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.

clean and tidy, save for the disheveled quilt, which he folded up without any

up! His parents must’ve

her, “Alright, it’s done. Let’s go

sorry for the man. 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

arms across his chest while narrowing his eyes. “Are you

away! It’s just that

her short. Then, he ordered, “I’m asking you to have

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

home with her suitcase in

wanna talk about it. Ellen, that little b*tch! I won’t let her

looked at her daughter with concern. “What

and even pulled me by the hair! My scalp still

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

“Mom, where’s Dad?”

did she hit you?” Olivia dragged her to the

into pieces by accident when I moved out, yet she thought I was making a mess of her place on purpose! She came at me, pulled me by the hair, and shoved me to the floor. If I hadn’t fought back in the end, she

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

her, saying, “Mom, don’t call her first. There’s one other thing that I want

Olivia sat down again.

“Mom, the man I love, he… he actually loves

For a moment, Olivia wasn’t

be? It’s our boss, of

“Y-You mean that Young Master Jared? Are you

he said he loved her and warned me not to bully her. Mom, in what way

Olivia said, comforting Selena while holding her in her arms. At the same time, she looked surprised and anxious. Is there 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 into

Selena couldn’t help but look up in surprise. “Mom, what did you

she had let it slip, Olivia had no choice but to admit, “Yeah, that’s right. Your dad got Ellen a job at that

to get Ellen into the company as well?” She was beside herself

should’ve stopped him back then. Now I have shot myself in the foot. To think Ellen and Young Master Jared hit it off so

I hate her guts,” Selena sobbed in

bad end.” Olivia was resentful, too. At the same time, she was even more afraid of Ellen, fearing that she would learn about the truth of what had happened back then and

Meanwhile, in the restaurant…

the incident in the morning where she had lied to Selena that Jared had

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

really have to pay eight million in breach-of-contract

“The breach-of-contract damages for your job are more than

involuntarily gulped at once. Then, thinking that she wouldn’t suffer 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

out a snort of laughter.

out a wry laugh. “I’m just doing what suits me

you free this Friday night?”

extra hours on Friday night, nor did she have anything else to deal with. So, she nodded, saying, “I am. Is there anything

a dinner

had never attended such an upper-class

“A charity dinner.”

Presgrave, I’ve never attended dinner parties before, so I’m afraid I’ll make you look bad. Why don’t you invite someone else

reply. He said, “How can you possibly embarrass yourself in my

blinked her eyes before asking for confirmation, “Do

Jared asserted

nodded. Mustering up her courage, she

home, telling her on the way to go to bed early and be careful

She said with a wave of her hand, “Drive safely

After she had safely entered the neighborhood, he finally made a

help curling her lips into

phone, only to see that it was a phone call from Olivia. Her heart clenched. Don’t tell me she’s gonna

that? Don’t you have the slightest respect for her? She’s your cousin!” Olivia yelled angrily in 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

how Olivia talked about her kindness in fostering her and her brother, Ellen had no choice but to reply, “Aunt Olivia, I admit that what happened was partly my fault, but it wasn’t my fault alone. Selena was in the

Master Jared at your back, so you’re turning your nose up 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

she finished her speech, Selena snatched the phone from her, saying, “Mom, let me talk to her.” She then said to the other end of

was Selena, Ellen bit her lip,

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 Ellen

matter, Selena.

replied haughtily, “That little wound of yours is nothing. Also, how much is that thing of yours? I’ll pay you for that, but you have

apologize to

won’t look after you anymore either. From

your own’ pricked Ellen’s

you’ve grown up, you don’t obey us anymore. Not only are you unfilial to us, but you

sound unpleasant to the ear, but they were as

need your elders to back you up. We don’t have such a heartless niece.

twinged; she felt an

what my mom said?” Selena’s voice rang on the other end. Obviously, they

the line, “I’ll never apologize to you for this.” With that, she hung up right away.

when the phone call ended. “Mom,

to sever all relations with 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

Connor

went up to him angrily, asking, “Dad, why did you get Ellen into the Presgrave Group? Do you

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

“How could you still be in the mood to ask about this?

would Ellen hit you?” Connor was puzzled. How could Ellen

hair and hit me without hesitation! My scalp still hurts right

hit her because she had gone too far. “Okay, don’t

wouldn’t stick up for her, Selena went upstairs

into the small living room on the first floor. Then, she

Connor asked

perhaps Ellen will learn about his heart replacement one day. Won’t we

fall in love with Ellen?” he asked in surprise. He couldn’t understand why Jared would love a commoner like Ellen.

events on earth? Young Master Jared’s

He quickly shot a glare at his wife, saying, “What nonsense are you talking about? How could such a weird thing exist in the

makes her inferior to Ellen? Why does he love Ellen instead of Lena?” She simply couldn’t wrap her head

worried as well, but he thought nothing would happen between Ellen and Jared. As a man, he understood that Jared would end up marrying a lady who matched his wealth and social status. “Don’t worry too much about it. Only we know about Kevin’s heart donation back then, so Ellen

Ellen learns about

Connor had already come up with a way out of this. And besides, Ellen was his niece,

will we have left, then? We just asked the Presgrave Family for 50 million

from his investments and concluded, “By then,

that possible? I’ve already gotten used to this life. I can’t start being thrifty now. Besides, Lena still has to get married

I’ll work hard to save

profitable project with your skills? I don’t believe it!” Olivia

soured. “Either way,

her hands on her waist and thought that she would never let Ellen find out.

…

the blink of an eye, 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

took the name card and saw that it

You can just go and try the gowns on and pick whichever you like. I’ll pick you up for the party at half

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

“Okay.” She nodded.

to have lunch with

“The cafeteria, of course! The food there is hearty

the president, Jared had never tried the cafeteria food, mostly due to his

take me to try it out one

Ellen agreed, more than willing to

be there at three,” Jared reminded as if fearing

to it. After leaving his office, she searched the shop’s

male colleagues. For lunch, she dined with the wealthy Charlie as she had to accompany him

for quite some time. To him, women were only fun when they were new, and Selena had been leaving him hanging, which kept him

has a dress shop, so you can just go over

renting it?” Selena asked with a

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

Selena was filled with contempt at his words, she still said ingratiatingly,