"Let's talk about it later!" The conversation turned to Megan, and she suddenly felt a bit flustered."Meg, I thought that after all the hardship you've been through, finally being with the one you love, you would get married soon," Celeste sighed."I just feel like something's lacking," Megan said.As for what was lacking, she didn't mention. Because bringing it up would come across as overly dramatic.Once they became a couple, Winston bought a house in another neighborhood. He and Megan started living together. He was extremely caring toward Megan, both materially and emotionally. But there were days in the year when he would definitely be absent. Memorial Day, his ex-wife's birthday, her death anniversary, and even Christmas—because Winston promised to spend Christmas only with her.Megan knew that in choosing Winston, she had accepted this arrangement. Logically, this was the case. But people had emotion. It was impossible that she didn't care at all.On their first Chri
On the day Dora arrived in Taverdale, she didn't inform her fans about her schedule. Instead, she contacted Winston immediately."Winston, I'm heading to Taverdale. Could you pick me up at the airport at 8:00 pm? I've got a gift for you," she said in her gentle, intellectual voice over the phone.As Winston answered the call, Megan was beside him, imagining the woman on the other end of the line."Who's that?""Dora, her new film is shooting here, and she's joining the crew tomorrow," Winston said.It was only then that Megan learned that this ethereal celebrity, Dora Cruz, was a close friend of Winston.Dora, a former stage performer who transitioned into acting, was in her 40s, unmarried and without children.In public settings, she was often questioned about her personal life, and her honest and eloquent answers contrasted sharply with the mundane demeanor of the typically sophisticated hosts.Dora's famous quote about not planning to have children was "My genes aren't excel
The film Dora was shooting this time depicted the tragic life of a female writer. It was said that this film was tailor-made for her. Although it wasn't obvious in real life, on screen, she exuded a mysterious artistic vibe, perfectly matching the role of the female writer.It was said that the investors, Mark Elliot, specifically requested her for the role. Due to scheduling conflicts, the production company even paid the penalty for breaching another contract.During the meal, Dora mentioned this, expressing her appreciation for Mark's recognition. She explained that he was a genuine coal mine owner who didn't have much education and had a traditional taste. Even before he became successful, he saw Dora as a heavenly presence.Megan believed what Dora said. Veteran celebrities had a certain charm about them. Compared to young celebrities, they moved in more elite social circles and were preferred by influential people. Moreover, Megan couldn't deny Dora's beauty.However, t
Winston was a remarkable guy. In his 20s, he grabbed hold of a big company. And by the time he turned 30, he was a big shot in Southlake. His story was a legend in the business world. Anyone with a status in business knew Winston.Mark was taken aback when he saw Winston. Then, he chuckled awkwardly, "Mr. Belasco, I'm just having a meal with Dora. Didn't mean to bother you..." There was a hint of panic on his chubby face."Winston!" Dora stretched out her arms softly toward Winston.Winston swiftly reached out and pulled her up without a second thought, responding to the urgent situation."Mr. Elliot, enjoy your meal. Dora and I are gonna leave." Winston wasn't sure if Dora had any intentions of upsetting Mark. He had a voice recorder in his pocket but decided not to call out Mark on it.Dora, drugged, leaned on Winston like a boneless body. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes blurred."Dora's leaving after just one drink? That's not fun at all." Mark was embarrassed but also stu
Dora already pushed the limit by claiming Winston was her fiancé. And now, facing Mark's questioning, she dared not say anything more.Meanwhile, Winston simply raised his eyebrows indifferently. He didn't know or care if Dora was against marriage. Dora had indeed been his friend since childhood. But, they were of different genders, and they had never talked about romantic matters."How about we leave first and pick this up another time?" Winston's tone was cool. He just just wanted to wrap things up and get back to Megan.With things reaching this point, Mark naturally didn't dare to hold them back. Winston supported Dora as they walked ahead. While Mark, reconsidering, didn't want to offend him and tagged along, explaining as they went."Mr. Belasco, that drug is just for spicing things up between couples. It's harmless..."I just really like Dora. I'm single, and I thought she was too. That's why I pursued her. After all, Dora has never turned me down!"When did you two st
Winston regarded the incident as a minor episode in life and didn't dwell on it much.After all, it was between Dora and Mark. Dora's career continued without any negative impact, showing they were handling things fine. As someone who just lent a hand, Winston soon forgot about this matter.Little did he know, this incident ignited a sudden storm in his relationship with Megan, and it erupted with unexpected speed....After the bold move of jumping off the car that day, Celeste had some peaceful days.Damon seemed to disappear, never appearing again.Even with the successful bone marrow match and the possibility of Damon providing a transplant for Leo, it was the hospital that contacted Celeste.Leo's chemotherapy was not completed yet, and the bone marrow transplant wouldn't happen so quickly. But it seemed that Damon had fully moved on.Solving the problem quickly was better than anything else. Celeste thought with relief.Days passed smoothly until Celeste received a cal
"How is it?" Serena asked nervously, her arm wrapped in bandages, leaning on the hospital bed."Mr. Duke said Leo is fine. He wasn't hurt and everything is alright! And now, Mrs. Bishop, oh sorry. Ms. York has already taken him away," the butler, Glen Ellis, hastily replied.Serena finally relaxed. She used her other hand to gently stroke her chest and let out a long sigh of relief, "That's good."Ever since she found out about Leo, Serena had been trying various ways to find out more about him. She had also gotten plenty of information about him from Damon. Checking on Leo outside the kindergarten every now and then had become part of her daily routine.Today, when Serena went to the kindergarten to watch over Leo, she was surprised to find no kids inside. Upon inquiry, she learned that they had all gone to the playground.Panicked, Serena rushed to the playground. Standing nearby, she watched Leo on the swing and couldn't take her eyes off him.It was undeniable that Leo look
Celeste didn't reach out to Damon. She had plenty of ways to check on Serena's condition."Mrs. Bishop broke her arm and has been transferred back home from the hospital for recuperation," Nicholas replied when she called him to ask.A broken arm was troublesome.Serena was Leo's biological grandmother. But even if a stranger saved Leo, they should thank him in person. Moreover, Celeste couldn't lie to Leo. If he found out Serena broke her arm to save him and they didn't visit her, he would become an ungrateful person.Celeste didn't take long to decide."Mommy will take you to visit Grandma, okay? We need to thank her for saving you," she talked to Leo the next morning.Leo's eyes lit up again and said, "Let's go pick flowers for Grandma."So, Celeste took Leo to the flower market."Aunt, I want this one and also that sunflower!" Leo held up two sunflowers to the flower vendor.He didn't know that Serena had broken her arm. But, he was excited to meet her.The Bishop famil
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