Celeste pondered for a moment. Since using an e-hailing service was inconvenient, she reckoned riding with Damon was better.So, she took a seat at the dining table before asking, "Are you okay with this? Will this be troublesome for you?"Deep down, Celeste hoped everyone knew she was married to Damon. However, he had wed a woman with such a unique status. So, she figured he would want to keep it private."No problem. I'm just giving one of my employees a ride."Damon remained stubborn. Yet, the words that came out did not align with his true feelings."Okay."Celeste was still basking in the joy of being able to work at Prestige. Although she was somewhat uncomfortable with what Damon had said, she did not dwell on it.She did not eat much for breakfast, but a subtle smile tugged at her lips. Damon's heart fluttered at the sight of her in such a state.Meanwhile, the driver had been waiting at the door for half an hour.Damon leisurely finished his breakfast and elegantly wi
When Damon and Celeste arrived at Davidson Hospital, Caleb had completed the pre-surgery preparations. At that point, he was already in the operating room."Family member, please sign here. It's better to do the heart transplant as soon as possible," Nicholas stated as he approached them.He skipped the pleasantries and immediately handed the surgical risk disclosure form to Celeste.Celeste's hand trembled violently. She could neither read the contents of the form nor write. Then, she took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.At that moment, Damon's hand enveloped hers as he helped her sign the form."He'll be fine. Trust me," he said in a low voice."Okay."There was a slight nasal tone in Celeste's voice. Seeing her in such a vulnerable state tugged at his heartstrings.Caleb's surgery lasted for over four hours. During that time, Celeste waited outside without moving.Damon could not bear to watch any longer. He took her to a chair outside the operating room before gi
Celeste took a week off to take care of Caleb. Thus, her plans to work had to be put on hold.However, she was relieved that Caleb had mild rejection reactions and adapted well to the new heart.According to his attending physician, he could resume a normal life with the support of regular medication in less than six months.As Caleb became healthier with each passing day, Celeste's sleep quality improved significantly, too.Back then, she found it hard to fall back asleep after waking up from nightmares. But now she had someone sleeping by her side.Perhaps because of that, each time she woke up, Damon would embrace her. While listening to the steady thump of his heartbeat, Celeste could easily drift off to sleep again.After some time, she realized that she was having far fewer nightmares than before.Celeste would go back and forth between the hospital and the villa daily. Although tough, she was well aware of Caleb's physical well-being. With that, she started to worry less.
The following morning, Damon had someone prepare their outfits.He wore a classically designed Irethian-style bespoke suit in silver-gray. Damon paired it with a navy blue tie and handmade leather shoes, showing his exceptional taste.On the other hand, Celeste was dressed in a navy blue strapless gown with black high heels, complementing his look as a couple.The navy blue dress accentuated the freshness and elegance of her fair, flawless skin.Damon looked at Celeste. Suddenly, he handed her a box, saying, "Put this on."She opened it with confusion. In the next second, her eyes widened in disbelief.It was the recently auctioned gem from Christie's Auction House—the pink diamond bracelet!With her expert insight, Celeste was knowledgeable about the prices and quality of jewelry.Although she didn't pay much attention to the auction, she could still guess the closing price of the bracelet made of ten pink diamonds, each weighing ten carats."T-This is too expensive. I can't
Leah had also attended the auction at Christie's a few days ago.At that time, a mysterious buyer bid 90 million dollars and successfully acquired the legendary pink diamond bracelet.The crowd could not help but marvel. Indeed, in Taverdale, there were extraordinary individuals.Leah secretly speculated on the identity of this mysterious buyer, too.At that moment, the pink diamond bracelet was on Celeste's wrist. So, the answer was clear as day.Leah could not believe that Damon would spend such a staggering amount for Celeste. At that instant, she struggled to catch her breath.Serena noticed the change in Leah's expression. She followed the latter gaze and saw the pink diamonds on Celeste's wrist.Upon opening her mouth, Serena immediately taunted, "Ms. York's appetite is much larger than I imagined."Such an embarrassing remark would have made anyone else turn red. Yet, Celeste remained composed."I have an average appetite, but my man is willing to feed me," she countere
"Back in the day, Danny and I used to play around here a lot," Leah said as she strolled alongside Celeste by the Bishop family's artificial lake. Her voice carried a gentle undertone."We would often play by the lake. One time, Danny wasn't watching me, and I accidentally fell into the water."He was so frantic, crying on the shore. The butler had to come and rescue me."Because of that incident, Mrs. Bishop made Danny kneel for an entire day and wouldn't let him eat."Danny lost his father at a young age. Since our family had no boys, my father treated Danny like his own son, stepping up as a male figure whenever he needed one."Of course, Danny was quite the protector. He got into plenty of fights at school to defend me."As they walked, Leah continued sharing her history with Damon."The night before I married Robin, I spent the whole night in tears with Danny. Ms. York, has a man ever shed tears for you?"Celeste, still caught up in the innocent and carefree childhood tale
Celeste stood on the shore, watching Leah splashing around in the lake.Her mind raced for half a minute.Serena had hoped for a rekindling of the connection between Damon and Leah.Whether Celeste could prove her innocence or not, this would surely be pinned on her.Moreover, everyone was busy at the banquet, with no witnesses around.If the accusation of "pushing Leah into the water" stuck, not only Serena, but even Damon wouldn't let her off.After all, they shared a bond deep enough to cry in each other's arms all night.This realization left Celeste with a momentarily suffocating feeling.Now, the only conceivable solution was to jump in herself.Fight fire with fire. It was a reluctantly chosen path to clear her name.Leah continued shouting, and without overthinking, Celeste hastily took a step and plunged into the water as well."Don't be afraid, Ms. Sullivan! I'll rescue you!" she yelled. She intentionally thrashed around a bit near Leah before sinking to the bottom
Did Celeste love him?Damon pondered on it, unable to be sure.Nicholas had left, leaving Damon looking at Celeste, both angry and frightened.This woman was truly insane. Setting aside the fact that Leah was Damon's childhood friend, her actions were inappropriate.Even for the sake of her well-being, she shouldn't act this way! Why couldn't they communicate properly?Just then, Celeste, seemingly disturbed by a dream, suddenly woke up and sat up.Her gaze around the room was vacant and fragile. After a while, her focus shifted to Damon's face.Damon's heart ached, but he kept a cold demeanor."Not afraid to die when awake, yet every time you sleep, nightmares terrify you. Celeste, you've done too much wrong."Celeste stared blankly for a moment before saying, "Still alive, huh? That's nice."After speaking, she surprisingly lowered her head and chuckled.Damon's suppressed anger erupted. He grabbed Celeste by the neck, veins bulging on his forehead."If you want to die so
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