Never Too Far Novel

Angela blushed again, and her face felt hot.

“Stop looking at me,” she ordered when she couldn’t stand his stares any longer.

“You can look at me, but I can’t look at you?” Richard refused to be taken advantage of in this situation.

She bit her lip and let out a laugh. She then covered his eyes, pressing against his sharp cheekbones slightly. The next moment, she felt his thick eyelashes flutter against her palms, making her heart flutter too. She soon realized that the man’s tall nose and seductive lips, which were left exposed, now looked extremely attractive.

She swallowed secretly and took her hands off his eyes. The man looked slightly amused as he gazed at her.

“Stare at me again, and I’ll be unkind to you.” She couldn’t help but threaten him.

“How unkind?” The man blinked at her, looking highly interested in whatever punishment she had in store for him.

“I…” Angela felt her tears well up. She was threatening a wolf right now, and she felt like the prey offering herself up. She bit her lip and stayed silent, concentrating on her task instead and letting him look to his heart’s content.

Richard stared at her face, which was extremely close to his, as if he was a wolf fixated on his prey. His eyes lingered on her soft red lips, and he silently raised a hand to place it on the back of her head.

She could feel the gentle yet powerful pressure on the back of her head as he pushed her face closer to him. Even then, she blushed but did not resist as she closed her eyes and allowed the pressure to press her closer to his lips.

As they were about to kiss, panicked footsteps came from outside the room. The unlocked door swung open to reveal Trevor and Jared, both looking excited. However, when they saw the scene on the couch, their eyes widened as they sucked in a breath.

Immediately, Angela sat up and turned away from them shyly, hiding her face behind her hands. Meanwhile, Richard had a dark expression on his face, his gaze looking almost murderous. Trevor and Jared did not have a death wish, so they quickly reported their mission. “We’ve found the lipstick, Richard.”

The man’s eyes glinted brightly, and even Angela turned around excitedly. “Really? You’ve found it?”

“That’s right. Once we send the signal, Miss Meyers will be out of danger.”

“That’s amazing. Does that mean I can go back to my parents?” She was so happy she pressed her hands together as she couldn’t wait to return home.

“Miss Meyers, please give us a few more days to complete the mission. By then, you can reunite with your family,” Jared promised.

“Thank you so much.” Angela looked at them gratefully.

“If you’re done here, get out,” a deep masculine voice uttered suddenly, suppressing the joyful mood. Trevor and Jared quickly left, tactfully closing the door behind them. They felt lucky they had good news to report, or they would’ve lost their lives.

Angela turned to Richard happily. “I can finally go home now, Richard! I’m safe.”

She thought the man would at least relax and share her happiness at the news, but he only raised his eyebrows briefly and answered, “Mmm.”

Her smile stiffened slightly. Why wasn’t he happy about this?

“What is it? Can’t you be happy for me now that I can return home?” She blinked several times, looking at his neutral expression. She was so excited that she wanted to celebrate the occasion.

“Even though we’ve found the lipstick, it doesn’t prove you are now out of danger. Protection is still needed for the time being.” Richard hadn’t relaxed at the news. On the contrary, he now had another pressing issue to handle other than work; if Angela returned home, she would soon find out that his fiancée was her cousin, Annie.

Richard knew it was reality, and Angela would know about it sooner or later. She would probably react as expected, but he wasn’t planning on telling her before that happened.

“In that case, are you protecting me this time, or is it someone else?” Angela looked expectant, but she didn’t wait for an answer before asking him something. “Can you continue protecting me?”

His phone rang at that moment, and he picked it up to look at the screen. “I have to go to the meeting room. Stay here and rest.”

She was still in a good mood, so she smiled. “Alright, you should get back to work!”

After he left, she touched her lips. She suddenly wondered if her parents would like Richard when she introduced him upon her return.

In the meeting room, everyone discussed excitedly how their mission was going to end perfectly. The lipstick was already placed under protection and sent back to where it should be—with its owner.

“Richard, should we…” Trevor got excited and wanted to suggest celebrating the occasion to the man sitting at the head of the table. However, when Trevor turned to him, he realized Richard wasn’t listening to their discussion. Instead, he was staring into the distance as if lost in thought. Trevor nudged Jared beside him, and the room became silent at once as the four people present sensed their leader’s mood.

They all knew why their leader was acting that way. Since Angela would return to the Meyers Family as their eldest daughter while he went on their next mission, they would soon be separated. After all, she was the daughter of a wealthy family while he was the leader of a group of commandos. Their romance wouldn’t be like any other couple; not only that, they’d never know when their next meeting would be.

“Don’t worry, Richard. Even after we complete our mission, you can still be with Miss Meyers,” Trevor said reassuringly.

“Exactly! She will never forget you,” Sean chimed in.

Richard retreated from his thoughts to see the concerned gazes of his comrades, and he got up from his seat. “Continue your work.”

After Richard exited the room, he did not return to his room to see Angela. Instead, he walked in a random direction and arrived among the flowerbeds. Ariel was there chatting with Carlton; as soon as she saw Richard, she moved toward him like a butterfly drawn to the flowerbeds. Even if she had embarrassed herself the last time she was with him, it didn’t stop her from wanting to be closer to the man.

She followed him to the flowerbeds and admired him from behind the trees as he walked away. Since he looked preoccupied with his thoughts, he did not notice her following him. Just when she thought of going forward to greet him, he pulled out his phone to make a call. She tried to remain patient so as not to interrupt him but did not leave, and soon, she could hear him addressing the person on the other end of the line. “Grandpa.”

He’s making a call to his grandpa! Ariel couldn’t help eavesdropping, yet Richard still hadn’t noticed her. On the other end, Richard’s grandpa was enquiring about the progress of his mission.

“We found the lipstick, and the mission will be ending soon.”

“That’s good. You should return so that your wedding with Annie may proceed. We can’t make the Meyers Family wait too long, you know.”

“Grandpa, I want to cancel the engagement.” Richard went straight to the point.

“Richard, this is not what we do as a member of the Lloyd Family. Since you are already engaged, you should fulfill your promise and marry her. You need to be responsible and give her family closure.”

“Grandpa, I don’t like her, and it would be irresponsible if I see through the marriage,” he argued.

“If you don’t fancy Annie, who do you fancy then?” Phillip refused to let him drag this out again. He wanted Richard to give him a great-grandson as soon as possible since Phillip wanted to see the next generation of his family while he was still alive.

Richard froze, then decided to maintain the decision he made all this while. “Grandpa, I don’t have any plans of marrying in this lifetime.”

“We’ll talk about this when you get back.” Phillip was so angry he choked on his breath and coughed lightly.

Richard immediately showed concern and asked him, “Grandpa, are you okay?”

“Come home, and we’ll discuss everything.” Phillip was the first to hang up.

Ariel, who was standing in the shade of the trees near the flowerbed, was surprised at the news. It turns out that Richard has a fiancée, yet he’s dating Angela back at the base. Not only that, his fiancée is a woman named Annie, and she’s from the Meyers Family as well.

A scheming look appeared in her eyes as she thought, Angela, you are a shameless mistress, huh? This time, let’s see how high and mighty you can be.

When Ariel returned her attention to her surroundings, Richard had already left. She entered the base via the side entrance and proceeded to knock on Angela’s door, wanting to have her revenge. After knocking for some time, no one answered. This made her curious—where could Angela be? She immediately wondered if the woman was in Richard’s room.

At this thought, she quickly headed to his room and knocked on his door. Angela, who had been reading, heard the sound and jumped. She put down her book and got up to open the door.

As soon as she opened it, she saw Ariel crossing her arms with a smirk on her face. “Angela, did you know that you are Richard’s mistress? How shameless of you!”

Angela’s expression darkened and she answered coldly, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you know? Richard has a fiancée, so what were you thinking when seducing him? Do you have any respect for her? Aren’t you the mistress?” Ariel deliberately raised her voice, making it sound shrill. On the other hand, several people nearby immediately looked in their direction after hearing this.

Angela’s face went red. Richard told only her that he had a fiancée, so how did Ariel know about it too? Did he tell her? How was that possible, though? Angela hadn’t even oriented her thoughts properly when Ariel continued to mock her and said, “He isn’t even planning to marry you at all, you know. I heard him mentioning that he never planned to marry while on the phone with his grandfather.”

Angela’s expression changed. Ariel had eavesdropped on his conversation, hadn’t she?

conversation?” Angela

this again—did you become involved with him knowing that he has a fiancée? That poor girl! Her fiancé is here being seduced by a wh*re like

calling her a mistress and wh*re was already crossing the line, even for

in our business.” Angela tried to

easily, though. She pushed the door open and pressed against it. “Why? Are you

done?” Angela’s mind was whirling as Ariel’s words weighed on her, making

Meyers as well!” Ariel smirked in victory, making Angela stunned yet

she giggled. “Angela, do you even know what her name is?

her name?” Angela took a deep breath

“That poor girl’s name is Annie. Richard is even planning to cancel their engagement because of

as Angela became pale and held onto the door frame for support. She looked as if someone had taken the

face so pale that she looked like

she looked at Ariel. “Is the girl’s

slightly offended Ariel responded, “Why

she was done making fun of Angela, and the girl looked tormented enough. She closed the door before leaving with

in her hands, her body shaking as painful sobs emitted from between her fingers. She remembered how excited Annie had been when she called Angela to announce her engagement to an extremely handsome man. Annie had fallen in love with him at first sight, yet she neglected to mention that his name was

event, Angela had been robbed and nearly killed, so Richard took her to a guardhouse and confiscated her mobile phone. She remembered him coming back late that night, then refusing to return her phone when she angrily sought him out. It turned out he had gone to get engaged with Annie that night. If she had had her phone with her, she wouldn’t have missed the news

a fiancé or that his fiancée was her cousin,

the floor, her eyes blurry with tears, then walked toward the couch to get some tissues to wipe her eyes. Her pain

an unsalvageable stage. It might be a little too late, but she

blame him for not telling her because it had been her initiating the relationship. If she hadn’t done so, he wouldn’t have even interacted with her. She had done something really bad, nearly destroying the happiness of her cousin who was more like a sister to her. She felt that Ariel had shouted

see her breaking down, plus she felt too guilty to see him. She shouldn’t even be in her

fell again. She pulled off her hairband, letting her long hair fall into her face and hide it from view, then opened the door and left. She ran to the top

from God. She hated her actions even more now, feeling

to be engaged to looks like? Oh my, he looks

getting engaged tomorrow. Would

in her mind. She felt that she was to blame for everything. After all, she shouldn’t have become interested in

she was sitting in a deserted area. The chilly wind

everything over again. This way, she could prevent herself from being entangled in a love triangle. She would not look twice at him, instead giving her blessings to Annie and feeling happy for

toward his room instead. When he arrived, he did not knock but opened the door immediately. Since Angela loved sleeping on his couch

disappointment. Just as he was about to leave, he immediately zeroed in on the balled-up pieces of tissue on the table, as well as another on the floor. He walked over at once and picked them up to take a closer look. They were

heart quickened. What happened to her? He immediately turned and walked out, going toward her room and knocking on the door. No one answered, which meant she

happened to

find Angela. He thought deeply for a while, mentally going through the places she always frequented—beside the waterfall, the top of the rocky mountain, and around the field. He eventually settled on the second option as if his intuition was leading him

cold wind for half an hour, her face now pale and hair tousled. Even her red lips had lost their color, which made her look really weak. Her body shivered with the cold, but she refused to go back. She just wanted

off his coat and approached her while holding it. Angela, whose senses had been dulled by faintness, emotional distress, and also the howling wind around them,

she turn around in surprise as her swollen eyes made contact with his worried ones. His heart squeezed forcefully at the

struggled violently against his hold, trying

afraid that she might hurt herself like this, so he had no choice but to put her down on the edge

a low tone,

as she said, “Richard, let me

in tha cold, his braathing staggarad. Almost immadiataly, ha pullad off his coat and approachad har whila holding it. Angala, whosa sansas had baan dullad by faintnass, amotional distrass, and also tha

mada contact with his worriad onas. His haart squaazad forcafully at tha sight, and ha carriad har from tha

against his hold,

sha might hurt harsalf lika this, so ha had no choica but to put har down on tha adga of a naarby rock. Whila ha stood looking down at har, sha lookad back

ha askad in a low tona,

said, “Richard,

you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us

Richard thought as his heart throbbed

asked rhetorically,

hide it from me? Why didn’t you tell me sooner that Annie is the one whom you are engaged with? If you had told me sooner, we wouldn’t have made this mistake… I wouldn’t have…” Angela’s

she could finish her sentence, Richard pulled her into his embrace and pressed her head

arms, Angela raised her fists and hit him on the

back and spoke in a deep

Oh, she was relieved when she found out that this situation was still reversible. As long

at Richard seriously. Although her eyes were red and

brows. Is she

“You can’t cancel the engagement. Annie loves you very much. So, you should keep your promise and make her your

deeply. Something sparked in his usual cold eyes—it was anger and distress. Distress as to the words she said and angry because of

she wanted to be his girlfriend. Now,

Richard was silent and did

not afraid of this sight of him and even pushed him for an answer. “Hurry up and promise me

glowered at her. “Are you done

his tense facial expression. She had a bad feeling in her gut that he wasn’t going to

still wanted to hear what he had

I don’t want to break up with

first sentence made Angela’s

a proper date before. What

I will call off the engagement,” Richard

she looked at him. At this moment, she wished she

swayed as if she was

she was back in Richard’s warm embrace. Out of instinct, she immediately pushed him away. She would rather hold on to the cold stone beside

it all over her face. Her face was overly pale compared to the darkness of her hair. It was as if she was so fragile that the wind

It’s cold out

I want to stay here a little longer,” Angela replied as she didn’t

this matter?” Richard squinted his eyes and

your grandpa when you were on the phone. You were planning on being unmarried for the rest of your life, is that so?” she raised her

it. He indeed sensed that someone was behind him, but he did not expect that it was Ariel. He ignored the presence as

say?” Richard trusted that Ariel must have said something else to Angela, as both girls had always been at each other’s throats. Once Ariel got hold of this matter, she would surely use it against

most important part is that we are over. I’m sorry, Richard. I was a sc*mbag for seducing you. I’m sorry that I offended you by not

see her in this state. Never did he expect that she would draw back this much after finding out about this matter. Furthermore, she

hold her, Richard gripped his knuckles as his face twitched slightly, watching her slim figure wavering because of

moment, the afternoon sky became gloomy, like it was

a stand-off, it started to rain eventually. The rain droplets made

He was not going to let her stay here any

was picking on her. Just as she was going to vent her frustration by letting herself soak in the rain, a pair of arms locked themselves

the

than the last time. Out of embarrassment, she tried to push him away but was only being pulled closer by Richard until she

eyes even darker while gulping sounds came

you dare back away or try to escape from me,” he whispered

react, she was being

in shock, but Richard was always a tough guy; she couldn’t expect him to

base, Trevor and the other four men couldn’t find them and were panicking as they watched the pouring rain. They wondered where Richard and Angela went as

pointed in a direction. “Look,

carrying a woman on his back in the rain. It was visible

going to hate Richie,” Sean

were on them, Richard did not flinch and continued to carry Angela back to his room.

Richard. You’re an as*hole!” Her accusation

they could only give

with jealousy. Anyone who knew Richard would understand that he would only treat the woman he loved this way. If he came across women that he was uninterested in, he wouldn’t even spare a glance. This meant that Angela was just throwing a tantrum and

she’s throwing a fit

around know what was

the ground would swallow me

ruthlessly. Although she did not get hurt by the soft couch, she saw