Christina nodded her head. “I know. I don’t want to have anything to do with him either!”Ariel did not believe that Bill Hunt would harm her friend without a reason, nor would Michael Larson.Michael sat on the plastic waiting chair by the hallway, furrowing his brows as he thought about Matthew Henderson. If the Henderson family had seen Matthew’s confession to Christina on television, would they have sent those men to destroy her life? Would they do it just to uphold their honor?Matthew was a man with a terrible reputation, yet this did not deter the old master’s adoration toward his son. With an intention to appoint Matthew as his successor, the old master had always thought highly of Matthew. It was a traditional family, so Michael knew that there was no way the Henderson family would allow a divorcee to be wed into their household.This was just Michael’s wild guess and he obviously had no proof of it. It was definitely not appropriate to talk about something like this witho
“No!” John Garcia gave a cold reply. The last time he saw Christina, he had tried to warn her about Bill Hunt’s intentions. Not only did his words fall on deaf ears, but she did not even give him the respect he deserved as her father. That only pissed him off.An uneasy feeling washed over him whenever he thought about this. “I was just doing that for her own good. Who knew that she’s such an ungrateful person? I guess she just doesn’t take me as her father anymore.”“Christina still hates us. You can’t blame her for acting that way. After all, we were having an affair behind her mother’s back, so it’s natural for her to be mad. Give her some time to accept this reality. I’m sure she’ll change her mind about you one day.” Sophia consoled her husband.“I know she’s mad, but that doesn’t mean that she can toy around her marriage like that! Look at Bill! What makes you think he’ll give her the life she deserves?” John’s blood gushed at the thought of it.Sophia put on a kind face.“She
“I didn’t see Christina.” John sighed, placing the thermos bottle on the table.As soon as he arrived at the hospital, he saw Michael’s assistant standing at the door of Christina’s room. He did not enter the room on the assumption that Michael was inside. John frowned while glancing at Sophia and Serena. He was not sure what to say. Deep down, Sophia was delighted at the sight of John’s anxious look. Seeing that Christina’s condition did not seem to get better, he wanted to speak about it, but the words were just stuck in his throat.Sophia tried to suppress her delight and asked, “What did the doctor say? Did you find out about Christina’s condition?”“I did.” John sat down.He did not explain the matter, which kept Sophia on the edge of her seat. However, she felt that she should not sound too eager to ask about Christina’s condition. “What did the doctor say?”“The doctor said that Christina’s having a fever as she got drenched in the rain. She’ll be fine after taking some
After grasping the point, Serena quickly kneeled down. “Dad, I’d readily end the relationship and let Christina and Michael get together if the wedding news hadn’t yet been announced. But now, everyone has already learned about it. If I end the relationship now, everyone will definitely laugh at me. Oh well, I’d rather die.” John could not bear seeing his daughter weep bitterly. “I was just casually saying it. I was planning to discuss this matter with you. Why are you crying?”Sophia held Serena up from the floor. “Exactly! Your dad just said it without much thought. How can he bear to let you kill yourself? We owe it to Christina back then, so your dad sympathizes with her. That’s why he made such a remark.” John was in a dilemma, considering that both Christina and Serena were his daughters. He hated himself for being careless back then. Sophia had told him earlier that Christina would lose her position in the Larson family due to her infertility. In this case, Sophia was wil
Simmering with rage, Ariel spoke in a blunt manner. Francis’ brows furrowed. “Madam Larson, you’re not welcome here. Please leave. Otherwise, I’m going to call security.”Feeling embarrassed, Heather vented her anger on Christina. “Christina, how dare you still appear in front of Michael?! He didn’t mind even though you couldn’t bear a child for him back then, but you actually cheated on him! What’s worse, you deliberately pushed Serena, who finally got pregnant, and caused her to suffer a miscarriage. The Larsons are so kind that we didn’t blame you for that. But now, you’re pestering Michael again. What’s your intention?”Christina lost her temper and clenched her fists. In fact, it was Michael who cheated on her at that time. How dare Heather falsify the issue and accuse Christina of cheating!Even Francis, who had a good temper, was offended by Heather’s words. He stood up and said, “Believe it or not, I’m going to smack you if you continue to make nonsensical accusations agai
A blush of shame soon appeared on Heather’s face. “Michael, what did you hear?”“Mom, don’t you feel tired of pretending in front of me?”She was unhappy about it. “Since when did I pretend? I just don’t want you to be with that evil woman. Is there anything wrong with it?” “Mom, I just want to let you know that it’s not Christina who keeps pestering me. I’m the one who keeps pestering her shamelessly. Don’t bother her anymore.”“Why do you want to pester her?”Michael laughed. “Mom, you should know the reason very well!” Heather was momentarily stunned. “Michael, that’s all in the past. Let’s not talk about it anymore, okay? Serena has spent many years waiting for you. She loves you so much, so you must not let her down!” Micheal gave a self-deprecating laugh. “You’re the one who has let Serena down, not me. You planned everything back then, didn’t you?”“I just did it for your own good. If you insist on being with that evil woman, the Larson family won’t have any descendan
‘What a terrible woman who’s always taking days off! She went to date her lover yesterday and consequently didn’t show up at work today. How awful of her!’Matthew was enraged for no apparent reason. There were several times when he felt like calling Christina, but he thought that doing so would cause him to lose his dignity. At last, he got Fred to call Christina. After trying to make a call, Fred told Matthew that Christina’s phone had been turned off. Stomping his feet, Matthew thought, ‘That woman must be busy dating her lover. She doesn’t want anyone to disturb her, so she turned off her phone.‘Watch out, Christina! I’m going to give you a lesson.’Matthew behaved grumpily all day and criticized everyone he met at work. Even Fred, who just quietly minded his own business, got criticized by Matthew. Fred began to look glum. When Matthew was finally done for the day, he drove to the old town only to discover that Christina and Francis were not around. The house was empty and
Ariel winked at Christina and added, “Exactly, Christina. What President Henderson said is right. You didn’t have to harm yourself because of that scumbag. It’s fine to break up. I’m sure you’ll find a better partner.”Christina looked down in silence.Noticing that Christina remained silent beside him, Matthew continued to lecture her. Then, he cheerfully picked up his phone to give Fred a call. “Christina is sick. Based on her skin and face, I can tell that she’s suffering from malnutrition. Get some tonics and bring them here right now!” Fred seemed puzzled after he hung up the phone. Just the day before, Matthew had called her an evil woman and had wanted to give her a lesson, but within a day, his attitude toward her had changed.Not only did President Henderson sound cheerful, but he had also asked Fred to buy some tonics and bring them to the hospital. What a drastic change in him.Speaking of the Garcia family, Sophia was under the impression that she would receive what s
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