She walked toward the stairs.

"Jean, your brother just hopes you won’t be so hard on yourself. Try to look on the bright side. There are plenty of good men in the world, not just Ethan Ellsworth. Don’t be so extreme," Mrs. Grant called out to stop her.

She didn’t react, walking up the stairs one step at a time.

Once upstairs, she sat on her bed, staying quiet for a few minutes.

Then, she took out her phone. "Hello, is this the Valiant Club? I’d like to hire you to do something for me secretly. Of course, it pays very well. I’ll pay you half now, and the other half after the job is done—"

*

Nora Ainsworth knew Quentin Grant had returned to the country. She sat there alone, mulling things over. ’Am I being held prisoner here?’ she wondered.

They hadn’t even given her any way to communicate with the outside world.

She was incredibly bored.

In the evening, she left her room to take a walk.

She found herself outside Walsh’s window and overheard the conversation inside.

"Master, President Grant has left. Did he leave that Miss Ainsworth behind?" It sounded like Walsh’s apprentice.

"He’ll be back tomorrow."

"Master, what are you developing now? Will the ovulation-inducing drug work on Miss Ainsworth?" the apprentice asked again.

Walsh said languidly, "How will we know if it works if we don’t try? Besides, President Grant just wants her body conditioned as quickly as possible. Then, all it will take is one drugged drink, and he’ll be able to sit back and do whatever he pleases. Pregnancy is just a matter of time."

Hearing this, Nora Ainsworth cursed Quentin Grant a thousand times over in her head.

She quietly slipped back to her room.

She began to grow agitated.

’I knew it,’ she thought. ’Locking me in here... it was never for anything good. Using medical treatment as a pretext to get me pregnant?’

’There isn’t even a single window!’

After thinking it over and over, Nora Ainsworth decided she couldn’t just sit back and wait for the worst to happen.

She had long since noticed the diamond ring on her hand. It looked incredibly valuable, something she could pawn if she needed money.

So, taking nothing but some food and water, Nora Ainsworth snuck to a deserted spot in the backyard. She scrambled up the wall with all her might and jumped down on the other side.

She was in a forest. Clutching a flashlight, she ran as fast as she could.

She rested when she grew tired but never dared to stop for long.

She had no idea where she was; she just kept running.

It was pitch black, without another soul in sight.

After running for a long time, she finally came across a village. But she didn’t dare stop there, deciding to press on to a market town before resting.

Walking and resting in turns, she finally reached a market town by dawn.

She went to several jewelry shops, but none of them could even give her a price for the ring. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Finally, Nora Ainsworth pawned the ring for one hundred thousand in cash.

If she knew the ring was worth tens of millions, she would have probably felt like the world’s biggest fool.

With the one hundred thousand in cash, she boarded a bus.

She had managed to escape, but Walsh was frantic.

He immediately called Quentin Grant.

Quentin Grant rushed back, arriving by ten in the morning.

He sent men to search everywhere, but they only turned up one lead.

"Young Master, a jewelry shop owner said a young woman came in early this morning trying to pawn an expensive diamond ring. He didn’t have enough cash, so he couldn’t take it."

Quentin Grant was exasperated. "Search every single jewelry shop in this town," he ordered immediately.

Half an hour later, they finally found a lead.

"Reporting, Young Master. It was indeed Miss Ainsworth. I’ve reviewed the surveillance footage. She traded the diamond ring for one hundred thousand in cash and left."

"One hundred thousand? She sold it for that little," Quentin Grant scoffed. "What are you standing around for?! Get that ring back! Go and buy it back now!"

When the ring was in his hands, he confirmed it was indeed the one he had bought for her. The one on his own hand was its pair.

They were a matching pair. He had put it on her finger himself not long ago.

"I want a full-scale manhunt. Issue a global missing person alert. Release her photo. The bigger the spectacle, the better. Just say this: The Grant Family’s Young Madam, Nora Ainsworth, has run away from home! There will be a massive reward for the person who finds her!" Quentin Grant commanded. ’Let’s see just how far you can run.’

And just like that, his move made global headlines.

It was the top story in publications of every language.

Alveria’s most eligible bachelor had personally confirmed that the rising starlet Nora Ainsworth was his girlfriend, though whether they had already registered their marriage was unknown.

The internet went into a frenzy. Female netizens wailed in jealousy, lamenting that Nora Ainsworth didn’t know what was good for her. How could she reject such a rich, handsome man and even run away from home!

What had the world come to?

Leon Lynch, who had been keeping a low profile lately, was delighted by the news. ’It’s not that I want to take advantage of her situation,’ he thought, ’I just want to know why the hell Nora Ainsworth ran away from home.’

And so, Leon Lynch also sent his own men to search for any trace of Nora Ainsworth.

「In the Ainsworth family’s courtyard.」

Sharon Ainsworth sat on a chair, sunbathing and munching on sunflower seeds.

Seeing Nicholas Ainsworth return, she called out, "Brother, did you hear? That fool Nora Ainsworth actually ran away from Young Master Grant."

Nicholas Ainsworth hadn’t seen Nora Ainsworth in a long time, but he had already seen the news about it.

"You should just worry about yourself and stop meddling," he said.

"I mean, are all these rich young masters blind? Look at the people they choose. The socialites are nothing special, either. The rich should stick with the rich. Just look at Jean Grant and that social climber she found. He ate her food, drank her wine, used her things, and spent her money, even dragging his whole family along for the ride. In the end, he used her money to cheat on her with other women. It’s a huge scandal in our circle now. To fail that spectacularly as a woman is really something else!"

Nicholas Ainsworth shot her a look. "You’re one to talk. Aren’t you wrapped up in your own scandal? Just give it a rest."

"What do you mean? And let me tell you, Brother, the company is stable now. You need to listen to Dad and find a woman to marry. If you don’t get married, it makes it hard for me to get married."

"No one is stopping you from getting married. I’ve already heard all about you and that boss of yours. You made such a scene that you even caused his divorce. Sharon, do you really think he’s going to marry you?"

Sharon Ainsworth tossed her sunflower seed shells aside and said sheepishly, "We broke up a few days ago. Don’t mention him to me ever again. I’m still young. I have plenty of men to choose from."

Nicholas Ainsworth said gravely, "See? He divorced his wife, but he still wouldn’t marry you. In fact, he broke up with you. I just hope you’ll find a dependable man, someone you can rely on. Stop being so reckless."

Sharon Ainsworth pouted. "Well, I’d have to actually meet a dependable man first. I’m not like Nora Ainsworth, who just stumbles into having a man like Young Master Grant looking out for her. If I had a man like him, I’d be more than happy. But the problem is, there aren’t any more like him, are there?"

Nicholas Ainsworth couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. "Men like him are a rare breed. If every woman thought like you, then no one would ever get married."