Never Too Far Novel

Ariel was using an interrogative tone toward Angela because Angela was three years younger than her. Angela was 24 years old this year, whereas Ariel was already 27.

“You misunderstood. I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just staying here for a while,” Angela answered calmly.

“Are you and Captain Lloyd really dating? From what I heard, you aren’t lovers.” Ariel was so angry about last night that the first thing she did in the morning was to inquire about Angela and Richard—only to find out that they were just flirting with each other. They had never publicized their relationship status.

“How would others know about our personal affairs?” Angela did not want to be pestered by Ariel, so after she finished talking, she turned and was about to return to the dormitory.

Ariel could not help but turn her head and gaze at Angela’s back. “I quite like Captain Lloyd.”

Angela was upset when she heard Ariel’s declaration and turned to look at Ariel with a visibly dismayed look. Naturally, Ariel caught her expression and asked arrogantly, “What’s with that face? Are you the only one allowed to like him and no one else?”

Angela was reduced to silence for a moment before she replied with a smile, “Then, I advise you not to waste time; he won’t like you.” She was not sure what had transpired, but at that moment, she was absolutely sure about what she had said.

Ariel obviously did not think Angela’s reply was convincing, so she smiled confidently. “Nothing’s ever certain. How do you know that Captain Lloyd won’t ever like me?” Ariel combed her long hair using her fingers to reveal her delicate makeup; under the sun, Angela could see that Ariel had a stunning face.

When Angela was faced with her beauty, she felt anxious. After all, she was only worried because she did not know Richard well. Besides, she and Richard had just started making some progress, and it was easy to fall into a state of emotional unease at this stage. As such, she left without giving Ariel a response.

Until Richard gave her enough security, or if they knew each other better, Ariel’s words would be a thorn in the flesh for Angela. Angela went back to the room and sat there for a while. During her time here, there was no entertainment and noise from the outside world; there were only quiet mornings with the sounds and scents of nature.

Then, she left the compound to go for a walk along the path leading to the mountain spring pool. She picked wildflowers, tied them into a bouquet, and played with them in her hand.

Suddenly, she heard a chirping sound from above. She could not help but look up and see a hatchling with just fuzzy feathers entangled by tree vines. One of its wings was caught in the vine and could not be pulled out.

The hatchling might have accidentally fallen from its nest at the top of the tree, and now it was making helpless and pitiful chirping noises. It was apparent that it had been struggling there for a long time but could not save itself. Even if it managed to entangle itself from the tree vine, it would fall to the ground and never be able to return to its nest.

“Poor little guy.” Angela placed the bouquet down on the grass, and her first thought that popped up was to save it. She looked at the tree pole as she thought of how to rescue the baby bird. Unfortunately, the hatchling was at least three meters from the ground, so she had no choice but to climb the tree to save it.

There were many tiny tree knots under the thick tree pole, which aided her in climbing up. She didn’t hesitate to climb the tree as she could not just sit there and watch the hatchling struggle in vain. She stretched her hand to cling to the trunk quite awkwardly and stepped on the small knots to move upwards. Her heart skipped a beat when she glanced up to determine its position again. It seemed that she had to climb onto a diverged tree branch before reaching it.

“Little guy, give me a little more time, okay? I’ll be able to save you soon,” she spoke in a comforting voice while cautiously climbing upward. The branch was thick but had no vines between her position and the hatchling’s. She had no choice but to climb to another higher branch; she needed to leverage herself to walk on a branch under the one she had set her sights on.

She walked across the branch carefully and soon arrived at where the hatchling was. At that moment, she gave up clinging to the branch above, slowly lowering her body and hugging the branch under her feet shakily. Then, she reached out to untangle the hatchling’s wings. The little guy immediately spread its wings and jumped to the ground.

As Angela witnessed the hatchling fall in front of her eyes, she got so terrified that she instinctively reached out her arms to catch it. However, her conditioned response did her no good; not only was she not able to catch it, but she also slid down. “Ahhh—” At once, she hugged the tree pole tightly. The hatchling fell onto a thicket of small trees; on the contrary, she was the one who was in distress.

She lowered her head and stared at the ground, not daring to let go of the tree pole and jump down ten feet for fear that she might hurt her bottom or sprain her foot. But then, she was stuck clinging to the tree pole. Now what? What should I do?

Her grip strength was by no means on par with a gymnast, and it was evident that she would not be able to support herself for much longer. She could only think of one single way to rescue herself from that situation—she must call for help. Hopefully, her cry could attract a kind passerby to come to her aid.

“Help! Help! Someone please help me!” The damsel was in distress.

At the same time, the team that had just finished running was lining up on the sports field. Richard, the team leader, suddenly heard a faint cry for help. Moreover, he quickly realized that the voice belonged to Angela. As soon as this thought crossed his mind, his pupils constricted, and in the next second, he was already rushing in Angela’s direction.

“What’s wrong with Mr. Richard? Where is he going?”

“Not sure. He’s heading toward the mountain spring’s direction, though.”

“Could it be that something has happened to Miss Meyers? Hurry up! Follow him!” Trevor and Jared left the lining team at once and followed in the same direction as Richard.

Meanwhile, Angela was still clinging to the tree, trying her best to utilize her fading strength. She could feel that she was getting exhausted, and she might fall any time soon. She kept on crying for help. “Help! Anyone!”

Just when she was on the brink of giving up, she picked up a patter of footsteps. Oh, praise the Lord! Finally, someone heard her calling for help! She looked in that direction, and just around the corner, she saw a man running. Richard!

From afar, he could see Angela clinging to the tree, and his heart tightened suddenly.

“Richard!” Angela exclaimed in joy and completely forgot the peculiar situation she was in; she let go of the tree pole and fell down the next second. “Ah—”

It was almost at the same time as she fell that he moved swiftly toward her, opened his arms, and caught her firmly. Richard glanced down and saw her pale face as she was so terrified. Before she could react, she was already wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Knowing it was Richard, she refused to let go of him; she happily hugged him and

“Can’t you try to live a peaceful life?” He could be heard panting heavily; it was evident that he ran as fast as he could. Listening to his strong heartbeat, Angela looked up; she felt sorry for making him feel worried, and she wanted to compensate him in her own way.

She held his face with both her hands and pressed her red lips against Richard’s thin lips of her own accord. Immediately, he felt his body turn tense as he was not expecting such a move from her. She looked into his eyes innocently and apologized, “I’m sorry! Don’t be angry, please…”

But the kiss did not do the trick—his gaze did not soften and was sharp as a knife. Hmm… Shall I give him two kisses then, since one was not enough? While she was pondering upon her next move, he freed one of his hands which was holding her waist, and placed it at the back of her head. He applied some force, and her face moved in his direction; as she got nearer, he kissed her in such an overbearing manner.

Angela was taken aback by such a strong response from him. The way he kissed her carried some element of punishment—his tongue was domineering as he tried to despoil every part of her mouth. She was blushing, and her breath was chaotic. It was the first time he initiated a kiss; it was domineering and tough, just like his usual way of doing things.

What was even more equivocal was that he carried her with one hand—a man without enough arm strength could not hold on to this position for long.

At the corner, Trevor and Jared arrived to see the man and woman kissing while bathing in the morning light.

Trevor and Jared were dumbfounded; it turned out that they need not run all the way to help out, looking at how ‘romantic’ the situation was. By the way, what on earth is Mr. Richard doing? He never showed interest in women before.

The pair looked at each other and decided to leave silently—the scene of them forcibly showing off their romance in the presence of two single men was not what they were willing to see early in the morning.

The morning light cast a layer of halo on Richard and Angela. He finally let go of her, and as she was feeling shy, she continued burrowing her face in his neck. It was only after a while that she raised her head, looked at him tenderly, and smirked. His handsome face was also a little red from the shyness, but he did not avoid her gaze. As he sized her up and gazed at her soft red lips, he even wanted to continue where they left off.

He was actually shocked by his own behavior just now; he was not able to control his desire to kiss her. His restraint and wit disappeared, and he could only focus on the alluring woman in his arms.

“Put me down,” Angela requested. Richard had no choice but to obey, and just as he was about to give her a hand, he saw her immediately turn around and squat down, looking for something.

“What are you looking for?” he asked in a low voice.

“There’s a hatchling that still hasn’t grown enough feathers. It was entangled by a vine. When I tried rescuing it, it fell somewhere around here,” she said anxiously.

He was made speechless. He would have never thought she climbed a tree disregarding her safety, just to save a bird. Had he not heard her cry for help, she would have fallen from the tree, and at that height, she would definitely hurt herself.

Suddenly, Angela laughed. “It’s here!” She stood up, carefully holding the hatchling in her hand, only to see it palpitating its short white feathers.

“Aw, how cute is this?” she asked while holding the hatchling closer to him.

As Richard was unaffected by such cuteness, his expression remained cold, and he ordered her solemnly, “Don’t ever disregard your own safety anymore in the future. Nothing is more important than your life.”

Hearing that, she bit her lip, and she immediately took the hatchling back into her arms for fear that he would crush it to death in a second. Predictably, his voice was icy. “Throw it away.”

She glanced at him, feeling wronged. “Why? It doesn’t make sense! I took the trouble to rescue it, and now I have to throw it away. You see, its nest is right there on the tree.”

As she was saying that, she pointed at the clearly visible bird nest on the branch. Following her hand, he looked at the nest and then glanced at the woman who was looking at the nest eagerly in front of him. Don’t tell me she wants to climb the tree and put the bird where it belongs.

Richard made a decision at that moment; he was going to choose the lesser of the two evils. He stretched his hands and tried to take the bird away. “Give it to me.”

“What are you trying to do? You can’t kill it!” Angela was certain that he was going to do that.

“I’ll put it back to where it belongs.” His voice softened a bit.

“Promise me that you’ll not kill it.” She needed his assurance before handing the hatchling to him as he still looked fierce.

“I promise,” he said in a low voice while looking a little helpless.

With his assurance, she carefully placed the hatchling on his palm; she saw him hold the bird and walk toward the tree pole. Seeing that he was about to climb the tree, she hurriedly said, “Be careful.” She had to admit that his tree climbing skill was quite good; in a blink of an eye, he had already put the bird back to its nest, and from that position, he jumped to the ground.

Angela was dumbfounded. Is he a monkey?

“Let’s go back!” Richard glanced at her and walked along the path that would lead them back home. It was only then did she realize the reason he was angry just now; he was worried about her safety and took his anger out on the hatchling; instead, she blamed him for being cruel.

“I’m sorry about what happened just now,” she apologized and hung her head in shame. As he heard that, he halted his steps and turned around, causing her to bump into him.

Just as she was about to take a step back, his arm wrapped around her waist domineeringly. She raised her head, and her eyes met the gaze of another pair of eyes that were as deep as night. She could almost see the glittering light at the bottom of his eyes.

“Promise me that you won’t risk your life so easily next time,” he commanded in a deep voice, serious and firm.

It was the first time Angela had received such a demand that it imprinted onto her soul. She nodded and said, “I promise.”

“Your life is very important,” said Richard, emphasizing once again.

It felt like he was confessing to her. As she bit her lips, the woman looked down and asked, “Is my life that important to you?”

His voice reverberated above her as he said with conviction, “Yes.”

when she heard that, so Angela threw herself into his embrace and hugged him. “Alright, I will make sure to be safe and not

and gently caressed her head. His dark eyes were filled with

the emotions in his eyes. Right at that moment, footsteps were

at her withdrawal and stared ahead as his two teammates walked in. When they rounded the corner, they were scared upon seeing Richard and Angela standing there. After noticing the glower on Richard’s face, they let out a dry laugh. “W-We’ve made a wrong turn. We’ll be on our way now!” Both of them bumped into each other as

in and laughed out loud. It seemed like they were more awkward than she

onto the hand of the man beside

She walked happily in front of him as if she had conquered a mad lion and felt an odd sense

the entrance of the base. She did not want to let the others know they were dating and become

red bodycon dress and looked like a red rose, making her look especially

saw that, she became angry and tried to grab the

boring here. Can I go to your room and borrow a few?”

chuckled. “He doesn’t have the time for that. What do you want

Miss Meyers. I can get them myself,”

guided Angela away with his hands on her shoulder. He did not

reaction only triggered her competitive side. She would not give up

She could not sit still; she would be on the couch, but moments later, she’d sprawl across the bed or lie on her

was Richard’s kiss this morning, and she called it his ‘dominant kiss’. He was domineering and rough, but she liked it a lot. As

her head on one hand and started to worry. Richard was engaged; what she did had crossed a line, and she felt guilty about it. As long as he had not broken off

the projector was showing the scene of another meeting area. Inside, there

orders that you can’t join this mission,” one of the older men

so?” Richard narrowed his cold

above. We didn’t ask

a short while and pondered. An order from above…

ahead with the mission. Report to me immediately if there’s

Captain Lloyd believes in our abilities to complete it

do.” Richard nodded

in

the quiet conference room, Richard was scrolling through his contacts and

man’s voice was deep and magnetic, and he had

the one interfering with my mission?” Richard rubbed his brows and spat the question

fit

I not fit

related to your father’s

sounds of his joints cracking could be heard as he clenched his fists on the

took a deep breath and pleaded with

answered the person

and shouted into the phone, “Uncle, this is my only chance

because you’re the only son your mom has, and you are my only nephew. I can’t let you be in danger,” the man

if I don’t agree to

you disobey my order, I’ll transfer you back here and

were filled with struggle and reluctance upon hearing that threat. He growled into the phone and said, “Just because

though I’m only four years older, I am still your elder. There won’t be any further discussion on this matter.

and furrowed his eyebrows in pain. He looked at his phone

Is that you, Richard?” A

disturbing you?” Richard asked softly. The way they spoke did not feel like how a mother and son would normally interact—it was

your voice,” she replied

my job.” Richard’s sole

not his fault; I asked him to do that. My only request is to stop you from joining missions related to

“Why?”

lost your dad. Do I have to lose you too?” Her voice was filled

let me kill that

mind, good judgment, and even your life

brimmed Richard’s eyes as the sounds of his mother sobbing softened his vengeful heart. He comforted her and

for your uncle, alright?

Granddad?” Richard asked with

feeling quite well after the surgery, so he’s currently on bed rest. Come and visit

I

me know when you are meeting her parents; I want to

not thought about marriage yet. “We’ll talk about this later, Mom. I’m not

not that young anymore—you’re already

have time. Take care, alright?” Richard said hastily and hung up

his granddad’s business and became a well-known madam in the country. However, she did not give birth

was tough for her, and she had no choice but to do what

family, his mother’s side of the family was even bigger. His uncle was the vice president of a company, and his granddad held an important position comparable to that of his grandpa. Nonetheless, Richard never spoke about his family. Whatever he achieved today was all due to his hard

the conference room, his four subordinates were drinking coffee in the lounge beside it. When they saw him leave, they gulped. It was obvious Richard

we ask Miss Meyers

let him have

wanted. He exited the base’s entrance to get some fresh air outside. Not far away,

was tall and attractive. His charming aura made women flock

a bit and gracefully walked toward Richard. “What a coincidence meeting you here, Captain Lloyd!” she said with

head and looked at

I’m afraid to go alone. Do you have time to accompany

passing teammate, and the young

go

asked a random person to accompany her. She wanted him and did not need anyone else’s company,

I’ll just stay here and talk to

across his face at her disturbance. The man frowned and said, “I don’t have time to chat. It would be better

turned in a different direction and left. Ariel stomped her feet and wondered what she was lacking compared to

do you still need me to accompany you for a walk?” The young teammate waited with

You must be busy. Carry on with your duties.” Ariel did not

popped into her mind as she looked in the direction Richard left. Ariel was familiar with the place, so she decided to come from the other direction and make it seem like she

getting bored inside the room. She looked at the time and realized it

he not done with

came out to see Trevor walking toward her. She then went up to him and asked,

Miss Meyers. Has he not returned to

“Nope.”

minutes ago, but he didn’t look too happy. Perhaps he went for

her eyes widened. “He didn’t

be because of his family, but we didn’t probe into it, Miss Meyers. Why don’t you look for him?” Jared suggested. They felt it was

base, she turned around and ran

walk in. She asked, “Hi there, have you

have it, it was the young man Richard had summoned just now. The man

look and realized it was the

same time, Ariel had out-flanked the pathway Richard was on and saw his silhouette through the

right moment, Ariel ran

bumped into him and wrapped her

face turned cold as he scrunched his eyebrows.

one! It’s chasing me!” She was adamant about not letting go. She continued with her act

the corner when she heard a woman’s scream. She ran out of the forest and saw two people hugging on the

quickly realized what was happening. Ariel was holding tightly onto Richard and not letting go.

Angela made a loud

made herself known, Richard pushed Ariel away at the same time. He was so rough that Ariel

her. Why is she

hand, Richard turned around to see Angela sauntering toward them with her arms crossed. A look of panic flashed across his face, and he hoped she

Can you pull me up?” The pain caused Ariel to tear up as she

walking past Richard, Angela stopped in front of Ariel and extended

was being nice,

on her knee. Just when Ariel was halfway up, Angela suddenly retracted her hand,

Ariel’s face turned red. Angela had played

ignorance, Angela rubbed her hands and apologized, “I’m sorry. My hands were sweaty, and

did it on purpose,” said

seduce my

Ariel refuted with a red face, “What proof do you have? I saw

“It’s almost winter and the snakes are hibernating. Can’t you come up

face continued to flush as she had never been so embarrassed before. It did not help that Angela kept making

curved up. He did not expect

something, Captain Lloyd. I don’t want to be

turned her head to look at the man behind her. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and the resentment was evident in her eyes; it seemed like she was blaming him for letting

Ariel realized that it was not graceful for her to sit on the ground. As such, she stood up while placing a hand