“The news came from Mr. Gabriel. It can’t be faked. Plus, the Jordan family hopes to see Mr. Gerald marry Ms. Reina. I know this sounds really old-fashioned and outdated, but children should listen to their parents on whom they should marry.”“But Mr. Gerald is already married…”“That’s simple. He can get a divorce.” “Everyone knows that Ms. Reina and Mr. Gerald are childhood sweethearts. They’re engaged to boot. Who the hell is North? Does she really see herself as Mr. Gerald’s wife?”“Hey, look. The shameless witch has come downstairs.” The servants looked at North before looking at each other. The disdain in their eyes was evident. The leader among them was richly dressed in dazzlingly expensive clothing and jewelry. “Madam, I know we might have sounded really mean, but you can ask around. Everyone knows that Mr. Gerald and Ms. Reina are engaged, and who are you? You’re just a homewrecker who snatched away another woman’s husband!” North whipped her head around. Gerald
A deafening silence gripped everyone in the hall.A cold fierceness gleamed in Gerald’s eyes as he scanned the crowd emotionlessly. The servant trembled. It was beyond her expectations that Gerald would come home at this time. Terrified, her legs went limp. “Mr-Mr. Gerald…” Gerald used a dangerous and cold tone to interrogate the servant. “Did you want Mrs. Howard to get down on her knees for you?”“N-No!” The servant had long lost her previous smugness. Blood had drained out of her face as she stammered out an explanation. “It’s not what you see. Mrs. Howard suddenly slapped me, and I got mad. S-So, I said…”Bewilderment hit North.She wondered how the servant could act like a b*tch and twist the facts given the latter’s old age.Gerald cocked his brow. “Did North slap you?” The servant became hopeful because of Gerald’s words. Hence, she hurriedly tried sowing discord though she appeared like she had forgiven North.“Yeah, look at my face. There’s still a mark. Yes, I
Knowing Gerald’s personality, the servants knew they would die miserably if they ended up in his hands.“Mr-Mr. Gerald, we’re wrong! We shouldn’t have gossiped about Mrs. Howard secretly. Please forgive us…” “Mr. and Mrs. Howard, please be forgiving. We’ll slap ourselves!”The constant sound of slaps resonated in the hall. North cracked a crafty smile. “I’m a kind person, Gerald. I can’t bear the sight of blood. How about this? Let them tell us who the mastermind is. Then, we’ll let them off.” Gerald looked down with composure. “Aren’t you afraid that they’ll lie?”“Yes, I do.” North purposely sighed. “So, we need to get evidence because we can’t trust their words alone. They need to convince me. Plus, I’m easy to talk to. I won’t make things difficult for honest people.”The servants looked at each other and were too afraid to speak.Someone did bribe them, but that someone was… They could not expose them. After waiting for a few minutes, nobody spoke up. North slowly sho
Immediately, Connor became timid. “Do you know why Abraham is so popular among women? It’s because he’s good at acting!” Gerald frowned. “I don’t need other women.” “It’s the same with Madam! She’s a woman too. This will be applicable!”Suddenly, Connor looked around and kept his head bowed mysteriously. “Mr. Gerald, the first step to being loved is to make that woman feel sorry for you. You gifted her antiques. And you’ll escort her tomorrow. Then, you can tell her that you push off a few meetings just to be with her—”“No.”Gerald rejected it immediately. He gave Connor a calm look. “I care about her. I shouldn’t use what I’ve done for her to win over her compassion and love.”Connor touched his nose. “But Abraham always does that. The dating strategy I read about said the same thing…” Gerald frowned impatiently. “Have you ever been in love?”Connor was full of guilt. “Of course, not—”“Then, why are you so sure?” Gerald pressed the place between his brows. All he could t
“I’m sure the Jordan family will gift Reina some good things to help her shine in this party.” “I heard that Reina will bring a teacup from five hundred years ago to blow everyone’s mind. We surely can’t look down on the Jordan family.”“Mr. Gerald will be here too. I wonder if the Jordan family will bring up that engagement. If—”“Shush!” Someone suddenly interrupted them.Everyone looked around and fearfully found that North and Gerald had walked into the hall at some point. “They’re wearing matching outfits?!”“Ah… Who said that Mrs. Howard isn’t loved?” “But Mr. Gerald and Reina are engaged. North is dominating their marriage. Isn’t that bad?” Calmly, North scanned the crowd. Almost everyone was talking about that engagement. “Mr. Gerald!” At that time, someone spoke up behind them.Gabriel and Reina appeared arm in arm. Gabriel shot North a contemptuous glare and extended his hand toward Gerald.“It’s nice to meet you. I always hear Reina talking about you.”That
There was a brief silence. Gerald looked aloof. “An engagement?”Gabriel sounded confident. “My mother and Madam Bracken agreed on that engagement back then. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Madam Bracken.”The onlookers were all ears. It had always been a secret who Bryan’s wife and Gabriel’s mother was. But it had to be real since Gabriel had confidently claimed that Giselle and Mrs. Jordan had agreed on that engagement. If not, it would give the game away if others asked about it.“Mr. Gerald is engaged. Doesn’t that make North feel awkward?”“What is Mr. Gerald going to do? I’m sure the Jordan family won’t let it go. Plus, it’s bad to go back on one’s word.”North narrowed her eyes. She thought. “Does Madam Bracken know about this? But I never heard her mention this.” Gerald remained calm without any extra emotion. “If that’s the case, Connor, help me ask if Grandmother is free now.” Enlightened, Connor said, “Okay, Mr. Gerald. I have never heard Madam Bracken brin
“I was just a stepdaughter of the Myers family. It was very normal for North to look down on me. I’m fine.” Gabriel’s wrath grew. “Hmph! I knew that this woman wasn’t nice! Don’t worry, Reina. I’ll seek justice for all the grievances you’ve ever suffered!” Although Bryan remained silent, displeasure had overwhelmed him. In his twenties, he and Estella were madly in love. But later, she went missing. All he had left of her was their daughter. Bryan had spent twenty years finding Estella’s daughter. Of course, he could not bear to see others bully his daughter.“If Estella is still alive…” Bryan paused. “Reina, let’s go and pay our respects to your mother after the party’s over.”Reina hid the malice in her eyes. “Okay, Dad. I miss Mom very much too.”…Connor rapidly came back after making the call. He looked bad. “Mr. Gerald, I’ve asked Madam Bracken about it.”“What did Grandmother say?” After a brief pause, Connor confessed, “Madam Bracken said… she doesn’t remember
North thought. “Is this the teacup that Reina brought? But… Why does it look exactly like the one Mom had left me? “Their colors, shapes, and sizes are the same. “But Mom wrote in her diary that there’s only one such teacup in the world. Why does the Jordan family have one too?“Unless… Reina’s teacup is fake!” Silently, North went over.Smugness gripped Reina. She thought. “I’m sure North is jealous. Yeah, she was supposed to enjoy such glory today. But she was dumb. I took away her title as the young lady of the Jordan family.” She gave someone a secret look before that person raised a remark on purpose. “Ms. Reina’s teacup is amazing. What do you think, Ms. North?” Everyone turned to look at North.Someone laughed and said, “You guys are terrible. What’s there to ask about? North is infamous for being ignorant. What kind of opinion can she form about the teacup? I’m sure she doesn’t even know what porcelain is!” “North, what good thing did you bring today? Let’s ad
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?”