"Come in." Serena's voice came from the bedroom, and Celeste could hear Leo take a breath. How much did he love Serena to be this excited?Glen opened the bedroom door and stepped back.Serena wore silk pajamas, leaning against the head of the bed with her right arm wrapped in a bandage. There was a specially made iron rack by the bed, supporting her injured arm.Celeste was already aware of her injury. But Leo was caught off guard and he seemed visibly surprised."Does it hurt?" Leo's expression suddenly seemed a bit dazed as he stood at the doorway, hesitantly asking without stepping in.Serena was momentarily taken aback by his concern. "It doesn't hurt, sweetheart," she replied quickly, realizing.Then, she gestured for Leo to come closer with her uninjured hand. "Come here, sweetheart."Celeste was shocked by Serena's unexpected tenderness and caution.Leo slowly walked over and stood by Serena's left side. He didn't say anything, but just hugged her tightly."Good boy, G
Of course, Celeste wouldn't open it. As an outsider, she thought it wasn't appropriate for her to open Serena's safe."I'll go get the maid," she instinctively said and was about to leave."Open it," Serena insisted. Noticing how Celeste hesitated, she got up from her seat.Celeste quickly reached out to stop her when she saw Serena move her injured arm from the support."Don't move. I'll do it." She had no choice but to squat down and enter the passcode.With a beep, the electronic lock of the safe clicked open.Inside the small safe were various antique jewelry items worth no less than eleven figures in total. Despite Celeste's current position and her expertise in jewelry, she couldn't help but admire Serena's collection."To have about ten billion dollars worth of items lying around under the dressing table instead of in the bank was quite impressive," Celeste thought."Bring that brown paper bag over here," Serena said.Celeste then noticed a nondescript brown paper bag t
Damon had been away on a business trip abroad, and he only rushed back this morning.Upon learning that Serena had broken her arm while saving Leo, he brought Lester to visit her but unexpectedly encountered Celeste and her son."What a coincidence." Celeste paused when she noticed Damon. Still, she nodded politely in greeting.Damon remained silent. While he seemed calm on the outside, his heart was actually racing.They haven't seen each other in, what, a month? Her sprained foot should have healed by now.Subconsciously, he glanced down at Celeste's foot. She was wearing a pair of brown suede flats, and there were still some bruises on her ankles.Celeste immediately understood what he was looking at."It's been fine for a while now," she said.Damon nodded.The atmosphere between them felt odd, and nobody else present dared to speak."Well, we'll be going. Goodbye," Celeste said.Damon nodded. He was unable to find words to say."Goodbye, Mr. Bishop." Leo stared at him
Celeste, being an adult, certainly didn't take offense to children.Lester claimed this was his home, and in a way, he wasn't entirely wrong. Despite not having the blood of the Bishop family, he had grown up with Serena. Now that he had been brought back, it meant that Damon and his mother were willing to recognize him as a member of the Bishop family.Whether it was his home or not, however, was none of Celeste's concern. Besides, she knew her child well. Leo's affection for Damon and Serena stemmed purely from familial bonds. He wouldn't care about being recognized as Serena's heir. Of course, given Lester's age, he wouldn't care about that either. He simply couldn't bear the thought of someone else sharing the love he received from his "dad" and "grandma."Fiona's actions had caused Celeste immense suffering and changed her life. She harbored a deep hatred for her as a result. However, she refused to judge a child. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Lester was selfish. S
Lester didn't offer any apologies even after Celeste and her son had left.As Celeste's car vanished from view, any warmth Damon felt earlier evaporated. With a frown, he let out a dismissive snort."Send the young master to the room for reflection. He may return once he's ready to behave properly."Lester, initially crying, stopped out of fear once he noticed Damon was being serious."Daddy! I was wrong, please, Daddy!" Lester pleaded, but Damon had already turned away and left.Child discipline was a strictly internal affair in the Bishop family. Lester, terrified by Damon's stern departure, turned to Serena."Grandma!" He wasn't as well-spoken as Leo and could only communicate in simple ways."Lester, your behavior was unacceptable. Think about what you've done," Serena felt bad. However, she was also upset by the incident. She walked away as well.……"Thank you for saving my child." Damon expressed his gratitude to his mother in the living room.“Do you know what Misty ju
As Damon and Liam entered, they were promptly served tea."I'm really sorry about today," Damon said."Lester is still young, and neither Leo nor I will take it to heart," Celeste replied honestly."Leo is still a child, after all. I would feel terribly guilty if what happened today affected his mood.""No need to worry. He's quite… unique," Celeste wanted to say that genius children never see themselves as just children but felt it might sound self-congratulatory, so she phrased it differently."Maybe he takes after his mother. I certainly wasn't that clever as a child," Damon understood her meaning and stated sincerely."Neither was I. When my mother was alive, she used to say I was smarter than Cal. She cited how I could read a clock at three and recite the Ballad of the Eternal Whisper at four. But what's that compared to Leo? He can recite an entire dictionary now. Poems have logic, and dictionaries do not."Like any mother sharing stories of her child, Celeste suddenly op
Leo had just woken up. He was wearing a cartoon pajama top, and a few strands of his hair were sticking up. His eyes were half closed. He looked somewhat adorable.“Mommy, what time is it?”He was still a bit groggy as he came out. Suddenly, his pupils dilated when he saw Damon and Liam.Damon’s heart melted at the look of the child.“Leo.” He opened his arms.Leo obediently walked over and let Damon lift him onto his lap.“Have some water.” Celeste handed Leo a cup of water, but he didn’t take it. His eyes were fixed on Damon.Damon quickly understood and held the cup for him.“I apologize on behalf of Lester for this morning’s incident.” Damon hadn’t forgotten the purpose of their visit.Leo nodded. “It’s okay. He’s quite pitiable.”“Oh?” Damon hadn’t expected such a response.“He’s so young and already without a mother. It’s understandable that he's lacking security and is afraid of losing his father.”Damon was amazed by Leo’s empathy. He glanced at Celeste.Celeste mi
Leo had never seen Damon this angry before, and it momentarily stunned him.After a brief silence, he took a deep breath."I noticed that grandma never got a chance to talk to me, but she really wanted to be close to me." Leo thought that if he looked like he was about to fall, Serena would surely come to his rescue, and they would have a chance to talk.Plus, if Serena had saved him, Celeste might have gone over to thank her, potentially bringing the family a bit more closer.His intentions were simple yet complex. Still, he hadn't anticipated that his grandmother would end up with a broken right arm from the effort. This was something he regretted deeply."......"Damon, observing Leo’s serious expression, was at a loss for words due to his anger.He was, in fact, truly Celeste’s son! She was best at achieving her goals at the cost of her body! Serena had rushed to rescue Leo just in time, but what if she hadn’t?Indeed, Leo, with his meticulous mind and intelligence, might 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