In a pavilion garden away from the crowd, the boy who wet his pants was talking to a woman. The woman was none other than Jennifer. She paid the boy to call her own son a dupe in front of the guests and make him look like a clown. Since her words no longer worked, she resorted to dirty tricks to pull her son away from the woman’s charms. “How was my performance? Good, right?” the boy said as he wiped his snot away. He stretched his hand out to ask for his reward. “Where are my two hundred bucks?” Jennifer pulled out a piece of one hundred dollar bill and waved it in front of the boy. “Here.” The boy frowned. “We agreed on two hundred! Where’s the other hundred? You lied!” Jennifer clicked her tongue and patted the boy’s head. “You can’t do great things if you are this impatient. That man you made fun of is a thousand times more mature than you. What you did just now didn’t even affect him, which is why you failed your task, and I can only give you one hundred.” “No way! G
Mona’s heart sank, and her eyes started to water. Master Fontaine hid it well. He was terribly ill, yet no one knew about it. He tapped Mona’s hand and gave her a smile. “Today is an important day. All the extended families and affiliates are influential figures, and some of them are the company’s working partners. So try to behave, okay?” Master Fontaine’s smile had a deep meaning to it. His words also reminded Mona to not cause any trouble on this important occasion. Mona snorted and got up. She put her sorrow away and replaced it with a blank look. She empathized with Master Fontaine. If he did not want to say, she would help him keep a secret. Fortunately, judging from the pulse reading, it was bad. However, even though Master Fontaine dragged it out, it was not irreversible. She sighed. She turned around and saw Thaddeus talking to a handsome young man in formal attire. She sized up the man carefully, feeling a sense of familiarity. Although it was her first time seein
Thaddeus, Raymond, and Alex were known as the Worchester Trinity among the four great families. They grew up together and only parted ways when they decided to study abroad after high school. Unlike playboys from most wealthy families, the three shouldered the duty of expanding the family business. While all three of them shared the same ideals, they also viewed each other as rivals. Many years later, all three men managed to gain a certain level of success in their respective fields. They were talented men who respected each other. Thaddeus scoffed. “Raymond has been sulking since he came back from South Georgia. He must have done something bad there.” Alex raised a brow. “South Georgia? How strange. I thought he said he would never set foot there again for the rest of his life.” “You will know when you visit him at his house. Blindly guessing won’t get you answers.” Alex stroked his chin and nodded. “I suppose so. I bet it’s related to women.” While they were chatting,
Mona’s heart sank. She felt like a hand just pushed her closer to the cliff. One more step, and she would fall to her demise. A dash of nervousness appeared on her face before she suppressed her emotions and calmed herself down. She saw Thaddeus’ frosty look. It was only a moment ago that he was looking affectionately at her. Now, he was like a complete stranger to her. Thaddeus walked over to his mother and turned around to Mona. “Mother is right. According to family rules, you should kneel.” His words froze Mona’s heart completely and tossed her into the abyss. She clenched her fists and stared grudgingly at the man she barely recognized. She then curled her lips into a frosty grin and said strongly, “No!” Thaddeus was expressionless. He said, “Don’t forget your father is still in the hospital fighting for his life.” Mona’s pupils shrank in fear as she looked at Thaddeus. What happened back in the hospital, coupled with his frosty attitude, rendered her speechless.
“I’ll kneel!” Two seconds of hesitation later, she turned and knelt before the memorial tablets. For her father, she decided to compromise. However, the moment her knees touched the ground, her heart was dead. She swore never to let anyone insult or bully her ever again. After the ceremony, Mona got on her feet and stood at the side blankly. She did not look at Thaddeus or Jennifer. Chatters sounded among the guests and grew louder by the second. However, Mona only stood there like a monolith, lifeless and bleak. Thaddeus did not look normal, either. His face was expressionless as he stood beside Mona, not saying a word. His phone in his pocket suddenly buzzed. He pulled it out for a glance and saw it was the hospital. He sighed as he listened to the doctor updating him about Oliver’s condition. He then passed the phone to Mona. “It’s from the hospital.” Mona put the phone near her ear. The doctor said heavily, “I’m sorry, but the patient did not make it.” Her jaw
“Are you out of your mind?” Alex shoved Thaddeus’ shoulders. “If you are going to start a scene here, stop. Don’t interfere with her decision.” Alex was not afraid of Thaddeus’ warning. He had seen Thaddeus’ crazy side before. Aside from being mad, he sympathized with the man but could not do anything to change it, so it did not matter. He turned around and saw Mona’s pale face and somewhat felt bad for her. She resembled his sister and reminded him of her, so he had the urge to protect her. “Let’s go to the hospital.” Mona nodded gratefully at Alex before leaving with him. “Mona, stop right there!” Thaddeus’ thunderous shout echoed from behind, but Mona turned a deaf ear to him. With her father gone, other than her kids, no one could threaten her any more. “Oh no! Bobby! Help!” A servant ran over from the garden, looking anxious. “Bobby fell into the pond! Someone help him!” As soon as Mona heard the servant, her vision went dark and her head started spinning. She coll
The man’s eyes flickered. He grabbed Mona’s wrist and dragged her upstairs. “Go to sleep.” “No!” Mona shook his hand off and stood firm. “I want an explanation.” “Then, you will have to wait for the kids to wake up.” Mona insisted. “No. Pull up the surveillance footage. Right now.” Thaddeus turned around and looked at her, feeling helpless. He held her hand and said, “Stop causing a scene.” While they were confronting each other, they were not aware of Jennifer striding over with a ferocious look. She grabbed Mona’s hair fiercely and shouted at her, “You b*tch! You are the daughter of that b*tch that stole my husband! Now, you are here to steal my son away?!” Pulled backward, Mona staggered and almost fell to the floor. Thaddeus stretched his hand out and pulled her back into his chest. He looked at his mother and bellowed, “Mother, Oliver Mayers and Miranda Flocken are dead! It’s time for you to forget about the past!” Jennifer looked at Thaddeus disappointedly. “T
Mona went upstairs to check on Bobby in his room. Inside the cozy children’s room, Bobby curled up his tiny body under the blanket, seeming to be having difficulty sleeping. He stretched his hand outside the blanket and tried to take off the antipyretic patch from his forehead. Mona sat beside him and held this tiny hand. She looked at his reddish face and somehow teared up. If she could not even take good care of her own son, she was not qualified to be a mother. She blamed herself for what happened and felt guilty for not being able to protect him. She swore inwardly that she would find out the truth about Bobby falling into the pond and clear his name. She wanted the Fontaines to know that she and her children were not subjects that they could bully. Meanwhile, in the study, the lights were turned off. Anna was doing hypnotherapy on Thaddeus while the other two watched with heavy and concerned expressions. The people who knew Thaddeus’ secret had all gathered in this r