Michael nodded with his gaze fixed on Benny. He somehow got the sense that Benny felt a little nervous, but at the same time, he wondered if he was overthinking. Judy’s heart thumped as she watched Michael gaze at Benny. Forcing a smile, she asked, “Who’s the man just now?” Michael was stunned by her question. From what she said, the implication was that she did not know Benny. In fact, he saw the two of them greeting each other at the entrance before they entered the pharmacy just now. In the blink of an eye, it turned out that she did not know him. ‘What’s going on?’ Despite having doubts about it deep inside, Michael did not betray himself. “Mayor John’s chauffeur.” “Ah, he’s actually Mayor John’s chauffeur!” Judy answered dully, then added, “I’ve been a bit under the weather these past few days, so I came to get some anti-inflammatory drugs.” “I appreciate your hard work!” Michael knew for sure that his mother vented all her anger on Judy, who was too afraid to talk back
“Go for a test now.” Heather urged. Having been feeling dull for days, she finally heard a piece of good news. If Serena got pregnant, she would absolutely not allow Christina to be part of the Larson family. After Serena left the ward, Sophia waited for her outside. The two of them then went home together. The minute they stepped into the house, John came back as well. He asked them to tidy the house immediately and clear out the things in one room to be used as a nursery. He also asked them to hire a baby caregiver. Without having to ask John, Sophia knew full well that he did so for Christina and Travis. She felt like gritting her teeth deep down. To avoid showing her slip, she tactfully asked, “Did Christina agree to move in and stay here?” “Both of you go ahead with the decoration first. I’ll make Christina come home. Remember to decorate nicely and buy more toys.” Upon hearing the news, Miss Laura was overjoyed. “Let me tidy the room. I’ll certainly decorate it nice
“Dad, I don’t want to study abroad. I can’t bear to part with you and Mom.” Serena begged. “What? You’re just planning to stay home with us forever, huh?” Serena looked down without saying a word. Sophia instantly chipped in, “Johnny, since our daughter is reluctant to study abroad, don’t force her. I’ll make her get a job and start working sometime soon.” “The issue here isn’t about going to work, but what’s at issue is Christina. Since she’ll be moving in with Travis, it’s inevitable that Michael will come over here. In that case, Serena will always bump into him in the house which isn’t really fine. After some thought, I’d better send you abroad which will do everyone good.” Serena bit her lip. “Dad, if that’s your concern, I’ll just move out.” “You still don’t get my point. Your presence here will make Christina and Michael feel uncomfortable, so the best solution for this issue is that you go abroad.” After John made himself plain, Serena’s face was distorted with ange
John gave a hum of acknowledgment. “Pay more attention to the affairs in the family.” Miss Laura nodded. “I will.” After watching Michael leave, Judy bought some anti-inflammatory drugs and left the pharmacy as well. On his way home, she gave her son a call. “Did he suspect anything?” “Don’t worry. We have nothing to do with each other, so he wouldn’t have thought of it,” Benny answered. Judy was relieved upon hearing that. She had been hiding the fact that Benny was her son very well. The only people who knew about it were Sophia and herself. Speaking of Sophia and Judy, both of them came from the same hometown, Hoover Alley. Judy was a few years older than Sophia, and they were old acquaintances. Hoover Alley was filled with a good and bad mix. In that kind of environment, it was difficult to lead a pure life. Judy, who came from a poor family, naturally faced a lot of hardships while living there. Since young, she had helped out with her parents’ stall but earned very
Although Heather was unreasonable and had a short temper, she was heavily dependent on Judy. Judy initially planned to keep on working for the Larsons, but Heather’s temper had become so nasty that she often took it out on Judy. With that, Judy had started looking for a way out. Once she saved enough, she would leave with her son and live in an isolated place together. This time, Judy visited the pharmacy to buy some sleeping pills which she planned to sneak into Heather’s food. By doing so, she wanted to make Heather feel drowsy and consequently unable to jump on her. Unexpectedly, when she just arrived at the pharmacy, she bumped into Michael and nearly showed her slip. She was paranoid probably because she had done many bad things. She did not expose herself, yet her mind was full of anxiety somehow. She got a sinking feeling. By the time Judy got back to the hospital, Heather had lost her cool in the ward. She shouted at Judy as soon as she saw her. “Where the hell did y
“No way.” Michael rejected Heather’s request out of hand. “Why not? Travis is my grandson. As his grandma, I want to spend time with him. What’s wrong with that?” “Mom, from the way you treated him last time, do you think he’s still willing to see you?” Heather was slightly upset at her son’s rejection. She muttered, “It’s all Christina’s doing! If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have had to part with my grandson.” “Stop blaming Christina. She isn’t as awful as you think. She has mentioned that she’ll let Travis acknowledge me once he’s recovered. It won’t be an issue if you want to spend time with your grandson then.” “Did she really say that? Heather was doubtful. “Son, could she be lying to you?” “Does she have a motive for lying to me?” “Who knows? She’s such a hypocrite, and that might be a delaying tactic. Well, if I didn’t sue her for intentional assault and stop her from leaving the country, she’d probably have taken the kid abroad and gotten married to Sean.” Mi
Heather urged Winona to keep it a secret as she wanted to let Serena nurse herself back to health first. When the time came, she would let her son in on Serena’s pregnancy and get Serena and Michael’s marriage settled. With that, there was nothing Christina could do about it. Winona came to observe Heather’s attitude this time. To her relief, Heather was rather enthusiastic about Serena’s pregnancy. After that, Heather talked about the bidding for the sports project with her again. Now that bidding of the sports project had begun, Heather was undoubtedly concerned about it. She heard that Matthew had found a team of Westerners with a background in design. Even though Michael hired Joshua Carlin as the chief designer, Heather felt uneasy about it as things were unpredictable. During the development project last time, Heather and Michael were under the impression that they had decisively won, yet it turned out that they lost to Matthew. In this regard, they could not afford to drop t
Before the new project commenced, a media conference was held, as usual. Matthew and Michael attended the conference punctually. The both of them were confident and breezy, and they greeted each other with a nod. Most people that did not know them would have thought that they were friends or even besties. Christina sat in front of the television and watched them act flawlessly on the live conference. She could not help but feel amazed that entrepreneurs were excellent at acting, and their acting level was close to that of a professional actor. Both companies organized a joint wine party at night. However, Matthew missed Christina, so he let Fred attend the party on behalf of him, and Matthew went to Beverley Villa to find Christina. Francis and Ariel were at Beverley Villa too. Francis even prepared various dishes to celebrate the return of Christina and Travis. Once Matthew entered the villa, Francis and Christina congratulated him. Travis followed them and congratulated Mat
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