Winona gradually regained her strength after several days in the hospital. She tried to ring Serena, but the calls were never returned.Serena had no time to entertain the woman. The poor woman could hardly look after herself. The only thought that occupied her mind was to acquire money so she could return to living lavishly like before.She used to spend a lot of time drinking and fooling around in the past. Her love for ease and comfort and hatred for work also turned her into a person without ambition. Naturally, she would not look for a job to sustain herself.After contemplating for a long time, she decided to turn to John.Although all of John’s wealth was confiscated, she believed the man must have secretly stashed a pile of wealth somewhere.John was supposed to serve time in prison but was released for medical treatment due to his deteriorating health. Serena was able to visit him as she was his daughter.She cried and choked with tears as she told him her current situat
“Christina, you’ve gotten back with Michael now and the Larson family has an immense amount of wealth. Give your sister a hand so she wouldn’t be at the end of her rope, will you?”“She’s not my sister!” Christina was incensed. Where was everyone when she was in a tight spot? Serena was only getting what she deserved from all the bad things she did, yet Christina was supposed to help her out? Why should she?If she had the money, she would rather donate it to the beggars on the street than share it with Serena!Besides, she did not have any money to spare. She was still living in Matthew’s small villa with her uncle. They did not even have a place to call their own.Michael was filthy rich, but his wealth did not belong to her. She did not have the right to his money.The discussion ended terribly. Without bothering to show respect to John, she left the hospital with a sullen face.Ariel was exasperated to hear the story and immediately erupted in anger. “John is really shameless
Christina’s eyes welled up at the sound of that. She addressed Heather as ‘mother’ during all the years married to Michael, but she knew the woman had not accepted it herself even for a second. Upon seeing the excitement on her face, and the earnest tone of her words, Christina knew Heather was genuine about making amends. However, at a time like this, all she could do was express her gratitude.When she refused the suggestion, Heather left the place looking dejected.Later that night, the latter mentioned this exchange to her son. “You have to try harder so Christina will not end up with Sean.”“Don’t worry, Mom, I’m confident that Christina will give me another chance.” He sounded optimistic. He had been spending a lot of effort on pleasing Travis and Christina lately, not forgetting Ariel. Christina’s attitude to him remained the same, but his relationship with Travis and Ariel improved tremendously.Ariel stopped speaking eccentrically with him, and Travis even started call
“Get out! You bastard daughter of that evil woman!” John was shaking visibly.Michael scoffed on the side. “Miss Garcia, take a look at this!”Serena looked through the paternity test report. “Whose report is this?”“Yours and Mayor Garcia. Do you still think that you’re his daughter?”“This is impossible?!” She was baffled. She always thought that she was John’s daughter. Never would she have expected that they were not related by blood at all.“Why not? Your mother Sophia was once the famous socialite of Hoover Alley. It remains a mystery as to who your birth father is. Of course, you can ask your Uncle Tommy. I bet he knows which hooligan is your real father!”Dejected and embarrassed, she left with her cheeks burned red. Winona’s health was recovering steadily. Heather went to visit her at the hospital upon learning that. Winona thought she was dreaming when the woman showed up. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She thought Heather was in a deep coma. Why would she show up i
Winona did not believe Heather at all. All these years she treated Serena like her biological daughter. How could it be wrong?“You’re lying!”Heather knew from Winona’s reaction that Sophia kept her in the dark so she could be used as a pawn.She was completely disappointed in this friend, hence there was no need for her to be polite anymore. Her purpose of this visit was to crush and humiliate the woman.She would not let herself be wronged by others. Although she was not exceptionally smart, she was no fool either. She refused to keep quiet when bullied.“Winona, do you think you’re so smart that you can deceive everyone? To tell you the truth, Sophia knew your plan from the beginning!”“What do you mean?”“She knew about you swapping the babies at birth, so she played along with your plan and sent your daughter to the orphanage. She even made you spend all these years helping her improve her daughter’s life.”Sophia did a perfect job beating Winona at her own game. Winona t
”No! Tommy, how could you be so cruel to your daughter? Give me back my daughter, now!”“I did a paternity test on the child after she was born. It’s confirmed that she wasn’t mine.” Tommy revealed the truth as there was no point keeping this a secret now.“Instead of throwing away your jade piece, I took pity on the baby girl and left it with her when I abandoned her at the orphanage so that you’ll recognize your birth daughter upon seeing the jade piece.”Winona almost lost it after hearing this. “I don’t believe it. The two of you are working together to deceive me!”“Why would we lie to you?” Heather asked. “Just accept the fact.”“No! This can’t be true!” Winona screamed.If they were telling the truth, then she had been putting in all the effort to help Sophia’s daughter. In other words, Suzy whom she killed was her birth daughter.She could not believe the fact that she had ordered the murder of her own daughter.“I know why you refuse to believe this. You were utterly h
Judy began to feel remorse for the things she did but it was already too late. She could not escape the fate of death and died in prison a month later. New York.Sean worked together with the police to rescue Suzy from the bad guys. The perpetrators involved were also apprehended.Suzy had remembered her past by now. She was ashamed with regret upon thinking of being deceived by Winona to scheme against Michael.Her doing so must have caused a lot of problems between Michael and Christina. He had helped her tremendously in the past, yet this was how she repaid him. She reckoned he must have despised her to the marrow of his bone.Fortunately, Sean showed up and rescued her from death, or she would definitely become the scapegoat of this problem.She was determined to show Winona’s true colors to Michael and Christina, as well as ensuring the treacherous woman would be punished according to the law!Sean showed up at the police station after being alerted by the police. Suzy was
Sean and Suzy boarded a flight home to Perth.The first thing she did after arriving was to apologize to Christina and Michael.She knelt to the ground as tears rolled down her face. She showed genuine remorse for the things she had done and sincerely begged for their forgiveness.Christina learned the truth from Michael and understood Suzy was only a victim in this case. The kind and naive girl was being used by Winona.Besides, she had received the punishment she deserved while abroad. She almost lost her life after being run over by a car, lost her memory, and was eventually kidnapped too.Everything that happened felt like a terrible nightmare. She finally managed to see things clearly.Christina was not a heartless person. She did not make things difficult for Suzy since the latter was a victim as well. Looking at the woman whose features resembled her own, she found it astonishing to learn they were actually sisters from different mothers.Just to be safe, Michael did a pa
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