Although his eyes were looking at her, his gaze appeared to be looking through her. Just who was he looking to substitute? There was a time when he kept imagining what the little girl would look like after she had grown up. The women that he dated would more or less bear some semblance to that imaginary woman. However, Serenity wasn’t the one who had saved him all those years ago. It was actually Lynette, the lady sitting before him. He had seen her photos from when she was around 8 or 9. Sure enough, she looked a lot like the girl from his memories. However, the grown-up Lynette was completely unlike what she used to look like. She shared similar facial features with Serenity, especially their eyebrows and jaw, but he could still easily tell these two people apart. What’s more, the aura they gave off was completely different. “Lucas?” The sound of Lynette’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “You’re not a substitute,” he said. “Then... were you really looking for a
Perhaps when that day arrived, she would meet a terrible demise. Lynette’s heart trembled at the thought of that possibility. However, now that she had embarked down this path, there was no turning back. No matter what, she had to cling to Lucas firmly. As long as he didn’t discover the truth, she would continue to have someone as strong as him backing her up! ***Jackson brought Serenity to the detention center, where they met Yuri Volkov. He appeared to be a slightly overweight man in his 40s. To her, he was a complete stranger. A stranger he may be, but he had caused her so much misery!If it weren’t for him, she would not have had to spend three years behind bars and endure so much agony. She would have still been an attorney with a bright future, pursuing a career that she had fought tooth and nail for! Serenity thought that she would never be able to see this man even when she arrived at the courthouse. After all, he had run off to some foreign land. To her surpri
Jackson’s eyes glimmered. “It may be true that he hurt you, but he’s having a hard time too. If it wasn’t for his cooperation, we wouldn’t have been able to catch him so soon. He returned from abroad and surrendered himself to the authorities after learning that the authorities had resumed their investigation on this case.” Of course, he deliberately left out the extreme measures he had taken to ensure that Yuri surrendered himself to the authorities. “A hard time?” sneered Serenity. “So what if he’s having a hard time? Am I supposed to feel bad for him now? It’s like asking a murder victim to forgive her murderer. Don’t you find it absurd? It’s a miracle that I survived my prison sentence. Had I died in that place, I wouldn’t have been able to stand before him today!” Every word she said hurt his heart like a whip. For a moment, he found it hard to breathe. “So... you will never forgive him, is that right?” murmured Jackson. “That’s right! I will never forgive a person who h
“Mr. Valor, I... I did as you instructed, so please let me live!” pleaded Yuri nervously. Jackson’s gaze was dark. This man was one of the main culprits behind Serenity’s wrongful conviction. “As long as you don’t say a word about what happened, I’ll let you keep your life.” Upon hearing that, Yuri let out a sigh of relief. If given a choice, he would have stayed abroad and never surrendered himself to the authorities. He had only done so under Jackson’s coercion. Even when it came to someone who was hiding abroad, Jackson had many ways to assert his influence. “Then, my family...” Yuri spoke with a panicky tone. “Your family doesn’t know what you’ve done, and I won’t lay a finger on them. However–” Jackson’s abrupt pause brought back Yuri’s fear. “You’re gonna have to pay a steep price for Serenity’s wrongful conviction all those years ago.” Yuri was about to protest when Jackson rose from his seat abruptly as if he couldn’t be bothered to hear what he had to say. “Mr. V
“What’s the matter with this place?” asked Jackson, whose voice had grown hoarse all of a sudden. “When I was young, I often came here to play!” said Serenity. “Although the adults said this place was dangerous and forbade us from playing here, I still snuck up the hillside. At the time, I felt like I was a true adventurer!” Compared to her, Lynette wasn’t particularly fond of playing here. “You were a kid, after all,” said Jackson. “Back then, I thought I’d come across some ground-breaking secret here, like a treasure chest, a UFO, or maybe a time machine. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?” she asked. Perhaps in an adult’s eyes, the woods beyond the hill were not that big. However, to a child, it was practically a whole new world to explore. “No, I find it incredibly adorable,” said Jackson. “But now that you’ve grown up, you realize that this is just another hillside. Let’s go. It’s getting late. I’m worried that it’ll be quite late by the time we return to Solaria.” Serenity n
“But even if they’re applying for the conviction to be overturned, it doesn’t happen that fast! According to how it normally goes...” Before Jenny could finish speaking, she was interrupted by her father. “Don’t forget who’s on her side now!” Jenny went silent immediately. Right... There was Jackson! The normal process was only reserved for commoners. “Okay, no matter what, once this news breaks out, we’ll have to come up with our view on the matter. You mustn’t offend the Valors because of this matter, do you understand?” asked Quinton to his daughter. Jenny almost snapped her phone in half when she heard that. When the charges had initially been read out, she had deliberately insulted Serenity and made a lot of noise while accusing her of murdering her sister. And yet, her father seemed to be asking her to issue a public apology to Serenity. How embarrassing would that be?! “Do you hear me, Jenny?” Quinton’s tone was surprisingly serious. “Don’t drag our family down!
Jackson lowered his head and gazed at her leaning on his shoulder. If she knew the truth, he wondered... if she would still think the same about meeting him. Probably not. When Serenity was sound asleep, he gently picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. After placing her softly on the bed, he gently stroked her face and ran his fingers through her hair. “Serenity, everything ends here, okay?” The truth of the case shall end here. As for her past with Lucas, that too ends here. No more pursuing these two matters. It was for the best. ***The sudden overturning of Serenity’s conviction caught the internet by storm thanks to the reporters. For a while, a heated discussion went on. Back then, Serenity was merely a rookie attorney who was falsely accused and convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. The discussion focused more on her ex-boyfriend, Zeke, and his current girlfriend, Jenny. The reporter who had broken the news had gone and interviewed Jenny about it, yet
“What are you saying? I thought we agreed that we’d be friends for life. From now on, there’s no need for you to hide things from me. I don’t want to be a friend who gets updates about you from the news rather than from you in person,” said Lisa. “Got it,” answered Serenity, who was on the brink of tearing up. Lisa had always been like this. Once you were chosen as a friend, she would be loyal to the end. The next day, when they met up, Lisa got to know the details of Serenity’s wrongful conviction, including how Yuri was the mastermind behind this. “I never thought that someone could frame another person just because they didn’t want to be implicated,” said Lisa with a gasp. “But I’m thankful that you’ve finally proven your innocence. So, what are you going to do next?” “I haven’t thought about it yet.” Serenity looked forward to the next chapter in her life, but she still hesitated. “Are you going back to being an attorney?” asked Lisa. Serenity smiled wryly. “I’ve be