“Ma’am, let’s head inside and talk.” Neil noticed how ugly Luna’s expression turned into, thus he approached Natasha and smilingly tugged at her sleeves. “There are a lot of people in our small community, and neighbors will talk. It’ll be better to talk inside!”Natasha furrowed her brows and wanted to refuse Neil until she had a good look at his face. That face…She inexplicably thought of when Luna Gibson was young. This boy’s aura, smell, and those huge starlit eyes were the same as Luna Gibson’s when she was young.All thoughts flew out the window when Natasha looked at him.After a while, Natasha sighed and let Neil lead her in.The house’s exterior was no different than the others. What Natasha did not expect was that the interior, decorated simply and cleanly, had charred walls and ceilings with burnt marks. Even if it was repainted, it could not fully cover the burnt marks.Natasha paused for a while. “Your house…”“Ms. Aura sent someone to burn them down.” Neil le
Luna eyed Natasha coldly. “Didn’t you refuse to come in just now?”Natasha was at a loss for words.Not long after, she sighed, picked her handbag up, and left.Slam! The door was shut.The moment Natasha left, Luna could no longer hold back her tears as they streamed down her face.She always prioritized family relationships. She blamed herself for not contacting her family when she was overseas.Even before, she knew Natasha would misunderstand her, and she blamed it on them being apart for a long time.When she heard Natasha say she was not upset at all after she went missing, however, Luna’s eyes were opened. No one liked her from the start.No one.Her family, her lover… They only loved Aura.“Mommy, you still have the three of us.” Luna did not know when it was that Nial stood behind her.He reached out and grabbed Luna’s finger, his voice weak but determined, “We’ll always be your shield.”Once she turned around to hug Neil, Luna shut her eyes and cried silently.
Neil, Nellie, and Luna got into the car.Neil sat at the front passenger seat while Luna and Nellie got in the back, sitting next to Joshua.Joshua elegantly leaned against the leather seat with a faint smile. “I suddenly realized that Nellie looks a little like you, too.”Luna’s body suddenly stiffened, and Nellie’s expressions changed slightly as well.“All beautiful women look alike.” Neil, in the passenger seat in front, buckled his seat belt and leaned back elegantly. “Beautiful people all look alike, but the ugly ones are ugly in their ways.”Neil’s nonchalant words made Lucas almost laugh out loud.Luna and Nellie were also relieved.Joshua, on the other hand, chuckled a little. “That’s true, but…”Joshua casually swept a glance at Luna. “Nellie still looks like my wife, Luna Gibson.”Luna recollected herself and smiled at him. “Of course.”She looked completely different from her past self, after all.“Nellie, did that boy who gave you the lollipop in the morning l
Luna thought that when Joshua wanted to announce her identity in front of everyone, it would be done during the company conference in the morning or at another venue.What she did not expect was that those from the upper management would arrange themselves at Lynch Group Tower once the car stopped.All of the staff and executives lined on two sides by the entrance, opening a path in the middle.Looking out from the car, the two sides of the red carpet were people in black. This was the first time Luna saw such a huge ensemble.She turned back and looked at Joshua in a daze.“This is how we welcome important guests to the group,” said Joshua calmly in a low voice. “You’re the first woman of mine to enjoy this.”Luna was speechless. It did not need to be that formal, did it? At that moment, someone knocked on the car door.Courtney stood outside with a smile. She was in a pink long dress, her long hair freshly curled with a crystal hairpin to top it off. She looked as exquis
Everyone watched as Joshua carried Luna across the lobby and into the elevator, going up to the President’s office on the top floor.Everything felt surreal to Luna the moment her feet landed on the ground. It was like a dream, but a much crueler one.After all, in the dream, Joshua was carrying Luna Gibson, but in reality, Joshua was carrying the current Luna.“Do I need to give you some time to reminisce?”Joshua’s low and cold voice pulled Luna back to reality, and she abruptly came to her senses as she met his cold eyes.She smiled awkwardly. “I’m just a little taken aback. We’re just putting on an act, but I didn’t expect it to be such a huge one.”Joshua’s eyes dimmed a little. He did it on purpose.Since he was putting on an act with Luna to get Luna Gibson’s attention so she would return to him as soon as possible, he had to truly make her jealous.After Luna Gibson left back then, he went through her computer, diary, and social media. He saw how she said she liked bein
Luna’s words silenced the entire design department. Her colleague’s expressions turned ugly, too.She was indeed coaxing and praising Courtney yesterday together with Shannon. After all, Courtney was the Design Director’s junior, and they were close to each other. Luna came out of nowhere; no one knew who she was or what background she had. A person like that was a threat to them! “I never thought that someone would be proud to be a substitute.” Shannon leaned against the door to her office as she shot Luna a condescending glance. “No wonder you’re so arrogant. You have the support of someone that we can’t afford to offend.”“You know you can’t offend him, too?” Luna smiled. “Furthermore, Joshua never once said that I’m anybody’s substitute, right? What if I were to say that Joshua actually likes me?”“You’re lying!” One of the staff agitatedly pointed at Luna and scolded, “The love President Lynch has for his ex-wife is real! He loved her deeply. He only has her in his heart!”
Slam! The office door was kicked shut as Luna’s back was brutally slammed against the cold door.Joshua strangled Luna with a cold gaze. “Who the hell gave you the courage to spread rumors about me outside?”Luna could barely breathe as the air in her lungs decreased. Struggling, she hoarsely spoke, “I’m only saying what I’m thinking.”Joshua glared at her, his gaze growing even colder. “You think that I got engaged to Aura because I like her?”“What else is it, then?” Luna lifted her head with a determined gaze. “I’ve said it before. There are many ways to take care of someone, and it’s not necessarily getting engaged with them.”When she was overseas, she had once found many excuses for his behavior. She tried to find ways to determine that her judgment was wrong. She wanted to find a reason for him! She used to have hope, no matter how little, hoping that he did not do those things, that he had no relationship with Aura, and that he still loved her.Alas, she had to face t
Joshua lowered his head and elegantly straightened his disarrayed clothes. “Let him wait a few more minutes,” he said flatly. “I’ll go down soon.”“Yes, Sir.”Hearing Lucas’ footsteps leaving, the spent Luna leaned on the door and exhaled deeply.When she came to her senses, Joshua had already tidied himself, looking properly as he stood in front of her.He looked at her condescendingly. His voice was so cold it had no warmth in it. “I hope this matter won’t happen a second time. You can offend anyone you like in this company except me.”He then turned to leave when Luna opened her arms wide, blocking Joshua’s path.“Is there anything else?” Joshua furrowed his brows unhappily.“Yes.” Luna took a deep breath and lifted her head. “If I’m not mistaken, you did say that you’re taking me to lunch when we were at the design department just now, didn’t you?”“Hmm.” Joshua frowned a little. “Someone is going to take photos and put them on the news.”Luna smiled; she guessed correctly
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