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!”

at Anastasia with admiration in the

really assertive as she expressed her appreciation. “Felicia, thank you for alerting me

the first woman to openly flirt with President Presgrave.

smile when she heard this. “It wouldn’t upset me if I didn’t know about it, but I’ll

from Bourgeois’ advertising and planning department to

with my artiste? The contract has been signed.

decision was made by

Young, correct? He

it’s our

your big boss?” the agent asked

has taken over as

be in breach of contract! Bourgeois would be obliged to pay liquidated damages in

not fulfilled the conditions,

and the employee from Bourgeois engaged in a

you been involved in any

my past is clean. How could they treat me like this?” Cathryn was filled

big boss’ decision to call it

“You mean, Vice-president Young?”

Out of so many people, why would she want to

couldn’t

agent was reluctant to let such a large endorsement fee slip away so easily. She eventually got a hold of Anastasia’s general office line after asking around and decided to ask

finished reviewing her upcoming

moment, her office phone began to ring, and she reached out to

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

artist was doing in the hallway on the day of the press conference. Tell her, if she does anything like that again, she will no longer

she slammed the phone right

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

I

tell me the

chew on her lips as she grasped the severity of the matter and quickly elaborated, “I saw Elliot answering the phone in the hallway the other day. I

How dare you flirt with Elliot! His wife was there at the press conference! Do you even have a brain?!”

I’m wrong

throw you out of the industry if this happened again!” Georgina scolded, “Out of everyone, the

powerful?” Cathryn

as Mrs. Presgrave, she can make you disappear in an instant. Forget about the compensation. Do you understand? The next time you see her, move out of her way,” Georgina

from work for so long in Bourgeois, she was 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 design, which meant that she could also make managerial decisions with foresight,

this time, there was a knock at the door and Mason entered after opening

said with a smile since

to address you as President Tillman when we’re in the office! We can forget the formalities after we get off work,” he insisted. Then, he sat on the chair opposite from her and asked, “I’m

had also guessed that he was here for Katrina. After giving it some thought, “Mason, you’ve been kind to me. If you really want to recommend your sister,

seldom came to her for help, and she knew it. Thus, she had no

really taken off, so I really hope she establishes a reputation elsewhere.” Mason expressed his concern for

the people in charge of organizing the event to allow her to promote our

long sigh of relief. There was no denying the fact that Katrina had exerted a

welcome. You don’t often ask me for help. I had to do

department thereafter and asked them to make some arrangements. As long as

Anastasia’s door was knocked on again and she said,

bringing in documents, but it was a tall, charming man

man strolled in slowly with a smile as he had one hand in his

Anastasia stood up to greet

guy wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a hug before lowering his head and kissing her crimson lips. “I’m

realized that her window shutters were open, her face became flushed. “The blinds are

not ashamed.” Elliot didn’t

what he wanted. After

a massage from your husband?” he asked in

as she shifted her head to look at him with eyes that sparkled

was. Then, he acknowledged, “You can work for as long as you wish. Just don’t exert

playfully and replied, “I know, I know!

released her and took two steps back

felt a little bashful when he observed her in this manner because it made her feel like he was admiring a piece of art. “What

“Your outfit is making me have

at him. “Do not try anything

heard this, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Does this mean I

angry look, but she was still happy in her heart that he wanted her so much. Then,

as he drew a chair for himself and took

Anastasia realize the reason

someone be so

a little chat,” she said

his eyes lit up with jealousy. “What did

wanted my help to secure an endorsement

when he heard this. “I

up, closed the shutters, walked over

though he enjoyed that she took the initiative, it

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

her kissing him and placed his arms 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, honey. Other than you, there is no one else in

off guard and he narrowed his eyes in response to her affectionate gaze. Then, he wrapped his arms tightly around her and said,

about to move away from his lap, he quickly restrained her. “Are you leaving now after

from initiating the kiss, but the man won’t release

of her head

affections for her grew stronger over

that moment, Grace wanted to give Anastasia some important documents, so she

due

the room was not appropriate

and Elliot left

her lips.

like she had changed

Don’t worry, President Tillman,”

fruits for her dad. She had just returned and was making her way toward the entrance of the ward

them, you will have no other option.

see what it takes. If there’s nothing else I can do, I’ll just go to jail for two years,” Drake

can’t do that. What should I do when you’re gone? The York Family was interested in our Sophia and is willing to pay off your debts. Why

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

that money? Whatever it is, I wouldn’t let you head back to prison. If you do, I don’t want to live

her hands. What? Dad owes the bank a billion? And as long as I agree to marry Christopher, his family

was very grateful for Christopher. After she had fled to avoid their marriage the last time, he

interrupted the arguing couple. “Dad, Mom, I’ve heard

“Sophia!”

daughter’s determined face as they were

Dad doesn’t go to jail, I’m willing

had been unfilial as she didn’t know that her family was facing such

rush—” Drake was about to

willing to marry Christopher. I’m okay,”

fruits down on the table before turning to leave the ward. Outside, she found Christopher’s number

male voice sounded. “Hello, who is

“I’m Sophia Goodwin.”

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

marry you, but can you really help my father with

your father will be like my own father. I will help him pay

Then, let’s find a

I am abroad now. I’ll come back on Friday, and I’ll pick you up when we’ve set a

“Great!”

phone, she sighed

resort abroad, Christopher was basking his 200-pound body in the sun; the towel wrapped around him could barely

Master York, are you really going to marry Sophia Goodwin and

have to listen to me. Then, it’d be up to me to decide whether I really finish paying off her father’s debt or not,” Christopher explained with a

head and looked up at the people who were swarming in

woman was Hayley. She was in a gray scrub and had her hair trimmed to her ears. She had been here for almost a month now and had nearly severed all contact from the

earlier, she knew one of them: Erica Tillman. She had the same haircut as Hayley and wore the same clothes, so it was obvious that Erica was sent

pale. Back then, she was treated like a princess. Now, she was forced to eat things she

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

ten years of imprisonment. Erica was quietly eating her rock-solid steamed buns and some rancid noodles when she heard a sharp voice yelling, “Hayley, what are

looked in the direction of the voice and saw a

A sudden gush of anger was suddenly ignited in Erica’s heart because in her eyes, Hayley was

on the side and walked toward Hayley. All this while, Hayley had her head lowered in an attempt to avoid Erica recognizing her. However, at this moment, she turned around

open her eyes when she was slapped hard

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

burn with pain and two correctional officers came over at

her face. As she had gone through several plastic

You look like a witch! It’s disgusting!” Erica sat down and

sneered. “And 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 just a piece of trash

envy toward Anastasia. However, right now, she couldn’t even have the freedom she desired the most. What was

all ruined. None of us will live a good life,”

the sound of this. Her parents were jailed and she herself was imprisoned. At the end of

she would have never destroyed herself to this extent. She would find an average man to marry, have a

Hayley commented as if

her head and asked, “I still

intention of hiding it from Emily. For her, those days were the happiest

the ground. Then, the waiter contacted me and gave me that watch.” Hayley clearly remembered the day when Elliot

as

bad in my store that I had to sell the watch. A week later, Elliot returned to my

that, Erica scolded,

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

moment, Erica finally knew how Hayley became a wealthy woman overnight. It turned out that she had stolen Anastasia’s identity and took