Sabrina stood up and helped her mother up. “Alright, Mom.”Gloria heaved out a breath of relief. She looked at Lincoln, Jade and Selene who all lay on the floor in a pile of soft, weak, limbs then looked at Sebastian.Sebastian immediately answered her, “Yes, Gloria?”“Not only did my ex-husband imprison me, he even framed my daughter and used her. He has committed too much evil to be forgiven, both he and his wife are accomplices. And, his daughter Selene, she became a true murderer nine years ago. That’s why the three of them should be incarcerated, only then can my daughter be avenged.”“Alright, Gloria!” Sebastian nodded.“Come on, let’s go.” Gloria called out to Sebastian and Sabrina. She did not bother taking a single glance at the old, wizened Old Master Shaw, whose tears were streaming down his face. She further ignored Marcus Shaw and his parents. “Gloria…” The old man’s voice sounded ancient. “No matter what, you’re still my daughter, my own flesh and blood. Even thoug
She looked pained as she recalled the past. It all happened more than 50 years ago. Back then, Old Master Shaw was in his 30s, high-spirited and vigorous, his military career was also rising day by day. Old Master Shaw and his wife were childhood friends, playmates; the two families were equally wealthy, both coming from prestigious and well-respected families. Naturally they got married, and later, had a son together. Happy times did not last, Old Master Shaw did not have much time to spend at home with his wife and son. Soon, he returned to work.That year, the old man was deployed to the middle east to help maintain peace in the region. There, he met a teacher who taught piano and drawing. That teacher was from Kidon City, she was there because she liked the scenery in the middle east and wanted to stay for a while. She had applied for a job in the area, teaching children piano and drawing.One day, Old Master Shaw passed by and heard her playing the piano. He couldn’t help himse
Old Master Shaw was stunned when he heard the news.Then, he looked at Goldie in disgust. “When I was framed and hunted by my fellow soldiers, I wondered if you were the secret puppet master behind the event.”Goldie was struck silly by his words. “How is that possible? I’m just a sojourner, I have neither wealth nor power. How could I have orchestrated something like that?”His tone warmed slightly. “Are you here to ask me to pay for your abortion?”Tears filled Goldie’s eyes immediately. “N…no.”“Then what do you want?”Goldie kept quiet.“I have a wife and we love each other very much! We have been married for years, I’ve always been very disciplined, never sleeping around with other women. That’s why, I want you to abort the child. I will pay for everything, I can even pay you some compensation. Just name your price!”Goldie was sobbing so badly she could hardly speak. “I’m sick!”Old Master Shaw frowned. “You are sick!” Goldie nodded. “I have less than 20 years to live!
Goldie was rendered speechless by his words. After a long pause, she softened her tone further and pleaded, “Please, I beg you, help me, give me a title, and let me give birth to our child. Then, I’ll divorce you immediately so you can reunite with your wife!”“You’re crazy!” Old Master Shaw did not care for any of her words. He flung her aside and strode away.Coincidentally, three days later, his mission was over and it was time for him to return home. Before leaving, he did not even bother to pay Goldie a visit because he did not see the need to.It was impossible for him to be responsible for two women. The person he loved was his wife at home, her and her alone. Even if he went home and admitted his mistakes to his wife, she would forgive him considering the circumstances. From his youth until he became an old man, he always took responsibility for his actions! When he returned home, first he fooled around with his wife, checked in with his mischievous son, and then he told
After a pause, Goldie said to Old Master Shaw and his wife, “Now that things have already come to this, I have nowhere to go. I beg you, please marry me. I don’t wish for you to love me, I don’t want anything, I just want to live.”She held herself like a lowly servant. A crowd gathered around them. Old Master Shaw was conflicted. Finally, succumbing to pressure, he divorced his wife, then signed a marriage certificate with Goldie. After Goldie obtained the Certificate of Permitted Birth, he immediately divorced her and remarried his first wife. Since then, Goldie lived in a house near the Shaw family mansion in South City. He had promised to pay for her living expenses every month. The amount was small but it was enough for her to live off of. She could earn a living for herself, teaching piano and drawing lessons. Maybe it was because of her desperate desire to live, or perhaps because she was pregnant and her bodily functions had improved, or perhaps because she no longer lived
“As for the child, I will pay for her living expenses every month! And as her mother, you have to take responsibility and raise her. Whatever the child turns out to be, whether good or bad, it has nothing to do with me at all!”With that, Old Master Shaw threw some money on the ground and left. Gloria was left all alone, sobbing silently. How she wished her daughter could meet her own father. She wished for it so desperately. However, she could not. Her father was within arms’ reach, but Gloria turned one year old and still had no idea who her father was. Sometimes, when Goldie brought one-year-old Gloria to the park to play, while the child was just starting to speak, when she heard other children calling out, ‘Daddy, daddy’, the little one-year-old girl would imitate them, babbling out a string of words with spittle rolling down her jaw, “Ah… Dad, ah…Dad…”Every time this happened, Gloria was thrown into despair. As this happened, Gloria stayed near the Shaw family mansion. Eve
That afternoon was the first time the three-and-a-half-year-old little girl got to know her father. Old Master Shaw left the house with his wife. He was wearing a suit, and his wife was dressed in a beautiful dress. The couple was dressed handsomely, looking sophisticated and elegant. Beside them was a boy, around seven or eight years old. The family of three made onlookers turn green with envy.“Look, Gloria. That’s your daddy,” Goldie said to her daughter.“Daddy’s so handsome,” the little girl said. “Yeah, your father is handsome and powerful. He’s a good man, just and upright. When you grow up, you have to be a filial daughter to your father because he gave you life, do you understand?” Goldie educated her daughter.Although her daughter came from a single-parent family, she never cultivated hatred in her daughter. Even if her father never visited her even once throughout her life, never acknowledged her as his daughter, Goldie wanted to plant in her daughter’s mind an ima
“Mommy, I want to play the piano for a while.”The three-and-a-half-year-old little girl neither knew how to read sheet music nor could she play the piano. However, usually to coax a smile out of her daughter, she would hold her and sit in front of the piano, teaching her fingering techniques. Every time she taught the child, she would tell her, “Music can cleanse one’s soul; it can also make that person happy.”Perhaps the child took her words to heart but, in her subconscious, as long as she could play the piano well, then her father would be happy. Once her father was happy, maybe he might grow to like little Gloria?That night, the three-and-a-half-year-old played the piano for two hours, looking like a solemn little pianist. Even though she was still so young, she caught on quickly.Within six months, the four-year-old Gloria could already play a full song. It was called ‘Little Bell’. She did not play it very well, but her performance had a childish sort of beauty. The fo
In a blink of an eye, Aino was already 18.She was already going to college.Her husband, Mister Ford, already had gray hairs on his sideburns and was already a man who was pushing 50.Both Sebastian and her had gone through thick and thin together for almost twenty years.That was so fast."Old man," Sabrina called out.Sebastian turned her head to the side and looked at Sabrina. "What did you just call me?"Sabrina smiled. "Isn't that right? You're going to be fifty next year, and I'm only in my early forties. I'm not an old lady, but you are a proper old man! Let me ask you something. Your sideburns have turned gray, are you going to dye your hair on our wedding day?""I'm not going to! I simply want others to say that an old man like me is marrying a young wife! Listen to me. You'd better stop dressing up and putting on makeup in the future!" Sebastian said to his wife, who looked ten years younger than him.How unreasonable!This old lady simply has not aged a day since
Yvonne hugged her children and lifted her head to look at her mother. At that moment, she was incredibly excited. She was both excited and aggrieved, which made her cry inconsolably. She rushed into her mother's arms. Immediately after, her father also hugged both her and her mother. The family of three was finally reunited. No, it should be a family of five at that moment. It would be a family of six with Marcus included. The family of six hugged each other and cried so much that the people at the side could not help but cry as well. Even the nurse also teared up.It was after a long while that Yvonne's parents let go of her."Alright, my child, let's go home. Let's go home."Helena raised her head and looked at Yvonne. Her child did not have her original face anymore, but she was truly her child. After her child went missing for five years, she finally got her child back. During that time, Yvonne got a rare condition that was hard to cure in any part of the world, but she was cure
After everything, all of it, was handled, Marcus suddenly burst out in tears."What's the matter, my son?" Missus Shaw has lost three sons and he was the only son left by her side. When she saw her son crying like that, it was only natural that she felt very saddened."Mom…I just feel that karma really is a funny thing. It's really making a fool of all of us! It turned out that everything was already destined. Everything was destined!" Marcus was covered in tears.Missus Shaw was confused. "What's the matter, my child?"Marcus cried and then he smiled. "Mom, I've finally understood why God let Yvonne go through this disaster that lasted for five years. It turned out that God had given her the biggest hardship which seemed so inhumane, but God had given her the best reward. Otherwise, the person who truly died would've been my Yvonne, wouldn't it? I would've been my Yvonne."Hearing him saying that, Missus Shaw said extremely emotionally as well, "That's right. At the end of it all
The fake Yvonne was still conscious the second before she died. She watched herself fall over with her eyes widened. She never would have expected it. After she had plotted everything, she was only one step away from the wedding, and then she could have replaced the real Yvonne and truly be a part of the high society of South City and be the wife of a rich man. However, she was fatally shot. Who was it?There was no time for her to look into it in detail before she fell to the ground. All of her regrets were forever sealed in her body. Without even a cry or shouting, she fell to the ground. She was feeling so reluctant to accept defeat that her heart had already stopped beating but her eyes were still wide open.Marcus was also stunned. He did intend to have Bonnie's entire gang arrested in one go, and he had already done it. The police were simply there that day to have this group of people surrounded. However, never in a million years would Marcus expect that someone would kill Bon
Two female attendants wheeled out a completely sealed glass cart. The ring that was carefully kept inside the glass cart was truly colorful and dazzling. Every side of the gem was radiating in different colors as the light shone upon it through the glass chart. The fake Yvonne was stunned silly when she saw it. Another person who was also stunned silly was the tan and fat man holding a pair of binoculars while sitting in a car across from the jewelry store.The tan and fat man muttered, "Gosh! This man must love her so much. He actually is willing to spend so much on her! This woman really deserves to die! She deserves to die too much!"Inside the jewelry store, Marcus looked at the fake Yvonne gently. "Do you like the ring I'm giving you?"The fake Yvonne was so excited that tears streamed down her face. "I like it. I love it too much! I truly love it so much!""I should've given you this ring four years ago. It was such a pity that at that time…""It's fine, hubby, it's fine. Is
All thirty people in the banquet hall were stunned. At that moment, they still have not made sense of what the hell has happened. How come a group of police came in once Yvonne left? Did they arrest the wrong people?"No, officer, we're…friends of Master Marcus of the Shaw family in South City. We've saved his wife. Master Marcus even said he is going to give me two apartments as gifts. Did you…have the wrong place?" Bella boldly asked the police at that moment.Nobody answered Bella. A few police officers came up and confiscated all of their phones. Not a single one was left behind.Bella could not hold herself back anymore and said while trembling, "We're Marcus' friends. He is not an ordinary person in South City. If Marcus knew that you've arrested us, when the time comes…"A police officer sneered. "The people we're arresting are all of you, the group of Marcus' friends!""Huh? Why?" Bella did not understand. Actually, she was not too familiar with the law. She just knew tha
"A billion dollars! Isn't he just insulting us, the three Shaw brothers? Marcus loves this bitch so much! When I see her looking so happy, I just want to kill her immediately! I have to have her killed!"At this end of the call, the tan and fat man asked Marcus' eldest brother very respectfully, "Sir, as long as you give an order. Just tell me, how do you want to get this woman killed? Why don't I kill her now?""No!" Marcus' brother stopped him and said. "It's not the best time now. There are too many people in there, so it's not going to be easy for you to escape. I only have a loyal servant like you. I can't let you die. You have to find a place outside that you can easily run away after getting the deed done. Now is not the right time!"The tan and fat man instantly said, "Alright, Sir, whatever you say. I'll find an even messier place and have this woman killed! I'll be hanging up now, sir!"After he hung up the call, the tan and fat man continued watching everything inside th
When Bella heard Marcus saying that, she immediately said shyly, "Gosh, how can I trouble Master Marcus in everything? No…there's nothing else.""Come on, Bella, whatever difficulties you have, just say it. My husband is the second most powerful person in South City anyway. There's really nothing he can't do." The fake Yvonne lifted her head and looked at Marcus coquettishly. "Am I right, hubby?"Marcus looked at the fake Yvonne very dotingly. "Baby, what do you think? I'm a husband that you've picked, so could you have been mistaken?""That's right!" The fake Yvonne happily leaned her head on Marcus' shoulder. Marcus hugged the fake Yvonne and was feeling so disgusted that he almost threw up. This Yvonne and his Yvonne indeed look very alike. They looked extremely alike! If this Yvonne did not speak and remained quiet, Marcus would feel that this is his Yvonne and his wife whom he had been thinking of all day and all night. However, the real Yvonne would never make such a request o
Of course, the fake Yvonne agreed. Three days later, they held a banquet for the fake Yvonne's benefactors at the most luxurious hotel in South City. Some of them were out-of-towners. There were also some from South City. Marcus roughly scanned them and surely, the middle-aged woman was there. She was the woman who was staying in the same area with Mila back then and the one who suggested letting Mile do a DNA test.Marcus held the fake Yvonne's hand and came to the middle-aged woman. "Miss, do you still recognize me?"The fake Yvonne immediately introduced her to him. "Darling, let me tell you, this is the lady who had helped me the most. Her name is Bella Hughes. She has always been taking great care of me, including the time I had a miscarriage. She was the one who took care of me. I feel we should give her two apartments!"The middle-aged woman named Bella immediately waved. "No need, no need. There's really no need for that. To be able to escort you back to your husband's side