Lena held the bag tightly in her hand. Beside her, Chris felt that something was wrong and turned to give her a concerned and serious look."I didn't...""I know." He held her hand firmly. "It's okay. I'll accompany you to explain it.""There's no need for an explanation at all," Lena whispered. "Renee framed me! I haven't done anything wrong. Even if the police come, I won't admit to it!""Lenny..." Chris looked pained. "But it's best not to blow this out of proportion for now. It's Aunt Cordelia's birthday today, and Renee is Toph's fiancee. If we make a scene, you won't gain anything and will have to endure everyone's criticism—""I'm not afraid!""Lenny!" Chris held her shoulder. "I know you're not afraid of gossip, but aren't you afraid of being misunderstood by Lina?"Lena froze, her gaze slowly dimming.Chris smiled wryly. Saying anything else was futile. Only Lina had the power to influence Lena. As her boyfriend, Chris accepted his role humbly, willing to be second to
"Renee, calm down." Cordelia's voice was gentle. "With so many guests at home today, it's not appropriate to involve the police. Don't you worry. I'll definitely find the ring.""You're not pursuing this anymore?""Why?" Cordelia looked at her cryptically. "Don't you believe that I can help you find it?""It's not that..." Renee paused. "I have a suspect."This sentence played right into Cordelia's hands. She pretended not to understand, furrowing her eyebrow and softly asking, "You have a suspect? Who is it?""Aunt Cordelia, the person who last accompanied me to the restroom was Lena.""Oh?"Before Cordelia could utter a word, Chris approached while holding Lena's hand.Lena held the same handbag as Renee's."No need for suspicion," Lena stated with her usual calm expression, standing before the group. She retrieved the ring from her bag and met everyone's eyes with unwavering confidence. "It's right here, in my bag."Everyone was surprised."But I did not take it!""Didn'
Lena sneered at Renee, but Arya took the question seriously.Chris held Lena's hand, ready to depart. As he walked past Arya, he whispered, "Are you really starting to figure things out now? She's obviously settling old and new grudges! Our Lenny doesn't need to suffer any more injustice here!"Arya halted them both by grabbing their hands and smiling innocently at the group. "Wait, don't go! We don't know how the ring ended up in this bag. Let's just put it on me!""What?" Renee was greatly surprised.Lena was equally shocked and about to defend Arya, but the latter stepped before her."Consider it my mistake!" Arya chuckled. "Renee, I'm truly sorry. I found this ring and meant to return it to you, but then I forgot and gave the bag to Lena... It's all a misunderstanding. I hope you can forgive me!"Renee's eyes widened in shock, finding it hard to believe.Arya smiled casually, and the other guests, showing respect for her as the Bayer heiress, refrained from commenting.Even
Renee felt a bit anxious and wanted to take Toph with her. But suddenly, Zuko appeared from nowhere and beat her to it. He grabbed Toph's arm and turned him away from Renee."Toph—""Toph!" Zuko's voice drowned her out. "Uncle Frederic and Aunt Trinity are here too. We should go and greet them!"Toph readily agreed, completely oblivious to Renee's increasingly dark expression behind him.The butler smiled. "Ms. Renee, please come this way.""Can we wait a moment?""Are you waiting for Mr. Toph?" The butler remained composed. "I know Madam well. She never includes others when she wishes to have tea with someone."Renee froze and slowly released her grip on her dress, forced to follow the butler.-Cordelia's flower room was situated in a corner of Zen Residence—an all-glass structure that sparkled like a radiant pearl in the night. There were various exotic plants and flowers inside, trying to outshine each other. Cordelia was seated on a sofa, sipping tea, and a delicate pas
Cordelia understood everything, and nothing could escape her notice."This time, you should thank Arya." Cordelia spoke softly. "If it weren't for her timely intervention, it'd be hard to put an end to the situation should it escalate.""Is that so? Thank her?" Renee sneered. "Aunt Cordelia, you heard what she said, right? She claimed she mistakenly took my ring and put it in her own bag, only to forget about it. Why did you all buy what she said just because she's the Bayer heiress? Why didn't you consider the possibility that she and Lena conspired to stage this whole drama?"Cordelia was somewhat surprised. She had been under the impression her earlier hint was enough but did not expect Renee to be so inflexible.In retrospect, it seemed that Renee had placed all her resentment for losing her mother on Lena. She believed that Lena had triggered Kaitlyn's second personality, that Lena had driven Kaitlyn to jump off the cliff.In other words, Lena had indirectly killed her mother
"Renee, listen to me." Cordelia held onto the last glimmer of hope. "The past is already in the past. If you keep digging into it, you'll only become more miserable. And if Toph sees you suffering, do you think he'll feel any better?""Aunt Cordelia...""I'll arrange the best psychologist for you." Cordelia gently stroked Renee's hair. "You're just unwell, and I believe you will get better."Renee remained silent, the darkness in her eyes deepening.The butler lightly knocked on the door and walked over to hand Le Fari to Cordelia.Renee stiffened. When Toph tried to put the ring on her earlier, she pushed him away. She realized she had acted impulsively. This time, she decided to take the initiative and get the ring back."Aunt Cordelia, this...""There's no rush." Cordelia put up a hand with a gentle but firm gesture. She signaled to the butler, who immediately brought a jewelry box over.After Cordelia placed the ring inside, the butler locked the box."Toph mentioned that
"What are you talking about?" Lena laughed after a moment of pause.-Chris and Toph arrived at the hospital to find Lina half-leaning against the bedside. Zuko looked tense, but his joy was evident in his smile. Nicholas, Linda, Zephyr, Cordelia, Jesse, and Melissa were all present.Even Dave, who hardly ever skipped any classes, had skipped a very important class today.Everyone was filled with happy smiles.Toph was momentarily stunned, looking around. "W-What's going on?""Come over here, Toph!" Cordelia waved to him. "You're going to be an uncle!""What?" Toph was both surprised and delighted.Zuko handed him a test report—he had clutched it like a treasure for quite a while before Toph came to the hospital.There was an ultrasound image on it, but Toph could not make out what it was even after staring at it for a while. Below the image were various professional terms that he did not understand either.What he did understand was the last few words—Pregnant, 6 weeks.Len
Cordelia's gaze darkened instantly. Zephyr patted her shoulder and gave her a subtle glance."Your mom didn't sleep well last night, so I'm taking her back to rest first," Zephyr said softly. "Zuko, take care of Pammy.""Don't worry!""Nicholas, Linda, join us?" Zephyr smiled. "It's been a while since we've all gathered. Let's go to my place for a drink!"Nicholas and Linda readily agreed.Melissa gave Lina advice for quite some time before Jesse and Dave pulled her away. When leaving, she looked back with lingering worry."Mom, I'm fine." Lina smiled. "You and dad, though, need to take good care of yourselves. After all, you'll have to help me take care of the baby in the future!""Of course, of course!" Melissa regained her vigor.In reality, she hoped Lina would have more children. Having experienced the pains of childbirth herself, however, she did not want her daughter to go through it again, so it was a bit of a dilemma...Now that most people had left, the room fell qui