Cedric felt indignant on Mike’s behalf, and Patricia spoke up for him, too.“Well, aren’t you just a petty one, Gerald? You and Mike are brothers. Do you have to hold a grudge for so long just because he got a restaurant? Aren’t you just trying to accuse us of being biased by letting North taunt him like this?“Have you ever wondered why we’re biased? It’s simply because you’re not fit to be considered our son. You can’t compare to Mike in any aspect, which is why we—”“It seems that you’re both blind and brainless, Ms. Patricia.” North interrupted her with a fake smile. She waved the phone in her hand. “I made an audio recording. I’ll put it on repeat for everyone to hear.”If this recording got out, the Howard family would become a joke!“North, this is a family matter. Do you have a death—Ow!”Before Patricia could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a sharp ache in her stomach. She stumbled, and sweat started to form on her forehead. Why did it hurt so much?!Patricia met N
“Mr. Mike could not win the argument, and then Mr. Cedric and Ms. Patricia said their stomachs were hurting. Mr. Mike said the same and even insisted that Gerald and I poisoned them.”At this point, North shook her head. “Officer, the three of them only had the fish stew. To prove that we’re innocent, Gerald and I both had a bowl of fish stew, but neither of us showed any reaction.”Gerald watched how seriously North spun her tale and smiled. “North, you don’t have to explain in such detail. We are innocent, and I believe that justice will prevail. I’m sure the police will help prove us innocent.”Right then, some doctors showed up, too.Mike and his parents kept wailing as the doctor in the lead took blood samples from them. The fish stew was also taken away to be tested.Fifteen minutes later, the doctors were all frowning in confusion.Mike was angry and upset. He was determined to pin all this on Gerald. He asked impatiently, “Doctor, are we very severely poisoned?”The doct
Mike’s face flushed. “Why should I be afraid? I just think that—”Before he could finish speaking, the doors to the kitchen opened.North’s expression turned grim. She had thought that the management of Le Mieux would be a mess, but she never imagined that things would be so bad!The kitchen was a complete mess, and hygiene did not seem to be prioritized at all. Ingredients were left strewn on the floor, and the place was filthy.Everyone was taken aback.“I didn’t believe that Le Mieux would disappoint its customers when it came to their standards when Mr. Gerald said to check the kitchen. I never thought the Howard family could be so shameless!”“None of the ingredients are fresh at all! We won’t get food poisoning too, will we? We want a refund!”“Isn’t the Howard family a wealthy family in Peacevale? How could Mike Howard put the reputation of his restaurant on the line to save a few bucks?!”Gerald’s eyes narrowed a little. He was very pleased at the surprise he saw before
“Mike!” Patricia rushed forward worriedly. She looked heartbroken.Cedric could not even care that Mike had humiliated him. He played the part of a very concerned father and kept calling for a doctor.Cedric and Patricia had never cared about Gerald.North said in disgust, “How fake.”After that, she turned around. “Show’s over. Let’s go.”Watching her go, Connor gulped. He recalled how North had pissed Mike off so much that he collapsed.Feeling cowed, he asked, “Sir, do you think the madam is very scary?”Gerald gave him a casual glare. His eyes held a plain threat in them. They told Connor that he would be in trouble if he said anything more. “Scary? She’s cute.”Connor was rendered speechless. How could their perception of North be so different?After getting into the car, Gerald was not surprised when he received Bernard’s phone call.Gerald’s tone was mild. “Poisoned? You must be joking. You could ask the family doctor about it.”North blinked. Was Bernard calling to c
North’s heart skipped a beat. “It’s your phone. Why are you asking me that?”Gerald found North’s response quite sarcastic. He chuckled and said, “Then I won’t answer it.”Yet, the phone simply kept ringing as Reina determinedly kept calling him. North stroked her chin. “What if she’s trying to talk to you because of something important? Maybe you should take the call after all.”Gerald raised an eyebrow. In the next instant, the phone was placed in North’s hand.She answered the call as Gerald watched. Reina’s voice came through the line. “Mr. Gerald, I’m so sorry for calling you out of nowhere. I have something I need your help with.”The interior of the car fell into silence. Connor felt like he was going to suffocate. What was Reina trying to pull this time?!Gerald was quite intrigued. He wanted to know how North would reply. North’s eyes narrowed as she clicked her tongue.With a sly look on her face, she asked sweetly, “What’s the matter, Reina?”“Mr. Gerald, I know—”
“I won’t,” Gerald suddenly said calmly but firmly.“What? You won’t what?”“I won’t help her. You can rest easy, Mrs. Howard.”North immediately came back to herself. Gerald was answering her question from before.She was still in Gerald’s embrace, and they were very close together. Gerald’s breath was warm as it brushed North’s ear. It made her tingle.North suddenly felt very warm.She swallowed intentionally and tried to hide her feelings. “You’d better keep your promise. If you don’t, I’ll poison you.”Gerald could not help but snicker at her empty threat. “Alright. I know you’re very capable.”North went red when she heard that.She wanted to scream. Why did Gerald sound like he was simply humoring a child?!She could not control the way she blushed. She decided to close her eyes and pretend she had no clue what was going on.…Half an hour later, they arrived back at Royal Sights Residences.Once out of the car, North practically fled. Connor handed Gerald a file.
It seemed that Connor also got a notification for North’s Like. He coughed and asked, “Does something need to be done, sir?”Gerald answered blandly, “No.”North could do whatever she wanted as long as she was happy.Connor added, “But everyone knows that’s the madam’s account. Reina’s fans will attack her when they see that she Liked a post condemning Reina.”Gerald looked over at him calmly, “Then let the fans attack her.”Connor was taken aback for a moment before he understood. “Alright, sir.”…Upstairs, North was searching the Internet for news regarding Reina’s plagiarism. She clicked on a comment.[It’s bad enough that Reina plagiarized someone’s work. However, she even wished death on the original creator! How evil!]After some thought, North clicked Like on that comment as well.Below the post, someone retorted. [They already said that Mr. Shelby did it. This must be part of his scheme.]However, this comment was inundated with hate. [What a joke. How can it be M
An idea struck Reina, and she looked at Linda.Linda understood and quickly came forward. “Henry, there’s something I’m not sure if I should mention—”“Just spit it out!”Linda sighed. “Henry, Reina saved Mr. Gerald’s life. He’s not helping her now, but what if he turns around and blames us for not defending Reina? What then?“What we should do now is maintain Reina’s reputation and help her get rid of those accusations.”Henry frowned. “What do you plan to do?”“Actually, this issue is easily solved. Just have North admit to the public that she gifted her design to Reina early on. Let her say that this whole thing was a joke between sisters. In that case, other people won’t say anything about it.”Linda’s tone was meaningful. “After all, why would people keep hounding Reina if the person she plagiarized forgave her? The only reason so many people are condemning Reina is because North refuses to forgive her.“Henry, I’m not favoring my own daughter here. This is for the Myers f
He moved his wrists and frowned.Did North sleep for the entire day? Was she disoriented?North sat by the bed with nothing to do. She watched as time passed. Strange, why wasn’t she awake yet? Was she that sleepy? Could it be that the advanced exam questions were too difficult and she did not want to wake up?North could not help but think about the questions. Hmm… they did not seem very difficult. She had thought of a solution!Indeed, people had endless potential when they were dreaming. They could even come up with answers to such difficult questions!North was afraid that she would forget and wanted to wake up quickly, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not wake up. She closed her eyes and opened them again, but she was still in the room.North frowned and muttered to herself, “What’s going on…?”Gerald looked at her silently.He also wanted to ask what was going on.“North, do you need my help?”North hesitated. Even though it was a dream, she was still a littl
North exclaimed in surprise.It turned out that Gerald could be sarcastic too!Gerald did not give Patricia any time to react. He was just short of chasing the entire Bracken family out.While the Bracken family was leaving, Gerald heard Mike grumble, “Mom… If you knew this was going to happen, why didn’t you adjust your act earlier!”Patricia was furious. “I did all of this for you. How could you fall for Gerald’s tricks?!”“But Gerald was right. They suspect that I’m not Paige’s son because of you!”…Giselle’s smile became more and more sarcastic. When the Bracken family disappeared, he said, “Accompany me pay respects to Paige. Also, get someone to clean Glass Manor inside and out.”He wanted to get rid of the bad vibes the Bracken family had brought in.…A few days later, when they returned to Royal Sights Residences, the Bracken family actually stopped causing trouble.North was about to graduate, and she had one final exam. She saw the class group chat exchanging adva
“Why? Do you think that I’ve forgotten how Paige died?”Giselle never expected that this shameless family would have the audacity to make an issue out of Paige’s death.“You make it sound so simple. Even if Patricia dies today, you would never disregard her last wishes. Is everything you do for the good of the Bracken family?“Still, the only person the Bracken family has ever had to sacrifice was Paige!”Virgil snapped, “Nonsense! I’m Paige’s biological father, how could I…”Giselle sneered. “Stop putting on an act. You didn’t look for your daughter when she was missing. You didn’t feel sorry for your daughter when she returned. You kept asking her to tolerate the adopted daughter. When she was sick, you even stopped her treatment so that she would die and let your adopted daughter marry her husband.“Virgil, I’m sick. I’m not dead yet, and I haven’t lost my memory. If this happens again, I’ll destroy the entire Bracken family!”Giselle looked at the bodyguards she had brought
The surroundings suddenly fell silent.Virgil found it hard to breathe. “Let go! Are you crazy?!”“I’m asking you a question. Where is Paige buried? Tell me!”Virgil’s brain was deprived of oxygen. Without thinking, he roared, “How would I know? Let go, you crazy woman!”Patricia screamed, “Madam Giselle, what are you doing? Let go of him. Do you want Dad to die?”Gerald’s second uncle also shouted, “Madam Giselle, why are you doing this to us? Don’t treat your husband like this!”“You don’t know? You don’t know at all, do you?” Giselle ignored everyone. She looked unremorseful. She scoffed.“You claim to be severely depressed about your daughter’s death,” Giselle retorted. “Despite that, you actually don’t know where your daughter’s grave is!”As soon as she finished speaking, the entire place fell silent.When Virgil realized what he had just said, his face turned pale and he stopped screaming. He trembled as he spoke to Giselle hatefully. “You did this on purpose…”That wa
Mike said weakly, “North, we paid our respects to my mother before we went out today. We didn’t say anything because we were afraid that Grandpa wouldn’t be able to accept it.”As expected, Virgil clutched his chest and looked like he was about to faint.Patricia cried out, “Gerald, are you satisfied now that your grandfather is trembling in anger? We’ve kept it a secret for so many years. Despite that…”Everyone sighed. So, that was how it was.It was indeed Ms. Paige’s death anniversary today. However, the old man had fallen into a state of depression from the intense guilt. He then mistakenly thought that his daughter had passed away in May.As his family, Patricia and Mike could not bear to make the old man feel more guilty. Thus, they maintained the facade.In fact, they would pay their respects to Paige every year.This made sense. After all, Virgil was old and could not stand such harsh emotions.The people from the Bracken family jumped on this chance to scold Gerald. “
Everyone was dumbfounded. North was really bold!North blinked. “What’s wrong, Mr. Virgil? Why are you so angry? Did I say something wrong?”“What nonsense! Paige is my daughter! How could I intentionally let her die?!”North widened her eyes. “I didn’t say that you intentionally let her die! It’s just that the Bracken family didn’t like her and looked down on her. The medical staff didn’t care about her either. In the end, they didn’t even treat her and let her die.“I know. It’s not your fault. After all, you were so busy. How could you have the time to take care of a daughter you don’t love?”Virgil clutched his chest. “What nonsense…! Shut up!”“North!” Patricia screamed. “Gerald, are you just going to watch her anger your grandfather? Your grandfather’s health isn’t good…”“What did I say wrong?”North sighed. “Look at what Mr. Virgil said. Ms. Paige passed away at the end of May, so why didn’t he treat her for two whole months from the end of March to the end of May?“Th
Mike knew that he had fallen into North’s trap and was speechless!He was so anxious that his expression changed. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and huge beads of sweat dripped down. “Um… I…”“Mike!” Patricia saw that the situation was not good, so she hurriedly interrupted Mike and pulled him behind her.Then, she took a deep breath and pretended to be helpless and upset.“Gerald, what nonsense are you talking about?! We’re family. If you have anything you’re upset about, just tell me. There’s no need to cause trouble at the banquet and make an issue out of Paige’s death anniversary!“We’re all Paige’s family, and Dad is also Paige’s biological father. How can we not know when her death anniversary is?“Paige’s death anniversary is at the end of May. It’s not today at all. You… You’re too much!”Virgil looked aggrieved. He nodded and said, “That’s right. Paige’s death anniversary is in May. Gerald, I know you don’t want to give up her inheritance. Moreover, I didn’t fo
Everyone’s eyes fell on Gerald.Gerald looked up slowly and said calmly, “Ms. Patricia, why did you choose today to hold a banquet for Mike?”“It doesn’t matter what day I chose!” Patricia roared.“So, you did choose the date.”Gerald looked down at Patricia from above. His cold gaze made Patricia suddenly feel suffocated.Her “son” had a murderous look in his eyes. “Any other day would have been fine, but not today.”Patricia hated the look in Gerald’s eyes the most. Why was he so arrogant? Why was he looking down on her? Why was he like that b*tch?She screamed, “Gerald, I’m your mother! Mike is your brother! It’s fine if you don’t love me, but you keep finding fault with me. What right do you have—”“Today is the anniversary of Paige’s death.”Gerald interrupted her.Patricia’s face turned pale, and the words that she wanted to say were stuck in her throat. The scene instantly fell silent.What did Gerald say? What day was it today?Today was the anniversary of Paige’s d
Patricia felt a lump in her throat. “You…”“Connor, come out.” North interrupted her.Then, a group of people dressed in black walked out of nowhere and played mournful music. Connor walked in the middle and placed a memorial tablet on the table.Everyone looked at the memorial tablet curiously, wanting to know whose memorial tablet it was. When everyone saw the name “Paige”, they instantly fell silent.North and Gerald paid their respects. Then, they placed the bouquets beside the memorial tablet.Their actions stunned everyone.Had they come to pay respects to Paige?Patricia was trembling. She stared fixedly at Paige’s name on the memorial tablet. She clenched her fists.Paige!Gerald had paid his respects to Paige at a banquet for Mike. Was he crazy?! She was so unlucky! Paige was already dead, but she was still the center of attention at Mike’s banquet!After paying her respects, North turned around. “What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to pay your respects?”