Malcolm panicked on the other side of the phone as he heard what Kate said. "Ms. Miller, please…I beg you! Please save me!"He was squatting among the bushes behind the street while wearing a thin trench coat. He looked at the people going in and out of the mansion he lived in as his gaze frantically darted around.There was once a time he used to be a famous and influential person in Merchant City. After he conspired against Luna and Joshua, his family degenerated to the point he had to flee to Saigen City and became a no-name man.He regretted it deeply, but most importantly, he was scared. At this moment, he finally knew what he did wrong. Other than Kate who did not give a shit about him, there was no one else he could get help from.He bit his lip and spoke humbly, "Ms. Miller, I…I'll do anything that you request, so please help me. I can't let Joshua and Thomas catch me. After all the things I did in the past…they'll kill me!"Kate cackled upon hearing the evidently afraid M
The sun rose into the sky from the east and woke up the earth. It was a brand new day.Denise woke up and looked at the ceiling when she opened her eyes. Everything that happened yesterday appeared right before her eyes like a movie.At that moment, someone knocked on her door.Along with that came her mother's kind, tender voice. "Denise, are you awake? The first time we did after we woke up was to get your brother to bring you home. He told us you came back last night. How are you today?"She had mixed feelings as she listened to her mother's soft and gentle voice. She could not help but remember the recording she heard from Luna and Gwen's hotel room.They literally said to let her die. They said she was no longer useful to the family and that she was a disposable pawn. They even said they wanted to use her to beg for mercy with Joshua and Thomas and begged them not to stop the cooperation.It was at this moment that she felt the dam breaking inside of her. She covered her mou
Nigel's reply came almost instantaneously.[Nigel: Don't worry, neither of my parents knows about me contacting you. I just wanted to tell you some of the stuff I've heard about you.]Denise's entire body froze when she saw this. A split second later, something struck her…The audio recording of Steven and Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, which she had heard from Luna's computer, had come from one of Joshua and Luna's children.Therefore, this boy that contacted her…was probably none other than that skilled hacker son of theirs.At the thought of this, Denise quickly typed another reply.[Denise: What have you heard about me?][Nigel: Plenty of interesting stuff, but I will only tell you under one condition.][Denise: What condition is it?][Nigel: You have to promise not to lay another finger on little Riley.]Denise was silent for a moment when she saw this.[Denise: Is that it?][Nigel: Yes. I've been keeping an eye on Riley all this while for fear that something bad would happen to
Nigel froze when he saw this. He was a little surprised that Denise would make such a request.A split second later, he curled his lips into a smile.[Nigel: I guess you're not as dumb as I thought.]He initially thought that this woman, who had been brainwashed by her family into liking Thomas against her true will, would not be the sharpest tool in the shed. Therefore, he was surprised to see that she still had some basic awareness.Denise furrowed her brow, feeling a little uneasy as she stared at the screen.The more she thought about the fact that a seven-year-old child had called her 'dumb', the more outraged she got.She bit her lip and typed a response.[Denise: Didn't Joshua or Luna ever teach you manners?][Nigel: I wasn't trying to be rude, I'm just telling the truth.]Nigel turned on the webcam.The moment he did so, the screen of Denise's laptop was filled with the image of a young boy that was almost identical to Joshua. To be specific, Nigel's features resemble
"Steven? Where else do you think he'd be?" Mrs. Hughes chuckled. "He went out to find Kate, of course. Your brother and Kate are growing closer and closer."She glanced surreptitiously at Denise and added, "By the way, how are you and Thomas doing now?"This morning, your Aunt Tina told me she'd been trying to set you and Thomas up; how did everything go?"Denise's heart turned cold when she heard this.After listening to the audio recordings that Nigel had sent her, Denise finally knew the truth.The reason Tina had so willingly treated her like a tool against Thomas was all because of Mrs. Hughes, her 'mother.'Mrs. Hughes had once promised Tina that her daughter would listen to her every command. Not only that, but Mrs. Hughes was the one who had given Tina the idea to use Denise to seduce Thomas."She came from a poor family, and if she hadn't caught my eye when she was a child because of her looks, she might've been sold by her family and be working as a prostitute by now.
At the hotel.Gwen had just finished her lunch and was about to invite Luna to go with her to visit Yannie when she received a call from Denise."Ms. Larson, I've sent you an email. Please take a look at it."Gwen's eyebrows furrowed at this. "That's fast."Denise had just agreed to work with her to find evidence of the Hughes and Miller families' wrongdoings just a night before. All too quickly, she sent her an email less than 24 hours after their agreement. How was this possible?"Of course." Denise curled her lips into a smile. "I've lived in this household for more than twenty years, so I know every nook and cranny where confidential information is stored."Then, she sighed and added, "Unfortunately, this is all I can find for today, and I'm not sure if there are others. I'll continue searching for a few more days. Don't forget our promise."Gwen nodded. "Yes, I still remember."With that, Denise hung up the phone.Gwen froze for a long time when she heard the dial tone, t
Gwen's eyes widened in shock. "Riley has gone missing? How could that be?"Luna sighed and dragged Gwen out the door, then explained to her in a whisper, "Because of what happened with Riley previously, Thomas had specially conducted strict background checks and interviews on the doctors looking after her, but…"None of us knew the full extent of the Miller family's influence in the medical community. Even after such strict conditions, the Miller family still managed to slip past Thomas' eye. The chief surgeon looking after Riley…turned out to be a member of the Miller family's inner circle."Luna sighed and continued, "Last night, the doctor brought Riley out of the hospital and disappeared into thin air. Joshua is stressed out by this, but he has no idea where either of them is, so he decided to send someone close to him to figure this out…but there's no guarantee whether he'll find Riley or not."Gwen furrowed her brow as all the delight she had felt when she received Denise's e
Yannie lifted her head dazedly.Luna was standing in front of her with a coat draped over her loungewear.It was clear that Luna had been in such a rush that she did not have time to change her clothes and threw on a jacket over her indoor clothes instead. Not only that, but Luna's hair was a mess, and she was still wearing the hotel's slippers.This was the worst state Yannie had ever seen Luna in, but at this moment, a surge of warmth spread through her heart."Luna…" She met Luna's gaze with tears brimming in her eyes."Yannie, you're not a curse." Luna let out an exhale and strode toward her. "Even though all this had something to do with you, you're not the main cause at all."She fixed her gaze on Yannie's face and continued, "Please believe that even without you, Thomas would've to go through these hardships somehow. The people who had deceived him never took you into their equation at all."Mrs. Flores curled her lips into a smile and stood up, handing Yannie over to Lun
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