Michael and Christina used to be an intimate couple, yet he had failed to realize her real identity.If Christina revealed the fact that she was John’s daughter back then, Michael’s mother would not have caused her trouble by going to great lengths to make them divorce. They could still be leading a blissful life together. Nevertheless, Christina chose to conceal her identity all these years. She did not tell the truth even when she was misunderstood, bullied, and expelled from the Larson family.It really broke Michael’s heart to know that she even hid from him despite sharing the same bed with him. “Christina, have you ever loved me? Even if it's just a little bit?” “No! Never, not in the slightest!” Christina lost her cool.At this point, Michael actually questioned her whether she had ever loved him. If she had not, why would she have insisted on marrying him despite her uncle’s objection? Why had she endured the brutal torture that Heather inflicted upon her over the past
Sophia and Serena had both analyzed the possible outcomes. Even if Michael now knew about Christina’s real identity, they knew how to deal with it, so they were not at all worried.“You knew Christina’s real identity long ago, didn’t you?” Michael stared piercingly at Serena as if he was going to see through her.“Michael, you’ve found out about everything?” A look of surprise crossed Serena’s face. She immediately looked down to suppress her emotions. “Yes, I knew earlier on that Christina is my sister. Because of Mom, Christina has been very hostile toward us and never forgiven us. She has even changed her last name.”“Does this mean that everyone else, except my mom and I, has already learned about your surrogacy? Since you knew that Christina is your sister and that she hates you so much, why did you still provoke her by agreeing to bear a child for her?”“I didn’t mean to provoke Sister, Michael. Admittedly, I lied to you, but Sister couldn’t get pregnant back then. Dad and Mo
‘Christina’s having a row with Mom in the house?’ Michael was taken aback, then he quickly stood up. Serena heard the caretaker’s words as well. “Michael, let’s go and have a look.”Christina went to visit Francis in his ward after Michael left. Francis’ injury was more serious than hers as he was hit by a brick on the head and consequently had a concussion. Christina sat on the side of his bed chatting with him while Travis was left playing alone in the ward. The two adults did not notice when Travis went missing until a nurse came holding an envelope. The nurse gave Christina the envelope. “Someone asked me to hand this to you.”Feeling puzzled, Christina took the envelope from the nurse and opened it. There was only one sentence in the message: [If you want your child to be safe, get out of Perth soon!]“Travis!” Christina finally realized that Travis had gone missing. Just as she ran out of the ward in a panic to look for him, she bumped into Ariel. Ariel noticed Christina’s
The caretaker blocked Christina at the door. “Miss Williams, we don’t know where your son is. You’d better leave now.”“If you don’t hand my son over to me, I’m not going to leave! Heather, tell me where my son is right now. Otherwise, I’m going to pay you back for all you’ve done!”“What does your son’s disappearance have to do with me?” Heather began to lose her temper. Nobody else had ever barged into her house and made an accusation against her. Christina was getting more unreasonable. How dare she come and kick up a fuss here?!“Christina, just because you’ve given birth to a son, it doesn’t mean you’re capable. Since an uncultured woman like you can’t even teach your son properly, you deserve losing him!” “You wicked old woman! Nobody else would hurt my son except for you. Come at me if you have the guts. What’s so impressive about hurting my son?”Christina chased after Heather while pointing at her. “You actually plan to hurt a child. Aren’t you afraid of karma? Aren’t yo
“You’re asking me what I’m trying to do? Why don’t you ask your mother what she did?” Christina showed a baleful glare as if she was going to eat someone up.“Mom, what did you do?” Michael shifted his gaze to his mother.“I didn’t do anything. This b*tch barged into our house and hit me without getting her facts straight. Ah, my head hurts very badly!”“Stop pretending! You must be the one who kidnapped my son! Heather, God is watching everything you do. Karma is going to come for you!” “I didn’t kidnap her son. Trust me, Michael. I really didn’t kidnap her son!”“You’re still trying to pretend, huh? You got someone to take my son away in the mall last time, and I’m sure it’s also you who did it this time. Heather, if anything happens to my son, I’m going to make you pay back with your life.”Amid the bustle in the house, Ariel’s phone rang. She picked up the call, and her face glowed with surprise. “Travis has been found? Alright, we’re coming back now.” Everyone heard Ariel
As Christina was worried about Travis’ safety, she wanted to leave with Ariel right away. However, Heather dashed toward them and blocked their way. “No way. I can’t accept being humiliated in such a terrible way. She has to compensate me for the humiliation I suffered today!”While holding Heather, Serena said, “Mrs. Larson, just forgive her this time.”Of course, Heather would not let Christina go. Now that her son had returned, she was more confident. She did not mind another fight!Heather took off her high heels and threw them at Christina. After that, she even went forward to pull Christina’s hair. Christina subconsciously defended herself, and a slap landed on Heather’s face. Heather happened to come forward, but Christina did not mean to slap her face. Christina did not plan to retreat since she had already slapped Heather in the face. She believed that Heather deserved it! The crisp sound of the slap was heard. Covering her face, Heather staggered back and nearly fell.
“Are you blaming me? I’m doing this for your own good.” Heather did not think she was wrong. “All you think about is that cheap woman. When will you give me a grandson?!”“Mom, I know you have my best interests in heart but I’m not your puppet. I have my own way of thinking so stop trying to force your ways on me, please?”“Alright, I’ll stop forcing my ways on you but this is not going to end here. Imagine how embarrassed I’d be if the public knew someone attacked me in my own house without reason? I’ll not let Christina off the hook. I’ll make her pay!”“What will you do?” Michael could not think straight. He figured there must be something else behind this. Perhaps his mother provoked Christina first? However, her rushing into their house to attack his mother still upset him nonetheless.Heather was still his mother even if she did something wrong. Did Christina think of him at all when she hit his mother?“Call the police and send her to jail. I will not free her of this!” Hea
Heather had no idea about Travis’s disappearance thus she was genuinely surprised when Christina barged through the door. An idea suddenly popped into her mind during the argument. She thought that if she could provoke Christina, Michael would finally open his eyes to see the woman’s true colors.Therefore, instead of trying to explain herself, she started to argue fiercely with Christina, all with the intention of forcing her to do something irrational. Her goal would then be achieved when her son returned. Heather started the fight and cursed Christina’s son. As expected, anger got into the other woman’s head and she almost strangled Heather to death.There was no return for Heather at this point, so the fight only became more intense.When Michael refused to say anything, she knew all of these were for nothing, that he was still siding Christina. She was filled with extreme anger and hatred.Heather could tell from the worry in her son’s eyes that he still cared about his moth
In fact, Matthew was the one who planned this entire thing. He had been keeping a close eye on Rachel since she returned.He could let bygones be bygones if she was willing to settle down. However, the woman did not learn from past mistakes and once again partnered up with Serena to plot against Christina.Matthew went along with their plan. He even found someone to set this up to lure them into the trap.Christina’s due date was approaching after Rachel and Serena were taken care of. Michael began making preparations for Travis’ transplant operation.He hired the best hematologist and gynecologist before arranging for both Christina and Travis’ operation to take place in the same hospital.The delivery went smoothly. Christina gave birth to a baby girl, and Heather was over the moon.Everything had gone well, and it was about time to start on Travis’ operation. Christina was accompanied by Matthew and Rachel whereas Heather stayed close by the baby’s side. Michael comforted Chri
Besides, even if the plan failed, intentionally causing a pregnant woman to miscarry was not considered homicide by the country’s criminal law. The punishment was less serious as the behavior would be categorized as an assault occasioning bodily harm.Assault and criminal homicide were two completely different crimes.Rachel agreed to the suggestion. Scarface was indeed a ruthless man. He came up with this vicious revenge that would put Christina in pain forever.Upon agreeing on the details of the plan, Scarface and his friends from the streets proceeded to kidnap Christina. Rachel and Serena were told to sit tight and wait for the good news.Scarface had a well-thought-out plan and got his hands on Christina before long. Her head was covered with a black cloth as they forcefully pushed her into the van.Serena and Rachel were already at the agreed-upon location when Scarface instructed Christina to step out of the vehicle. The latter’s belly was round, and both of her hands were
Serena lost everything. She had no choice but to work as a bargirl to survive.Scarface was the person in charge of the bar she worked at. The ruthless man had pretty much slept with every woman who worked at his place. Naturally, Serena could not escape from that fate either.Serena was different from other bargirls. She came from a prestigious family and was highly educated. Even in dire straits, she still maintained a certain grace that made her stand out from the crowd.Scarface spotted her on her first day at the bar. He ordered his men to drag her into the private room and tortured her the entire night.She resisted in the beginning. However, without anyone to depend on, she had no choice but to give into Scarface’s tyrannical abuse.Several times later, he found himself attracted to her. Every night, he would ask for her instead of other women.Serena, who could not escape from him, gave in eventually. She even ended up becoming his lover.By doing so, she found someone t
“Just a little while ago.” Sean came closer. “Christina, we need to talk.”She nodded and followed him to the garden. He helped her to get comfortable on the bench. “Do you believe in fate?”She shook her head, unsure where this was leading. “I didn’t either as I’m a firm believer that hard work always pays off. But now I do.”He looked her in the eye. “I’ve been lost and struggled a lot since that incident, unsure how to face you. After considering this seriously for the past few days, I’ve finally mustered enough courage to meet you again.”A sigh escaped her lips. “Sorry, Sean. It’s all my fault.”“No! It has nothing to do with you, Christina. It’s my fault that my love is not strong enough. I discovered that Suzy is really great after spending the past few months with her. She’s just like you. She’s gentle, kind, pure, and adorable. I realized I’ve fallen in love with her.”This was not what he really thought.He loved Christina since the beginning of time and believed he
“That’s old history. We think Michael is actually pretty good.”“We? Who do you mean?” Christina teased.Ariel and Matthew had been spending a lot of time together lately. Christina went through that herself and understood the passion in her friend’s eyes. This silly girl was actually in love. She could not be happier for her.“Who else? Matthew, of course!” Ariel glared at Christina.“I say whatever’s on my mind, unlike you, who always keep everything to yourself and get stuck in dilemmas. Every good opportunity slips past you because of your indecisiveness!” “How can I not be? I promised to marry him but I’m now trying to convince him to marry someone else. Is this really the best thing for him? Will he be happy?”Ariel questioned after a brief silence, “Christina, let me ask you this. Who do you care for more? Michael or Sean?”Christina asked herself the same question too. She naturally cared more about Michael in the past, but she also started to develop a strong feeling f
The following morning, Serena hurried to the police station to file a report.The police treated this with high importance and warned her to be careful of Darren Cain as he was a vicious gang member who had served over a decade in prison.She became more frightened after hearing that. Immediately, she moved out of that house and rented a place somewhere quiet. As she was terrified, she stayed indoors for the next few days.Much of Christina’s stress was relieved without having to deal with Serena’s pestering.“Christina, John was at the last stage of cancer. It was lucky enough that he lasted until he did. This is his fate, so try not to get too upset.” Francis comforted the dispirited woman. It did not make any difference even though he was not the real Francis. He had long adapted to the identity after assuming it for so many years. Most importantly, Christina was still willing to treat him like a real uncle even after finding out the truth.“Don’t worry, Uncle, I’m fine.”
The harassment continued after the funeral. Serena went around spreading accusations and threatened Christina to give her money. Otherwise, she would report John to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission for private corruption.If reported, the antique art collection would be seized and no one could get it!Christina became more frustrated after hearing that.She never expected John’s leniency toward Serena would cause her such a big problem. Matthew was infuriated by Serena’s unreasonable behavior. He suggested they could shut the woman up by teaching her a lesson. Sean shook his head. “That’s not going to solve the problem. Serena must’ve come prepared if she dares to stir up trouble. This is a lawful society. We can’t do as we wish.”“Are we actually going to pay her off then?” Ariel asked, “I think giving her money isn’t going to put an end to this. She’s certainly going to keep threatening for more!”Michael scoffed. “Why should we give her money? She can go
“I will, Dad, don’t worry. I’ll listen to Sister,” Suzy replied.“Christina.” John grabbed Christina’s hand in his own. “My greatest regret in this life is failing to take good care of you and your mother. I’m going to meet your mother soon. I hope she’ll forgive me!”Tears rolled down Christina’s cheeks. Men would speak kindly in the presence of death. She was unsure if Molly would forgive him, but she had long forgiven her father.He strained to pull Suzy and Christina’s hands closer together as he looked at them with pleading eyes. “The both of you must live peacefully together. Suzy, listen to your sister, and Christina, you must take good care of her on my behalf.”Christina looked at Suzy before nodding quietly. Then, John shifted his glance to Michael.“I’ve done many wrongs in this life. I betrayed my wife and disappointed my daughter. I hope you’ll do better than me. I’ll hand over Christina to you now. I’ll come back to haunt you as a stubborn ghost if you dare to wr
Suzy felt guilt-ridden and knew she was not in the position to demand anything from Christina. However, her mother had gone mad. She did not wish to see Christina continuing the fight with her mother.At a loss for what to do, she cried her heart out while in Christina’s arms.Sean felt a heavy feeling in his chest. He knew Christina too well after all the years they spent together. She was a soft-hearted person behind her stubborn facade. Seeing others in sorrow was her greatest weakness.There was no doubt she would choose to forgive Suzy and accept her as her sister.If that was the case, then the marriage between them was destined to fail. Christina would reject him for the sake of the child in her sister’s belly.At this moment, he was thinking of how everything was falling apart at this moment even after he had consistently pursued her all these years. He stood there in a daze for a long time before finally heaving a sigh.Perhaps this was their destiny. Suzy cried for a