The Day I Kissed An Older Man

“You’re Jeremy’s niece, alright—defending him so fervently,” said Corinne mockingly. “To me, hiding something from me is as
good as lying. Not to mention, I did ask him whether he was hiding anything from me, and he said he wasn’t.”
Annie sighed again. “I’m a woman too, but I understand how you feel. No one likes to be lied to by the people they love and trust.
But Corinne, don’t you get the sense that Uncle Jeremy is quite scared of you? He must not dare to tell you after imagining how
angry you would be.”
Corinne found that laughable. “Heh! As if I’d ever believe he’s scared of me. You haven’t seen the way he shouts at me when
he’s angry at me.”
Annie spread her hands helplessly. “Take today, for example. Uncle Jeremy doesn’t really care what the Riveras think of him. But
even so, he didn’t dare to set foot inside because he was worried you’d get angry at him again.”
Corinne was speechless.
Annie continued, “Also, Uncle Jeremy got legally married to Sophia not because of some ‘bromance’ or because he likes her.
No. It’s because Sophia’s father is Adam, as in the director of Adam Group! You must’ve heard of the company, Corinne.
“If I’m to be polite, I’d say Adam Group is a world-class business consortium. But really, they’re just a big bully with a global
reach. As to why this concerns Uncle Jeremy... Well, he’s in a somewhat complicated situation due to the problems passed
down from his parents’ generation.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Uncle Jeremy’s father was an infamous playboy who had many illegitimate children with
different women outside of his marriage. As time passed, his illegitimate children all grew up and started vying for Uncle
Jeremy’s fortune like hungry wolves.
“They kept looking for an opportunity to expose Uncle Jeremy’s weakness so they could threaten him with it. All of them wanted
him dead so they could inherit the Holdens’ vast fortune.
“Uncle Jeremy knew that his wife’s life would be put in danger should he announce his marriage, and he didn’t want to risk the
life of someone innocent. But Sophia is different. She has her dad’s protection. No one would dare to hurt her once they knew
she’s Adam’s daughter. Thus, she could save Uncle Jeremy a lot of unnecessary trouble.
“Back then, Sophia was the best choice for Jeremy. Moreover, Sophia volunteered to help Uncle Jeremy herself, saying that she
was willing to help him with no strings attached since they were friends. Uncle Jeremy had no reason to turn her down.

“Uncle Jeremy wasn’t in a rush to revoke his marriage with Sophia because he was worried your life would be put in danger or
that his half-brothers would use you to blackmail him, just like what happened today, without Sophia as a cover. But I guess
some things just can’t be avoided. I’m just glad both you and Uncle Jeremy are safe and sound now.”
Corinne listened to what Annie said with a complicated expression. ‘Does that mean the extra bodyguards Jeremy hired to keep
watch over me before I escaped the mansion was to prevent me from getting kidnapped by his half-brothers?’ she wondered.
‘Ugh, that dolt should learn how to tell me things!’
“So Jeremy knew about his half-brothers since he was a boy?” asked Corinne thoughtfully.
Annie nodded. “Yup. He always knew about them.”
Frankly, she somewhat pitied Jeremy. His father did not care about him at all as he would rather spend his time chasing after
other women. He would profess ardent love for every woman he met and abandon them in the slightest trouble. What was even
more despicable was he would go on to have kids with these women.
Jeremy’s mother had long given up on Jeremy’s father out of sadness and despair. She left the family when Jeremy was still
little, and no one had seen her since. No one even knew whether she was still alive or dead.
Corinne’s heart ached. The pain was not out of pity for Jeremy but due to how similar their childhood experiences were.