Never Too Far Novel

Just as Elliot was about to get up, Anastasia reached out to hug his neck. “Then, we don’t have to use it.”

He immediately understood what she meant and was taken by surprise. Then, he kissed her gently and asked in a hoarse voice, “Sweetheart, are you sure?”

“I am!” She had promised Jared, so she decided to try and see if she could fulfill his wish of giving him a sister on his birthday next year.

…

At the break of dawn, Arthur suddenly had the urge to visit Sophia’s father after waking up.

After all, he had nothing better to do.

Deciding that he wanted it to be a surprise, he did not inform her about it. He used other means to get information about Drake’s whereabouts. After all, the Goodwins’ company was in his hands.

To avoid Emily, Arthur left at about 10:00 AM to drive directly to the hospital since his bodyguard had bought him a gift in advance, so he drove directly to the hospital.

At the hospital, Drake and the rest of his family were just at the entrance as his driver was on the way to bring them to a restaurant for lunch.

As Drake couldn’t walk, he was pushed out in a wheelchair.

At this moment, a pick-up truck drove up toward them and the man who stepped out was Christopher coming to pick Sophia up. At 5 feet 7 inches, he weighed nearly 200 pounds in sportswear and his body looked plumper than ever.

His chin and neck were almost touching each other, but this did not stop him from liking beautiful women at all.

He and Sophia were classmates from junior high until they were in university. She had always been the It girl since she was young as she was beautiful. Thus, Christopher had always been dreaming of getting her.

As for Sophia’s parents, they hoped that she would be taken care of for the rest of her life. Although he was a little plump, he came from a wealthy family, so their daughter would be able to live a prosperous life in the future.

“Dad, Mom, let Uncle G take you to the restaurant first. We’ll meet you there in a bit,” Sophia said.

“Alright, we’ll get going then.”

Then, she followed Christopher into his car where he immediately acted like a gentleman. “Sophia, today is a great day for us. Come, let’s get a gift for you.”

“Let us go eat first,” she deflected. She did not want anything from him.

“You’re going to be my wife soon, and it’s only right for me to give you a gift.” Then, he drove her straight to the jewelry store. Although she had repeatedly refused the offer, he still tried to force a diamond ring on her finger.

Ultimately, she had no choice but to wear it on her ring finger. This made him grin so widely that his triple chin was on full display.

“Sophia, you’re so beautiful today. Did you know how many boys were after you back in high school? Now, I can finally call you mine,” he boasted. He had already made up his mind to bribe the media to report their wedding. That way, he would look even more imposing.

The most beautiful girl in school was now his wife, which made it extremely wonderful!

However, Sophia had no intention of being his trophy wife. She looked at the time and said, “It’s time for us to head over to the restaurant.”

Then, Christopher finally drove them toward the restaurant.

In the hospital corridor, a group of young nurses was stunned by the sight of a man in a white shirt, who became the focus of all the women. He was like a protagonist out of a novel while the two bodyguards made him appear cold and hostile with a domineering aura.

Arthur stood at the door of the ward. He stopped outside for a few seconds before he reached out to push open the door, expecting to see Sophia’s surprised face.

However, the ward was empty.

When a nurse passed by, he politely asked the nurse in a charming voice, “Excuse me, has the patient here been discharged?”

It just so happened that the nurse happened to be in charge of the ward. “Mr. Goodwin is not discharged yet,” she hurriedly answered. “He just went out for lunch. If I’m not wrong, his daughter is getting engaged today.”

At the sound of this, his dark pupils suddenly shrank. “Engaged?”

“Yes, that is correct! According to what I’ve heard, they will meet the groom’s family and discuss the engagement. Sir, are you related to him?”

“No.” The man kept his composure and gave a quick smile, but as soon as he walked away, his face looked gloomy.

How could she not tell him she was going to get engaged?

Arthur pulled out his phone and called Sophia’s number right away.

Sophia was in the car that Christopher was driving. When she heard her phone rang, she pulled it out and checked it. Once she saw who was calling, she immediately ended the call.

“Why didn’t you answer?” Christopher asked out of curiosity.

“It’s nothing important.”

At the hospital lobby, the man couldn’t believe that she had just hung up on him. When he thought about that, he gripped the phone even tighter.

“Find out where Drake’s daughter’s engagement is,” Arthur ordered his bodyguard behind him.

The bodyguard contacted the executive at Goodwin Corporation, who put him in touch with Drake’s driver. The driver gave them the address and room number of the restaurant.

Arthur then entered the car and calmly said, “Drive to the restaurant.”

Christopher’s car slowly pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot during this time. When Sophia got out of the vehicle, he suddenly hugged her. This startled Sophia, so she avoided and told him, “Don’t do this. We do not want anyone to see us.”

“What’s the problem? After this meal, you will be my wife anyway.” He wanted to move in with Sophia so badly right now.

Even though they were going to get married in future, she still resisted him deeply.

“Fine! At the very least, we should hold hands!” Christopher ignored her refusal and forced to take her hand.

Sophia had no choice but to follow him inside the restaurant while holding her hand.

At the restaurant, Drake and his wife were chatting with the York couple. Since they were both businessmen, this was something that they had in common. Their conversation led to the Goodwin Corporation incident when a hostile acquisition left Drake with no one to turn to when it happened.

His business was thriving until there was an unexpected hostile acquisition, which resulted in him owing a significant amount of money to the bank. All of this happened as a result of his daughter losing the heirloom that belonged to a young man.

“Anyway, the past is the past. Please look out for us since we will soon be in-laws,” Drake added.

“Of course. After all, our son is totally crazy about Sophia.”

Christopher walked in while holding Sophia’s hand as they were talking.

After taking their seats, the two families began ordering food. In the meantime, Emma was observing her daughter seated next to a plump Christopher. She felt terrible for Sophia since she was unhappy with this engagement.

“Sophia! I’ll take good care of you in the future. Once you’re married to Christopher, please hurry ahead and bless our family with a grandchild. I definitely want to have a grandchild soon.” Margaret thought to herself as she looked at Sophia’s lovely face. My future grandchildren’s genes will definitely be amazing.

“Why don’t we skip the engagement and get straight to the wedding planning? At this point, we are able to discuss the dowry and what should be done with it. We are generous, we have decided to give two million dollars.” Edmund York had already decided what he will do.

“We have no demands on the dowry. Everything is fine so long as Sophia is happy.” Drake nodded.

Edmund had an idea right away. “Oh! Drake, how about we help you pay off half of your debt to make things easier and then figure out what to do about the rest?”

Drake and his wife looked at each other in silence. Because of how things were, they had no other choice as they no longer had any pride left to ask for more.

“But we also hope you can give something as your part of the wedding gift,” Margaret said out of the blue.

When Emma heard this, she quickly added, “We’ll absolutely prepare our side of the wedding gift too.”

“In that case, let’s just get right to it. Drake, we are interested in your land. So, we’re wondering whether you may make it as your gift for the wedding.”

Drake and his wife exchanged yet another glance. Our land?! However, this land is valued at 50 million dollars on the market. It wasn’t that the couple didn’t want to give the land as a wedding gift; instead, it was their only remaining possession.

Sophia was shocked to hear this and she looked at the York Family. They want a piece of land as a wedding gift?!

“Mr. Drake, we’ll build a house on that piece of land. We’ll bring you two over to stay with us by then.” Christopher said. He thought that his family deserved to benefit financially from this marriage.

Drake and his wife found themselves in a terrible predicament. They couldn’t help but think, we thought that marrying off our daughter would be a joyful occasion, but the wedding gift that the other side is asking for seems ridiculous.

“Don’t tell me you’re hesitant to give it up, Drake.” Edmund continued in his pursuit.

“Well, that’s not really true. We’ll get ready for our part of the wedding gift, but this land is under my father’s name. I don’t think I have much of a say in this.”

“However, I heard that you inherited the land from him. Certainly, you can make that decision. We also want our children to have a nicer place to live once they marry, wouldn’t you agree? You will provide the land, and we will assist in the construction of a villa. In the end, it’s for the benefit of our children.”

“Mr. and Mrs. York, I’m not too choosy about where I live. Also, I have my own property, so after Christopher and I get married, we can just move into my apartment,” Sophia said.

“An apartment? That can’t be right. Christopher can’t live in an apartment. We have always given him the best of everything since he was a child, in case you didn’t know,” Margaret refuted in a strong manner and made it sound like his son was a rare and precious gem.

A large black SUV pulled up in front of the restaurant’s entrance. The bodyguard stepped out of the vehicle to open the rear passenger seat door. The man’s slender and long legs stepped out and he walked right inside the restaurant.

“Do you have any reservations, sir?”

“We’re here to look for someone,” his bodyguard answered.

Arthur asked, “Where is The Prema Room?”

“Oh! This way, sir.” The server catered to their needs with enthusiasm. While directing them to The Prema Room, the waitress could not resist catching a glimpse of the male visitor. He is extremely attractive! Is he a celebrity?

At the same time, the atmosphere in The Prema Room had become a little awkward. The York Family was keen about getting that piece of land, but the Goodwin Family was in a dilemma.

at this moment and the sweet voice of the waitress welcoming someone was heard shortly after.

the door in surprise

that she jumped from her seat. “Mr.

families in their seats to the plump man next to Sophia. He narrowed his eyes as he thought, is this the man she’s going to marry?

saw the man, they were shocked as well and would never intentionally upset him. Furthermore, their daughter owed him

cautious of this man. So, he rose up and said in an unpleasant

introduced him to Arthur. “This

this means? How can you invite a male friend to our engagement party?”

what it is.” She waved her hands to indicate that he had misunderstood. She then reached out her hands to push and drag

and followed her to the

behind her once they were outside. “Young Master Weiss, why are you here?!” she asked,

pig inside there?” he

Sophia said, “Don’t say such

He didn’t pay attention to

immediately turned red with embarrassment when she heard that. Can’t this man at least respect

and no longer can serve you. Please revoke our agreement,”

way to resolve her father’s debt was to

leave my side for a whole year.” He crossed his arms and gave her a

say, “In short, I’m getting engaged. I’m going to get married to someone else. So, all I can say is that from now on, I’ll only stay on the side of the man

about our relationship?” Arthur narrowed

we are having an affair? For goodness sake, we’re just

her lip and said, “There’s

her. From the corner of his eye, Arthur could see and even figure out who

sound even more ambiguous than before. “Have you forgotten that we used to sleep in the same room? You even saw

out, heard this statement at first instance. Since

voice took Sophia by surprise and she immediately turned to him and explained, “Christopher, please don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing between

her time to react,

took Sophia

his future fiancee was being kissed by

stood by the side was also surprised as he saw Young Master Weiss initiating a kiss with

kissing Sophia, Arthur flashed a smug look and

angry voice. “Let go

her waist as Christopher finished ranting. She was flattened in an embrace with a cedar scented chest the next

one’s going to pay for him. He may need to spend at least 3 years in jail if he can’t pay up!” Christopher was still determined to get Sophia for himself. After all, he’d never give up something he’d

to push off Arthur, a deep male voice said, “You’re willing to marry yourself to this pig for a mere 10

heard such haughty remarks in her life. Meanwhile, Christopher became enraged when he heard

to take out 10 billion dollars in

black wallet. Arthur withdrew a black card from his wallet and handed it to Sophia. “Take it and use the money to pay off your father’s debt. Return to serve me after you’ve settled

it, his eyes widened in amazement. He observed not one, but maybe six or seven black cards in this man’s wallet, if he wasn’t mistaken. With his current net worth, even he himself

looked at the black card and raised her head. She knew she couldn’t accept something like that from him. So, she quickly shook her head and said, “I’m sorry,

Let’s go inside.” Christopher then moved toward her and

on her waist. Then she told him, “Please let go of

little disappointed. This woman is willing to marry

to give Arthur a provoking smirk as Sophia walked

came as a surprise. Looking at him, she said, “Christopher, let’s cancel our engagement

He looked

she knew that when the York Family asked her to marry Christopher and said they would help her father pay off his debt, it was

and wondered whether she could get her parents to sell everything they owned to pay off the debt. She was also willing to stay

tell that her parents were having trouble deciding what to do about the piece of land. She knew that the York Family was using paying off the

door to the room. Once she entered the room, she addressed the York Family, “Mr. and Mrs. York, I regret

I thought we discussed this, so why have you decided not to get engaged to Christopher

York Family’s true motives for this engagement. Now that Sophia had openly broken off her engagement,

Sophia made her way over to him and began pushing him out.

then. When he bought Drake Goodwin’s company the

Arthur still standing in the hallway, she spoke to him. “I’m going to take my dad back to the hospital, so I’ll

company with ill intent. So, he only gave Arthur a quick glance before

took out his phone and called a few numbers after he watched the family of three enter into the elevator. “I need help with this

the table in the private room. Infuriated, he said, “How dare they look down on us,

and present it to us. Who knew

into the car to return to the hospital. As she sat in the front passenger seat, she reminisced about Arthur’s kiss earlier

sold and pay off the debt, Mom and Dad. I’ll pay them the rest of the money when I obtain a job in the

he thought about how hard it might be for Sophia to pay off his debt

phone rang. Thus, he picked

the other person on the other end of the line had said

him

he spoke with the person on the phone. “Alright. Alright. Thank you. On Monday, I will absolutely head over

hanging up the phone, he said to Emma and Sophia, “That was from

you?” Emma asked quickly.

no way the York Family has this much cash

she told them, “I know, Mom

Weiss whom we just saw in

help us pay off the debt? You still owe him an heirloom, don’t

she knew that Arthur was

about this. I can handle it,” she

and Emma glanced at each other and thought, how will Sophia handle this? Is it possible that Mr. Weiss liked our

they arrived

at Sophia and told

You guys head first. I’ll find

a cab as she said that. After that,

answered as a low, deep voice of

settle my father’s

I had settled his

did you do it?” Even if her brain were to burst, Sophia was still unable to

me a family heirloom

had no choice but to sell herself to Arthur. Yet, she didn’t mind much because she knew she

Sophia said, he asked in a serious tone, “So, does that mean you’ll

suddenly turned red, but she answered him with boldness.

hour to return to my

back.” She responded before

to struggle to make a living, and

a trance as

trapped when she thought she would be with Arthur for

Sophia went to Arthur’s villa and ran into Emily as she was having her afternoon tea. When Emily first saw her, she was so mad that she threw up her

heard that. “Can

pushed the desserts off the table all of a sudden. “It’s dirty on the floor. Come here and

she’d ignore Emily for sure. Now, though, things are different. Arthur’s

the desserts that had fallen on the floor, but all of a sudden, Emily stomped on one of the desserts with her shoe. She took them off and

nodded and kept wiping the floor while she was on her knees. Arthur appeared at the front entrance before he slowly

on the floor underneath her. Then, he noticed Sophia, who was kneeling down and

Sophia clean up the mess she had intentionally made when she heard a cold male voice say, “Stop

to look at the man who was coming

to grab it. When she heard the man’s voice, it sounded a little

back as she looked down.

one side and said, “Miss Jennings, let me

saw that Sophia knew how to behave. “Make sure to clean

knew Emily well. He had seen the desserts on the floor and

of your everyday needs. Don’t instruct Sophia any longer,” he

demanded, “Artie, why can’t I make her do what I want? How

final.”Arthur maintained his calm manner. Then, he dragged Sophia into the living room where he reminded her, “Moving forward, you must serve me only and

delicate cheeks flushed slightly when she heard the words serve me only because

she did what she was

instructions. He couldn’t attend

to her room and she received a phone call from her father thereafter. He contacted to see if it was Arthur who had helped him settle

I’m now working for him, so it may

detest him because he took over my company by force.” Drake was experiencing

take over

profit.” Drake sighed. He recalled how ruthless Arthur had been the last time he

for a loan of hundred of billion dollars. For this reason, the company was sold and the sale proceeds

was the said debt that Arthur

was furious but also helpless. There was, however, nothing he could do to change the situation. As a result, he had little choice but to accept his fate. On top of that, he had

on the second story and glanced down at Arthur working on his laptop downstairs as she spoke. The man seemed so cold,

now, she hadn’t been able to believe that those delicately pursed lips of his

the morning to meet a few important visitors. As a jewelry designer, she’d always been attentive and patient with clients. Even though she was with a prominent

less than a half hour and two cups of coffee later, she was able to

old operating model, they

as an employee at Bourgeois, she was aware that the company had a lot of unproductive staff. She was aware that the majority of these slackers were executive-levels who received substantial perks from their positions without performing any

to restructure the entire

employees she

Vice-president was held by Larry while Felicia was promoted to regional chief director. On the other hand, Mason was given an instant promotion and had the responsibility of running the general business operations of the

thing that Anastasia had to do was to give them responsibilities that were suited for their level of

afternoon, the executives of the Bourgeois organization underwent a transformation. All of the managers who believed their jobs were secure and well-compensated were demoted to positions of less significance whereas their salaries were also

sounds of complaints and rants echoed in the big office of Bourgeois while those who were rehired realized at the same time

at some documents in her office. Suddenly, she heard

enter. President Tillman

petite figure of hers. Coincidentally, this

across to Anastasia’s desk. “President Tillman, what’s the meaning of this?! I have been working in Bourgeois for 8 years. I’m pretty

the male manager, with a piercing gaze and spoke, “Mr. Quigley, I must remind you that Bourgeois will not support idlers from now on. You can submit your resignation if you don’t

he quickly added, “All in all, you successfully seduced a man like

dare to because I’m the

a salary reduction. If you don’t implement it, I’ll go on a strike with all my men!” Since Gordon was previously the manager of Bourgeois, he had quite a number

come first.” After she finished speaking, she coldly recounted his charges. “Don’t think I don’t know what you have been up to! I have calculated the amount of money that you have illegally transferred out all these years! It’s

his face instantly turned into panic. Even so, he still pretended to be calm

the time I retrieve the evidence, that will also be the time when I’ll see you in court. Are you sure you want to get things to such an ugly extent?” Anastasia questioned him

like this, she