Chapter 1 Indecent Pictures

• He kept her up throughout the entire night.
• It came as a surprise to Noelle Hooper that such a gentle-looking man was nothing but a wolf hiding in sheep’s clothing. Once his inner being was unleashed, the man ravaged her like a wild beast without a pause until she grew limp from exhaustion.
• Resoundingly clear in Noelle’s mind were his sexy and muffled groans, which made her body burn feverish as though it had been set aflame.
• She adjusted the fabric that was covering her shoulders, trying to hide all the evidence of their intense love-making the previous night.
• Estelle rapped her knuckles on the door outside. “Hurry, Noelle. It’s time for the wedding!”
• Smiling at her reflection in the mirror, Noelle soon arose from her seat.
• Jackson, I’ll be marrying you soon. From now on, my heart and body will belong to you and nobody else!
• At Regent Hotel, the reporters had already prepared their equipment. They were waiting for the bride and groom to make their appearance at the wedding venue.
• As mellow music played in the background, Jackson Hayes appeared at the end of the aisle with Noelle, dolled up in a white wedding dress, on his arm.
• The man was a top artist in showbiz and was nicknamed “the Nation’s Heartthrob”, while the woman was a rising star whose film debut had won her Best Actress at the International Film Festival. As they exchanged smiles, no one could deny that they were a beautiful couple, a match made in heaven.
• Unexpectedly, the crowd suddenly parted as a woman with disheveled hair rushed toward the stage.
• “Noelle Hooper, come and face me, you b*tch! Do you really think I’ll allow you to get married and live a wonderful life after you’ve slept with my husband? Over my dead body!” The woman dropped a bombshell in her rage. The music was brought to an abrupt halt; everyone seemed to be holding their breaths as the venue fell into pin-drop silence.
• What’s going on? Isn’t the security here supposed to be airtight?
• The stranger’s accusations caused the smile on Noelle’s face to freeze. Soon, she wore a troubled expression as she glanced at Jackson who was standing beside her.
• “Who are you? You can’t go around throwing such baseless accusations!” Jackson’s brows were scrunched together in perplexity. He was visibly frustrated upon learning that an uninvited guest had disrupted his wedding. His sharp gaze turned toward the woman who was standing below the stage.
• “Mr. Hayes, may God strike me dead on the spot if I am lying to you! Noelle Hooper slept with my husband last night! If you don’t believe me, ask her yourself!”
• Jackson threw a searing glance at Noelle, who instantly turned pale as she involuntarily took a step backward.
• “Jackson, you know that’s not true... I was with you the entire night yesterday...” Noelle’s voice trembled, and for an inexplicable reason she felt a sense of guilt snaking up inside her.
• “Me?” Jackson’s crestfallen expression turned Noelle’s heart to ice. “I was home the entire night.”
• It wasn’t Jackson?
• No... No, that can’t be right. During the bachelorette party last night, Noelle had one too many drinks, thinking she would be getting hitched the next day. It was already one in the morning when she returned to the hotel. Upon entering her room, Noelle was hugged tightly by a man. He kissed her fervently as he hastily tore her clothes off, and put her through sweet torture the entire night.
• Yes, I had a little too much to drink. We also didn’t switch on the lights. And the man left in the wee hours of the morning. Nevertheless, room 1108 was the one that Jackson had booked for her. He even had the other access card to this room. For these reasons, Noelle never once suspected that the man with whom she had spent a passionate night wasn’t Jackson at all.
• Then, this woman appeared.
• Promptly, the woman rushed onto the stage and rudely tore off the white fabric that was concealing Noelle’s shoulders.
• Noelle’s neck and shoulders were littered with red marks, which were a stark contrast to her porcelain skin.
• The cameras instantly turned toward the love bites on her body. Reporters were unable to contain their excitement as they were presented with such juicy news.
• “Look at this shameless woman! Are you still going to deny that you’ve seduced my husband? Are you going to lie and say these marks are merely mosquito bites? Noelle Hooper, you are indeed worthy of the title of Best Actress! Take a good look at her, Mr. Hayes. Look at how disgusting she is!” The woman soon grabbed Noelle with each word of hers coming out harsher than the last.
• The incident played out in a flash. Noelle, who was trying her best to cover her bare shoulders, was rendered unable to recover from her shock.
• “Enough! Get this crazy woman out of here!” Jackson yelled. In a flash, a group of security guards came up to drag the woman away. The woman struggled and cursed before she flung a bunch of photos onto the ground. “If you don’t believe me, Mr. Hayes, take a look at these photos. Marrying her will be the biggest regret of your life!”
• The photos were scattered all over the floor. The reporters were quick to react, snatching them up almost instantly.
• “These are nudes!”
• “Wow, the man beside her really isn’t Mr. Hayes!”
• “Oh, my goodness! Mr. Hayes is such a brilliant man. In spite of that, Noelle Hooper has chosen to mess around with another guy? Disgusting!”
• “Totally! This is practically a sham marriage!”
• One of the photos fell right by Noelle’s feet and she looked down at it instinctively. A man and a woman were entangled in bed, completely naked. Although the man’s face was blurred out, it was clear from the man’s body that he wasn’t Jackson!
• “Jackson, Let me explain...” Noelle’s ears throbbed as she reached out for Jackson’s arm. A sense of helplessness was sprouting within her. To her disappointment, Jackson avoided her touch and merely glared at her with eyes full of animosity.
• He raised his hand and delivered her a tight slap across her face. Curling his lips at her in disgust, he ripped his tie off, removed his coat, and spun around and left.
• The bridal bouquet symbolizing purity soon fell, its petals scattering all across the ground.
• “Dad! Dad! Please wake up...” On the other end of the aisle, Aaron Hooper had collapsed from shock and was lying unconscious in Estelle’s arms.
• A week later, Aaron was finally transferred out of the ICU to the general ward.
• “Dad...” Beside the bed, Noelle called out to Aaron in a soft voice.
• Her face was rather pale and she looked horrifyingly haggard. It was a stark contrast to the brilliant glow that she had at the wedding. Within a week, Noelle had seemingly lost a lot of weight, prompting her to look like a fragile beauty.
• At long last, Aaron opened his eyes. When he caught sight of Noelle, he suddenly became extremely worked up and coughed. “What... What are you doing here? Will you be happy only after you’ve angered me and sent me to my death bed?”
• “Dad, I’m sorry...” Aaron was Noelle’s only relative. Seeing that he had suffered from a heart attack, she was plagued with worry, day and night.
• “Get out of my sight. You have no self-respect! You are no daughter of the Hooper family, so don’t ever call me ‘Dad’ again! You are a disgrace to us. Get lost——get lost this instant!”
• Aaron’s face turned purple with rage and the ECG monitor attached to him beeped faster by the second. Soon, the doctor and Jasmine Stewart rushed into the ward.
• “Noelle, haven’t I told you that you are forbidden from seeing your father? Why are you here again?” Jasmine’s expression was stoic as she shoved Noelle out of the room without another word.
• “He is my father. Why can’t I see him?”
• Outside the ward, a group of Jasmine’s bodyguards blocked Noelle from re-entering. There was no question that things would get physical if she were to take another step forward. As Noelle stared at the closed door, her stubbornness acted up once again.
• “You still have the audacity to call yourself his daughter? If you hadn’t done something so shameless, would he have fallen this ill?” Jasmine strode forward as she delivered a harsh slap at Noelle.
• Holding her cheek which had gone numb from pain, Noelle stared at the woman who had caused the death of her own mother. Hatred swirled Noelle’s eyes as she cried out, “I was set up! Once I explain everything to my father, he’ll believe me!”
• “Is making him believe you more important than his health?” Jasmine planted herself firmly in front of the door like a tigress protecting her cubs, guarding the room from unwanted visitors.
• Noelle was rendered speechless by Jasmine’s question. At that, she craned her neck to look into the room through the glass window on the door.
• She noted that her father’s condition was now stabilized under the doctor’s care. Aaron’s eyes were closed as if he was asleep, but his furrowed brows reflected the pain he was currently feeling.
• It went without a doubt that she was the root cause of his pain.
• In just a week’s time, her father seemed to have aged considerably. Noelle’s heart clenched painfully in her chest and she suddenly lost the will to rush into the ward again.
• “Your father has just finished his surgery. He won’t be able to suffer another blow. I think you should move out and live somewhere else in the meantime, Noelle.” Seeing that Noelle had stopped trying to barge in, Jasmine gradually softened her tone. In spite of that, the words that came out of her lips were ruthless, sharper than a blade.