Luna closed her eyes and let out a bitter chuckle. When she was in the ward with Rosalyn, she pitied her because she knew that, like herself, Rosalyn was a woman who would sacrifice everything for the man she loved. Maybe she had inherited Rosalyn’s loyalty. After Lucy died, Rosalyn knew fully well that Charles’ heart did not belong to her, yet she willingly looked after him and helped him take care of the Landry Group as a friend. This went on for three years until, one day, Charles had too much to drink and mistook her for Lucy.The two of them slept together, which led to Luna's birth.However…Charles was unwilling to admit that he had slept with Rosalyn since this was a betrayal of his promise to Lucy. Therefore, he sent Luna, who was so young that she could not even remember anything yet, to an orphanage in Sea City.When Rosalyn found out, she quickly rushed to the orphanage to search for her. Joseph, who had been working at the orphanage at that time, saw this and s
However, Charles gripped Luna’s hand with all his might, determined not to let go of her.“Luna,” he bleated in a low, hoarse voice. “You saw how your mother looked. If you hadn’t shown up, she wouldn’t have survived past today at all. Please, I beg you…“Please don’t go. Stay with us, will you?“I admit all the mistakes I had committed in the past, and I promise I’ll make it up to you in the future—”“She doesn’t need you to make it up to her, nor will she stay.” Before Charles could finish his sentence, a cold voice rang out from the direction of the stairwell.Both Luna and Charles froze, then glanced in the direction of the voice.Joshua, dressed entirely in black, was standing at the stairwell, his lips curled into a cold sneer.It seemed that he had been here for a while.Seeing that the two of them were staring at him, Joshua smirked and strode over to them. Then, he flung Charles’ hand away from Luna and pulled her into his arms. Charles was enraged by this, and he cl
The elevator descended from the top floor of the hospital.All throughout the elevator ride, Joshua held Luna close to him.Luna remained silent as she let him hold her. However, she did not say a single word in response to what Joshua had said.Joshua, too, knew that Luna's mind was probably in a jumble of emotions, so he did not force her to give him an answer.The elevator arrived on the first floor.Luna slowly stepped out of the elevator as though her soul had been sucked out of her body.What was Joshua doing here? How much did he overhear between her and Charles?Joshua guessed that Luna must not have been in a mood to talk, so he did not say a word throughout the car ride back to Tea Cottage.The two of them sat in the backseat in silence, gazing blankly at the passing view.The air between them was eerily silent.Never had they imagined that…one of them was a Lynch, and the other was a Landry.Mortal enemies.The Landry family had murdered Granny Lynch’s daughter,
“Lucas, I’m making a quick trip back to Banyan City tomorrow.”Lucas froze when he heard this. “Sir…are you sure about this? “We’ve just managed to get back on our feet here in Merchant City. On top of that, Luke has already taken over eighty percent of the gangs here.“We’ll succeed very soon, so are you sure you want to leave Merchant City at a time like this?”Joshua let out a sigh and replied, “I’ll return on my own. You and Luke can stay here and continue keeping an eye on things.“But you can declare to the public that you’ve left with me so that people will think Lynch Group has given up trying to conquer Merchant City, okay?”Lucas remained silent for a moment, then nodded.“Help me book a flight for tomorrow.”With that, Joshua hung up the phone.Christopher would never lie to him.He did not care whether this Clinging Root would be able to cure Rosalyn, nor did he care whether Luna would go home with him after Rosalyn was successfully cured.All he knew was that e
When she noticed Luna's pale face, Bonnie furrowed her brows and asked in a low voice, “When did Joshua leave?”Harvey contemplated this for a moment, then replied, “He packed his bags and left last night. As for what time, I’m not sure either—he was gone when I woke up this morning.“Uncle Christopher told me that Uncle Joshua went back home to find something very important to him.”Bonnie’s expression darkened when she heard this.Luna chewed her lip and went back upstairs.Suddenly, she felt that her anticipation and waiting for the whole day seemed like a joke. When faced with choosing between the Landry family and Joshua, she had contemplated it because she did not want to become strangers with this man.On top of that, she had listened to Bonnie’s suggestion to make a promise to Joshua that she would return to his side and marry after Rosalyn died.What happened in the end?Joshua had told her just the night before that he came all the way to Merchant City to bring her
Luna realized something at that moment.To Joshua, the children were not important either.Luna lowered her head and placed her hand on her belly.There was another child inside, one that was only a month old yet already had the unstoppable instinct to survive.Was she willing to…give birth to this child and let it suffer?This was a child that would not be a priority to its father.All of a sudden, Luna was reminded of herself.Many years ago, she, too, was deemed as unimportant by her birth father, Charles, and abandoned in the orphanage. In the end, she was switched out with another child, which led to her thereafter miserable life.Would her child…suffer the same fate?As soon as she thought of this, Luna closed her eyes and dialed Bonnie’s number. “Help me buy some abortion pills.”Nigel, Neil, and Nellie were already six years old, and she was the only person who knew just how difficult it was to raise a child on her own.Having the three of them by her side was more t
The suspension rope that had been dangling for over ten hours started to loosen.Joshua’s entire body was pressed against the side of the cliff as he desperately tried to hold on. However, because of his violent movements, the wound he had acquired during his encounter with Malcolm's men started to throb.Finally, his wound split apart, and Joshua, having depleted all his energy, plummeted down the side of the cliff.“Mr. Lynch!”…When Jude arrived at the hospital, Joshua had already been in the operation room for almost ten hours.Nigel, Neil, and Nellie sat on a bench outside the operation theater, staring at the door in silent unison. The three of them had red faces as though they had been crying. Even Nigel, who had always been the most level-headed out of the three, had tear stains on his face.Despite this, as soon as he saw Jude, Nigel quietly got out of his seat and lifted his head to stare at Jude. “Uncle Jude.”Jude suppressed the concern in his heart, squatted,
Inside the ward, Joshua’s face was so pale that he looked almost colorless.Seeing that Jude had arrived, Joshua let out a deep sigh and said, “Do me a favor.”Jude furrowed his brows. “What is it?”“There’s someone in my contacts called Christopher Roberts. I want you to go to Merchant City and hand the herbs I picked to him…“Also, tell him to pass a message to Luna and ask her to wait for me…“Don’t tell her I’ve injured myself. Just say that…”With that, he coughed out a mouthful of blood and continued, “Just tell her that I’m busy with something and that I’ll find her as soon as I’m done taking care of it.”With that, he passed out on his bed without even waiting for Jude’s reply.Jude furrowed his brows and glanced at Joshua with a helpless expression.This man had never changed. If he guessed correctly, the herbs he had picked from the mountains probably had something to do with Luna as well…However…Neil indeed understood his father very well.Jude let out a sigh
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