Gwen raised her eyebrows. "That's right."She turned to glance at Steven, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around her. "My dear, you, too, know that you're just a replacement for Luke, don't you?"Steven lowered his head to meet her sparkling gaze, then gulped. "Of course I do."With that, he lifted his head to stare at his parents. "I know I'm just a replacement, and I know that Gwen doesn't truly love me at all—she just wants me for my body, but…"His grip around her tightened as though he wanted to inhale every single particle of her body into his. "I'm willing to do that."On second thought, I have both of you to thank for this, Father, and Mother. If it weren't for you, I would never have regained my consciousness, and would never have discovered that I had a twin brother."Most importantly, I would never have met this beautiful girl."He chuckled as he added, "The reason I brought Gwen here to meet you is to let you see what a miracle you guys created. If it weren't
Mrs. Hughes glowered at the woman standing before her. "What the hell do you want now?"She had already said what she wanted to, so this woman must have been out of her mind to think she would sit with them and have a meal together!"Mrs. Hughes." Gwen smiled at her. "Steven and I have already ordered, so it wouldn't be appropriate to leave just like that, would it? And besides…"She curled her lips into a smirk and tucked her hair behind her ear. "You claim that you'd never approve of our relationship and seem as though you care a lot about Steven's wellbeing…but you don't seem to be concerned about him at all."Don't you think it's a little absurd to want him to obey your commands, considering neither of you showed him any warmth or concern at all? If you truly wanted him to give up on me, surely you'd try to win him over by being good and caring parents?"Both Mr. and Mrs. Hughes furrowed their brows upon hearing this.Mr. Hughes paused for a moment, then reached out to tug on
Steven was beginning to get desperate when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Hughes leaving.He stood up and sprinted in their direction, intending to catch them before they left."There's no need." Gwen reached out to stop him. "There's no need to stop them."With that, she whispered into her earpiece, "Have your father's men arrived yet?""They have," said Nigel, letting out a sigh of relief. "Previously, none of us could seem to find Uncle Sean's exact location."The Hughes family had a magnetic interruption device installed in their dungeon, and none of the people we've sent, including Uncle Lucas, could navigate their way—the compasses didn't work."However, the moment that woman called, the butler immediately ran into the dungeon to check, and by following him, we managed to find the place they kept Uncle Sean before this. I'm sure that we'll easily be able to find him by scouring around—they can't have gone far."Nigel could not help adding, "You're far smarter than I thought, Aunt Gwe
"What do you mean?" Steven widened his eyes in shock at this.His voice began to tremble as he tightened his grip on his phone. "What are you talking about, Denise? Did something bad happen?"An expression of fear, one that rarely made an appearance, crossed Steven's face as he repeated, "What happened, Denise?"Denise began to chuckle, and the sound of her laughter felt eerily loud against the background."Steven, I'll never get out of this alive." There was a hint of despair in her scratchy voice. "Father and Mother left me here for dead. They handed me over to that pervert Mr. Hoffman, and he's the sickest person I've ever met."Standing on the icy ledge, Denise lifted her head to glance at the man in the distance, who at this moment was screaming profanities and brandishing his whip at her. She let out a bitter smile. "I know you were trying to stall Father and Mother so that someone would be able to rescue me. I know you never once gave up on me, but…"She continued in a cho
Gwen did not dare to let her guard down when she heard how solemn Steven was. She said to Nigel, "Hey, I need your brother's help with something!""Talk to me." Even though Nigel was only seven years old, he had mastered the skill of determining other people's emotions and moods solely based on their tone.As soon as he heard the change in Gwen's voice, he immediately knew that something was amiss. "He's right next to me. You can tell us, and we'll try to help as much as we can."A surge of warmth spread into Gwen's heart upon hearing this.She took a deep breath and described everything about Denise to Nigel and Neil. "Can you guys help us find the hotel she's at as soon as possible?""Done," Neil's response rang out before she even finished her sentence. "They're not too far from you; I'll give you the address right now."Gwen was surprised at the efficacy of this, but she quickly gathered herself and thanked them. "Please tell me.""They're right; she's not far from us at all
"I don't care!" Mr. Hoffman did not notice Steven approaching from behind and instead waved his hand dismissively at Mr. and Mrs. Hughes. "You were the ones who promised me I'd be able to have fun with that woman. Now, not only am I left unsatisfied, but she even jumped off a building right in front of me!"Because of you, I'm now being investigated by the police. I literally just came out from being interrogated, and my wife has found out about my cheating on her. All of you should be responsible for this!"He scoffed and added, "This is all your fault—none of you could control her well enough! I will rebuke our previous contract, and you have to pay me back the money I gave you!"Not only that, but you need to give me extra compensation! If you don't, I'll spread the news about your wrongdoing all over town, and you'll pay the price for deceiving me!"With that, he turned around and was just about to leave when he came face-to-face with Steven."What the hell?" he shot Steven a
At the thought of this, Steven could not help recalling the despair in Denise's voice when she uttered those words to him.His heart clenched at the thought of this.He lifted his head to stare at the couple standing before him.At this moment, the two of them were exchanging accusatory glances at each other, as though they were still blaming each other for the falling through of their business transaction with Mr. Hoffman.Steven let out another gasp as he clenched his fists in fury.He had no idea that his own parents were such despicable people!Denise had lived with them for more than 20 years. Even though she was not biologically related to them, even though they treated her merely as a bargaining tool…she was still human!She was a living, breathing person who spent her entire life with them!People regularly grew attached to pets, yet both his parents seemed to care for Denise less than any ordinary folk cared for their pet dog!She was nothing but a tool to them!At t
Steven's parents had terrible looks on their faces after listening to what Steven said.On the other hand, Steven slowly felt there was hope when he saw his parent's pale faces. He thought his parent might change their thoughts and their indifference was unnecessary after what he said.However, what happened next was unexpected…"That bitch bewitched you!" Mrs. Hughes approached Steven angrily and grabbed his arm. She sounded very angry, "It's not just Gwen that bitch. And Denise too! Those two women had bewitched you. It's this how you talk to me and your father? We are just doing all of these because of you. If it weren't for you, do you think we don't want to be good people that everyone praised? And you're saying this sort of thing to us? Steven Hughes, are you human?"Mrs. Hughes treated Steven like he was still a kid by pulling his ear, "Stop embarrassing me! Go home with me now!"After that, Steven realized many people were starting to gather around them. He smiled bitterly
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