Chapter 8
When I thought of Dad, tears of regret dripped onto my pillow, staining it wet. I hated myself for pleading with Dad for Jasper’s
sake. I hated myself for falling in love with Jasper!
The first time I had seen Jasper was at a banquet that Dad had brought me to. I had only been 12 years old at the time. I saw Jasper
playing the violin on stage, looking as cold and aloof as a prince.
He had attracted the attention of everyone, and I was no exception.
After that day, I began paying attention to him from afar. Although I knew that he had a girlfriend whom his family had raised
with him, I couldn’t help watching him in secret.
Many years passed, and it became a girlish secret that I kept sealed in my heart. I did not dare to reveal it to anyone until
something big happened to the Smith family.
Overnight, Jasper went from being an arrogant heir to public enemy number one.
Even Nicole left him, even though she was his childhood friend and had been madly in love with him. He ended up drinking every
night, looking like a torn ragdoll abandoned by its owner.
He had been in a pitiful state.
I begged Dad to help him. Dad couldn’t refuse me, so he put in a huge sum of money and gradually helped Smith Corporation rise
from the ashes once more.
At the time, I had only met Jasper no more than three times. Every meeting was just a fleeting glance at home when he met my
father to discuss work.
Dad laughed at me and called me a coward, but I pleaded with him not to tell Jasper that I had begged him to help.
The truth was that I hadn’t been wrong about Jasper. He really was very capable, and he soon restored Smith Corporation to an even bigger scale than before. Those who had distanced themselves from him in the past began trying to curry favor with him
once more.
Besides that, in order to thank Dad, Jasper also helped our family company to grow even more.
Dad admired him and complimented me for having a good eye. He hinted that I should confess to Jasper soon because someone
was sure to snatch him up if I didn’t.
I refused. I knew about the relationship Jasper had had, and I had never thought about asking him to repay his debt to me. There
were some people I didn’t need to have to make myself happy.
However, Jasper suddenly proposed to me in front of everyone. I looked at Dad in shock and suspicion, but Dad laughed and shook his head. He wasn’t the one who had told Jasper.
Jasper looked tenderly at me. “It wasn’t Mr. Carlton who told me. I’m not that dumb, Aria. How could I not know who was the one
