Sydney smiled mockingly before taking the key that Grandma had given her, trying it out door by door.Finally, she succeeded in opening the door of the utility room.Well, everything remotely valuable in the entire villa had been sold by her stepmother and sister, so it was obvious that there would not be anything in the rooms other than the utility room.When Sydney pushed open the door, a cloud of dust drifted to her face.She quickly covered her nose and mouth, stepping back while fanning the air in front of her with a hand.After fanning for a while, the dust in the air finally settled down, and Sydney lowered her hand from her nose and turned on the light."Geez!" She felt a headache when she saw the cobwebbed and messy utility room.How was she supposed to find the item among so many things?She was tempted to give up.However, in the end, Sydney still sighed and steeled herself, rummaging through the items. After all, she was already here. If she did not look for it thi
"Yes, it's almost identical," the manager looked at her hand which had turned red from Mrs. Madden's grip and replied with a forced smile.Mrs. Madden's eyes instantly reddened as tears flowed down. "It's Clarice, it's definitely Clarice. Clarice isn't dead. She's still alive! Manager, where’s that girl now?"She asked in a trembling voice.The manager replied, "She already left, but it hasn't been long. She might still be in the mall."As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Mrs. Madden rush out of the store without even taking her bag. Mrs. Madden looked all around the mall for a lady who would be around the same age as her eldest daughter.However, she searched the entire mall but could not find a girl who was wearing the daughter necklace and whose eyes resembled hers.Mrs. Madden returned to the DT store, disheartened.The manager brought a cup of hot water to her. "Did you find her, Mrs. Madden?"Mrs. Madden shook her head in dismay. "No.""Don't lose heart. Since she'
Sydney was a little surprised at Zach's appearance and was even more shocked when she heard him tell her to get in the car.She glanced toward the back seat window. She could not see anyone inside because it was tinted, so she did not agree immediately. "Was that your call?""It was President Flint who told me to ask you to get in the car." Zach had to answer honestly.Sydney's eyes instantly cooled. "I'll pass."In the back seat of the Maybach, Julien's expression darkened when he heard her refusal.He rolled down the car window, exposing his cold and handsome face to the air. "Get in!"His tone left no room for argument.Sydney met his gaze calmly. "I said no, President Flint. Did you not understand that?"What was wrong with this man?It was very normal for her to refuse to get into his car. After all, she had nothing to do with him. What was he getting angry for? It was so inexplicable.Julien heard the annoyance in her tone and frowned. He wanted to tell Zach to simply d
"I'm fine now," the Old Madam replied with a smile.Sydney nodded. "That's good."Then, the Old Madam suddenly remembered something and pointed to the bedside. "Syd, Felicia's son came to see her yesterday and brought her a lot of hawthorns he grew at home. Don't you like to eat hawthorn cake? Take these hawthorns back with you."Sydney looked at the hawthorns in the basket. They were big and red, making them very appetizing to look at.Just as she was about to nod and agree, Julien said, "No!"The Old Madam frowned.The smile on Sydney's face also faded slowly.The Old Madam looked at Julien with dissatisfaction. "Why not? I'm giving this to Syd. Why do we need your permission?"She never knew that this grandson of hers was so stingy.He was not even willing to give Sydney some hawthorn!Sydney did not say anything, nor did she get angry.It was just some hawthorn. If he did not want to give it to her, so be it.There was no need to get angry over something so trivial.Lo
He had heard a long time ago from Sydney that she did not love him anymore, but he never took it to heart, thinking that it was just words she said out of anger. She was angry for protecting Lyra, so she deliberately said those words. After all, he was not unaware of her feelings for him these years.However, now, she was able to calmly tell Grandma that she did not love him anymore. It made him realize that she did not say those words out of anger, but that she really did not love him anymore.At that moment, Julien clearly felt something in his heart. It felt vaguely aching and somewhat empty as if someone had dug away something very important. It caused his expression to fall.The Old Madam glanced at his appearance and shook her head with a slight sigh. "I was thinking if you still had feelings for Julien, I’d do everything to get you back together with him, but now... Sigh, maybe it's better this way."In the past, it was Julien who did not love Sydney which was why the relati
So, that was what happened.Julien pursed his thin lips.He knew that Harry Raines kidnapped Clarice, but he did not think that it was Brandon who forced him to do so.It seemed like some things could not be investigated only in part but in their entirety. Otherwise, they were likely to be blinded by false appearances and lose sight of the truth.When Julien thought of Brandon's hatred when he mentioned Harry, he found it absurd now.What was even more ridiculous was that he believed Brandon's rhetoric that it was Harry who let down the Madden family.At that thought, Julien looked at Sydney with guilt and shame in his eyes.He was ashamed that he only listened to one side of the story and thought that her father was not a good man.Sydney did not have time to pay attention to Julien. She bowed her head and clutched the necklace. "That's why this necklace appeared in the Raines residence."It must have been taken from Clarice's neck when her father kidnapped Clarice."Yes." T
"Really?" the Old Madam asked with a vague smile.Julien's voice was cold and hard. "Of course! I said before that I’ll never regret it. Not now, not ever.""Is that so? Alright, then." The Old Madam nodded and stopped talking.'Not now, not ever? Really?'The Old Madam laughed.'I hope you don't eat your words in the future.'"By the way, I hope you won't tell anyone about our conversation today, especially Lyra and the Madden family. Do you understand?" The Old Madam gave Julien a warning look, implying that she would never let him off if he told them.Julien raised his chin. "I know, I won't say anything. I promised Sydney that I won't help the Madden family, so I naturally won't tell them about this.""Good, then you can also..." Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly saw the hawthorn on the bed and slapped the quilt. "Syd forgot about the hawthorn."Julien's eyes flashed shrewdly.He knew from the beginning that Sydney had forgotten to take away the hawthorn, but
Sydney frowned. "Grandma told you to send me back?"Julien's eyes flashed slightly. "Yeah.""But in the ward, she didn’t insist on it when I refused you for sending me back. Why would she suddenly tell you to send me back now? Julien Flint, are you lying to me?" Sydney examined him.Julien pulled open the car door. "No, Grandma said that it's getting dark and she's worried if you go back alone, so she decided to let me go after you and send you back. Alright, just get in the car. You don't want Grandma to worry, right?"Sydney fell silent and finally sighed. "Fine."At those words, she bent down and got in the car.Julien's brows relaxed imperceptibly when he saw this.It seemed like she believed him.Then, Julien closed the door of the backseat, walked around to the front, and got in the driver's seat. "Back to Shallow Bay?"Sydney looked out the window and hummed softly.Julien pursed his lips and started the car.Along the way, Sydney did not say a single word to him. She