If anything were to happen to Christina, Ariel would let Matthew know about it immediately. Her safety was their main concern because Christina was pregnant and she still needed to be cautious of Serena.Matthew felt bottled up as he wanted to back Christina up. However, Serena was not the only one who held grudges against her but Heather as well.He pondered. Finally, Matthew came up with a splendid idea to teach Serena a lesson and let Heather know what kind of lady Serena was at the same time.If Serena were to lose Heather as her patron, maybe she would not dare to be cocky to Christina.Serena was still staying in the hospital after she was hit by Ariel last time. Thus, Matthew bribed the nurse to anger her on purpose so that Serena could lose her temper in front of the nurse.Usually, Serena would act decently in front of Michael, but now, she was in the hospital. Therefore, she did not need to pretend anymore. Most of the time, Serena would get mad and throw stuff at the nu
Francis looked at Winona in disgust. “Just tell me now.”“This is not a good place. We should find somewhere we can sit at.” Winona pointed to the coffee shop next to them. “How about that place?”Francis knew that he could not shake her off that day and walked into the coffee shop without saying another word.“What would you like to drink, Brother?”Francis gave a cold smile. “Cut the chase. I still need to go grocery shopping after this.”Winona ignored how annoyed he looked and ordered a cup of coffee on his behalf. “I won’t come looking for you for no reason, Francis. I’m here this time because of Christina. Can you bring her away?”“Is Christina getting in your way?”“She’s not. I’m just worried for her safety, okay?” Winona pretended to be the good guy. “I’m pretty sure you know how Sophia is. Christina’s in her daughter’s way now and I’m worried that she might do something bad to her.”“As if you’re so kind.” Francis knew that Winona would never be so kind and that she w
Christina could not believe what she had just witnessed. Why did Francis meet Winona?Sophia was afraid of laying her finger on Christina after she had beat Serena up, but that did not mean she would let Ariel off the hook. After all, Ariel had severely wounded her daughter, so she needed to take her revenge on the woman.Sophia knew that it was not the right time to bash Ariel up now. She had to create a perfect opportunity and let time take its course.Sophia made time to visit the beauty salon. Mary called for Davis the moment she saw Sophia enter her store. Seeing her arrival excited Davis as he hugged her and stripped away his clothes. “What took you so long, babe? I missed you to death.”Sophia pushed him away. “I came here to talk to you about something.”“What’s wrong?” Upon saying this, Davis reached his hands into her shirt and groped her.“Do you wanna die, you b*stard?” Sophia got mad and forcefully pushed Davis away. “How do you even have the mood for this after your
Ariel saw someone making a scene outside the guest house during her afternoon stroll. A shabbily dressed woman was grabbing onto a man as tears ran down her cheeks. “Do you know how hard it is for me to be the home-maker? I gave birth to your children, yet you have the audacity to steal from home and buy that woman a necklace?! How can you do this to me?”The man stood next to her with a young woman by his side. Although she was wearing thick makeup, it was the shiny diamond necklace that stood out. It looked as if they were about to enter the guest house together.The young woman was very annoyed to see the man’s wife. “You can only blame your age for this. Of course, he likes me better. I’m young and gorgeous!”“You b*tch. You can do anything at such a young age but you chose to be a mistress instead. Why are you so shameless?”The woman took a step forward to hit the mistress who seduced her husband, but the young lady quickly hid behind him.This made the woman rush forward,
“True, true. The invincible Mr. Henderson fears no one but his fiancée.” Ariel teased.Matthew’s face turned solemn. “What do you mean? Some things can be talked about but others are way off the limit, okay?”“Honestly, I’ve really got to thank you for today. I was literally shivering when that scumbag tried to hit me!”“That’s why I told you not to be so impulsive in the future. You’ll be a piece of meat if I wasn’t here today, you know? Who’ll even marry you if you get disfigured? What are you planning to do at that time?”“It’s not like I’m getting married at all. Even if I get disfigured, it’s literally the same for me.” Ariel had quite a few boyfriends but those relationships never lasted even a day because of her temper.“I’m pretty sure that you’ll get married one day. You’re quite the woman, you know?” Matthew consoled her.“You must be joking. No man has even praised me about anything before.” Ariel knew where she stood.“That’s because they’re all blind!” Matthew becam
“Larson? Has Michael finally come to his senses?” Matthew was shocked. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter who’s behind all this. I’ll help anyone who would get rid of Sophia! Send someone to the Larson family and tell Heather everything Sophia did back then. Tell her every dirty bit and let’s see how she reacts.”“On it!”The rich women of upper-class society always knew one another. Although they did not talk much most of the time, they would definitely keep in touch from time to time. Fred found a rich lady who had conflicts with Sophia and asked her to pay Heather a visit.On the other hand, Heather had always loved Serena and that adoration was completely overcome with disgust after her tricks were exposed. Heather did not even know how to feel anymore.Michael got home only to see Heather sitting on the couch with annoyance all over her face.He did not have the energy to entertain his mother and headed for the stairs instead. Seeing how depressed her son looked, Heather’s mood w
Everyone knew about Hoover Alley. It was a messy neighborhood with all kinds of thugs. Whenever one thought of that place, one would be reminded of a certain kind of vocabulary. It was a dirty, evil, and chaotic place.Sophia always looked so elegant and had a picture-perfect reputation. Who would ever expect her to come from a place like that? She even had an indecent nickname that made her sound like a prostitute. Heather’s heart was consumed with discomfort. She had no idea about all of this, but today’s incidents really changed the way she thought about Sophia.After all, Heather and Sophia were rather close in the past. As Madam Parker went on to talk badly about Sophia, Heather felt her face burning in embarrassment as if she had been struck across the face.“I gotta admit that Sophia is beautiful. She must’ve been way prettier during her youth, which is how she got that kind of nickname, I suppose.”Madam Parker disagreed with what she said. “That doesn’t mean she can be a
Now that Madam Parker had verified what happened back then, the truth was finally out. Christina was the daughter of the wife who had been driven to her death and was even chased out of her home!Heather sat on the sofa, baffled by what she had just learned. Her chest felt so tight that she found it hard to breathe.Back then, Heather’s father had an affair with another woman and this caused her mother to die out of sadness. Heather’s fate was better than her mother’s as she married into the Larson family and had a husband who loved her deeply.She went through so much because of that mistress and now that she thought about it, Christina was actually going through the same thing. They were both victims of a ruined family. Christina was even more pitiful than she was. She was in love with her son, yet Heather was such an evil mother-in-law who tore both of them apart.Moreover, she was also prepared to let Christina’s sworn enemy, Serena, be wedded into the Larson family. At this
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