It was like North had dropped a bombshell. Everyone began murmuring amongst themselves.“What?! That woman was Mrs. Howard herself?”“Now that she mentioned it, the woman does resemble her. They have the same figure and height.”“It’s understandable if we couldn’t recognize her, but why couldn’t Mike recognize her?”“Benson was the one who took the photos and got them trending on Twitter yesterday. Now, Mike’s here to take over the company… They didn’t plan for this to happen, did they?”“They probably did. It can’t be helped, Mike’s a useless man whose only option is to take what he wants from Mr. Howard. Sadly, he kept failing to find his weaknesses, so all he could do was slander him and accuse him of being unfaithful.”“Disgusting…”Mike’s face twisted in horror. “What are you babbling about, North? That’s ridiculous! Security, shut her up! I want her—”Ring!A ringtone interrupted Mike while North answered the call without hesitation.Connor said anxiously on the other e
“Go back to the Souths?” Gerald repeated mockingly.“Yes!” Cedric said firmly.Gerald put on a half-smile. “On what grounds are you kicking me out of the family, Cedric?”Cedric thought, “You’re getting in our way, obviously!”However, out loud, he said self-righteously, “The Souths took you in for so many years, and yet you refuse to even visit them? Have you no heart?”“And why did the Souths take me in?” Gerald said coldly in a very intimidating voice. “Aren’t you fully aware of why they did that, Cedric?”Why did the Souths “take him in”? Obviously, it was because the Howards “lost” him shortly after he was born.He did not expect this b*stard to be resilient enough to survive this long. Gerald even became the respectable man everyone called “Mr. Howard” while he, his own father, had to look before he leaped because of him too!“How dare you!” Cedric raged uselessly. “Who gave you the audacity to spout all this nonsense?! I’m your father! Everything you have, the Howards
Connor was puzzled. “You… need help?”Gerald replied slowly, “I’m a businessman, after all. I want Cedric to pay for this… with interest.”…Meanwhile, when North picked up Connor’s call, she had just finished dealing with Mike. Mike was still standing next to her fearfully.The next thing she knew, she heard Connor say, “Come to Howard Manor, Madam, quick! Mr. Cedric was pressuring Mr. Gerald to give Mr. Mike the Deep Pool Corporation shares, but he refused so Mr. Cedric hit him several times with his walking stick. Mr. Gerald’s bleeding…”North “accidentally” connected her phone to the company’s Bluetooth speakers.Immediately, the entire company heard what Connor said.Gerald had refused to give Mike the shares, so he got beaten up… Mike’s face fell. He lunged for North’s phone and tried to grab it, but North sidestepped him.Then, she pretended to reply worriedly, “Mr. Cedric’s gone too far! I’m coming over immediately!”Connor sighed dramatically. “It’s not fatal, but how
North replied softly, “Yeah, I’m distraught to the point of tears.”Gerald looked at her lazily, but amusedly. “If you’re so sad, then why aren’t you shedding any tears?”North froze. A moment later, she stroked his hair and pretended as if nothing had happened. “Don’t you know that you stop being able to cry if you’re too sad, Mr. Howard?”Gerald looked down and laughed before saying nonchalantly, “I got hit on the chest, Mrs. Howard. Don’t blow my cover.”North realized she was pressing down on his chest and fell silent.Then, she immediately got up and backed away. “Relax. When it comes to acting, I’m a professional.”As if on cue, rushed and furious footsteps sounded outside the door. Patricia barged into Gerald’s room with a bunch of people, including Mike.With an arrogant and mocking tone, she asked, “Were you raised in a barn, Gerald? You’ve pissed off your father the moment you came home. Can’t you be more considerate of him since he’s getting old?”North narrowed he
Everyone lowered their heads. Even Levi and the servants did so.North’s tongue… certainly was sharp.Patricia had been spoiled for the past few years, so no one dared to talk back to her. That was why North’s words enraged her so much. She felt lightheaded and had trouble breathing as her face turned green.“You… This has nothing to do with Mike…”“It doesn’t? That’s weird. If it’s got nothing to do with Mike, then what was he doing at Deep Pool Corporation?”North pretended to be confused. “He even announced that he was the company’s new owner from now on. Was he trying to steal his own brother’s things behind your back? You mustn’t let him get away with this, then. Otherwise, you’d be accomplices. Isn’t that right, Madam Howard?”Each word North said was like a knife to Patricia’s heart. She was so furious that she charged without thinking and tried to slap Gerald.However, North caught her hand and laughed coldly. “Madam Howard, your biological son is injured. Are you real
“Don’t push your luck, North—”“Is that so hard to answer? Looks like you’re still biased toward your ‘adopted’ son. Oh, dear. I’d better ask Madam Bracken—”“He knows! Mike knows!” Patricia replied with gritted teeth. “I’m sorry, Gerald. I’ve been fooled. Mike said you were already so successful, so you deserved a proper break after working for so many years. When he said he was willing to manage Deep Pool Corporation for you, I believed him.“I’m your biological mother. Why would I help an adopted son steal your life’s work? It was an honest mistake. Please don’t let any outsiders ruin our relationship!”“Oh… So, you’re saying it’s all Mike’s fault?” North beat Gerald to the punch with a passive-aggressive tone. “You’d better punish him properly then. A false heir trying to usurp the true heir? How dare he? Am I right, Ms. Patricia?”“How dare you?!”“North’s right.” Gerald suddenly smiled with a mysterious look in his shifting eyes. “Mike’s shares should be mine. If we’re talk
Mike remembered that because of Gerald’s “b*stard son” status, he had been humiliated in dozens of ways. He had been imprisoned in the basement, denied food, and shoved into a mountain cave to starve and freeze… He shuddered at the thought of it.However, at the same time, he was extremely indignant. “But I was your biological son, and yet you called me your adopted son!”Patricia hastily reassured him, “Don’t worry, Gerald won’t be able to keep that arrogance up for long. It’s just that North seems to have guessed the truth, so we can’t let her keep investigating. For the time being, you need to get back on Gerald’s good side, and make everyone think today was just a big misunderstanding—”“What?! I need to flatter him?!”“Listen to me, Mike. North’s right. What if Paige’s son isn’t dead? What if you’re her son?!” Patricia said deviously. “If you become her son, then you’ll be the true Howard heir. That means you’ll get to lead both the Bracken and the Howard families! Wouldn’t th
North was not so good-natured. “Of course I’m angry! You like to lie, right? Mike, do you really think you’re untouchable?”Mike saw North’s fist, and his smug expression fell. He started to panic. “What are you planning to do? Gerald, I’m the heir of the Howard family. Don’t you dare touch me!” Gerald looked up indifferently. His eyes were so calm, it was as if Mike was no one important to him.“Get out.”“Gerald!”Mike was extremely angry. He wanted to yell, but he gulped as his facial expression kept on changing. “Fine! I’ll leave, but you won’t be able to fight against me in the future!”After Mike left, North clenched her fists. “He had the audacity to say he’s Ms. Paige’s son? What a joke!“Has he ever been to Ms. Paige’s death anniversary? I know he’s her son, but he called the mistress that caused his mother’s death his mother now. How dare he actually come?!”Gerald looked indifferent as he took a sip of the tea. “It’s as expected.”North gritted her teeth. “Soon
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?”