The night grew darker.Perhaps due to their exhausting journey to Merchant City and the commotion ever since their arrival, it was surprisingly difficult to coax Shelly to sleep that night.Bonnie had to coax and soothe her for a long time before finally getting Shelly to sleep.By the time Bonnie placed Shelly back into her crib and confirmed that she had indeed fallen asleep, it was already past 10 o'clock.When Bonnie opened the door, she discovered that Harvey had fallen asleep on the couch, still clutching his phone.Bonnie sighed, walked over, and took his phone from his hand.His text conversation with Nigel was left open on the screen.[Nigel, no matter what happens, I will find a way to make Bonnie get back together with Mr. Jim.[I don't think I'll ever be happy again unless she becomes my new Mommy.]Tears slid down Bonnie's cheeks as she read these words.She lowered her head to stare at Harvey, sleeping soundly on the sofa, and suddenly felt as though someone had
At this moment, Bonnie could not help sneering as she stared at the man before her, who wore the pajamas he loved but stared at her with an expression so cold it was as though he was looking at his enemy.It turned out that women would do plenty of stupid things for their partners.As soon as they broke up, all the memories of the things she had done for him felt like knives that plunged into her heart.Pain, sorrow, despair."What are you laughing about?" Jim furrowed his brows and shot her a displeased look when he saw her smirking. "I'm asking you what you're doing here so late at night."Bonnie lifted her head to glance impassively at him. "I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk."Jim squinted at her. "You walked all the way here because you couldn't fall asleep?"Whether it was before or after the explosion, this cave was off-limits to everyone!In the past, people were prohibited from getting near because this was where Rosalyn stored her drugs and poison.At present
Rage surged into Jim's heart when he heard this. "You're lying!"He fixed his dark, penetrating stare on Bonnie's face and furiously retorted, "You can't possibly have done it for money!"He had investigated everything about this woman; she was the last heir to the Craig family business and had inherited every last penny of the family fortune.According to rough estimations, the Craig family was worth almost as much as the Landry family.Not only that, but after suffering the financial losses as a result of Joshua's attacks, the Craig family had already surpassed the Landry family in terms of wealth and assets! How could Bonnie say that she was trying to trick him out of his money?"Who wouldn't want more money?" Bonnie retorted as though she could tell what he was thinking. She flung his arm away, sneering. "Haven't you always thought of me as this kind of person, Jim? From the moment I approached you, you've thought I was just trying to take advantage of you after losing your me
Jim's other hand was clutching his chest, and he appeared as though he was in excruciating pain.Bonnie's entire body stiffened at this sight.After hesitating for a moment, she let out an exhale, strode over, and helped him up from the ground. Then, she asked with a hint of repulse in her voice, "What's wrong?"Jim furrowed his brows and shook his head but did not reply.Bonnie knew that by shaking his head, he was trying to tell her that he was fine. "Do you expect me to believe you're fine after what just happened?"She rolled her eyes at him, helped him off the ground, and took out his phone from his pocket. Then, she dialed the number of the person he had saved on his phone as 'M'. "Hey, Mickey, are you at Landry Mansion now?"Jim has gotten injured, and we're near the drug warehouse in the backyard. Come help us."She had come out of the house in such a hurry that she forgot to bring her phone. On top of that, Sean was responsible for protecting Harvey and Shelly, so she c
"No."As soon as Jim's words escaped his mouth, Bonnie interjected without even a single hint of hesitation.She handed Jim over to Mickey and added in a voice so cold that there was barely any warmth in it, "How can he and I possibly get back together? Mr. Jim is still waiting to marry his precious Charlotte."With that, she turned and left.Jim remained motionless, deep in his thoughts as he watched her leave.When Bonnie disappeared from his view, he turned to glance at Mickey. "She and I…""You two were together in the past, and you were very close too," Mickey replied in his deep voice as he lowered his head. "If Ms. Charlotte hadn't come back to Merchant City, the person you would've been marrying would be Ms. Bonnie by now."Jim furrowed his brows when he heard this. He glanced coldly at Mickey and asked, "Does this mean that I was the one who had wronged her?"Even though he could feel the displeasure in Jim's gaze, Mickey still nodded in defiance. "Well, according to w
"What curse are you going to put on me?""I haven't decided yet.""Is that it, or do you love me too much to put a curse on me?"…Jim and Bonnie were so intimate in Jim's dream that it seemed so surreal.Jim awoke from his dream and quickly took a sip from his tea to settle his nerves.Everything that happened in his dream still made him a little worried just thinking back on it.Had he and Bonnie been as close as they had in the dream?If that was true, why was he unable to recall these memories of them together, and why did he have no recollection of her at all?"Mr. Landry, it's time to wake up and eat breakfast," a woman's voice rang out from outside the door.Jim recognized that voice. It was Roanne, Charlotte's younger sister.He furrowed his brows and murmured a reply, then got off the bed and decided to freshen himself up in hopes that it would calm him.In the dining room, Roanne had already prepared an entire table full of food.Jim sat at the table, and as he c
Bonnie's appearance in the dining room surprised the two of them.Jim glanced at her, frowning, and said with disapproval, "Since when did you arrive?"Who gave her the right to eavesdrop on the conversation between him and Roanne?Bonnie's lips were pressed together in a thin line, and her gaze was on Roanne, who was still kneeling on the ground. "Roanne, repeat what you just said," she repeated, albeit with an unsteady voice. "Who… Whose identity did Charlotte take?"Roanne, too, was shocked that Bonnie would appear at this moment.She had seized the opportunity of Charlotte not being around to tell Jim the truth and plant the seed of doubt within his mind.However, Bonnie's sudden appearance threw her off a little. She did not know whether she should get up from her position or if she should remain on her knees before Jim.Therefore, she had no choice but to glance rather sheepishly at Bonnie and repeat in a low voice, "Charlotte…took the place of another girl named Number-9
Bonnie's memories of her stay at the orphanage surged into her mind.Number-12 was none other than Charlotte!Bonnie had seen photos of Charlotte before she suffered her burns before, and at this moment, she was certain that Charlotte and Number-12 were the same people!Charlotte was the tiny, timid little girl who followed her everywhere and with whom she shared her food, and she had even constantly called Bonnie her big sister!Because of that, before Bonnie left the orphanage, she had given Charlotte all the red clothes she liked and even warned the rest of the children not to bully Charlotte. She had told them that from that day onward, Number-12 was the new Number-9, and no one was allowed to take advantage of her.It did not matter that she was adopted. If anyone were to bully Number-12, she would return to the orphanage to whip their asses!At that time, Bonnie truly thought of Charlotte as her friend, but…It turned out that when Jim returned to the orphanage for her, Ch
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