Nikki clutched the rope tightly, refusing to let go, and struggled against Sean's grip. "You're a liar! I don't matter to you at all!"My life is worth even less than your precious Ms. Craig's finger!"Sean furrowed his brows, summoning all the strength in his body to pull Nikki down. Finally, the rope snapped, and Nikki's body landed against his."When have I ever told you you don't matter? When had I ever told you that your life is worth even less than Ms. Craig's finger?"Nikki, we grew up together, and even though we're not real siblings, you're like a sister to me! Don't say things like these in the future anymore, and don't stay mad at me, okay?"Tears slid down Nikki's cheeks when she heard this.She wrapped her arms around Sean's shoulders and sobbed, "But Sean, you already know that…"I've never been content with being your little sister. I—""That's enough," Sean stopped her short.He held her close to his body and turned to gaze at the mess around him.He could tel
It was all his fault!The car soon arrived at the hospital.After carrying Nikki into the hospital, Sean quickly explained what had happened to the doctors and nurses, who proceeded to wheel her away for a series of checkups, looking sorry for her.However, since the checkups Nikki had to undergo were all private, Sean was not allowed to go with her, so he had to wait in the hospital lobby.As he waited, he kept on calling the number.There was still no answer.Just as Sean was about to lose his patience, a call came in.Thinking that it was the bastard who sexually assaulted Nikki, Sean picked up the call and yelled without even checking to see who it was, "What the fuck is wrong with you, Terry Simmons? How can you do this to my sister when Boss asked you to help send her to the hospital?"Where the fuck are you, anyway? Don't you dare hide because I will find you!"Finally, a woman's voice rang out weakly from the other end of the line, "Um…Sean? This is Luna. Where are you
For a split second, Bonnie did not know how to answer.Sean could not help sighing when he saw how lost she had looked. "You shouldn't blame yourself. The person who harmed Nikki was that bastard, and it had nothing to do with you at all."If anyone were to take responsibility for what happened, that person should be me."Sean placed his hand on his forehead, obscuring his entire face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Nikki had already told me about her impending attack when I left the house, but I hadn't taken her seriously. I thought she had just said that to stop me from coming to save you, but I should have believed her, or at least…"I should've brought her with me when I came to help you. That way, not only would she have been safe, but I would've been able to help you at the same time…"It's all my fault. I should've been smarter about this, and if I had, Nikki wouldn't have gotten hurt…"His voice was beginning to sound choked, but Bonnie could not tell if he was crying.How
"The man who raped your sister is named Terry Simmons, right?" Luke, who had been standing behind Gwen in silence, asked suddenly.Sean paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, his name is Terry Simmons. He's a man I worked with when I was still at the factory…""I've already caught him." Luke shot him an impassive glance and continued in a calm tone, as though he was discussing what to eat for dinner, "What do you plan to do to him? Do you want me to cut off his leg or arm? Or…perhaps dispose of the thing he used to sexually assault your sister with?"He curled his lips into a smirk and added, "You don't even have to do this yourself; my men will help you take care of it."Sean's entire body stiffened when he heard this.He stared at Luke dazedly, his face debossed with disbelief.He had never seen this man before, nor did he know who this person was, but from the way he looked and the things he had…It sent chills down his spine.He was suggesting cutting off Terry's leg or ar
"He's not.""I'm not."Sean and Bonnie's voices rang out unanimously as soon as Gwen finished her sentence.As soon as they said this, both of them paused as though they both had things to say.Finally, Bonnie shot Sean a glance, indicating him to go ahead.She thought that Sean would deny being her boyfriend but to her surprise…He wrapped her arms around her shoulder and declared, "Yes, I'm her boyfriend now, but I'm not a replacement for Jim."Even though he and I look alike, we have no relations whatsoever, and I don't want anything to do with him."That scumbag should stay as far away from Bonnie as possible. Also—"He shot Gwen a dark look and continued, "I hope that you won't bring up his name in front of Bonnie ever again. He does not deserve her, not even a bit."Both Gwen and Bonnie froze when they heard this.Gwen was shocked by Sean's announcement, but Bonnie, on the other hand, was surprised that Sean had willingly admitted that he was her boyfriend…and even mad
However, Sean never thought that…Luke had spared him simply because he wanted Terry to live to hear his verdict.Luke was right: the best punishment for him would be to send him to jail, where he would suffer for the rest of his life, compared to a bloody but quick death.As soon as he thought of this, the hostility in Sean's eyes was replaced with admiration toward Luke."Don't look at me like this. I was just helping out." Luke curled his lips into a smirk when he felt Sean's gaze on him, then lowered his head to glance at Gwen. "Do you still want to stay here?"Gwen furrowed her brows in thought, then turned to glance at Bonnie and Sean."Nevermind," she replied, staring at Bonnie. "Bonnie, Luna told me on the phone that you had just come out of surgery and that you almost died because you were locked inside a car…"Who on earth tried to do this to you? Do you need Luke to help you get revenge?"Bonnie could not help letting out a bitter chuckle when she heard this. "There's
Sean immediately frowned upon hearing this.Bonnie paused and turned to glance at Sean, then at Luna. She had something to say, but for the sake of Nikki's dignity, she did not dare to say it out loud.Nikki, who was stark naked after having undergone multiple checkups, had refused to let Luna or the hospital staff near her and insisted on allowing only Sean to care for her.This meant that she insisted on letting Sean witness her naked body.Bonnie knew fully well that Nikki was in a vulnerable state after what she had experienced, but…this request of hers was highly unreasonable.With this thought, Bonnie turned to glance at Sean once more.Sean was sitting on a chair, his lips pursed into a thin line as though he was contemplating whether to give in and help Nikki."I know this puts you in a very difficult position, and I tried to help you." Luna sighed when she saw how uncomfortable Sean looked, then added, "I've already tried to explain it to her, but she refused to listen.
Sean paused for a moment. "I think it's best that I take care of her instead."Then, he strode over to the nurse's side and said, "I'm the patient's brother, so I'll go instead."The nurse glanced at him dazedly, then at Bonnie, and finally stared at Luna. "Ms. Luna…"Luna fell silent for a moment, then lifted her head to glance at Bonnie. "Can you do this?""No problem." Bonnie smiled. "Sean was exaggerating when he said I almost died. I was just dehydrated because of the heat in the car, that's all. I'm feeling a lot better now."Then, she flung Sean's arm away. "After all, it was my fault that this even happened to Nikki in the first place. Since she's willing to let me go in and take care of her, I'll do it."She turned around to glance at Sean. "Besides helping me, you even put your sister in danger because of me… I don't mind doing this if it means being able to ease the awkwardness between you and Nikki."Then, she smiled at the nurse and said, "Let's go."The nurse nodd
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