Lucas’ reply sounded even curter in the silence of the hallway. “I’ll bring everyone back right now and destroy the cameras.”The reporters glanced at each other. They did not dare continue taking photos of the scene, yet they did not dare hide their cameras either.Joshua swept his cold glance over the crowd and said, “This is the Lynch family’s business and will require further investigation. The police will be involved. “If any one of you spread any rumors about what happened here today or start circulating the photos online, I’ll make sure you and your entire family are chased out of Banyan City. You can take my word for it.”He glanced at everyone with a murderous expression. “You should know better than anyone that Joshua Lynch never breaks his promises!”The entire hallway was silent.Some reporters were already removing the SD cards from their cameras and snapping them into two, right in front of Joshua.Some of them set their cameras down on the floor and awaited Lucas
Joshua’s gaze was so sharp and cold that Adrian did not dare meet his gaze, turning his head away instead. “What’s this about my IQ? What makes you think I can’t come up with…”As soon as he said this, he realized that he had fallen right into Joshua’s trap and immediately corrected himself, “Who—Who’s trying to frame Luna? She’s the one who killed Granny; everyone here knows and saw it!“The wound in Granny’s chest is made by the knife that Luna is holding! Everyone here, including you and me, saw that as clear as day!”Adrian pointed toward Granny’s dead body and Luna’s unconscious figure on the floor. “Look, she’s already passed out, but she’s holding the knife so tightly in her hand! Everything at the scene clearly explains what happened before we arrived. What do you mean, someone is trying to frame Luna?”With that, he turned to glance at the reporters gathered in the hallway. “Am I wrong?”The reporters exchanged glances, and some of them started whispering under their brea
When Luna opened her eyes, she saw nothing but blood.A man plunged a knife right into Granny Lynch’s heart.When she saw this, Luna wanted to get up and scream for help, but she could not let out a single sound due to fear.That was when she dialed Joshua’s number on instinct.Just as Luna pressed the call button—Someone gave her a blow on the back of her neck, and she passed out.When she finally came to, Luna was so shocked by the scene before her that she felt as though her entire body had been struck by lightning.She could not move, think, or talk.A pained expression flashed across Joshua’s face when he saw how helpless Luna looked, sitting on the floor.He pursed his thin lips.He wanted to enter the room and give her a hug for comfort, but he could not.If he entered the room, he would be trespassing and destroying evidence.He believed that Luna was innocent and that she would not hurt Granny at all.It was precisely because of this that he could not destroy any
The iron grille door slammed shut.After being interrogated, Luna was forced to put on a prison jumpsuit and shoved into the women’s cell.Luna slumped on the ground weakly and could not find the strength to stand up.The cell was so dark that she could not make out anyone’s face at all.“Hey, there’s a newbie.” All of a sudden, a few taunting voices rang out from all around her.“She looks young and quite pretty too!”“Celia, come look at this. You’re finally not a newbie anymore.”Luna’s entire body stiffened when she heard this familiar name.She lifted her head and came face to face with Celia’s cold stare.Celia was perched on one of the beds next to her, and she swept her cold gaze over Luna’s pale face. “You’re in jail, too?”Luna bit down on her lip but did not reply.The woman standing in front of Luna glanced at Celia. “Do you know her?”“Do I know her?” Celia stood up and fixated her frosty gaze on Luna’s face. “I wouldn't even be here if it weren’t for her! She
As soon as Celia finished her sentence, the cell door opened.The corrections officer glanced at Luna coldly and said, “Come on out; someone’s here to see you.”Luna paused for a moment, then put on her wet jumpsuit and turned to follow the corrections officer out of the cell, her actions as stiff as a robot.Bonnie, dressed head to toe in red, was waiting anxiously in the visitation room. A smelly Luna was brought into the visitation room by the officer, who held her nose all the way. Luna had not finished washing her soiled jumpsuit yet, and there were still traces of urine and feces on her clothes.She sat down in front of Bonnie.Bonnie ignored the stench wafting off Luna’s body and immediately grabbed hold of her hand. “Did someone bully you?”Luna nodded and asked in a calm, hoarse voice, “Are Joshua and the children okay?”She did not mention anything about what had happened in the cell. Instead, the first thing that came out of her mouth was worry and concern over her
Luna could not help but curl her lips into a smirk when she heard this. “Maybe to them, I’m the adopted one instead.”Six years ago, when she got caught in her accident and everyone thought she had died, Natasha and Joseph had never paid tribute to her or mourned her death. Not only that, but Natasha even claimed that Luna’s death was caused by her disloyalty.Luna had already gotten used to these double standards.She let out an exhale and lifted her head to stare at Bonnie. “I’m sorry, but I’ll need you to help me take care of Nigel, Neil, and Nellie for the time being.”Bonnie nodded. “Don’t worry about it.”Due to the photo of Joshua kissing Luna’s forehead circulating in the news, Joshua had become the center of the media’s attention.Before visiting Luna, Bonnie had already volunteered to take the children into her care and had brought them over to her place.At this moment, Anne and John were looking after them while she visited Luna in prison.Visitation hours were soon
After an entire night of contemplation, Joshua finally decided to abide by the detectives’ suggestions and agree to an autopsy.He believed that if Granny was watching from heaven, she, too, would wish to see Luna being proven innocent.After coming out of the house, Joshua followed Lucas and got into the car.More than ten cars belonging to the media trailed behind Joshua’s Masevati all the way from Blue Bay Villa to the police station.Joshua’s decision to authorize an autopsy on his grandmother’s corpse spread through the city like wildfire and became the headline of almost every news outlet in Banyan City.When the car arrived at the police station, Joshua was stopped by Adrian and Michael, who had been waiting at the entrance, as soon as he got out of the car.Adrian, along with a swollen, injured Michael, blocked Joshua’s path.“As the victim’s family and only son, I object to an autopsy!” Adrian declared, dressed in a neat suit. “Joshua Lynch, don’t you dare humiliate my
The entire crowd fell into silence upon hearing this.Everyone’s gaze was fixated upon Joshua.“What wrong, coward?” Adrian crossed his arms in front of his chest, a triumphant expression etched in his eyes. “Joshua, please don’t blame Daddy for being cruel like this. Luna killed your grandmother, and we already have plenty of evidence for this, but why are you so stubborn to insist on performing an autopsy to obtain new evidence?“Well, if you indeed find new evidence, then all’s good, but if you can’t find any, then this means you deliberately damaged your grandmother’s dead body.“This is an act of disloyalty to the family, and it’d be understandable if I chased you out of the Lynch family itself, but I’m showing you mercy and only asking you to give up your shares instead of being exiled.”With that, he raised his eyebrows and asked, “So what is it, sign or no sign?”Joshua narrowed his eyes but did not reply.The reporters murmured underneath their breaths at this sudden tw
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