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.”

she heard that, so Angela threw herself into his embrace and hugged him. “Alright, I will make

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

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

in. When they rounded the corner, they were scared upon seeing Richard and Angela standing there. After noticing the glower on Richard’s face,

in and laughed out loud. It seemed like they

the hand of the man beside

She walked happily in front of him as

Angela let go of him when they reached the entrance of the base. She did not want to let the others know they were dating and become the center of attention,

back, Captain Lloyd!” Ariel wore a red bodycon dress and looked like a red rose, making her look

Angela saw that,

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

doesn’t have the time for that. What do you want to read? I’ll go with

can get them

to enter my room,” Richard replied to Ariel coldly as he guided Angela away with his hands on her shoulder. He did not even spare a moment to look

Richard’s reaction only triggered her competitive side. She would not give up as she believed that all men would fall to their knees before

She could not sit still; she would be on the couch,

morning, 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 in the sheets and

as she came to her senses, she 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. As long as he had not broken off the engagement, she was

online meeting with his subordinates in the conference room. On the wall, the projector was showing the scene of another meeting area.

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

is that so?” Richard narrowed his

above. We didn’t

and pondered. An order from above…

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

believes in our abilities to

do.” Richard

at him as he was deep in thought. After a moment, he asked them to leave. “Please leave the room. I need to make

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

voice was deep and magnetic, and he had an aura of

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

fit for

not fit for

to your father’s

could be seen in his eyes. The sounds of

Richard took a deep

do,” answered the person

phone, “Uncle, this is

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

I don’t agree to

you back here and swap your position into

growled into the phone and said, “Just because you’re the vice president doesn’t mean

elder. There won’t be any further discussion on this matter. I have a

and furrowed his eyebrows in pain. He looked at his

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

I’ve missed your voice,” she replied

with my job.” Richard’s sole purpose of calling

fault; I asked him to do that. My only request is to stop

“Why?”

Do I have to lose you too?”

let me kill that monster

good judgment, and even your life too,” answered the lady sobbingly

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

for your uncle, alright?

Richard asked

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

I’ll visit when I

Let me know when

Annie, but he had not thought about marriage yet. “We’ll talk about this later, Mom. I’m not in a rush to get

though. You’re not that young anymore—you’re

on a mission. I’ll go home when I have time. Take care,

a noble family to save his granddad’s business and became a well-known madam in

knew it was tough for her, and she had no choice but to

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 work. At times, he wished he had an ordinary family so

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

we ask Miss Meyers to

better to let him have some time

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

was tall and attractive.

tidied herself up a bit and gracefully walked toward Richard. “What a coincidence meeting you here,

turned his head and looked at her. “Can

have time to accompany me for a walk?” She

a passing teammate, and the young man

Graham company and go for a

could not believe that he had asked a random person

fine, Captain Lloyd. I’ll just stay here and

frowned and said, “I don’t have time to chat. It would be

Ariel stomped her feet and

for a walk?” The young teammate waited

Carry on with

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

was getting bored inside the room. She looked at the time and

he not done with the

walking toward her. She then went up to him and

Miss Meyers. Has he not returned to his

“Nope.”

ago, but he didn’t look too happy.

her eyes 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

that he had gone out of the base, she turned around

entrance, a teammate happened to walk in. She asked, “Hi there,

young man Richard had summoned just now. The man

it was the direction of the practice field, so she sprinted

pathway Richard was on and saw his silhouette through the trees. She looked down and pulled

she found the right moment, Ariel ran

Since they were close, Ariel bumped into him

face turned cold as he scrunched his eyebrows. “Let

letting go.

scream. She ran out of the forest and saw two people hugging on the pathway—it was

was happening. Ariel was holding tightly onto Richard and not letting go. However, his hands were by his side, not

Angela made a loud

she made herself known, Richard pushed Ariel away at the same time. He was so rough that Ariel stumbled backward, lost her balance, and

to see Angela, and anger rose in her. Why is she here? Is she here to mess

see Angela sauntering toward them with her arms crossed. A

Lloyd! Can you pull me up?” The pain

in front of

Angela was being nice, she grabbed her hand and waited

Just when Ariel was halfway up, Angela suddenly retracted

Ariel’s face turned red. Angela had played with her and made her

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

it on

trying to seduce my boyfriend as well?” Angela

Angela to see through her plan, Ariel refuted with a red face, “What proof do you have?

winter and the snakes are hibernating. Can’t you come up

before. It did not help that Angela kept making her look bad

lips were slightly curved up. He did not expect her to see him

I don’t want to

the resentment was evident in her eyes; it seemed like she was blaming him for letting another woman hug

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