

reason for his visit. Was

someone be so easily

we had a little

his eyes lit up

wanted my help to secure an endorsement contract for his

when he heard

up, closed the shutters, walked over to him, and sat on

enjoyed that she took the initiative,

her hands as she bent her head to plant a kiss on his lips. She had learned certain skills from him and now, she was going to give him a taste of his

around her waist. She withdrew just as he was going to get more and she whispered in his ears, “You shouldn’t be jealous anymore,

he wrapped his arms tightly around her and said, “Alright, I’m not jealous. I won’t be

about to move away from his lap, he quickly restrained her.

initiating the kiss, but the man won’t release

he grasped the back of her head and gave her a passionate

affections for her grew stronger

to give Anastasia some

saw and her face blushed due to

inside the room was not appropriate for

the man away and Elliot left with a satisfied

and puckered her lips. “Do

of course, didn’t dare! However, it looked like she had changed

worry, President Tillman,”

had just returned and was making her way toward the entrance of the ward when she heard her father’s anxious voice coming through the open door. “Please

If you do not repay them, you will have no other option.

it takes. If there’s nothing else I can do, I’ll just go to

should I do when you’re gone? The York Family was interested in our Sophia and

happened, Sophia fled the country.” Drake was distressed on behalf of

one billion! Where are we going to get that money? Whatever it is, I wouldn’t let you head back to prison. If

the bank a billion? And as long as I agree to marry Christopher, his family would help Dad pay off

was very grateful for Christopher. After she had fled to avoid their marriage the last time, he still wanted her. Now that his family was offering to help, what more could

open the door and interrupted the arguing couple. “Dad, Mom, I’ve heard everything, so you can

“Sophia!”

looked back at their daughter’s determined face as they were

debts; as long as Dad doesn’t go

that her family was facing such a

about to assure her when he

okay. I’m willing to marry Christopher. I’m okay,” Sophia insisted as

before turning to leave the ward. Outside, she

male voice sounded.

“I’m Sophia Goodwin.”

dream girl has finally decided to reach out to me!” The voice on

you, but can you

own father. I will

Then, let’s find a time to

come back on Friday, and

“Great!”

she sighed

abroad, Christopher was basking his 200-pound body in the sun; the

are you really going to marry

the initial down payment first. After she marries me, she’ll be my wife. By then, she’ll have to listen to me. Then, it’d be up to me to decide whether I really finish paying off

had just been sent to the women’s prison in Averna. A woman who was wiping the greasy table top raised her head and looked

hair trimmed to her ears. She had been here for almost a month now and had nearly severed

them: Erica Tillman. She had the same haircut as Hayley and wore the same clothes, so it was

princess. Now, she was forced to eat things she had never eaten before. The food served here wasn’t even

served to her. Although she had gone through her initial remorse till her current awakening, it

life here as she was serving over ten years of imprisonment. Erica was quietly eating her rock-solid steamed buns and some rancid noodles when she

her head and looked in the direction of the voice and saw a familiar figure.

heart because in her eyes, Hayley was

lowered in an attempt to avoid Erica recognizing her. However, at

she was

Erica started screaming while reaching out to pull her hair. “Hayley Seymour, you b*tch! I’m going to kill

let me go.” Hayley’s scalp began to burn with pain and two correctional officers came over at this moment to separate the two and

her face. As she had gone through several plastic

witch! It’s disgusting!” Erica sat down and mocked Hayley, who went

I’ll continue to disgust you. We’ll have to see each other for more than ten years anyway! Anastasia is a gem now and known as Mrs. Presgrave. Do you know that she and Elliot are married? She is also the eldest daughter of the Tillman Family. As for you, you are

she couldn’t tell Hayley how she really felt because of her envy toward Anastasia. However,

of us will live a good life,” Hayley continued as she sat

and she herself was imprisoned. At the end of the day, had she ever regretted her capriciousness and

to this extent. She would find an average man to marry, have a child together with him,

Hayley commented as if she

“I still have no idea how you got

from Emily. For her, those days

left it on the ground. Then, the waiter contacted me and gave me that watch.” Hayley clearly remembered

eyes widened as she prodded,

A week later, Elliot returned to my store and asked whether I was the woman in the room that night. I said yes,” a shameless Hayley

that, Erica scolded, “You are

would’ve done the same. Elliot said he was going to make amends. He gave me a big villa, a sports car, a black card with no limits, and a few servants. At that time, I was beautiful and happy. I could buy whatever I wanted. There would be nights where I get to dine with Elliot and go on jewelry exhibitions together.” Speaking of this, Hayley turned to Erica. “Didn’t I get you a few gifts that were worth more than half

overnight. It turned out that she had stolen Anastasia’s identity and took advantage of the