Although those two children were born through surrogacy, they still carried half of Fiona's genes and were raised by her. The bond between them was undeniable. The reason behind Fiona's current state of intoxication stemmed from being barred from seeing her own children as a mother. "Get up. I'll send you home first. We can deal with anything tomorrow when you're sober." Damon's heart softened, and he reached out to help her up."Danny..." Fiona clung to Damon tightly, crying into his neck.Harry was the wealthiest man in Mapolia, and the only one who could match him domestically seemed to be Damon. Fiona calling for Damon to pick her up also meant something else. She wanted to prove her charm, to prove that Harry wasn't her only shot at happiness, and she could get any man of any status or age if wanted. However, Damon just felt sorry for Fiona and couldn't push her away again. So, he patted her back to comfort her."Where is your home? I'll send you back," Damon said..
Fiona was already awake, eating breakfast at the dining table. Damon sat across from her, engrossed in his phone, either finished with his meal or yet to start.Everything seemed normal, except for the fact that Fiona was wearing Damon's shirt. When Damon brought her back yesterday, she was wearing a shirt and jeans. Now, she still had the jeans on, but the shirt had been replaced with Damon's.There were disposable pajamas for guests available in the guest room. But Fiona chose not to wear them and put on Damon's clothes instead, which seemed inappropriate. Besides, where did Fiona get Damon's shirt? Did she go to their dressing room?Celeste frowned slightly, feeling uneasy. "You're awake?" Damon noticed Celeste's approach and asked, reaching out to pull the chair beside him for her. Celeste nodded, took a seat across from Fiona."Fiona, are you feeling better now?" Celeste asked politely, trying to keep her cool. "Much better. Thanks for yesterday." Fiona nodded, not
Fiona left the Bishop residence and didn't go back to her own place. Instead, she went straight to the hospital for work. Just as she arrived at the entrance, she ran into Nicholas, who had just arrived as well, and they entered the building together."Are you coming back from some guy's place?" Nicholas couldn't help but ask when he saw her wearing an oversized men's shirt."I spent the night at Damon's house yesterday." Fiona raised an eyebrow."What?" Nicholas' eyes widened. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, immediately became intrigued. "You spent the night at Damon's house and even wore his shirt... Tell me, what's going on between you two?"Before Fiona could respond, Nicholas continued, "Wait a minute, Fiona. Damon was head over heels for Celeste. How come he's getting cozy with you? Are you joking?""I'm not joking. But, I'm quite interested in Damon now. I want to give it a try." Fiona didn't hide her intentions."What? There are tons of single men out there. Why hi
The young girl attracted men by being innocent, beautiful, sweet, and caring. But Fiona felt that she moved past that phase. Just like how top makeup artists often go bare-faced and top fashion designers stick to wearing all black. Fiona saw people like Leah and Sherry as being beneath her. The world hyped up Fiona's deeds. But, she was surprisingly naive and straightforward with the men around her. She never even posted her selfies on social media because she didn't need to rely on that for attention. Fiona was the story itself, arousing people's curiosity.After wearing Damon's shirt under her white coat all day, Fiona washed it clean that night and brought it to the Bishop Tower the next day after work. As others left one by one, the receptionist said Damon was still working overtime. Fiona didn't bother asking the receptionist to inform him she was there and instead sat alone on a couch in the lobby waiting.When Damon finally finished his overtime and came out, t
"What are you doing?" Damon furrowed his brow with disdain, extending a hand to push Fiona's shoulder, creating some space between them."You said you had empty eyes, why won't you look at me? If you really look at me, I bet your eyes won't be empty anymore," Fiona recited lines from a classic, her body restrained from moving forward, but her head leaning closer."Fiona, are you crazy?" Damon pushed her away with force, distancing himself."Even if I didn't have someone I love, I still wouldn't be interested in you," he retorted. His face contorted with disdain.Fiona wasn't offended, though."Come on, Danny. The more you resist, the more excited I get," she said as she rushed toward Damon and clinging onto him.Damon grabbed the back collar of Fiona's fur coat and pulled her off him directly, the action more like throwing away a sandbag than a beautiful woman."Stop fooling around," he said with a stern face, anger growing in his eyes.Only then Fiona stuck out her tongue and
But in the following weeks, things didn't go down the way Celeste had figured.Celeste expected Fiona would come frequently, and in the midst of her busy schedule, she'd have to divert her attention to prevent interference in hers and Damon's relationship. However, Fiona's attitude didn't change much.When Celeste took Caleb for a follow-up appointment, Fiona had just finished a five-hour surgery, her eyes heavy with exhaustion. Celeste was about to suggest switching doctors, but Fiona waved her off.With extreme patience, Fiona checked on Caleb's leg recovery situation and arranged for him to have an X-ray. "Don't worry. I won't do anything unethical just because I have feelings for Damon," Fiona said after Caleb was sent out by the nurse.Leaning back against the leather chair, Fiona seemed to want to talk with Celeste.Celeste was taken aback. She thought Fiona would play dumb or at least not mention her intention with Damon. Celeste hadn't expected Fiona to be so upfro
Celeste retorted, "If I morally condemn you, will you give up?"Fiona shook her head. "No.""In that case, there's nothing more to say. Ms. Davies, just do whatever you want to do. "Damon and I might just have you in our fate. If we can make it through, we'll grow old together. If not, maybe our destiny has reached its end."Celeste didn't want to talk further. So, she left Fiona's office.After a while, Caleb returned from his X-ray, and the nurse pushed him back into Fiona's office for another examination, leaving Celeste waiting on a bench outside.As Celeste watched the closed door of the examination room, she suddenly felt a pang in her chest.Her intuition had always been accurate. Despite promising Damon they would remarry after her mission in the gambling city, Celeste couldn't shake the feeling things wouldn't go so smoothly. And now, a new challenge arised.Shannon, Leah, and Sherry were essentially similar types of women. They appeared innocent and delicate on the s
To Megan's surprise, right after she sent the text message, Winston actually called her.Staring at the vibrating phone for a while, Megan was unsure how to respond. There was no intention to hang up from Winston's end. The phone just kept ringing until it disconnected on its own. Then, he called again.Taking a deep breath, Megan reluctantly answered the call."Meg, still not asleep?" Winston's voice came through, surprisingly warm and refined.Megan's breath caught. "Yeah.""Tomorrow's gonna be chillier. Don't forget to layer up and grab an umbrella. Might be some rain.""Okay.""When are you coming back to the country?""In a while.""Take care of yourself.""Okay."Chatting is supposed to be an exchange, but Megan's responses were few, resulting in a conversation that quickly fizzled out.Through all these days she left the country, Megan couldn't deny that she had missed Winston, even if just a little. But upon hearing his voice, she didn't know what to say to him,
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