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.”

hugged him. “Alright,

but quickly looked down at the girl in his arms and gently caressed her head. His dark eyes were filled with conflicting thoughts of restraint, affection,

If she had raised her head, she would have seen the emotions in his eyes. Right at that moment, footsteps were heard behind them and she left his

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

in and laughed out loud. It seemed

hand of the man

her lead the way back. She walked happily in front of him as if she

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

dress and looked

When Angela saw that, she became angry and tried to

It’s really boring here. Can I go to your room and borrow a few?”

that. What do you want to read? I’ll go with

Meyers. I can get them myself,” Ariel

away with his hands on her shoulder. He did not even spare a moment

side. She would not give up as she believed

he went to a meeting. She could not sit still; she would be on the couch, but moments later, she’d sprawl across the bed or lie

and she called it his ‘dominant kiss’. He was domineering and rough, but she liked it a lot. As she recalled the kiss, she could not help but burrow her face

propped 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.

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

can’t join this mission,” one of the

is that so?” Richard narrowed

from above. We didn’t ask for

eyes for a short while and pondered. An order from above… Grandpa has retired, though. Who exactly is meddling with

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

believes

do.” Richard nodded in

the meeting, four of Richard’s subordinates remained seated and stole glances at him as he was deep in thought. After a moment, he asked them to leave. “Please leave the room. I need to

four of them immediately stood up and left. In the quiet conference room, Richard was scrolling through his contacts and stopped on a number he had not contacted for a long time. Then, he

A greeting came through. The man’s voice was deep and

with my mission?” Richard rubbed his

not fit for this

I not fit for

to your

expression turned cold, and intense hatred could be seen in his eyes. The sounds of his

the mission.” Richard took a deep breath and pleaded

do,” answered

is my only chance of avenging

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

if I don’t agree

back

reluctance upon hearing that threat. He growled into the phone and

because I’m your uncle. Even though I’m only four years older, I am still your elder. There won’t be any further discussion on this matter. I have a meeting to attend,” Richard’s uncle said assertively

and pounded his fist against the table, creating a crack in the sturdy marbletop. He gripped his hair and furrowed his eyebrows in pain. He looked at his phone once again and picked it

Is that you, Richard?” A

Richard asked softly. The way they spoke did not feel like how a mother and son would

hoping you’d call! I’ve missed your voice,” she replied with her lovely, soothing

ask uncle to stop interfering with my job.” Richard’s sole

My only request is to stop you from joining

“Why?”

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

me kill that monster and avenge

why I don’t want you to go. You’d lose your mind, good judgment, and even your life too,” answered

sounds of his mother sobbing softened his vengeful heart. He comforted her and said, “I

hard for your uncle, alright? He’s just

Granddad?” Richard asked

surgery, so he’s currently on bed rest. Come and visit him if you have time. He’s been talking about wanting

I have

that there are talks about an arranged marriage. Let me know when you are meeting her parents;

to his mind instead of Annie, but he had not thought about marriage

not that young anymore—you’re already

on a mission. I’ll go home when I have time. Take care, alright?” Richard

when his father passed away. His mother decided to remarry into a noble family to save his granddad’s business and became a

resent his mother because he knew it was tough for her, and she had no

of his grandpa. Nonetheless, Richard never spoke about his family. Whatever he achieved

it. When they saw him leave, they gulped. It was obvious

ask Miss Meyers

to let him have some time

base’s entrance to get some fresh air outside. Not far away, Ariel spotted

and attractive. His charming

bit and gracefully walked toward Richard. “What a coincidence meeting you here, Captain

and looked at her. “Can I help you,

pretty nice, but I’m afraid to go alone. Do you have time to accompany me for a walk?” She looked at him pleadingly and tried

passing teammate, and

company and go for a

he had asked a random person

Captain Lloyd. I’ll just stay here and talk

“I don’t have time to chat. It would be better

that, he turned in a different direction and left. Ariel stomped her feet and wondered what she was lacking

Graham, do you still need me to accompany you for a walk?” The young teammate

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

the direction Richard left. Ariel was familiar with the place, so she decided to come from the

She looked at the time and realized it was almost time for lunch, but Richard had

he not done with

the door and came out to see Trevor walking toward

Miss Meyers. Has he not

“Nope.”

conference room ten minutes ago, but he didn’t look too happy. Perhaps he went for a walk.” Trevor took a

widened. “He didn’t look too

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 better if Angela comforted

out of the base, she turned around and ran toward

happened to walk in. She asked, “Hi there, have you seen Captain

man Richard had summoned just

look and realized it was the direction of

same time, Ariel had out-flanked the pathway Richard was on and saw his silhouette through the trees. She looked down and pulled her shirt, showing

Ariel ran out

into him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. “There’s a

cold as he scrunched his eyebrows. “Let

She was adamant about not letting go.

other hand, Angela was just around the corner when she heard a woman’s scream. She ran out of the

a few seconds, but she quickly realized what was happening. Ariel was holding tightly onto

made

Ariel away at the same time. He was so

and anger rose in her. Why is she here? Is she here to

sauntering toward them with her arms crossed. A look of panic flashed across his face, and he hoped she did not

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

past Richard, Angela stopped in front of

daze from the fall. Seeing that Angela was being nice, she grabbed her hand and waited

support herself with a hand on her knee. Just when Ariel was halfway up, Angela suddenly retracted her hand, letting the woman

red. Angela had played with her and

hands and apologized, “I’m sorry. My hands were sweaty, and

did it on purpose,” said Ariel

my boyfriend

a red face, “What proof do you have? I

almost winter and the snakes are hibernating. Can’t

It did not help that Angela kept making her look bad in front

was Richard himself, whose lips were slightly curved up. He did not

to be misunderstood.” Ariel whined at

furrowed, and the resentment was evident in her eyes; it seemed like she was blaming him for

sit on the ground. As such, she stood up while placing a hand on her