After several failed attempts, Antoine took a deep breath, patted his chest, and admonished himself to be brave. He recalled a quote he had seen before: "Brave people enjoy the world first."

Even though it might not be entirely fitting in this context, he silently repeated this phrase as a mantra, using it as a self-encouragement.

Finally, with closed eyes, he decisively pressed the dial button. In that moment of connection, he felt his heart pounding violently in his chest, and the sound of his heartbeat echoed in his mind and ears.

The agonizing pre-connection beep was the most difficult to endure.

"Hello, this is Claire. I'm her personal assistant, Camille. How can I help you? I'll make a note of your message and convey it to Claire tomorrow."

Antoine heard the phone being picked up, and in that moment of nervousness, he forgot to breathe. However, the person who answered the call wasn't Claire, which inexplicably relieved him. He stammered, saying it was a mistake and apologized for disturbing her at such a late hour.

But the assistant on the other end of the line still left the phone number and his name.

Antoine hung up the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, not really sure why he made that call. In fact, he hadn't figured out what he wanted to talk to her about when the call connected.

It's like they've met twice, but haven't said a word. Claire, that's her name, sounds really nice.

With a strange sense of sweetness and joy, Antoine drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next morning, he was awakened by a call from an unknown number. Initially, he considered hanging up, but thinking it might be something important, he answered. As he spoke, he still carried a heavy drowsiness, having stayed up late for system testing the previous days. With the holiday break, he had planned to adjust his sleep schedule and catch up on rest.

"It seems I've interrupted your rest..." The sweet voice instantly woke Antoine up. He sat up abruptly in bed, and with a voice trembling with excitement and uncertainty, he cautiously asked, "Miss Claire?"

The voice on the other end chuckled twice, its clear and melodious tones causing Antoine's heart to race as if it wanted to leap out of his throat. When he heard the affirmative response, their story officially began.

"Yes, Mr. Antoine."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

All love stories, without exception: when two people who like each other come together, it's a very easy and smooth thing, all the gods will help those who are in love.

Claire and Antoine are just like that. They received the favor of the gods, and after this phone call, they reestablished their connection.

They started dating, like any other couple, going to the movies, shopping in matching outfits, visiting Disneyland, singing together and recording it, and preparing candlelit dinners in the kitchen.

They went to haunted houses, climbed mountains, traveled, rode roller coasters, Ferris wheels, hot air balloons, watched sunrises and sunsets, and stayed up all night to welcome the New Year.

But when we talk about love without exception, there's one more thing to mention: there will always be challenges and difficulties to test those in love, testing whether they will uphold their promises to each other and their determination to never give up on each other.

The beautiful moments flew by rapidly, and finally, obstacles emerged in Claire and Antoine's love story.

Claire is the daughter of the chairman of a listed medical equipment company, and her mother is the most famous fashion designer. The couple has only one child, Claire.

At an early age, Claire's parents arranged a marriage contract for her, and the business models of both families have long been intertwined.

When Claire excitedly introduced Antoine to her parents, she never expected her mother and father to say, "Claire, we don't care how many boyfriends you have. Regardless, you are destined to marry Olivier. As parents, our best advice to you now is to break up sooner rather than later. This way, the damage to you and your current boyfriend will be minimized."

They didn't even show any respect or acknowledgment for Antoine, and her mother didn't even bother to utter his name.

Claire mocked her parents, stating that their seemingly well-intentioned words took away all her rights and decision-making power. Being born into such a wealthy family seemed pointless when she didn't even have the right to decide her own marriage.

But her mother told her that being born into such a wealthy family meant that she enjoyed the honor and wealth it brought her, and she had already lost the right to negotiate.

Since then, her parents' control and surveillance over Claire have become increasingly strict, leading to heated arguments between Claire and her parents. Fortunately, Antoine possesses strong technological skills, he is a genius in this field. Even when confined to her home, Claire can evade the surveillance at home and stay in touch with Antoine.

Eventually, they found a perfect method to help Claire escape. Antoine, being proficient in technology, hacked into the surveillance system, replacing the footage with scenes from several months ago and erasing any timestamp data. This made everything within the surveillance range appear normal.

Claire just needed to go about her activities within the mansion, find the right moments to avoid attention, and when she could exit the mansion, Antoine would be there to pick her up in a secluded spot. The plan was flawless, and its execution wasn't challenging because Claire's family didn't imprison her; they only restricted her social interactions, hoping she would reflect at home.

This plan only required the determination of two young people and their willingness to bear the consequences of their actions. So, they succeeded.

Things went smoothly, and Claire and Antoine successfully escaped. They drove far away, leaving the city behind, and lived in an unfamiliar place for four years. However, during this time, Claire's family didn't give up searching for her, as the family's arranged marriage was imminent.

The two families' industries were deeply intertwined, and in the face of interests and trust, long-term marital cooperation was the best way to bind their interests together.

Although Claire and Antoine had happily lived together for four years, misfortune suddenly struck their happy little family. Their two-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer, and the treatment depleted all their savings. In the end, they had to face a cruel reality: money could prolong life.

Antoine infiltrated the population information database, retrieving a vast amount of data to analyze girls who resembled Claire the most. They only needed to persuade one of them, and then they could potentially save their daughter.

Fortunately and unfortunately, Charlotte happened to be one of their targets.

Using various data analyses, Charlotte was the most receptive candidate for the proposal, but not the most suitable in terms of conditions. So, initially, they did not reach out to her.

After experiencing two failed negotiations, they noticed Charlotte and observed her for a long time around her life.

Due to the lessons learned from the previous failed negotiations, they became very cautious when dealing with Charlotte.