“Joshua Lynch, what on earth are you afraid of?”Michael walked up the stage and took the microphone in Neil’s hands. He mocked, “Are you afraid that people would know that besides Nigel and Nellie, you have another illegitimate son?“Or, are you afraid that once Aura and her son turn up, they’d expose how you harmed Luna back then, then wasted five years of Aura’s life, only to abandon her in the end?”Michael harrumphed coldly and pointed at Joshua below the stage. “You’re a scumbag! A b*stard! How could the Lynch Group be in the hands of someone like you? It’s a disgrace to the Lynch family!”Joshua smiled and gracefully leaned back on his wheelchair. His deep gaze looked at Michael on stage calmly.“I’m not fit to be the president of the Lynch Group or manage it… but you are?”Michael harrumphed coldly. “At least I’m no dirtbag! I’m clean!”Joshua sneered. “Yes, you are clean.”He then raised his gaze and looked at the man with an arrogant expression on stage, holding the m
Adrian’s men soon brought in Aura.Aura wiped her tears as she was brought in. She slowly headed toward the stage. Aura was still in the same clothes as she recorded the video, dressed in white. Her knee-area was stained with dirt from kneeling a moment ago.The fabric around her knees was also somewhat torn. The tears on her pants around her knees made one think back about how pitiful she looked when she knelt on the ground, begging Luna and Joshua to let her go.The crowd bemoaned.Luna stood in the same spot, looking at how Aura was escorted in. She felt as if a huge hand was squeezing her heart tightly over and over again. It was sufferable.Before the ceremony that day, Luna had already expected that Fiona would show up. That was why she thought of all the ways, including keeping watch on the entrances tightly, checking through each and every staff member.Luna thought the stricter she was, the more anxious Aura would want to enter to wreak havoc.However, she never would h
Then, Aura turned around and continued heading toward the stage.Luna remained in the same spot, clutching the box tightly with both hands.Some came over and tried to have a look at the contents of the box. Luna furrowed her brows. She turned around and walked toward Neil and Nellie.Neil and Nellie understood Luna’s intentions. They immediately covered her on each side. The moment Luna opened the box, she could clearly see Aura, who was already on the stage, smiling flirtatiously at her.Luna gnawed on her lip and opened the box. Her instincts were right. The things in the box had to do with Theo. It was a few photos of Neil and Theo. There were photos of them lying in a pool of blood at the scene of the explosion. There were also photos of them lying in the hospital bed with pale faces.Also…There was a photo of Neil kneeling on the ground, hugging his head, looking like he was suffering terribly. In front of him, a few pieces of paper were placed on the ground with scrawny h
The entire venue fell silent.Everyone thought they had misheard Aura. Even Adrian, who was standing next to Aura, could not help but furrowed his brows. He softly reminded, “Ms. Gibson, you’re wrong. Today’s engagement is between Luna and my elder son, Joshua. My younger son, Michael, is still single…”Then, Adrian looked at Michael and added, “Also a virgin.”Aura smiled. “I’m not wrong.” She raised her brows and looked at Luna, whose knuckles were white from clutching the box tightly.“I’m congratulating my sister Luna on her engagement with the Lynch family’s Second Young Master, Michael Lynch. Luna, am I right?”Luna was rooted on the spot, her mind overtaken in a storm. She could not forget what was written in the letter she was clutching.However, she did not expect that the thing Aura wanted her to obey was to openly admit that she was engaged to Michael!Luna bit her lip and turned to look at Michael behind Aura.Although he and Joshua had the same father, whether it w
If they did not stop this, things would get out of control.Joshua was the one that prepared the ceremony that night. There were Joshua’s men everywhere. As long as he gave the order, whether it be Adrian or Aura, no one could do anything to him.What right did all those people have to look at Joshua that way?Joshua looked at Lucas calmly. “If I were to clear the area right now, people might think I got infuriated because I was embarrassed.”Lucas was stunned. He pursed his lips and stopped talking.“Who said I’m getting engaged with Luna?” On stage, Michael glared at Aura angrily. Then, he glared at Luna.“I’ve never once said…”“Michael.” Aura flatly interrupted him. She sounded rather delighted. “Don’t you want to bring such a pretty woman like Luna back home? She’s a famous jewelry designer. The Lynch Group has business in the jewelry market. If you were to be together, both of you would be able to grow the Lynch Group’s jewelry market together in the future as a couple.”
Luna instantly tensed.This was bullying! It crossed the line!Luna forcefully bearing through it and playing along to Aura’s disgusting act, pretending that she was engaged to Michael, was already her limit!How dare Aura asked her to kiss Michael in front of Joshua and her three kids? In front of all these people who were clearly there to watch a show and make a joke out of Joshua?She could not do it!However, Michael, on the other hand, was excited. He took a huge step forward and smiled at Luna pervertedly.“My dear fiancée, since Ms. Gibson wants to see, let’s show her. Anyway, it’s only a matter of time.”He slowly approached Luna. The cheap cologne smell made Luna’s head hurt once more.She subconsciously retreated backward before Aura stopped her.Aura smiled and looked at her. “Luna, Michael wants to kiss you. Why are you backing out? Don’t you want to kiss him?”Aura smiled. “If you’re not willing to kiss him, why did you agree to get engaged to him?”Luna gritted
The people below the stage were no longer human. They were demons.Luna looked at the stage below. Among the crowd was Joshua, sitting in his wheelchair with a cold gaze, looking at what was happening on the stage wordlessly.Next to him, Zach and Yuri were hugging Nellie and Nigel. Lucas stretched his hands out to cover their eyes.Tears started to form in Luna’s eyes upon seeing this. What use was there in Lucas covering their eyes? They could still hear what was happening. They could still feel the rowdy atmosphere in the venue.She was…sorry for her children.Before the engagement ceremony began, Nigel had already seriously expressed that he would not call Joshua by name anymore. He would refer to him as Daddy already.Nellie was jumping with joy. Her wish, finally. She could finally proudly introduce her mother and father to others. She did not need to explain why they split up. Even if the engagement to Joshua was fake, the children treated it as if it were real.However,
Luna bit her lip hard. She raised her gaze and glared at Aura.“What on earth do you want?”Aura sneered. “Of course, that is…” Aura narrowed her eyes and looked at Luna, her gaze filled with hatred.“I’m going to take back everything that you owed me!”If Luna did not bring her two b*stard of a children back, she would have been Joshua’s legitimate wife! She had been by Joshua’s side for five years! She had been his fiancée for five years!The moment Luna came back, she ruined everything! How could Aura not be angry? How could she not hate her?Luna narrowed her eyes. “Aura, I have never owed you anything.”“You don’t get to decide for me whether you owe me or not! I make the calls!”“Mommy!”At that moment, Nellie’s voice came from below the stage. Luna paused for a while and looked down subconsciously. Nigel and Nellie were already below the stage.Nellie reached her hand out, trying to reach for Luna’s hand. “Mommy, you can come down now! It’s safe!”Only then did Luna c
At that, he looked at Gwen. "Actually…"Steven found himself unable to finish his sentence. After a long while, he shook his head and smiled. "Forget about it.""Steven…" Gwen looked at him, and her tears fell.Her heart was not made of stone. How could she not know Steven's feelings toward her?She was silent for a long while. In the end, she stood up and slowly walked over to Steven with arms opened wide. "Give me a hug."Steven hesitated for a while, but he still stood up.They hugged."Gwen." Steven hugged her thin figure. "I have to meet you earlier in the next life so I can compete fairly with my brother."Gwen nodded with tears streaming down her face. "Okay."They thus hugged once more. Minutes later…"He's gone," said Stefan.Tears kept falling.They hugged for a while longer before pulling apart. Gwen looked at Stefan with her tear-stricken face. He had tears on his face as well.She bit her lips and reached out to wipe his tears. "A—Are these tears…yours or his?
The next day, Rachel flew from Merchant City to Sharnwick City to diagnose Anne's condition. Theo tagged along as well because he had another identity, Rachel's boyfriend."According to the report, Anne's condition is slowly recuperating." Rachel was relieved after assessing the report. "Although she is very weak, she is going to get better with lots of rest."There is nothing wrong with her vocal cords too. It could be a psychological thing that makes her lose her voice. A knot in her heart that causes it." She looked at Luna, then at John. "Considering all factors, I think that knot is Luna."Rachel continued, "John, I know Luna is the root cause of all these bad things. Being away from Luna, Joshua, and other people is going to guarantee a safer life for you and your family. But have you thought about it from Anne's point of view? Other than you and Sammie, she has her own life and her circle of friends. Never has she blamed Luna for what happened, yet you forced her to leave Lun
It was almost a miracle for Anne to willingly leave the house just to visit him!Robyn, meanwhile, sobbed at the sight.The nurse who accompanied Anne to the ward was puzzled. What was going on with these people?She snuck her phone out of her pocket and took a photo of this surreptitiously. Then, she sent it into the nurse's group chat with the caption, [What a strange family I met today.]The nurses in the group chat began gossiping about this. One of them tagged a fellow nurse named Daisy and said, [Hey, isn't this the guy who saved the old man you're looking after? What a hero!]Daisy was, at this moment, walking into Andy's room to help him change his wound dressing. She saw the message but was not able to type on her keyboard to respond, so she recorded a voice message instead. "Yes, that's the man. What's wrong with his family? What are you guys talking about?"As soon as she finished her sentence, she lifted her head and finally realized that Andy was not there.Instead,
Anne stared at John for a long time before forcibly smiling and told him in sign language, "Robyn didn't return after so long, so I got worried and came by to check on her.""Daddy, Aunt Robyn, are you two hugging?" Sammie asked, blinking innocently as she raised her head in curiosity.John and Robyn turned pale at this.It was understandable for such a young child like Sammie to misinterpret them as hugging, but what would Anne think of this?John leaped off the bed and staggered toward Anne. "Anne, it's just a misunderstanding…"However, he was still so weak that his legs could not hold up the full weight of his body at all, and he almost crumpled to the ground.Quick-witted Robyn managed to catch him before he could fall, but this gesture appeared once again rather intimate to both Anne and Sammie. Sammie furrowed her brow and asked rather indignantly, "Are you hugging again? Daddy, how can you hug Aunt Robyn like this when you've never even hugged Mommy and me like this befor
When the nurse pushed Anne to John's ward, she overheard John and Robyn fighting from the door. The fight was about how John was anxious to return home because he was worried about Anne and Sammie.However, as someone who used to work as a nurse, Robyn knew John should not leave the hospital after being shot by a gun. At least, he needed to stay in the hospital and be observed for 24 hours to make sure that he was fine before leaving the hospital. If an infection happened, John's body would crash easily and he would become weak just like Anne.In the ward, John frowned and talked with a serious tone, "I'm really fine. Get me my clothes so I can go upstairs to thank Miss Andie and go back home immediately. If Anne knows that I'm hurt, she is going to worry. She will easily be suspicious since you haven't gone back home for a long time. What if she worries about me and brings Sammie to the hospital to look for me? Can you bear yourself even just thinking about it? She's weak and Sammie
Sammie's soft and cute babyish voice melted Stefan's heart immediately. It had been quite some time since he actually put a smile on his face. "Hi, there. What's your name and how old are you?"Sammie tilted her head to look at Stefan's handsome face and smiled sweetly, "I'm Samantha but everyone calls me Sammie."Then she did not forget to introduce Anne to Stefan too. "This is my Mommy. Her name is Anne."At this point, Stefan had given all of his attention to Sammie and did not notice Sammie mentioned that her mother's name was Anne. He pinched Sammie's cheek and said, "Your Mommy is not feeling well. You have to be a good girl and take care of her, do you understand?"Sammie nodded seriously and said, "I will.""Alright, sir. I will bring them to where they want to go," the nurse saw Anne signing to her anxiously. She smiled and said, "Don't worry. I will take good care of them."The promise from the nurse gave an assurance to Stefan that they would be well taken off. He smil
This was the first time Anne brought Sammie out. Ever since she escaped from death, she became a different person—a recluse and was afraid of the sun. This situation became even worse after she became mute.The last time she left the house was two weeks ago when she had to go for surgery.However, she worried about John. In the morning, Robyn told her John was hurt and needed to stay in the hospital to rest. However, she had a hard time believing what Robyn said.After spending so many years together with John, Anne reckoned she was the one who knew John the most. If it was a minor injury, John would never want to stay in the hospital. He cared too much about her and Sammie, so he never dared to let her worry about him. Therefore, it just did not sound reasonable if John would stay in the hospital because of a small injury.Furthermore, Robyn had not returned home since the morning, which was nearly three hours since she left the house. After much consideration, she decided to call
Tara fell silent upon hearing this. She bit her lip nervously and shot Gwen a tentative glance. "I didn't mean to offend you, Gwen…" "I know." Gwen let out an exhale and interrupted Tara before she could finish, "I know you meant no harm, but I can't deny that this is something I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around. In the future, neither of you—even you, Luna—should bring this up again." Her love life was such a mess that not even she could unravel the ties, much less expect other people to understand. Tara pursed her lips and did not reply. Luna stared at Gwen in silence for a while before finally saying, "But you have to face this eventually, Gwennie. After all that you've been through with Luke, all of us hope for nothing but the best for the two of you. Even if you avoid it now, you'll have to face the truth eventually. Otherwise, are you planning on spending the rest of your life in this complicated relationship with Luke? Can you bear the thought of not being
Stefan was mildly amused by the look on her face. He extended his arms out in a gesture of defeat and said, "I never intended on ratting you out to Joshua. You three spoke about these secrets in my presence." With that, he shot Andy a rather helpless look. "Don't you agree, sir?" Andy was surprised to be called out all of a sudden. "Of course!" Although Gwen and Luke had been together for a long time, Luke had never much cared for maintaining good relations with his future father-in-law. He always thought his relationship with Gwen did not concern anyone else outside of the two of them. Combined with the fact that Andy had done some hurtful things to Gwen in the past, Luke grew even more disdainful of his future father-in-law. Because of this, he had never given Andy as much as a second glance throughout their relationship and rarely ever addressed him directly like this. The truth was, Stefan had already called out to Andy once before, during their rescue mission the day befor