Liam figured that since Leo had asked him to tell Damon that his name wasn't Leo Miller but Leo York, he must have something to pass on."I've never encountered a child like him before. Leo is extraordinary." Liam carefully chose his words.Leo gave him the feeling of an adult confined in the body of a three-year-old. It was hard for him to treat him as a child. Still, he couldn't really treat him as an adult.Damon chuckled. "He's smarter than the average kid. But in the end, he's just a child. He's quite innocent and adorable."Damon recalled when Lester first arrived, and he found it hard to accept that he was suddenly his father. Meanwhile, it was easier for him to accept Celeste and someone else's child, Leo.He shouldn't like him. He should at least distance himself from Leo. Nevertheless, he seemed to be having a hard time doing that. He genuinely liked Leo."He's not Leo Miller?" It took Damon a moment to react to what Liam had said."Yeah. Leo said he's not called Leo M
Damon's heart softened instantly when he saw Leo's excited demeanor.It was important for him to find out if Leo was his child. But what about Leo?If Leo's father was Sebastian, would he distance himself from Celeste and her son?Damon thought for a moment. No, he wouldn't. He would still treat Leo well and consider him as his own.The relationship between people was strange. Damon found that bonding with his "biological" son required effort. However, liking Leo came naturally to him.After coming down from the training stage, Leo sat with Damon in the resting area. Meanwhile, the maid and driver were waiting outside the training centre's parking lot. They were unaware of what was happening inside.His biological father, "Mr. Bishop," was sitting right next to him, and their arms were touching. Damon had lost weight over the years, but his muscles were still toned. The temperature of his arm was slightly higher than Leo's.Leo got so nervous that he didn't dare to move a muscle
The butler at the Bishop residence mentioned that Lester had been picked up by his mother. Damon, preoccupied with Leo, didn't ask further. It was quite a coincidence that he bumped into him at the martial arts training center."Daddy!" Lester saw Damon and rushed over to climb onto his lap.Leo felt awkward and shifted to make room for Lester.However, Lester didn't seem interested in sitting with Leo on Damon's lap. He pushed Leo forcefully and caused him to fall to the side."Are you okay, Leo?" Damon was taken aback. He rushed to pick Leo up."I'm fine," Leo replied, though his face tensed up."Lester, apologize to Leo," Damon quickly said. Then, he turned to Leo and added, "This is my, uh, my son. His name is Lester Bishop."For some reason, he sounded like a cheating man who had been caught in an affair when he said the words "my son." He couldn't face Celeste, nor could he face her child. Damon felt completely at the mercy of Celeste and her son.However, he couldn't bla
Celeste felt stiff as Damon trapped her between his arms. Though they weren't physically touching, he was so close to her that it was as if Celeste could feel the heat on his skin. Their breaths intertwined."Our child is just as I imagined. He has the exact same fox eyes as you. His personality is reserved and intelligent. Do you know what Liam said? Liam said that an old soul is residing in Leo's three-year-old body."Damon felt a numbing sensation spreading in his chest again, but he forced it down. He reached out to brush Celeste's stray hair away from her forehead. "But it would have been even better if he were a daughter. She would have inherited all of your beauty."Celeste had thought that time was the best medicine for the heart. She had thought that after more than four years had passed, she wouldn't have any more emotional upheavals when she faced Damon again.Even if there were, she could have faked it.However, being pressed against the door by him made her heart race
Damon had kept his phone number the same for all these years.He woke up with a hangover and was dizzy. When he saw an unfamiliar phone call, he picked it up on speakerphone. "Hello?"As Damon heard Celeste's voice on the other end, he suddenly sobered up.They agreed to meet at a cafe. Damon arrived first, and while waiting for Celeste, he ran through hundreds, if not thousands, of possible scenarios in his mind."Sorry about that. There was a bit of traffic." Celeste arrived ten minutes later. She wasn't late but still politely apologized. It was as if the person who had despised Damon the day before was someone else.Celeste wore no makeup, and her long hair was casually pinned back with a clip. She wore a black sundress with a neutral plaid shirt on top, slung a white canvas bag over her shoulder, and had on a pair of white half-canvas shoes.Her captivating features, coupled with her distant demeanor and the contrast of the oversized shirt against her well-proportioned figur
Celeste spoke from the heart. She had a little taste of destiny in recent years. Damon was a crucial part of her destiny, someone who had changed the course of her life and presented her with lessons she needed to learn.When she no longer felt any pain at the thought of Damon, she could consider that chapter of her life closed."How could I not know you? When have you cared about bridging the class gap? For someone as humble as you, you wouldn't even give a second glance if someone else got down on one knee and offered you money and fame." Damon chuckled bitterly.He remembered Celeste's humbleness quite well."Regardless, having money is indeed better than not having any. Besides, look at me. Even if I remarried, haven't I found someone wealthy?" Celeste smiled as well. She smiled more than usual that day.The mention of her remarriage made Damon's heart ached to the point of numbness."Is he good to you?""With my temperament, how could we have lasted four years if Sebastian
It took Damon a long time to calm down after he returned home.He called Fiona to ask for Lester's cord blood. Fiona hesitated for a moment and asked, "What do you need it for?"Damon couldn't say it was for a bone marrow match for Leo. He replied, "As his father. I have the right to have it." His tone was as assertive as ever with Fiona without seeming out of place."I didn't save it for Lestie," Fiona quickly responded."Don't you know the importance of cord blood as a doctor?" Damon wasn't convinced.Fiona stammered and couldn't come up with a convincing explanation. Damon impatiently ended the call.Storing cord blood for a child wasn't expensive. Considering Fiona's financial status and her profession as a doctor, Damon couldn't believe she hadn't stored Lester's cord blood.Either she didn't want to give it to Damon at all, or there was something fishy going on with Lester's cord blood.Something didn't sit right with Damon.He decided to visit the hospital and check the
Although Fiona did not get her wish to marry Damon, she ultimately achieved her goal. By leveraging the influence of the Bishop family, she benefited greatly from her ex-husband over the years, much to Harry's dismay.Despite the fact that the two children she had with Harry were born via surrogacy, Lester was indeed Fiona's biological child, conceived naturally but with a donor unrelated to Damon.She thought that Damon, being a highly intelligent and suspicious person, would easily detect any deception if even her pregnancy were faked.Damon never suspected the truth, primarily because he retained manipulated memories!Fiona had administered a drug to Damon that induced sexual hallucinations. Everything was a lie!Her decision to no longer practice medicine was directly related to this incident. During the process of "saving" Damon, freezing his emotions and using hallucinogenic drugs to induce false sensations of love could have disastrously exposed her, potentially ruining h
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