Luna felt something was off as she stared at the photo Malcolm had sent her.She was a jewelry designer, so naturally, she had a photographic memory when it came to things like this.Even though she had only held it in her hand for a brief while after Samuel had given this ring to her, she still felt that something was not right.Luna furrowed her brows and thought that this ring was not the same one at all.She thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her, so she gave the photo another long, hard look, then tried to imagine how it felt holding the ring in her palm…It did not seem right.Luna pursed her lips and typed a reply to Malcolm, [Malcolm, are you sure this is the one? I can’t help feeling that something is different.]On the other end of the line, Malcolm frowned and glanced at the ring on the table before him.What was different?Did this ring look different from the one that Samuel had given Luna?However, to trick Luna into seeing him, he still typed a nerv
“Joshua Lynch must still be alive!“The Lynch family hasn’t planned a funeral yet, so the longer he remains in Merchant City, it means he’s still around here!”No matter what, he could not transfer his men away from finding Joshua.As soon as he thought of this, Malcolm lifted his head and asked, “What about the men I sent to trail Jim Landry?”“He…He’s been quite free lately. Ever since he returned to Merchant City, he and his son have moved out of Landry Mansion and into Swan Lake Chalet in the northern part of the city.”Malcolm narrowed his eyes. “Is there anything suspicious about his activity?”“There is.” The assistant cleared his throat and continued, “In the past, Master Landry has always been hanging out with an alternative medicine practitioner named Dr. Christopher Roberts, and according to the rumors, the two of them had a special bond…but for the last few days, Master Landry has been messaging a woman who liked to wear red online.“Today, he even drove to Tea Cotta
“Mr. Joshua!” Having heard her father’s orders, June quickly caught up to Joshua and extended both her arms out to block his way. “My Daddy said you’re not allowed to go out!”The young girl was just as soft and tiny as Nellie.Joshua stared at the small girl blocking his way and could not help thinking of Nellie.They had been apart for only one month, and he had even seen her during their video call, but as he came face-to-face with June, Joshua still could not help recalling the feeling of having Nellie in his arms.She was soft and chubby, with lean arms and pudgy little fingers, making them squishy and nice to hold in his big hands.As soon as he recalled Nellie, Joshua could not bear to get angry at the young girl standing before him anymore. He squatted to her eye-level and asked, “Why can’t I go out?”June bit her lip and stammered, “Because…because…”“That’s because we can’t let Mrs. Landry know you’re staying here.” Christopher walked over, picked up June in his arms
With that, Rosalyn got back into the car.Joshua sat in the garden as he listened to Rosalyn and Jim’s conversation outside and could not help feeling even more curious about what Mrs. Landry looked like.Her voice sounded like a gentle, mild-mannered woman, so how could a woman like this…be married to a monster like Charles Landry?How could she raise a daughter like Heather and give birth to someone like Aura?All of a sudden, the garden gate was pushed open. The man named Mickey handed a few thermal food containers to the servant waiting at the gate. The servant did not manage to hold them all, and the man furrowed his brows as he helped her steady the remaining containers. “Be careful.”The man’s voice sounded low and deeply alluring. Along with his voice came the disturbing stench of herbs. Joshua could not help frowning when he realized how familiar this voice and stench was.He immediately lifted his head and met the gaze of the man dressed in black. The man was we
The next morning, when Luna woke up, she heard noises coming from the garden.She furrowed her brows and pulled the curtains open.Downstairs, Harvey, dressed in yet another red hoodie, had his hands on his hips while he instructed a group of workers who were carrying bunches of roses into their designated spots, arranging the bouquets into a heart shape.Meanwhile, Joshua stood aside, holding a gigantic bouquet of roses and talking into his phone. He seemed to be on a video call with Nellie.Luna could vaguely hear the sound of Nellie’s cheers coming out of his phone.Coincidentally, just as Luna pulled the curtains open, Joshua lifted his head to glance in her direction.Their eyes met. Joshua tucked his phone away and smiled at her. He was wearing a grey trench coat over a white sweater and khaki pants. He even had on a pair of rimless glasses.Under the morning sun, Joshua’s smile no longer carried its usual aura of dominance and coldness, and instead, it had a hint of war
Jim sat down next to Bonnie and pressed her head down onto his shoulder, then quickly snapped a few photos on his phone.Bonnie sensed the unfamiliar scent of male pheromones wafting off Jim’s body, and it felt as though she had been electrocuted.She removed herself from his arms and, out of instinct, extended her arm out and brought her palm down toward Jim’s face—However, Jim grabbed hold of her arm mid-air. He curled his lips into a smirk and dangled his phone in front of her. “Didn’t I tell you yesterday that Malcolm sent away all the men who have been following you and me? Do you know why?”Bonnie furrowed her brows, her arm still hovering mid-air. She wanted to smack him, but Jim was resisting her, yet at the same time, she could not pull her arm back either.She glared at him somewhat awkwardly and snapped, “What do Malcolm's actions have anything to do with you sexually harassing me?”“You call this harassment?” Jim curled his lips into a smirk and pressed Bonnie down a
Joshua waited in the garden of Tea Cottage for an entire day.When evening came, Harvey wailed that he was hungry and demanded Joshua and Jim to bring him for some good food.Joshua glanced at the time and realized that it was already 6 p.m.He had no choice but to say a few quick words of farewell into the recording device, then packed his things and left.Luna let out a sigh of relief after seeing they had left.Thank God they had all left. Otherwise, she would not know how to sneak out to Lucky Den to see Malcolm without Joshua noticing.She let out an exhale and tucked the recording device away, then changed her clothes and went downstairs.Downstairs, Bonnie furrowed her brows and glanced at her. “Are you sure you want to go?”Luna nodded and replied as she put on her coat, “That ring is extremely important, so I have to get it back as soon as possible.”When seven days had passed, she would hand the ring to Joshua when she met him. Perhaps this would be the key to unlo
“Aren’t we…at Lucky Den right now?”“Alright, noted,” Jim replied curtly and hung up the phone.By the time he hung up the phone, Joshua had just gotten off his call with the three children.At this moment, they were sitting in a private booth on the second floor.“Master Quinn is here!” All of a sudden, the high-pitched exclamation from one of the waiters rang out from downstairs.Joshua and Jim exchanged glances, and Jim immediately handed him a set of bodyguard uniforms. “Let’s hide your identity first, then we’ll see what he’s up to.”Joshua nodded and went into the washroom to change his clothes.When he came out of the washroom, he bumped into one of Malcolm's men.The man was standing in a corner outside the washroom, barking orders into a walkie-talkie, “Do you remember Master Quinn’s instructions? When the woman arrives…“Alpha, you’re in charge of fabricating an accident and installing a tracker onto that woman’s bag and clothes.“Bravo, you’re in charge of keeping
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