Never Too Far Novel

Jared said to Selena, “Had you not been recommended by your father, I’d have fired you right now.”

At this moment, Stanley finally found Jared here after spending a long time looking for the man to no avail. He urged at the door, “President Presgrave, it’s time for the meeting.”

Jared darted a look at Ellen. Then, he warned her, “Stay here,” before leaving.

In the office, Selena’s face was livid one moment and pale the next. Looking somewhat ferocious, she looked daggers at Ellen, asking, “What’s your relationship with President Presgrave?”

Having seen through this cousin of hers, Ellen didn’t bother to answer her question. She retorted, “Is that any of your business?”

Selena looked at the young lady before her, who reeked of poverty from her very bones except for her pretty looks. “This can’t be possible! How could you be good enough for President Presgrave? What is it about you that qualifies you to catch his fancy?”

In a rare moment, Ellen’s face hardened, though her expression was already frosty in the first place. She pointed to the door, saying, “Please get out.”

Selena was stunned for a second before she realized she was being chased away—and by Ellen of all people. “J-Just you wait! I’ll make you pay for the humiliation I suffered today!” she threatened. With that, she tossed her head and left.

Exhausted, Ellen slumped into the chair as though she had just fought a war. Resting her head in her hands, she felt an overpowering weariness sweep over her. Her brain was fatigued; her cheeks burned again without her knowing when she looked back on what Jared had said just now. Am I too stupid to notice that he’s been courting me all the time? But has he ever courted me? she asked herself inwardly in hindsight. Nothing of the sort! Ah, my mind’s confused. Let’s not think about this anymore. Just calm down and do some reading instead!

On the other hand, Selena went downstairs and returned to her desk. She looked at her small office, then at Ellen’s large, spacious office.

She had never felt so aggrieved before and reflected on what Jared had said. So, Jared fell in love with Ellen first and has been courting her since then? And he said Ellen was stupid for not noticing that?

Selena bit her lip. How could Ellen be so lucky? This made her feel kind of resentful, as though her life had been wasted before this. It was like no matter how hard she tried to get luck on her side, she could never be as lucky as Ellen, who met Jared. Indeed, her family was rich, but it was simply nothing to speak of compared to the Presgraves.

She was really green with jealousy. The Presgrave Family’s money had never crossed her mind, but she had always dreamed of having Jared to herself ever since she first laid eyes on him. But now, he actually fell in love with Ellen, a poor relative whom she looked down on the most. That’s even more distressing than death, no? Just in what way is Ellen better than me?

She closed her eyes. Just then, her phone rang; she picked it up and took a look. Seeing that it was a phone call from a rich dandy whom she had gotten to know abroad, she immediately composed herself and answered the phone. “Hey, Charlie!”

“Lena, I heard that you’re back in the country. I have a dinner party this Friday that I’d like to invite you to join.”

“A dinner party? What kind of dinner party is that?”

“It’s a charity dinner that’ll absolutely be fun.”

Selena was someone who judged people by their appearances. Charlie Dune’s family was rich, but she turned up her nose at him because he was over 220 pounds. This time, however, she wasn’t going to give up the opportunity to attend such a dinner party. Hence, she replied with a smile, “Well, then, let’s have fun together!”

“Alright. I’ll pick you up then, so dress up for the party!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t make you look bad,” Selena replied with a smile before ending the phone call. As soon as she hung up the phone, though, she had goosebumps all over in disgust.

Still, she was really in a foul mood today and had to look for something that would make her happy. Getting off work earlier than she was supposed to, she first went back to Ellen’s place to pack her belongings.

Ellen had given Selena the key to her place. At this moment, having packed her belongings there, Selena vented her anger by deliberately messing up the place. Not only that, she even smashed one of its ornaments to pieces.

Seeing how the place looked like it had been ransacked, she couldn’t help but laugh gloatingly. However, just when she was about to leave, Ellen pushed the door open and came in from the outside, having returned from work.

The two women looked at each other. Then, seeing the chaos all over the place, Ellen clenched her fists and burned with anger, saying, “You’ve gone too far, Selena!”

Selena looked at her disdainfully. She scoffed, “So what if I’m going too far? I haven’t had enough of smashing things yet! Even if I smash everything here, I can afford to pay for it. How’s that?”

Ellen clenched her fists even tighter. Seeing the smashed ornament on the floor, she finally lost the last of her patience. Suddenly coming at Selena, she grabbed her by the hair, pinned her to the floor, and started beating her, yelling, “Why did you have to smash everything here? This place isn’t mine!”

“Ouch! It hurts! Get your hands off me, damn Ellen!” Selena forgot to fight back; she was momentarily preoccupied with the pain of being straddled by Ellen and pulled by the hair.

Ellen held onto a handful of Selena’s hair and refused to let go as she boiled with rage. “So what if you can afford to pay for it? Who let you smash these things?”

Selena had never been treated like this before. She yelled angrily, “Let go of me! Get your hands off me now!”

“Apologize for what you did!” Ellen demanded an apology.

Ellen would rather die than say sorry to her, though. “To hell if I’ll do that!”

“You’re not allowed to leave until you apologize,” Ellen said, pressuring her while continuing to pull her by the hair.

At last, Selena ignored the pain and fought back, pinching Ellen’s waist hard and getting up while the latter was in pain. Then, she struck back by swinging her bag at Ellen, forcing the latter to put up her arms to fend her off. As a result, the metal on her bag instantly cut Ellen’s arm, causing several drops of blood to stain the latter’s shirt red.

“Aah!” Ellen’s face turned pale in pain.

Seeing the blood on her arm, Selena stopped her attack, her hair disheveled. At this very moment, she just wanted to leave here as soon as possible lest Ellen went crazy again. “I’ll remember this,” she didn’t forget to threaten before leaving.

Ellen sat on the sofa and opened her shirt. When she saw the cut on her forearm, a sudden bout of grievance washed over her, causing her to burst into tears for a moment. Crying nonstop, she picked up a piece of tissue and wiped the blood away as tears blurred her eyes.

Meanwhile, shortly after Selena left by cab downstairs, a man took the elevator at the underground parking lot and went upstairs.

Jared got out of the meeting, only to realize that Ellen had left beforehand. He couldn’t help worrying that she might actually quit her job, so he had no choice but to come over and talk with her to dissuade her from doing so.

He reached the door to her apartment, but just when he wanted to press the doorbell, he noticed that the door was half open and unlocked. As it turned out, Selena had merely yanked the door shut and gone out while leaving in a great hurry just now. Thanks to inertia, the door closed automatically, but it wasn’t locked.

Jared’s heart clenched at the sight of this. How could she be so careless as not to close the door properly? This neighborhood is pretty good in terms of security, but it’s still dangerous if she comes across bad people. He pushed the door open and came in. The next instant, he saw the mess on the floor and Ellen, who was crying and sitting on the sofa with her hand clamped over her arm.

Noticing that someone had entered, Ellen raised her teary eyes in fright to see her boss come uninvited. Startled, she stood up in a panic. The tissue paper plugging the wound on her arm fell off, revealing a bleeding cut that was almost an inch long.

“What happened? How did you get hurt?” Jared quickly came over and grabbed her arm before examining the wound.

Ellen hurriedly shook her head. Not wanting him to worry, she even hid her arm guiltily. “It’s nothing… I just hurt myself by accident.”

“What’s going on with your place? Was it a break-in or something?” Jared looked around the place. Then, recalling something, he went to the living room cabinet and rummaged around in it. As he had expected, he found a first-aid kit, which he took out before walking up to her. “Sit down and let me bandage your wound.”

Ellen had no choice but to sit down.

Jared opened the first-aid kit and took out some cotton balls and a bandage.

At this moment, Ellen couldn’t be bothered by the pain. She wiped her tears in secret, not wanting to appear too fragile in front of the man.

“What in the world happened? How did you get hurt?” Jared asked with a frown, but his hand movements were extremely gentle.

Ellen let him bandage her wound while explaining with a sigh, “Selena messed up my place on purpose before moving out. When I pulled her by the hair and asked her to apologize, she hit me with her bag. The cut on my arm was made by the metal on her bag.”

Jared felt incredibly sick at the thought of Selena. Why is Ellen always surrounded by such ill-bred relatives? “Did she apologize to you, then?” he asked.

Ellen shook her head, saying, “No, she didn’t.” Even so, she was glad to have taken action this time. Even though she got hurt as a result, she was at least not weak anymore.

Jared said, “Just stay away from these relatives as much as you can from now on.” After packing the first-aid kit, he began to help Ellen tidy the place.

Ellen was stunned for a few seconds. Is my boss tidying up the place for me? There’s no way I could be so lucky. “You don’t have to do this, President Presgrave. Let me do it instead.”

Jared stopped her just as she wanted to get up. “Sit there and don’t move.”

“I can do this. I’m totally fine.” Ellen still wanted to stand up and lend a hand.

The man had no choice but to come over and sit her down on the sofa with an authoritative look in his deep eyes. “Just be a good girl, okay?”

Stupefied, Ellen reclined on the sofa as if she had been rooted to the spot. Looking up at the man, she listened to him.

The man tidied up the place dexterously after finishing his speech.

Perhaps Selena wouldn’t have expected that Jared would be the one who tidied Ellen’s place after all the trouble she had taken to smash it up. Finding the broom and the mop in the storeroom, he cleared the broken pieces of ornament away from the floor. After that, he even went to the master bedroom.

Don’t tell me Selena even made a mess of my bed! thought Ellen. She hurried to the master bedroom. When she saw Jared making the bed and folding up the quilt for her, her pretty face instantly turned scarlet.

As it turned out, Selena didn’t mess up her bed; it was just that she had gotten up late in the morning and forgotten to fold up the quilt before she left for work. At this moment, seeing how the tall figure stood by her bed while folding up the quilt dexterously with his large hands, she felt incredibly embarrassed.

around Ellen’s master bedroom. The bedroom was clean and tidy, save for the

His parents must’ve done a great job of

Jared turned around and said to her, “Alright, it’s done. Let’s go out and have

Not only had he tidied her place, but he even offered to treat her to dinner. “Thank you, President Presgrave, but never mind about dinner. Please go ahead with your business if you have something to deal with.” She was shy of scrounging a

arms across his chest while narrowing

not chasing you away! It’s just that you’re very busy,

Then, he ordered, “I’m asking you to

eyes. He really is the most domineering man I’ve ever seen. Consequently, she had no choice

home with her suitcase in her hand, Olivia asked in surprise, “Why are

wanna talk about it. Ellen, that little b*tch! I won’t let her off for this!” Selena replied

looked at her daughter

out of her place, hit me, and even pulled me by the hair! My

rage instantly. Now that her daughter had gotten hit by Ellen, how

“Mom, where’s Dad?”

first—why did she hit you?” Olivia dragged her to the sofa

she thought I was making a mess of her place on purpose! She came at me, pulled

and her brother back when her parents died? What an ingrate who bites the hand that feeds her!” Olivia swore loudly before attempting to take out her

saying, “Mom, don’t call her first. There’s

Olivia sat down again.

reddened. She said, “Mom, the man I love, he… he actually loves Ellen! I can’t resign

about?” For a moment, Olivia wasn’t sure who her

else can it be? It’s our boss,

Young Master Jared? Are you saying he’s

Ellen in the office this morning, he said he loved her and warned me not to bully her. Mom, in what way am I inferior to her?” She

such a coincidence? That Young Master Jared is in love with Ellen? Don’t tell me that ghosts really do exist in the world and that this is the work of Ellen’s dead brother? “Your dad is to blame for this, too. I told him not to get Ellen

surprise. “Mom, what did you say? You mean it was Dad

admit, “Yeah, that’s right.

did he have to get Ellen into the company as well?” She was beside herself with rage after listening to this. If Ellen hadn’t joined the Presgrave Group, she wouldn’t have

in the foot. To think Ellen and Young Master Jared hit it off so quickly as to fall in love with each other! No, I can’t let her and Young Master Jared become a couple no matter what, or what happened before

hate her guts,” Selena sobbed

the same time, she was even more afraid of Ellen, fearing that she would learn about the truth of what had happened

Meanwhile, in the restaurant…

the morning where she had lied to

pestered by other women. “Alright, let bygones be bygones!” he said, ending the subject. Then, he asked, “Are you still gonna quit your

reply, “Do I really have to pay eight million

breach-of-contract damages for your job

any losses if she didn’t quit her job, she replied with a wave of her hand, “I won’t quit my job, then. I’ll keep on working until you sack me on your own initiative!” There’s no way I can

let out a snort of laughter. “Seems like

out a wry laugh. “I’m just

you free this Friday night?”

She didn’t have to work extra hours on Friday night, nor did she have anything else to deal with. So,

dinner party

had never attended such an upper-class dinner

“A charity dinner.”

honestly, “President Presgrave, I’ve never attended dinner parties before, so I’m afraid I’ll make you look bad. Why

by her reply. He said, “How can you possibly embarrass yourself in my presence?

blinked her eyes before asking for confirmation, “Do I

have to,” Jared asserted in an authoritative

up her courage, she replied, “Okay, I’ll go

of the dinner, Jared drove her home, telling her on the way to

neighborhood. She said with a wave of

she had safely entered the neighborhood,

into a smile. Recalling how the man even helped her make the bed, she felt both embarrassed and

would call me at such a late hour? she wondered. She picked up the phone, only to see that it was a phone call from Olivia. Her heart clenched. Don’t tell me she’s gonna give me a dressing-down!

a reproving tone of voice. Moreover, she even put the blame on Ellen without listening to her side of the story. Before Ellen could answer, she warned her, “I’m telling you, Ellen, if you dare lay a hand on Lena again, I won’t let you get away with it! I was kind enough to keep you and your brother back then, but little

her brother, Ellen had no choice but to reply, “Aunt Olivia, I admit that what happened was partly my

at everyone right now, huh? Did you ever think about who was the one that got you into the Presgrave Group? It was your uncle who pulled strings to get you into the

“Mom, let me talk to her.” She then said to the other end of the line, “Ellen, I want you to

that it was Selena, Ellen bit her lip, saying,

have gotten to know President Presgrave. Without my dad, your resettlement compensation would’ve been taken by others long ago. Ellen, as long as you apologize to me, I can forget about this.” Selena just wanted to see

Selena. What about

much is that thing of yours? I’ll pay you for that,

to you,” Ellen said

parents won’t look after you anymore

your own’ pricked Ellen’s

then, Olivia took the phone back from Selena. “Ellen, your parents died early, so we fostered you and your brother out of pity. Now that you’ve grown up, you don’t obey us anymore. Not only are you unfilial

sound unpleasant to the ear, but they were as

you up. We don’t have such a heartless niece. Either you apologize to

heart twinged; she felt an overwhelming pressure weighing down

said?” Selena’s voice rang on the

With that, she hung up right away. Her heart was heavy, and it pained her a lot, but she knew that she didn’t do anything

let out a snort in anger when the phone call ended.

Ellen, the latter would immediately be scared into apologizing in order to maintain her relationship with the only relatives she had left. However, little did she think Ellen would have the nerve to hang up on her instead. “This little brat has got some nerve, huh?” She was angry as well. “Let’s see who’s gonna care about her when I no longer speak for her in the

then, Connor

instant Selena saw him, she went up to him angrily, asking, “Dad, why did you get Ellen into

you staying at Ellen’s place? Why did you come back?” Connor

still be in the mood to ask about this? Your daughter got pulled by

hit you?” Connor was puzzled. How could

an ornament at her house. She pulled me by the hair and hit me without

was, Connor knew Ellen must’ve hit her because she had gone too far. “Okay, don’t stay at

wouldn’t stick up for her, Selena went upstairs angrily to

room on the first floor. Then,

asked

said Young Master Jared is in love with Ellen, so perhaps Ellen will learn about his

would Young Master Jared fall in love with Ellen?” he asked in surprise. He couldn’t understand why Jared would love a commoner like Ellen. After all, the Presgraves were the number-one family

court her. Say, Connor, do you think there are supernatural events on earth? Young Master Jared’s current heart belonged to Ellen’s brother. Could the late Kevin have helped her without us knowing?” Olivia said as

believe in supernatural events, though. He quickly shot a glare at his wife, saying,

in love with Ellen? What is it about Lena that makes her inferior to Ellen? Why does he love Ellen instead of Lena?” She simply couldn’t wrap her head around this. My daughter wouldn’t lose to Ellen in terms of looks and

up marrying a lady who matched his wealth and social status. “Don’t worry too much

learns

compensation. I’ll brace myself and talk to her about it by then.” Connor had already come up with a way out of this. And besides, Ellen was his niece, which would make these

much will we have left, then? We just asked the Presgrave Family for 50 million three years ago. We can’t ask

concluded, “By then, you and Lena can just cut down on

to this life. I can’t start being thrifty now. Besides, Lena still has to

I’ll work hard to

project with your skills? I don’t believe

soured. “Either

seeing her husband swing the door open and leave, Olivia couldn’t help but place her hands on her waist and thought that she would never let Ellen find out. If not,

…

it was Friday. As Ellen sent a cup of coffee to Jared’s office, he handed her a name card right as she was about to leave. “Go to this place at three

the name card and saw that it belonged to

and try the gowns on and

worried about this, but she was surprised to see that he had already taken care of everything

“Okay.” She nodded.

asked, “I’m going to have lunch with a few clients.

The food there is

tried the

take me to try it out

more than

at three,” Jared reminded as if fearing that

forget, and she was even looking forward to it. After leaving his office, she searched the shop’s location and saw that it was not that far

just a little distracted. Fortunately, she had a knack for controlling men, so her work was covered by her male colleagues. For lunch, she dined with the wealthy Charlie as she had to accompany him to the dinner party that night, and she managed to

him, women were only fun when they were new, and Selena had been

your gown. My aunt has a dress shop, so you can just go over

or renting it?” Selena asked with

we’re renting it! There’s no need to buy it when you’re only going to

filled with contempt at his words, she still said ingratiatingly, “You’re