Xyla couldn't let Chandra know the truth, or her mother would become even more agitated. It would make the situation with Sydney even more unsalvageable.Chandra shut her eyes slowly.Upon seeing Chandra waver, Xyla seized the chance and said, "Mom, I'll buy flight tickets right away. We'll go immediately. We can go anywhere you want, and we'll only come back when the dust settles. I'll make sure Chris handles the entire thing well and that nothing happens to you. I promise!"Mom, I'm begging you. Do this for me. Think about it—even if this blows up, you've abducted someone. We just need to pull a few strings, and nothing major will happen to you. But if Sydney dies, that will make you a murderer!""Alright, that's quite enough. Don't you think I'd know all these?""Mom, I know you do, but I was worried you wouldn't see it clearly. Mom, I'm begging you, please."Chandra remained silent for a long time before finally picking up her phone.-The pitch-black sky felt suffocating.
Sydney was unconscious for three days.When she finally woke up, she found herself in a ward. She felt as though every bone in her body was broken.Her mind was in a fuzzy mess and her eyelids felt as though they were glued shut. She couldn't open them no matter how hard she tried.A faint smell of disinfectant drifted into her nose.A soft, warm towel caressed her eyes; soon, she could open them as her vision was slowly brought to focus. She turned her head slowly and saw Christopher seated at her bedside, his eyes filled with worry.Sydney opened her mouth, wanting to say something.Christopher put the towel down and said in a small voice, "You're finally awake. I'll get you some water."He turned around and poured a glass of water for Sydney. Then, he carefully sat her up and put the glass to her lips.Sydney gulped down a few mouthfuls of water. Her throat hurt, and she started coughing. Christopher patted her back gently.Sydney's whole body was in terrible pain.Christo
"Alright," Christopher said with a nod. "Anything else you want me to tell them?"Sydney pondered for a moment before saying, "Please bring the divorce papers to Wesley and tell him that I want a divorce."Joy flashed past the depths of Christopher's eyes when he heard about the divorce, but he quickly turned solemn and asked, "Are you sure about this?"Sydney nodded. "I am. Firstly, I've been wanting to divorce him for a long time. Secondly, it's more convincing to serve him divorce papers after disappearing for a while. Just tell him that I'm with you now and I'm a willing party. If they don't believe you, I'll go back and tell them myself after I recover a few days later."Christopher was ready to give in to her in everything. Nodding again, he said, "Alright, I'll do as you say. Do you have specific requirements in the divorce agreement? Do you want to include anything about asset division?""No," Sydney said, shaking her head. "I don't want any of the Spencers' things. I
A few people were seated in the vast living room. They were Theodore, Rosalie, Wesley, and Christopher.Christopher had only asked to meet Theodore and Wesley, but Theodore contacted Rosalie, whom he felt was family.Rosalie put her child in infant care and rushed over. When she heard that this concerned Sydney, she hurried over without any hesitation.The four of them sat on the couch, the air around them slightly awkward."Pardon me," Christopher began, "Sydney needs some time alone and asked me to reach out to you.""Mr. Jackson," Theodore said coldly. "You contacted us a few days ago saying that my mother is with you and safe. Now that you're right here, I'd like to ask you: what is she doing with you? If she's with you, why does she want to erase all traces of it? Could it be that she's not with you willingly?""That's right!" Wesley added. "Why is my wife with you for no rhyme or reason? You'll have to give us a good explanation today."They knew who Christopher was, but t
"Sydney has already signed on it. Mr. Spencer, please do so too," Christopher said. Wesley couldn't believe it, but it was indeed Sydney's signature and handwriting on the divorce agreement."How could this be? How could it?!"With a loud rip, Wesley agitatedly tore the divorce papers into two.Everything seemed to be within Christopher's expectations."I don't believe a bloody word you said!" Wesley stood up in a huff. "I want to see her! If you don't let me see her, I'll turn nasty! Where is she right now? Tell me!""Dad, don't be like this," Rosalie said as she stood up. "Calm down. Let's talk things through."Wesley shoved Rosalie aside. "What is there to talk about?!" Rosalie lost her footing and fell. Thankfully, the couch was right behind her and she collapsed into it."Dad, what are you doing?!" Theodore barked. "I know you're angry, but why attack Rose? She didn't do anything wrong!"He rushed to Rosalie's side. "Rose, are you hurt?"Rosalie shook her head. "I'm f
Theodore's words shocked not just Wesley, but Rosalie as well. She stared at him, the look in her eyes complicated.Wesley lifted a finger and pointed shakily at him. "What…what did you say?""Dad, let it go. You're the one in the wrong, and you can't salvage the situation. Don't cling to it and refuse to let go. This will only make things more painful between you two."He suddenly glanced at Rosalie as he spoke. Rosalie's heart leaped, and she looked away.Was Theodore actually referring to the two of them?Christopher opened his mouth to say something, but Rosalie immediately shot him a look to warn him against interrupting. Somehow, he listened to her and nodded.Wesley and Theodore were at daggers drawn.After a long while, Wesley snapped, "This is between your mom and me. You're my son, how could you agree to our divorce in front of outsiders? I'm extremely disappointed in you!"After which, he turned around and said to Christopher, "Are you very sure Syd is safe right now
Wesley was very distracted as he drove on the road.When he reached the bridge over the sea, he stopped the car. He got out of the car and walked onto the bridge, looking out into the vast sea, and sighed.He shut his eyes, looking pained.He knew he deserved everything that happened, but he still felt immense pain. If only everything could start over."Sir, what are you doing?"A voice sounded from behind him.He turned around; he saw a young lad standing behind him, looking anxious.Wesley furrowed his brows. Before he could speak, the young man suddenly ran over and said, "Sir, don't do anything foolish! You can always talk things through, or you can share it with me. It's very dangerous here. Don't stay here, alright?"At the sight of the anxious look on the young lad's face, Wesley knew the latter thought he wanted to take his own life."It's not what you think it is. I just need some time alone to calm down.""Really?" The young man walked to the sidewalk and stood ne
"Oh dear. Thanks, Mr. Spencer. Thankfully you picked it up. I'm so careless."Yerick opened his wallet to check that everything was inside. "It's a small matter if I lost my money, but my mom's photo is inside, and I only have one. I can't lose it."Yerick stared at the photo in the wallet with sad eyes."Your mother…" Wesley began."My mother's no longer around," Yerick said sadly. "This was her last photo. She died when I was very young. Look, Mr. Spencer. Isn't my mom beautiful?"Wesley took the wallet and saw the small photo inside. A young, beautiful woman looked back at him with a bright smile.Shock flashed past Wesley's eyes when he saw the woman's face. His mind buzzed, feeling as though it was going to explode.How could it be her?Wesley was completely shaken. He couldn't believe what he saw.That woman looked so familiar. He didn't know if he saw it wrongly, but she looked so similar."Mr. Spencer, what's wrong?" Yerick looked curiously at him. "Is my mom so bea
At night, Rosalie and Theodore headed out for dinner.They didn't take Steve along with them. Theodore wanted to enjoy the date with just the two of them.Rosalie couldn't bear to reject him.Their relationship had been utterly ruined and they barely managed to resolve the misunderstandings. The dust had finally settled around them, and she didn't want to sour the mood again. They were Steve's parents, and Steve naturally wouldn't want his parents to be at loggerheads with each other. They might be divorced, but they could still live in peace and that would only be beneficial for Steve's growth.Theodore booked a restaurant where they shared a romantic meal before heading to the cinema.Theodore bought tickets to a romance movie. It was a very touching story and many ladies were reduced to tears by the time the credits were rolling.Rosalie, however, couldn't bring herself to cry. Perhaps because she was all out of tears from what happened in real life and she felt numb when sh
Half a month flew by.Many things happened during that period, but everything was progressing smoothly.Justin, Sydney, and Wesley were all discharged. Rosalie was slowly adapting to work life. Theodore had seemingly returned to normal, busy with what he was supposed to do. He no longer looked despondent, but he avoided Sydney whenever she looked him up.There was still a barrier erected between the mother and son.Sebastian had fled and no one knew where he was right now.Rosalie was taking a break from work over the weekends and sat in front of her laptop, brainstorming for her book.Before this, she had consulted the author.The author shared her own experiences genuinely.She wanted to write about complicated financial knowledge only a select few would be interested in, but if she wanted to appeal to the masses, she had to make complicated jargon easy to understand, so much so that even an uneducated vegetable grocer could get it. She wanted to avoid fancy terminologies,
Rosalie scrolled through the videos mindlessly and started feeling drowsy. She was about to doze off when she scrolled to a livestream session. The host looked rather familiar. Wasn't this the author who wrote that novel? It was all thanks to her that Angie was caught. Why was she on a livestream?She looked like a natural onscreen.Many people were tuning in. The author was interacting non-stop with her readers, even leisurely reading through nasty comments left by detractors and responding to them.One of the comments read, [The disgusting characters are a reflection of how disgusting the author is. She herself must be promiscuous to be able to write of such a promiscuous character.]The author responded, "If I wrote a character with a high IQ, does that make me have a high IQ, too? In that case, I'll write about a character with an IQ of 190 in my next book. But that's not right. I've written so many books with so many characters in them, even criminals. You should call the co
At night, Theodore came back looking disheveled and not in good shape.Rosalie immediately welcomed him home with Steve in her arms. "Theo, where were you?""I've been staying in a hotel these days.""Theo, Steve's your son and that's a fact no one can change.""Dada," Steve said as he stretched his arms toward Theodore, demanding a hug.Rosalie put Steve in Theodore's arms. "Carry him. He misses you and has been asking for you these few days."Theodore's heart melted as he carried Steve in his arms. He felt so fortunate to come home to his child and Rosalie and yearned for nothing more.However, the past continued haunting him, disturbing his peace and becoming a hurdle he could not cross."Did Sebastian give him his name?"Rosalie was stunned for a moment before admitting honestly, "Yes. I didn't know his true colors then. At that time, he was always by my side, helping me out."She added, "If you don't like this name, give the child another name. He doesn't need to be call
"But I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone for not believing her words. You have every right to dislike our food, and you can even tell me that my dishes are too salty, too oily, too spicy, or simply yucky. It's fine if you don't like it and I can accept constructive feedback. "But that woman was so foul-mouthed, slandering and verbally abusing me and my chef while inciting others to do the same. That's not something a normal person does. She's behaving like a mad dog barking indiscriminately.""Well said!"The customers applauded her. They could tell that she was a straightforward person who wouldn't offend others unless others offended her first. If anyone dared to offend her, she wouldn't let it rest.Rosalie didn't expect such excitement while having lunch, and was thoroughly entertained.As it turns out, most of the customers were reasonable, and only a minority were incited by the lady.The customers had originally thought that the boss was the one scolding the cu
Their raised voices were piercing to Rosalie's ears. The customer was nasty with her words, and the boss retaliated."Come, everyone! Come and see how terrible this boss is, bullying her customer!" the customer snarled scornfully, her disheveled hair blowing in the wind.Some people hadn't fully grasped the situation yet and turned around to look on curiously, thinking that the boss was truly guilty of bullying her customer."Before commenting on other people, you should take a good look at yourself and see how terrible you are! You come here every day, insulting and slandering others. Who else should I scold other than you? You're always coming here and calling my food disgusting trash. You even insulted the chef! Since you don't like it, why do you still come day after day? Are you asking for trouble? You're so foul-mouthed, do you really think you're some dainty fairy?" the boss refuted."Just look, everyone! The boss is bullying and scolding her customer again! She doesn't want
Rosalie felt rather distracted after leaving the hospital.For some reason, she felt very disappointed.She knew how to stop herself from feeling disappointed, but she didn't dare to do it. She didn't know how the future would unfold.Rosalie suddenly wanted to get some fresh air alone, so instead of driving, she walked along the roadside. Somehow, she ended up on another street, far away from where she parked her car. The street was very crowded and lively, packed with many restaurants.Feeling rather hungry, Rosalie walked into a buffet restaurant along the street.There was a sign hung up on the door, with the words, 'If this is your first time in this city and you face some difficulties with no money to your name, come in and order set number #0 for free.'This was an ordinary buffet restaurant, with dishes displayed that diners could help themselves to. There was a good variety of dishes which looked ordinary but delicious. The food looked and smelled so good, it whetted R
The topic of impending separation felt rather heavy and neither of them wanted to continue."Let me peel an apple for you." Rosalie picked an apple from the basket and peeled it with a knife.They remained silent, not saying a word for a long time."Rose, how is Theodore?""Some things happened recently and he wanted some time alone. He said he'll be back soon.""What happened?"Rosalie told Justin about it.Justin's brows furrowed. "Turns out that they are siblings. That's unfortunate for Theodore. Not only does he have a madman for a younger brother, but he also has an older brother who wants to kill him.""Yeah. We don't know what to do about it. After he returns, I want to have a good chat with him. Even if I can't help him with much, I can offer some words of consolation.""Do you still live with him now?" Justin asked.Rosalie nodded. "Yeah, I'm staying with him now and taking care of Steve with him. I feel like Steve has been quite happy recently, perhaps because both
"I used to be like that too," Justin said, "but with time, I realized that we live on this earth to enjoy every day, every minute and every second of the entire process. No one grows up in one minute, gets married in the second minute, and dies in the third. The endpoint might be important, but it only comes around from the accumulation of many little, ordinary things in life. Only when there are lows will we appreciate the highs. Only when we're sad will we appreciate happy times. It is only in the ordinary that we can see the extraordinary."I wondered if I should feel a complicated piece by myself, understanding the ups and downs of its story, or if I should listen to others. I eventually chose the former. Many things in life aren't black and white and you'll have to look at the whole picture to understand its complexity instead of just hearing a superficial summary."I subsequently began enjoying watching a movie, a drama series, or a novel without being affected by other people'