"I'm not too sure about this." Vanessa furrowed her brow. "All I know is that her brother owns a loan shark company, and she's been working for him ever since she left school. I'm not too close with her, but she knows my family owns a business. Therefore, she once secretly asked me if I wanted to do business with her, for the sake of being old friends, and that she could help me get back all the money that other people owed me."Vanessa scratched her head rather sheepishly as she continued, "Even though I had loaned plenty of money to other people, I didn't ask Willow for help because I thought it wasn't necessary to ask everyone for my money back, considering some of them were struggling."Finally, she turned to stare at Luna. "However, since your friend was kidnapped by Willow, I can use this as an excuse to meet with her, and perhaps I might be able to find something out."Luna furrowed her brow at this. "But…will you get into trouble if she finds out that this is the reason you'
Luna only realized something was wrong after the words came out of her mouth.She had just met Vanessa that day and had only exchanged a few words of introduction. Therefore, asking Vanessa about her relationship status was no doubt rather abrupt and even downright rude.Just as she was about to apologize, however, Vanessa smiled. "Of course I do."She glanced in Jude's direction, holding her cup, and curled her lips into a smile. "If I didn't, why would I be so desperate to marry him?"Luna paused and suddenly recalled what Jude had previously said to her.He had told her that Vanessa had used plenty of deceiving tricks to get him to marry her, including chasing the woman he loved out of town, poisoning him, and even sleeping with him during his intoxicated state.Luna furrowed her brow at this thought. "You…""Are you going to ask me if I tried to trick him into marrying me?" Vanessa smiled when she saw the uneasy look on Luna's face and volunteered the information herself. "D
Luna furrowed her brow when she noticed the surprise on John's face. "Do you know each other?""We do." Vanessa curled her lips into a smile. "His wife used to be a plastic surgeon at the hospital, and I met him there and even talked to him a little bit. Then, when he was starting his own business, I even lent him some money."All of a sudden, Vanessa lifted her head to stare at John as though she suddenly recalled something. "So are you Mrs. Lynch's friend's husband?""Um…" He glanced uneasily at Luna as she said this."Yes, the one who was kidnapped is Dr. Zimmer." Luna furrowed her brow momentarily, then smiled when she realized what Vanessa was thinking. "I almost forgot—Anne told me that she had met you in the hospital before."Vanessa finally let out a sigh of relief at this. "It turns out Dr. Zimmer was the one who had been kidnapped."She almost thought that John and Anne's marriage had failed and that his wife who had been kidnapped was someone else instead."I didn't k
"Vanessa Chance?" After entering the interrogation room, Vanessa plopped down in a chair and dialed Willow's number as instructed by the police.Willow was a little surprised to receive this call. "Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"Willow knew that rich socialites like Vanessa hated mingling with lowly people like her."Yes, it's me." Vanessa paused when she sensed the shock in Willow's voice and replied, "Do you still remember that you got in touch with me two years ago and said you'd be able to help me get my money back?"Willow was silent for a moment, then chuckled. "Yes, I do, but didn't you tell me you didn't need my help?""Yes, but I do now," Vanessa said, glancing at the policeman next to her.The policeman gestured for her to continue the conversation and stall Willow as much as she could.Luna and John were sitting to a side, growing more and more excited as they watched the police begin to trace the location of the call.Even though they had received a paper
Luna stormed over and glanced at the location of the signal.She furrowed her brow when she recognized the familiar location.The location of Willow's phone signal, as shown on the screen…was near Orchard Manor!This was the manor that Joshua had built for her as a surprise, but because of Aura's deceit that resulted in Luna ultimately leaving him, the manor was then abandoned.Then, after getting together with Fiona to save Nigel, Joshua let Fiona move in there, and when Aura burned down Blue Bay Villa, Joshua, Luna, and the kids even lived there for a short time.A year later, after Blue Bay Villa was successfully restored, they moved out of Orchard Manor, and the place was then abandoned once more.Luna never thought that…Jacqueline and Willow would have trapped Anne there!Luna furrowed her brow as she stared at the familiar location.This was the place Fiona had lived in before her death, yet Jacqueline and Willow had brought Anne there… Was it because they did not think t
Then, Willow let go of the knife, allowing it to clatter on the ground, and strode away.The stench of blood soon filled the small basement.…Vanessa and Willow had agreed to meet at a small restaurant near Orchard Manor.Vanessa remained in contact with Willow ever since coming out of the police station, and with the policemen flanking them, she and Luna arrived at the restaurant, whereas John followed the rest of the cops to Orchard Manor to save Anne.Since Willow was just a lackey and was not the mastermind behind this kidnapping, after discussing with Luna, John, and the cops, they decided to let Vanessa continue stalling Willow while the rest searched for Anne.After 15 minutes, everyone settled in their hiding places around the restaurant, and Vanessa called Willow."I'll be there soon!" Willow sounded excited on the phone. "If it weren't for the traffic jam, I'd be there by now!"Luna could not help narrowing her eyes when she heard Willow's voice from the earpiece. Jo
Biting her lip, Luna found an excuse to slip out the restaurant's back door and dialed John's number.Willow was the one who had kidnapped Anne, and she was with her right before meeting with Vanessa.There were streaks of blood on her hands, and she even claimed she had been slaughtering a chicken…there was no way Luna would not overthink this.She clutched her phone so hard her palms were covered in sweat, and as she listened to the dial tone, she prayed silently over and over that Willow was just kidding and that Anne would be fine.Anne had gone out with her that day and had only gone to the bathroom to help her eavesdrop on Jacqueline's conversation, which was how she had gotten kidnapped.In her many years of knowing Anne, she had helped Luna through many hard times, and she rarely got the chance to reciprocate. If something terrible was to happen to Anne because of her, how was she going to face John and their daughter?How would she have the dignity to continue with her l
"What on earth are you talking about, Anne…" John started sobbing as he took off his coat and wrapped it around Anne's frail body. "Anne, please hold on just a little longer. I'll send you to the hospital right now! we still have the rest of our lives ahead of us, and Sammie is still so young, you can't…" His voice choked. "You can't just leave us! Anne, please hold on…" John picked her up from the ground and sprinted out of the basement like a madman, straight towards the police car parked outside. Due to the fact they were in a police car, no one dared to stay in their way, and the entire journey from Orchard Manor was smooth sailing. John carefully pulled Anne close to him and pressed kisses onto her pale face. "You're going to get through this, I'm sure of that. You're going to get through this like a champ. Anne, Sammie and I can't live without you, we can't…" He wiped frantically at his own tears as he said this. Ever since he met Anne, the two of them had sailed throu
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