Yannie never thought that Tina would suddenly target her. She bit her lip and instinctively glanced at Thomas.Thomas furrowed his brow and turned to stare coldly at Tina. "Don't terrorize her.""You think she's terrorizing her?" Denise was upset by the way Thomas defended Yannie. "Thomas, Godmom is just trying to be nice."It's already lunchtime, yet the two of you refuse to touch even a single bite. Do you somehow think that Godmom and I have spiked the food?"Denise picked up her fork and placed a bite of every dish onto her plate, then said, sneering, "Since you guys are convinced the food is poisoned, feel free to stay hungry."Then, she lowered her head and began to eat.Yannie bit her lip and glanced first at Thomas, then at Tina and Denise, who was sitting across from her.The atmosphere in the room was awkward.Yannie sighed and contemplated for a long time, then finally picked up a spoonful of food.Since she and Thomas had already shown up, it meant that they had al
"This cooking…" Thomas furrowed his brow after tasting all the dishes, then instinctively glanced in Tina's direction."Tastes familiar, doesn't it?" Tina curled her lips into a smile and stared back at Thomas with a triumphant look. "This is probably what your mother's cooking used to taste like."She sighed and added, "I had spent a lot of time and effort sending people over to your mother's hometown to brush up their cooking skills."Not only that, but I even forced your father to taste-test multiple times before finally confirming that this is indeed how your mother's cooking used to taste like."Thomas narrowed his eyes. "Why are you trying so hard to get on my good side?"Tina chuckled. "Well, that's because…"A look of helplessness washed over her as she explained, "After all, the entire Howard family—even the entire Saigen City—is now at your and Joshua's beck and call, so of course I'd want to get on your good side."She was lying, of course.The truth was, the chef wh
Almost 20 bodyguards surged forward at the sound of Tina's order and surrounded Thomas and Yannie.Thomas narrowed his eyes, pulled Yannie close to him, and lifted his head to stare coldly at Tina. "That old geezer hadn't intended to apologize to me or my mother at all, right?"This was all his fault.With Joshua's help, Thomas had witnessed just how defeated his wretched father had become. Not only that, but since many years ago, he had already dreamed of the day that the old geezer would apologize to him and his mother, Eanne.This was why he had been so delighted by Tina's call that he did not stop to consider the consequences.He should not have believed Tina when she claimed that Senior Howard wanted to invite him to Howard Mansion for a formal apology!"You guessed it," Tina said curtly as she stared at Thomas' face. "I was lying to you; your father hadn't intended to apologize to you at all. He even told me that you're a bastard son—you even brought an outsider in to confr
"Who dares to touch me?"Seeing that the bodyguards were closing in on them, Thomas narrowed his eyes, took something out of his pocket, and aimed it right at the leader's forehead.When the leader caught sight of the object in Thomas' hand, he was so shocked that his entire body froze in place.It was a shiny handgun, and its barrel was pointed straight at the center of his forehead."If you take even one step toward me, there's no guarantee what'll happen." Thomas' voice was steady and calm.The look in his eyes was so cold and merciless that none of the guards dared to move.Neither Denise nor Tina had expected Thomas to carry a handgun with him. The two of them exchanged a nervous glance, unsure of what to do at this moment.None of the guards dared to put themselves at risk, and neither did them.Not only that, but Tina even surreptitiously shrunk behind Denise for protection.Thomas had, at one point, been the champion of a gun-shooting competition, and she was worried t
Just as Thomas pointed his gun toward Senior Howard, the guards lunged forward and grabbed him from behind.Bang!Thomas' gun discharged amid the scuffle.All he wanted was to use the gun to scare the guards. After all, he knew he was outnumbered and had no other way of ensuring his and Yannie's safety, so the gun was the only way to leave Howard Mansion alive.However, he never thought that just as he was about to let off a warning shot to keep the guards at bay, the leader grabbed hold of his arm and accidentally set off the gun, sending a bullet straight toward Senior Howard."Agh!" Senior Howard instinctively grabbed hold of his abdomen.The bullet pierced into his belly."Senior Howard!" Tina let out a shriek and immediately sprinted toward him. "Are you okay? Someone call a doctor! Someone call an ambulance!"Thomas and the guards, who were engaged in a scuffle, froze when they heard this.Thomas stared dazedly at his father, then lowered his head to glance at the gun.
A red handprint immediately appeared on Yannie's swollen face.Yannie bit her lip and held her swollen, painful cheek with one hand as she glanced at Thomas, who was pinned to the floor.She opened her mouth, intending to say something, but could not help feeling that nothing she could say would be right.Finally, she bit her lip, slid her other hand into her pocket, and surreptitiously dialed her emergency contact.She had two emergency contacts; one was Thomas, and the other was her mother, Mrs. Flores. Since she could not accurately dial Luna's number for help without looking at her phone, she had no choice but to call Mrs. Flores instead.Soon, her phone vibrated in her pocket, indicating that Mrs. Flores had picked up the call.Yannie bit her lip and got onto both knees. "Senior Howard, Mrs. Howard, Thomas hadn't meant to do any of this! When he brought me along to Howard Mansion, all he intended to do was to have a civilized conversation as a family, but he never thought th
Inside a small house in the city center, Mrs. Flores stared blankly at the phone as the dial tone repeated itself.Seconds later, she finally furrowed her brow in realization.Yannie must have gotten in trouble—she and Thomas had probably run into some danger at Howard Mansion, and she was calling for help!At the thought of this, Mrs. Flores let out an exhale and dialed Luna's number.At this moment, Luna and Rachel were busy coaxing Gwen to eat.Gwen had already gone a day without eating anything, and if this persisted, she would eventually wind up with stomach problems."Do you guys think…I should give up?" Gwen said, her voice shaking as she nibbled at her hamburger. "If Steven doesn't want to have anything to do with me…"Every time I think of the fact that his body belongs to Luke, I can't help wanting to give up. Even if we're not together and he no longer remembers me, I think I can live with that. As long as he's still alive, I'll be content."Perhaps forgetting everyt
Luna finally began to relax when she heard this. She let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Where are you now? Where can I meet you?"Even though Joshua was already on his way to rescue Thomas and Yannie, Luna still felt that it would be better if she went as well since she had already promised Mrs. Flores to help Yannie.Besides, even if she had not made that promise, she and Yannie were friends, so she had to check on her.Joshua hesitated for a moment before replying, "I have some men stationed outside your hotel room to protect you. You can go out and request them to bring you here."Howard Mansion is closer to you than it is to me, so you might even make it there before I do."Luna paused for a moment, returned to the room, and flung open the front door.A few bodyguards dressed in black were standing outside, and all of them froze as though they had not expected her to suddenly check in on them. "Ma'am…"A surge of warmth spread into Luna's heart when she saw this. She purse