"Why can't I?" Harvey bit his lip and clung to Bonnie's arm. "I want to be with my Mommy Bonnie! You found a new girlfriend, but I don't like her at all, Mr. Jim!"Jim narrowed his eyes at Harvey's words.He knew that if he did not bring Harvey home that night, this little rascal would really disown him!If Harvey had been elsewhere, Jim would have been capable of using brute force to bring Harvey away from Bonnie, but this was Joshua's house and hence, his territory.He could ignore Bonnie's feelings, but not Joshua's.If Joshua were displeased by this, he could choose to destroy Landry Group as quickly as that.Jim did not even dare to imagine the consequences of this."Jim." Charlotte let out a sigh, as though she could tell why he was hesitating, and said in a low voice, "Why don't we go home to think this through? Now that Harvey is so determined, we can't possibly try to forcefully take him. Besides…"She let out another sigh. "We can't afford to offend Joshua Lynch…""H
Charlotte had pure control over Jim, and it was already a miracle that he had managed to regain a little bit of his rationality and was willing to talk terms over him and Shelly. Therefore, Harvey knew that he could not rush things prematurely.Thus, Harvey exhaled, glanced at Bonnie, Joshua, and Luna, and said with a hint of helplessness in his voice, "It's not that I don't want to go home with you, Mr. Jim."After all, this house belongs to my Aunt Luna and Uncle Joshua, and Shelly and I shouldn't overstay our welcome."Landry Mansion is my real home, and it's only natural that I want to go back, considering I've lived there for the past six years of my life, but…"He turned to glance sadly at Bonnie. "I'm worried about Bonnie. Her hand is injured, she has just undergone surgery, and she also has a wound on her belly… Therefore, I want to stay by her side to take care of her."He lifted his head to stare at Jim with bright, hopeful eyes. "If you want Shelly and I to return home
"I…" Charlotte was so stumped by Luna and Joshua's accusations that she could not even say a single word.She bit her lip, grabbed hold of Jim's arm, and stared at him tearfully. "Jim, I've never doubted your love toward me or our relationship at all. It's just that…"She sniffed and wiped her tears from her face. "It's just that Bonnie is so much prettier than I am, and this makes me feel bad…"As soon as she said this, Harvey stuck out his tongue mischievously and said, "You're finally admitting the truth, huh?"He glanced at Jim's sullen face and added, "Mr. Jim, your precious Charlotte has just admitted that Bonnie is much prettier than she is."Therefore, everything I had said about her appearance when she walked in was just an honest description, and I hadn't been criticizing her at all."So don't you think I was brainwashed by Bonnie and said all that just to please her."With that, he winked at Charlotte. "After all, your little Charlotte just admitted that Bonnie's beau
"I said I don't want to go home with you." Bonnie curled her lips into a smirk and said, enunciating her words carefully, "I refuse to move into Landry Mansion to live with you, and I refuse to allow Harvey and Shelly to do the same."They're my kids, and it's my responsibility to protect them."Bonnie knew that even if she were to move to Landry Mansion, she would only be living in a small house in the yard where she would not have to see Jim at all.Nonetheless, she did not want to go there, and neither did she want Harvey and Shelly to do the same."As long as Charlotte is living there, I won't tolerate living under the same roof as her, and I won't allow my children to do so either."That woman was too cunning, and Bonnie was worried that she would try to harm Harvey and Shelly.After all, even an adult like Jim had fallen prey to her tricks and ended up under her control.She had already lost Jim; she refused to lose Harvey and Shelly.Therefore, the only plan she could th
"Alright, I'll do it."Jim lifted his head to stare at Bonnie intently and said, "I'll do as you say, Bonnie. Pack your bags now and get Harvey and Shelly ready."I'll find a place for Charlotte to stay, and she'll move out of Landry Mansion tomorrow."The entire room fell silent.Everyone stared at Jim in shock.Charlotte's eyes were as round as saucers as she stared at Jim incredulously. "Have you gone insane, Jim?"How could he have agreed to Bonnie's terms and kicked her out of the house just so he could bring the two rascals home?She was his fiancée, for God's sake! How could he do this to her?"I'd be insane if I chose not to let my children come home with me." Jim let out a sigh, pulled Charlotte close to him, and said, "Don't worry, Charlotte. I promise I'll take care of everything."With that, he lifted his head to glance at a bewildered Bonnie. "I've already agreed to your terms, so you should stick to your word and come with me."Bonnie had never expected this wou
Harvey finally burst into a wide grin, grabbed hold of Bonnie's hand, and led her upstairs.Luna could not help feeling touched as she watched them leave.She never thought things would have ended up like this.Even though Harvey and Bonnie were not truly related, their relationship was so close that it was as though they were mother and son.Harvey was worried about Bonnie, and that was why he requested for Jim to let her stay with them at Landry Mansion.On the other hand, Bonnie was concerned about Harvey's safety, which was why she had requested for Charlotte to be kicked out of the house…As soon as she thought of this, Luna turned to glance at Joshua. "If only Bonnie were Harvey's birth mother, this would be a perfect story."Joshua narrowed his eyes and could not help thinking about what Luna had said. "This isn't entirely impossible, you know."After all, Jim was Joshua's cousin, and, knowing that Jim had been trying to find the mute woman he had slept with in Banyan Ci
"A…a bomb?" Luna immediately took a step back and stared incredulously at the box before her. "This thing is…a bomb?""Yes." Nigel smiled at her calmly and was about to open the box when Luna stopped him.She quickly went into the kitchen to check that the gas stove had been turned off, then closed the kitchen door behind her. She also gathered all the lighters and flammable products within the room and hid them somewhere else.After doing all this, she shot the box a wary glance and said, "Okay, you can open it now."Nigel curled his lips into a smile but did not say a word.Joshua, on the other hand, pulled her into his arms and said impassively, "It's just a bomb; you don't have to be so paranoid."Luna shot him an accusing glare. "What do you mean I'm paranoid? Don't you know how powerful bombs can be?"Just a single explosion could destroy their entire house! Surely it was better to be safe than sorry?"Don't worry." Joshua curled his lips into a smile and glanced at her.
"You have to look into this, Daddy."Joshua nodded. "Don't worry about it; I will."Bonnie was Luna's best friend and Jim's girlfriend before he lost his memories.Harvey was technically Joshua's nephew too, and on top of that, his son Nigel had been on the plane on which the bomb was planted.Out of respect to his cousin Jim, as well as his devotion and responsibility toward Luna and Nigel…Joshua would find the culprit behind this no matter what.Luna sniffed and said somewhat angrily, "What is there to investigate? It's clearly Charlotte's doing!"The only person who was threatened by Harvey's return was Charlotte. Therefore, the only person that would plant a bomb on the plane in an attempt to kill the children was no one but her!"I know." Joshua shot her a helpless glance. "However, you know fully well how much Jim trusts her now, and if we accuse her of this without any concrete evidence, he will never believe us."Luna pursed her lips. She knew Joshua was right, but…she
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