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
Yannie bit her lip upon hearing this. She lifted her head to stare at Gwen, her gaze gradually becoming more resolute.When she recalled what Gwen had gone through…she could not help realizing that what she was going through at the moment was nothing compared to Gwen's past.At this thought, Yannie sniffed and lifted her head to meet Luna and Gwen's gaze. "What…should I do now? Is there any news from Mr. Lynch? Does he have any way to help Thomas prove his innocence?"When Luna saw just how worried Yannie was, she could not bring herself to bring Yannie bad news, but at the same time, she could not hide the truth from her either.Therefore, she let out an exhale and said, "So far, nothing yet. Joshua has managed to find a coroner to conduct a postmortem examination on Senior Howard to find the cause of his death. If he can prove that Senior Howard didn't die of the gunshot, Thomas will be released from captivity immediately."She grasped Yannie's hand in comfort as she continued,