"Jasper, you finally thought of me." Leah and Jasper decided on the time and place to meet each other. Leah even did a full makeup. Dressed provocatively, she walked over and spoke to Jasper with excitement. But Jasper wasn't swayed. Crossing his arms, he looked at her. "You're the one who wrote the draft about Carly." In just one day, he managed to find out that one of his staff had been having monetary transactions with Leah. "Did he admit it already?" Leah frowned. If he exposed her so quickly, all the money she gave him would have gone to waste. Jasper shook his head. "He insisted that he was the one who wanted to do it." "If that's the case, you shouldn't have suspected me then." Seeing how cold Jasper was toward her, her heart sank. She gave up. Jasper's eyes were icy and dark. "Not only did you almost cause Celeste to have a miscarriage, you managed to embarrass the Bishop and Schultz families. You killed three birds with one stone. "I'm warning you, this will be
At that moment, Damon was looking at his phone to write her a few things about what she should eat as a pregnant woman. When he saw the WhatsApp notification, he tapped it open. It was an interview from a media platform that had grown popular recently. In the video, Celeste was just like any woman who dreamed of marrying into a rich family. She expressed her utmost admiration for her husband to the reporter. She said that her child's name would be decided by her husband and that she'd have four children just for her husband's sake. She was proud to be Damon's wife. The comment section was filled with mockery. "No way! When I saw Damon's confession in his post back then, I liked this woman a lot. But she's just another spoiled young socialite!" "She's just a regular girl who was lucky enough to marry a rich man. She sounded so ignorant in the interview. Did she think that she'd get to have a good life with the rich as long as she gave birth to children?" "After all, they h
There was no reason why he'd turn down an offer from such a beautiful woman. Under Celeste's instruction, Damon drove to a small restaurant famous for their seafood barbecue. "I always came here with Megan in the past. They serve razor clams as big as this." Celeste stretched her hands out and showed it to Damon. Her fingers were long and pinkish. Damon's eyes couldn't move away from them. Damon was a picky eater, so there wasn't a lot of food that he'd enjoy. But seeing how excited Celeste was, he felt like trying the razor clams recommended by her too. "I want this, and this." Celeste pointed at the seafood on the digital menu to the waitress. "No, you can't eat raw seafood when you're pregnant. And no swordfish too. They have higher levels of mercury." Damon tapped on the cancel button. He added a serving of pumpkin soup for her. Damon was a man who juggled numerous tasks every day. But surprisingly, he knew more about the dietary restrictions for pregnant women than she
After ordering the food, Ray looked over at Leah. "I'll go over now." She nodded at the two. It was their first time seeing Leah leave so easily. Seeing her walk away, Celeste seemed unbothered on the outside. But she was heaving a sigh of relief. She should be happy that a woman who tried to steal Damon away from her was finally willing to let him go. Serena heard about the news of Celeste getting pregnant too. Although she didn't visit them, she had already prepared all the gifts for her future grandchild. She even hired people to build a playground for babies. Everything was going smoothly. Even Bernie's task against the York family was almost done. Touching her belly, Celeste spaced out a little. Not knowing why, she felt anxious because of how happy things were for her now. "What's on your mind?" Damon scooped some clam meat to feed her. He tried to get her attention. "I'm just overwhelmed by happiness." Smiling, Celeste ate the clam. Her eyes were bright. "M
The reason why Leah contacted Damon at midnight was that she didn't want Ray to touch her. So she was locked up in the underground wine cellar. Damon went to great lengths to look for her. He only managed to save her when the sky turned bright. "Sorry, I thought that I'd be able to forget you once I found another man. I just can't do it." After putting on an act for a while, Leah was back with her old tricks. She hugged Damon while bawling her eyes out. Damon was worried about Celeste. He got annoyed by Leah's crying. "Leah, I'm a married man now. I hope you can deal with your problems better. There won't be a next time." Frowning, he told Leah. He then pushed Leah away from him. …It was already afternoon when he reached home. Celeste was curled up on the couch in the living room. She was watching a movie on her tablet. There were dark circles under her eyes. "Go upstairs and sleep." Damon's heart ached at the sight. He reached out to carry her upstairs. Celeste could h
Celeste was hospitalized for another three days. Throughout her stay, Winston, Wish, and Megan came to visit her. But to her surprise, even Leah dropped by. She carried bags of things over to the ward. With a regretful look, she sat by the bed and apologized to Celeste. "It's all my fault for meeting such an evil man. I created trouble for you two. I promise you that it won't happen again."As Leah spoke, she glanced at Celeste on the bed. She then started tearing up again. "If your baby is affected because of this, I… I don't want to live anymore!" She was so good at acting that Celeste wondered if Leah had learned from her mistake for a moment. "She's not feeling well and shouldn't be disturbed for long. You should go back. We can talk another time." On the other hand, Damon stopped Leah from talking further as he sent her out of the ward. When he was back, Celeste leaned against the headboard as she looked at him curiously. "It's annoying when she cries." Damon in
The driver drove her to the suburbs and locked her in an abandoned garage. With just a glance, she could tell that everything was planned out early on. It was dark, cold, and humid in the garage. It was full of dust too. If she listened carefully, she could also hear the sound of mice. There were two white lamps above her to brighten her surroundings. The walls in the garage were filled with news and pictures of Sylvia's suicide on that day! The pictures were in high resolution and uncensored. She could see her mother's bloody body clearly. As the door shut with a clank, Celeste sank to the floor with a shriek. She shut her eyes tightly. How cruel it could be to lock her up in a suffocating space and make her look at her mother in her moment of death. Shannon must have done this! She picked such good timing to get Celeste here when Damon was forced to leave. Celeste closed her eyes as she took a long time to calm herself down. Only then did she open her eyes carefully
Damon's face was tense. He trembled profusely. For a moment, Nicholas and Jasper thought he might pass out. Holding his breath, Damon didn't dare to move forward. Nicholas, who usually hid behind Damon's back, walked over quickly. Standing at the door of the garage, he gasped. "Damon, why don't you, stay there for a bit…" He carefully talked to Damon as he stood there. "We'll send Celeste to the hospital first with the ambulance. You can meet us at the hospital." It was as if Damon couldn't hear him. He dashed past Nicholas and barged into the garage. Celeste had fainted. Her head was covered with blood. She had hit her head against the wall. There was blood between her legs too. That must've been from the baby. There were pictures of Sylvia jumping off the building all over the wall. The pictures were likely screenshots of videos that were presented in high resolution. A few of them were stained with blood. They were most probably torn by Celeste. Nicholas, Jas
He never would have imagined that the intelligent and aloof Celeste would have a day like this, appearing adorably naive and innocent.Damon used to like girls who were delicate and pure, but that changed when he met Celeste.She had a face full of charm and allure, but her expression and personality were always cold and unyielding. She was pale and slim, yet not childlike. On the contrary, she resembled a young poplar tree, proud and upright.Because of her, he began to like girls who sparked his desire to conquer, and he scoffed at those who were simply weak and shy.But now with Celeste like this, he didn't feel annoyed. In fact, not only was he not annoyed, he actually found it cute and interesting.“What's your name?” she asked again."Damon.""Oh, that sounds really nice."The initial confusion in her eyes was gone, replaced by a sparkling glimmer, and her tone carried a touch of a young girl's excitement."You are actually my husband… Wow, great job, me! I've managed to
"What? Aren’t you my husband? Do I still need to avoid you while changing clothes?" The confusion in Celeste's eyes didn’t seem fake.Damon was speechless and didn't know how to respond at that moment.When Damon didn't respond, Celeste suddenly felt a bit nervous."I'm sorry… I can't remember clearly. Aren't you my husband?"Damon raised an eyebrow casually and asked, "Why do you think I am?"Celeste innocently blinked, her eyelashes fluttering like fans. "The nurse said it. Besides, if you're not my husband, why would you sleep with me at night?""What did the nurse say?" Her reasoning was actually logical and undeniable. For a moment, Damon found it somewhat amusing."The nurse said that my husband is really thoughtful," Celeste responded seriously. Then she asked, "Aren't you my husband? Then why would you be willing to stay here with me so late?"This one sentence left Damon speechless.The reason he was willing was because he was a coward. He said that he didn't care abo
Damon frowned upon hearing the classic amnesiac questions being asked."Celeste, are you trying to act out a TV drama?"Celeste still looked at him blankly. "What do you mean?"Damon didn't answer and went straight to the director's office to get Nicholas.Knowing her, she wasn't the type to joke around, especially not with Leo still missing. She must have hit her head hard.Nicholas was equally surprised and hurried back to the room with Damon.Celeste was sitting up, hugging her knees and staring into space."You're awake? How do you feel?" Nicholas asked with a smile as he entered."Why am I here?" Her voice sounded hesitant, and she turned to look at them.Her confusion seemed genuine. Nicholas and Damon exchanged worried glances."Celeste… you don't remember?""Celeste?" She asked, "Is that my name?""Yes.""I don't remember. My mind is blank.""Do you remember… Leo?" Nicholas hesitated. After all, if she knew that her child had been missing for three days, he was wo
"Alright," Celeste said in a deep voice. "Let me see Leo first."They pushed open the hidden door, revealing a staircase leading to the basement."Have Leo come to the stairway corner." She stood at the dark staircase and negotiated with the kidnapper."Mommy!" Suddenly, Leo's desperate cry echoed from inside."Leo!" Celeste ditched everything else and rushed down the stairs.She ran ahead, and as soon as she reached the corner, there was a loud explosion, and a wave of heat hit her face."Celeste!""Celeste!"Damon and Winston's faces changed drastically, shouting in alarm.The basement was empty. It was a trap.Had they been more careful, they would have noticed that both the kidnapper’s voice and Leo’s cry were artificially synthesized. But Celeste, in her desperation to save her son, had been too frantic to discern this.The basement was rigged with landmines. Unfortunately, something went wrong. The mine exploded when Celeste reached the stairway corner, instead of when
What? Damon was also coming? Celeste felt her heart leap, and her voice became sharper as she said, "I can handle this. You can't come!"There was no response from his end.Observing Damon’s silence, Celeste quickly softened her tone. "Damon, listen to me. I can handle this alone. There's no need for you to get involved… because I'm their main target, and they likely won't harm Leo. You need to stay home and wait for him. You need to take care of him later on…""Celeste," Damon interrupted coldly. "Are you planning on not coming out alive?"Of course, coming out alive would be ideal, but she couldn’t guarantee that."Damon, I do have a chance of surviving, but when it comes to exchanging myself for Leo, there can be no room for error. We must follow the kidnapper's instructions to ensure Leo's safety."It was out of the question to provide a false sense of security and pretend to comply with the kidnapper, only to backtrack and get Leo killed.She needed to ensure Leo’s safety a
They checked all the surveillance footage near the Bishop residence and investigated every suspicious vehicle. They also had people keeping an eye on Henry, but after half a day, there was still no breakthrough.The kidnappers had taken Leo to threaten Celeste, and the lack of communication was meant to unnerve her. If it was according to predictions, she was supposed to wait for their demands. But, as a mother, she couldn't just sit and do nothing.Celeste remembered that Shannon had called her, so she found her contact in the blacklist and called."Shannon, did you and Henry kidnap Leo?" she demanded.Shannon laughed coldly. "Don't accuse us without any evidence. Your son is missing? Maybe it's karma. Hahaha!"Celeste hung up, unable to stand Shannon's smugness.Several teams searched for over 20 hours, even involving the police, but still had no solid leads. Celeste suspected Henry, but they couldn't just arrest him without any proof.She was extremely desperate. She didn't e
"Lester isn't as clever as Leo. He's just a four-year-old child, and he shouldn't have done anything like that," Serena instinctively defended Lester. Then, recalling the last time she had misunderstood Leo for similar reasons, she felt a pang of guilt and added, "I don't mean to imply anything… I'll have someone bring Lester here."Celeste nodded. "I'm not blaming Lester. I just want to understand what happened."Soon, the nanny looking after Lester brought him in. Unexpectedly, upon seeing Celeste, Lester burst into tears."Aunty Celeste, please don't hit me. I didn't mean to lose my brother!""Lester, I just want to understand what happened." Celeste was taken aback by his crying but kneeled down to speak gently. "I'm not blaming you. Can you tell me what you saw that day?""Aunty Celeste, don't hit me!" Lester kept crying, not saying a word about Leo's disappearance."Am I that scary, Lester?"At this moment, Celeste felt at a loss. She could communicate normally with Leo,
Celeste perfectly understood what Cedric's implied. "I mean, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to entertain me today."Cedric had indeed wanted to help her that day, but his identity was too special to admit it openly. The scratch on the paper was a subtle hint, and whether or not she could interpret it depended on her intuition. The fact that she could decipher such a subtle hint proved her intelligence and luck.Over the years, Cedric had developed a sense of respect for Celeste after learning about her. He felt she was deserving of assistance, but he couldn't make it obvious."However, be careful. I see that Henry is at the end of his rope and might act irrationally. You should be on guard," Cedric warned.Celeste nodded, having considered this as well. "Henry wants me dead."This was why she had her brother stay abroad and sent Leo to the Bishops. With only herself remaining, it was harder for Henry to use her loved ones against her."Take care of yourse
Celeste's deduction was correct. Cedric intentionally left the mark. As Winston dug deeper, he slowly uncovered a series of issues.It was a bridge project on a highway in a poor mountainous area. Not uncommon.The problem was that the person in charge of this project was a leader assigned from a first-tier city to oversee the development. Officially, he was recognised for his capabilities, but in reality, this task was one he had to succeed in without failure.He had offended someone, and this transfer was a disguised punishment under the guise of a major responsibility.If he had managed it well, the chances of him returning to a higher development role would have been slim. At best, he could stay in this position until retirement. If he didn't manage it well, his entire career could be ruined.Someone of such status naturally had supporters as well as opponents. In such a situation, it was impossible for anyone to sabotage and create pitfalls along the way."It seems the next