Celeste read through the content of the top search briefly. It was a three-thousand-word essay posted by the Bishop Group's official account describing how promiscuous of a woman Celeste was. When she was studying abroad, she left Lawrence hanging and never gave him an answer. After she returned to Taverdale, she pretended to be a staff member and went into Damon's room to get laid. She ruined Damon's original engagement with the heiress of the York family, Shannon. When she saw the founder of Leo Jewels was coming back to Taverdale, she quickly divorced Damon and immediately went after Spencer.There was true and false information. It described Celeste as a woman who tried to climb her way up the social ladder for the sake of status and wealth. And the Bishop family was the victim of the situation! The essay emphasized the part where she seduced Damon. All the timestamps and locations of the event were listed clearly. It was so detailed that it even shared the part of how Shann
"Damon, we must deal with this matter this way!" There was embarrassment on Serena's face, but her tone was assertive. At this moment, sacrificing Celeste could protect the Bishop Group and the benefits of their millions of shareholders. She discussed with the authorities of the Bishop Group about countless strategies. Sacrificing Celeste was the safest option. It was also the one with the highest success rate. Serena thought that if Celeste got angry and started fighting with the Bishop Group on the internet, the popularity of this topic might help them turn things around. She just didn't expect Celeste to endure the slander and play along. When Serena pushed Celeste into danger, Celeste voluntarily accepted it. Serena did feel some guilt. But she thought that she was just acting for the greater good. Discussing this with Damon would just add more pressure on him. "Sacrificing Celeste alone could protect the Bishop family and the pockets of millions of our shareholders. If C
"Transfer the money to her in batches then. Send a portion to her every quarter of the year," Damon said. When Liam knocked on Damon's door the next day, there was an awkward look on his face. Damon lifted his head and looked at him. "Uh… we transferred 50 million dollars to her, but Mrs. Bishop transferred the money right back." "Did she say anything?" Liam seemed troubled as he passed his phone to Damon. "Tell Damon that not everyone cares only about money and benefits." He could even imagine the look on Celeste's face when she saw the money. She had always been a proud woman. This incident must have disgusted her. She'd think the Bishop family only cared about benefits and not relationships. Their action would only appear unscrupulous and unconvincing to her now. As the head of the Bishop family, Damon was certainly viewed in that way as well. He read her message again and again. Being looked down upon by his beloved woman made him feel suffocated. He called he
As a matter of fact, Celeste didn't react much to it. "Aren't you worried about them getting together again?" Megan asked. "We're already divorced. It's up to him who he wants to date. If I go after Damon right now, how would I be any different from Leah?" Celeste was speaking her mind. Once she decided on something, she wouldn't turn back. But when she recalled him saying he would never let her go that day, she felt slightly annoyed. Men would make easy promises, and they'd forget about them soon enough. Celeste suddenly thought of a saying about how women would need time and another man to forget about one man. But men wouldn't need time at all, as all they needed was another woman. Leah had been chasing after him for so long. It would only be natural for her to finally get together with Damon. It was meaningless for her to think of all these. She had already left him. Although it didn't seem decent for Damon to date another woman so quickly, it had nothing to do with her
"You're lying, Celeste." Damon closed in on her as he pressed her against the wall behind her. It hadn't even been half an hour since Celeste got a call from Carly. Celeste was dressed tidily with an indifferent look. There wasn't any weird scent in the room, either. He was confident that he could determine whether a woman had slept with another man before seeing him. "Damon, I'm surprised you're as dumb as Carly." Celeste crossed her arms calmly with a look of mockery. Damon finally calmed down. That was true. He lost all his intelligence when overwhelmed by jealousy just now. He was so anxious that he even came to check on her while still in his pajamas. Damon felt a little embarrassed. "Get out!" When Damon was spacing out, Celeste became mad and pushed him outside. "Celeste!" Damon wasn't someone who would give in so easily. Hot-headed, he stretched his hand out right before her anti-burglary door closed. His palm was stuck in the doorframe. Damon let out a grunt, h
"Your palm is fractured. I need to perform surgery on you to drain the excess fluid before applying a cast." At midnight, Nicholas was in Davidson Hospital. His head hurt as he looked at the X-ray of Damon's hand. "Listen to me. Since you two have parted ways, just live your own lives happily. Refusing to let her go will only drain you and make you sad." Back then, he had high hopes for their relationship. But seeing their current situation, he could only advise him to leave her in peace. Damon didn't say a word. His face was ice-cold. Silently, he watched as Nicholas injected anesthesia in him and operated on him. Nicholas used a needle syringe to draw the excess fluid out before stitching the wound. Damon didn't bring his driver along. He drove alone to Celeste's place. So he had to drive from her place alone as well. He suffered from all the pain till the break of dawn. Nicholas sent him to the parking lot and said, "The effect of the anesthesia hasn't subsided, so go ba
"You're handsome and elegant. There's something extraordinary about you." Celeste was scared. But she quietly backed away. She lied to praise him. "Will you sleep with me then? Hehehe." The man tried to grab her hand. Celeste had nowhere to hide anymore. There was a plastic chair for visitors to rest near the cashier. She seized it and was ready to hit him when he lunged toward her. The man did charge at her. But before he could touch her, someone locked his neck from behind and threw him over the shoulder. The man crashed onto the floor in front of everyone. "Mr. Bishop has said that although they're divorced, he still cares about Mrs. Bishop. Anyone who dares to trouble Mrs. Bishop would be an enemy of the Bishop Group." Two bodyguards in black with heavy builds stood in front of Celeste like saviors. Celeste still remembered the one who spoke up. When Damon grounded her, he hired these two to watch the door. Everyone who was watching the drama didn't dare to offend the B
After three days, an essay titled "Perhaps this is the Celeste York you didn't know about" appeared out of nowhere. It became a trending search on Twitter. "I don't want to defend Celeste York or talk about her relationships. After all, only those who are involved would know what happened the best. But I can objectively talk about things Celeste has done." The person who wrote this claimed at the start of the paragraph that they had worked with Celeste before. "Celeste was the top scorer in the high school final exams of Taverdale. After her mother died, she ended her studies and came back to Taverdale to take care of her brother, who was born with heart disease. "She sold alcohol just so that she could afford her brother's heart transplant surgery. This in itself could be a motivating story already." "But I want to talk about what she did after marrying Damon. What did she do? Two things. First, she built a highway in Womington, one of the poorest towns in the country. It co
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