Lily let out an exhale, clenched her teeth, and said in a choked voice, “I know she’s always been a light sleeper and that she’s been too exhausted lately…so I gave her some sleep-inducing tea to drink before bed.“If everything goes right, she’ll be asleep until tomorrow morning…”Nigel’s entire body stiffened when he heard this. After a moment, he pursed his lips and let out an exhale. “Alright then, Zach and Yuri, plan B. We don’t need to wake Mommy; we’ll take her away right now!”Yuri nodded. Then, as soon as he wrapped Luna up in a blanket, a smokey, burning stench wafted in from outside.“It’s too late…” Zach, who at this moment was looking out from the balcony, bit down on his lip with a pained expression. He stared at Aura, who was standing near the back door, brandishing a pair of hedge trimming scissors and forcing the butler, the servants, and the two children back into the house. “She’s discovered them.”Not only did Aura discover them trying to escape, but she even s
According to her personality, Aura would not usually be so easily triggered by Luna’s deliberate taunts. Since she had no other means of turning her life around, however, Aura lost her usual calmness and instead lifted her head to glare at Luna, who stood on the balcony across from her. “Do you honestly think I’ll never be able to kill you?”“Yes, you’ll never be able to kill me.” Luna snickered. “Even if you force the rest of them back into the burning house and kill them, you won’t be able to escape prosecution either.“Even after you get sentenced to death, I’ll still be living happily ever after with Joshua and bear more children for him!”Something snapped inside Aura when she heard this.She bit down on her lip and glowered at Luna. “Are you planning to give your life in exchange for these people’s?”Luna sneered. “What do you think?”Aura let out an exhale and immediately stormed toward Luna. “You can’t escape now, Luna!”Seeing that Aura had finally been diverted, the bu
“As long as you’re still alive, you’ll be able to bear children for Joshua and live happily ever after! That’s why...”Aura narrowed her eyes and continued in a cold voice, “I’m willing to let all of them go, except you!”Her biggest wish since young was to see Luna dead, and with no other way out, she had to kill Luna. Otherwise, her life would have no meaning!Just as Aura was about four or five meters away from Luna, the electricity went out with a snap.The fire had probably spread to the villa’s control room, causing the main electricity circuit box to go out.Despite that, the villa was still as bright as day.The flames illuminated Aura’s face so brightly that it made her look grotesque. Luna clutched the railing so tightly that her hands were starting to sweat. She bit down on her lip and said, “Aura, you and I are sisters. How did we even get to this point? I’ve treated you as my sister all my life.”“Well, I never thought of you as mine!” Aura snapped as she glowered
Luna’s entire body stiffened for a moment as blood splattered onto her face.She stared at the back of Lily’s head, who had sprinted out of nowhere to shield her from Aura’s attack, as well as the…share blade that had punctured through Lily’s chest. Her entire mind was blank.How did Lily appear out of nowhere?“Ms. Luna, run!” Lily clenched her teeth and grabbed hold of Aura’s body with bloodstained hands. “Run, quick! You saved me all those years ago, and I’ve remembered it since. This is my way of repaying your kindness!”Aura’s entire face twisted into a grimace when she heard this. She glared at Lily, as well as Luna, who was hiding behind her, with a grotesque expression. “You b*tch!”She summoned all the strength in her body to withdraw the scissors from Lily’s body, but Lily held onto her as tightly as she could. No matter how hard Aura tried, she could not release herself from Lily’s grip.“Run, Ms. Luna!” Lily shouted with all her might as she spat out a mouthful of blo
“It’s all burnt down now… And Lily…”Nellie sobbed so much at this point that she needed to catch her breath. “I can never taste Lily’s homemade breakfast ever again…!”Luna let out a sigh and pulled Nellie into a tight embrace but did not say a word.Joshua gave Lucas some instructions to call a bus and send everyone to Orchard Manor. Meanwhile, he, Zach, and Yuri stayed behind to deal with matters regarding the fire with the firefighters.The fire went on for the entire night and was finally put out at sunrise.This fire—which had lit up Banyan City for the whole night—became the topic of attention online. However, with Joshua, Jude, and Bonnie’s influence, they concluded that this fire was due to human error and curbed any panic from spreading within the city.After the fire was put out, the firefighters found Lily and Aura’s dead bodies.The two corpses were found together, holding onto each other.The scissors which Aura had attempted to kill Luna with were still stuck w
“Luna, why did you even want to come here so early in the morning?” A red Ferrare pulled up next to the ruins of what was once Blue Bay Villa. Bonnie got out of the car and opened Luna’s door, complaining, “It’s all burnt down now, so what’s there to look at?”Luna, still pale, offered a faint smile and replied, “Joshua said that the air here is still polluted from the smog, so he forbade Nellie, Neil, and Nigel to come over, but the three of them kept going on about wanting to retrieve some stuff from Blue Bay Villa. I had no choice but to come myself.”Bonnie pursed her lips. “Is there even anything that was spared from the fire?”Luna shrugged and chuckled. “We’ll bring home whatever we can find.”With that, she lifted her head to glance at the remains of Blue Bay Villa. This had been a tall, towering building just the day before, but it was reduced to almost nothing. She could not help but lament this fact.All of a sudden, Luna recalled Lily.A fresh, young life.It was all
Somehow, Jim thought that his son…bore a striking resemblance to this woman.Still...He sighed. Jim remembered that although Harvey’s mother was from Banyan City, like this woman, she was poor, skinny, and mute. The woman standing in front of him was the opposite of all that, obviously so.Jim walked toward Luna and Bonnie to greet them. He then lowered his voice and explained, “My son is a fan of detective novels. I saw that the police and firefighters had left, so I brought him here to have a look. Don’t worry, though. If we find anything, I’ll make sure to pass it to the police if I can’t return it to you.”This did not raise Luna’s suspicion. She held the bag that Harvey gave her and smiled at them. “I’m sure you mean no harm. However, this is a crime scene of arson. The fire was put out not long ago, so the air is still filled with the smell of burnt chemicals. Your son is just six or seven years old. It’s not safe for him to be here. It’d be bad if he accidentally hurt him
All the messages inside Lily’s phone were from Malcolm.“What’s the situation with her and Joshua? I need an update.”“Find an opportunity to force her back.”“Have you earned Joshua’s trust? Why are you not replying?”“If needed, proceed with Plan S.”…As soon as she saw the messages, Luna felt as if her heart was squeezed by an invisible hand. It made her uncomfortable.It was apparent that this phone was used specifically for Lily and Malcolm to communicate. The messages started the moment Lily arrived in Banyan City, and it had not stopped since.When Luna first started reading the texts, she thought that Malcolm’s intentions for contacting Lily were out of genuine concern.However, later on…The information that Malcolm asked from Lily became more and more detailed. From the beginning, it was about Luna’s working hours and the amount of time she saw Joshua. Later on, he wanted to know the amount of time she spent with her children and Joshua.On top of that…He even i
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