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
"I'm not being childish!" Steven furrowed his brow and threw away his father's hand. "I have my own life. Mr. Hughes, keep your hand away from me!"He turned around and left.Mr. Hughes looked at Steven walking away. He frowned and looked at his wife.Mrs. Hughes squinted his eyes while her eyes wavered in coldness. "Ignore him! Let's go back!"After saying that, she raised her hand to grab her husband's hand. They walked away from those bystanders and left. The crowd finally dispersed after the Hughes couple left.When Luna and Joshua arrived there, they did not see Steven, Gwen, or the Hughes couple. Luna frowned and took out her telephone and called Gwen. At that time, Sean called her.Lucas and the others had just rescued Luke from Hughes' residence and were on their way to the hotel."Luna," When the phone was connected, Sean asked nervously, "Did you find Denise? How is she doing? Is she hurt?""When I was at the Hughes' residence, I wanted to go rescue her together with