Michael looked at her after turning around, “What do you mean?”“I’m reminding you that I’m Christina and not Serena. So I’m not someone you can order around!” Michael’s expression changed all of a sudden. Initially prepared to walk into the kitchen, he paused right then. He glared at Christina with eyes that were almost igniting sparks for a few seconds, then took off his apron and threw it on the floor before striding away. Christina smiled, not being bothered by Michael’s departure. This was what she wanted anyway. After Michael left, Christina opened up her bag and took out ovulation test strips for a test. Moments later, she saw two purple-red lines showing up, but the colors look relatively light. It seemed that her ovulation would be occurring in the next few days. Serena drove home angrily and told Sophia about her seeing Christina enter Oak Lake Villa. “Mom, what should we do now?” Sophia sneered. “Since she acted so recklessly, I’ll just do her a favor.” “What
Although Christina was feeling particularly reluctant deep inside, she could only shoot the works for the sake of her son. If Michael wanted her that night, she would not refuse his wish, instead, she would even synchronize with his needs. She was already emotionally prepared right then. However, Michael had been busy in his study, so Christina ended up falling asleep as she was too tired. Even though the day had arrived, it was not her official ovulatory time. Hence, there was no need for her to seduce Michael proactively. When Christina arrived at her office the next morning, she found that the atmosphere was a little odd as she kept feeling like someone was watching her in secret. At first, she thought she was thinking too much. However, when she went to the bathroom later, she overheard two female colleagues discussing something. “I thought she looked familiar in the beginning, but it turns out that she was the one that went on a reality dating show on TV.” “Tell me a
“This shameless woman should be exposed. Let everyone witness her contaminated body and soul.” “I want to beat her up so badly!” The camera lights kept flashing, stinging Christina’s eyes. Surrounding her ears were all vicious verbal attacks. Worse even, a female ‘reporter’ came forward and pulled her hair forcefully. Christina had never once fought. The pain that she felt from her hair being pulled made her move her hands around to shield herself from those fists and slaps. Fortunately, the security guards of the building appeared just in time. Her manager also rushed out of the building to save Christina from the chaos and called Michael to report the situation. Once Michael received the news, he could not care about going to work. Instead, he immediately called Christina. Upon discovering her phone could not be reached, he drove over to Christina’s office by himself. When Michael arrived at Christina’s office, she was no longer there. Those women and reporters who were m
By the time Michael reached the foot of the hill, the sky already turned dark. It was dangerous to head up the hill at night. He ran up the hill and tripped over rocks multiple times. His arm was already bleeding by then. When he finally reached the cemetery, the surrounding was dark and he could not see anything at all. Not knowing which Molly’s tombstone was, Michael started shouting in panic, “Christina...Christina…”No one responded to him in the dark, the cold breeze from the top of the hill kept blowing his way. He kept yelling while searching for Christina, and suddenly his feet stumbled on something. Looking down, he found a lady’s shoe. As expected, Christina was on the hill. Following the navigation in his memory, he slowly felt his way around the tombstones nearby Molly’s, and finally noticed a small figure curled up on the ground. “Christina!” Feeling distressed, he shouted her name and stretched out both of his hands quickly to embrace her in his arms. Christin
Both Sophia and Serena overheard Miss Laura on the phone from downstairs, and they knew it was from Michael. As the night wore on, Michael no longer gave them a call. The mother and daughter glanced at each other. “It looks like Michael had found that witchy woman.” “Mom what should we do now?” Serena asked. “If we pretend to know about it, it will instead arouse Michael’s suspicion. Call him and say that you just saw the news on the internet, then ask how Christina is doing now.” Serena nodded and took out her phone to dial Michael’s number. However, no one picked up from the other end, and it was the same thing even though she kept calling multiple times. “Mom, Michael didn’t pick up. Has he started to suspect me?” Before Sophia could speak, Serena’s phone rang and it was Wendy’s number.“Serena, bad news, those reporters...they…” Wendy got so nervous that she got tongue-tied. “Serena, these people...were taken to the detention center!”“What did you say” Serena also pan
“It’s Serena’s best friend Wendy. She had someone share the posts on the internet, and she was also the one who hired a group of internet ghostwriters to create such a mess. Those fake reporters who assaulted Assistant Williams are all her relatives.” Matthew glanced at Michael and sneered insinuatingly. “Wendy is just a pawn. Continue investigating. I won’t believe that no one is behind all of this!” Michael’s face took on a ghastly expression. Matthew could think of the things that Michael had in mind. The only connection between Wendy and Christina was Serena. Besides this, Wendy did not have any reason to go against Christina. As he was about to give Serena a call, a phone call came from her first. Her voice sounded anxious and she was almost in tears. “Michael, have you found my sister?” Michael replied with an “mmph”. “Michael, I kept calling you earlier, but you didn’t pick up. I was so anxious.” “What are you anxious about?” Michael asked in a cold voice. “Michael
“You’re the one that got Christina into this trouble, and yet you still have the nerve to keep staying here and giving her more trouble?” Matthew had an unfriendly expression, which looked like he wanted to pick a fight again. “If you’re not capable of protecting her, then stay away from her. She had already suffered so much because of you.” Michael’s face became sullen, a cold light from his dark and deep eyes flashed across Matthew’s face. Almost gritting his teeth, he started speaking, “Matthew, this whole thing is hard for me too! I’m not as shameless as you said!” “Really? I think you are! I think you’re the most shameless man on Earth!” Matthew was not polite at all when speaking. “I’ve seen men who cheated in their marriage, but you’re the first one to cheat with your wife’s most despised person!”“You said that you loved and protected her, and yet you hooked up with the daughter of her father’s mistress. If you had some sense of shame in you, you wouldn’t have forced Chris
“I think that the people who attacked Sister assumed that she is the mistress. After all, they don’t know my relationship with Sister. If we publicize the relationship between Sister and me, those people would know that you were interacting with Sister as relatives. Then, they won’t misunderstand Sister anymore.” “No!” Michael refused immediately. Indeed, publicizing Christina’s identity would clear up some problems, but there would be many downsides to it. John would be affected the most. If John’s political enemies used this opportunity to make a big fuss, then he could not be the mayor anymore. In addition to that, the police might even investigate him. Apart from that, Christina would be Michael’s sister-in-law if her identity was exposed. Even if he got together with Christina, many people would ridicule them. Some might even say that Christina snatched her sister’s husband and got promoted from being a mistress. That way, it would be even more impossible for Michael to ge
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