What Joshua said did not bring any comfort to Luna at all. Instead, she felt even more irritated. For some reason, she felt like Joshua was hiding something from her.Nonetheless, she knew him well enough to know she would never get it from him if he did not want to tell her. In the end, she sighed and followed Joshua to the car to get her hair styled and makeup.For some reason, the stylist was extra thoughtful today. It took nearly two hours for Luna to get her hair and makeup done. When she was finished, Joshua had already contacted Rosalyn and told her about Luna's situation.As he heard sounds coming from his back, he looked back at where Luna was coming from. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Luna.It had been a long time since he saw Luna dressed up so beautifully. If he did not have to stall for time so Luna would forget about Anne, he would not insist on getting Luna all dolled up…Anne came into his mind again when he looked at how beautiful Luna was, and at this
In the photo, Anne's face looked bruised. She was tied to the chair with a rough, thick hemp rope, and she looked to be in a dark and humid basement. There was rusted iron and moss from the corner of the photo.There was a message along with the photo.[Keep quiet about this. If you and Joshua do not attend the wedding now, Anne will die.]Luna's heart nearly leaped out of her chest the moment she saw the photo.'Anne… Who kidnapped her?!' She bit her lip.Subconsciously, she glanced at Joshua, who was on his phone not too far away from her. Her heart clenched.Her hunch was right. Anne was in trouble! Joshua was acting weird for the entire time because of this!Luna took a deep breath and replied to the message.[Who are you? Why did you kidnap Anne? Where are you? I'm going there!]Since the stranger made the request for her and Joshua to attend the wedding, she was sure the people who kidnapped Anne were trying to force Joshua to show up at the wedding.[If you want Joshua
Luna was so shocked that she could not find any words when the people surrounded her and Joshua.Before they arrived, Joshua had told her Adrian had secretly used his name to borrow a lot of money when they were not in Banyan City.Yet, Luna did not think that nearly 80% of the guests who attended the wedding were people to whom Adrian owed money. Those who lent money to Adrian were almost everyone from the upper class from Banyan City!The shocked Luna stared at the scene and grabbed Joshua's hand tightly.Joshua looked at the people who surrounded them indifferently and said, "Are all of you here to attend Adrian and Jacqueline's wedding or here to collect your debt?"It brought silence to the wedding.Not long later, a female shouted out from the crowd, "What's wrong with that? Why can we attend the wedding and also collect our debt at the same time?"The others quickly adhered to her."That's right! We're here to attend the wedding and also collect our money. Is that wrong?
"This wedding is going to be meaningless if I let them deal with Adrian directly."Joshua curled his lips into a smile after reading Luna's mind. He extended his hand out to rub her head. "Let's go. It's been over a year since we last met my father."Luna looked at him confusingly as she could not tell what Joshua had in his plan. Nonetheless, it was not the right time for her to ask about it.She frowned and walked with Joshua toward the stage.…"I told you he's going to be here." Jacqueline looked at Luna and Joshua coldly from the middle of the stage. Hatred flashed in her eyes. "They had to come."If Luna cared about her friend's life, she definitely would show up."Jacqueline, you're amazing!" Adrian got excited when he saw Joshua and Luna attending the wedding. "They're here just like you said! You're amazing!"Jacqueline smiled. "I'm not that amazing, but I know their weaknesses."Luna and Joshua were hypocrites, the type of people who valued friendship and loyalty as
Father."Joshua and Luna were standing in front of the stage.He curled his lips and smiled ambiguously. "It's been a while.""Yes, it has been." Adrian quickly rushed down from the stage and shook Joshua's hand excitedly when he saw Joshua and Luna standing in front of the stage. "You two are really here! Aunt Jacqueline said you were going to be here, but I find it hard to believe…but she's right! You still care about me!"Joshua looked at Adrian. When Adrian said 'Aunt Jacqueline', he frowned.According to their age, Jacqueline and Joshua should be around the same age.'He's marrying someone around my age and expects me to address her as my aunt…' He squinted.Although he was not happy, he still politely looked at Jacqueline. "Ms. Grace."Jacqueline curled up her lips and smiled. "Mr. Lynch, we finally meet."She had worked so hard over the year for this day. Ever since she knew Joshua and Luna were the ones who killed Fiona, she toiled rigorously to meet the nasty couple.
What Joshua said created a ripple effect like when a stone got thrown into a peaceful lake. An uproar appeared among the crowd.Some were worried Joshua was really serious about not helping with Adrian's debt and they needed to go after Adrian. Some were guessing that something happened between Joshua and Adrian. Some even thought Joshua deliberately put on a show and lied about cutting ties with Adrian because he did not want to help with Adrian's debt.All kinds of assumptions and guesses appeared.Luna stood beside Joshua and grabbed his hand tightly. She knew to the others, Joshua looked powerful and mighty but he actually had a soft heart too.He yearned for family bonding. He yearned for Adrian to love and care for him as every normal father would.All these years, he had been trying to bear with Adrian no matter how Adrian hurt him over and over again. Otherwise, it just did not make sense that the only one in jail was Michael after Granny Lynch passed away when Adrian was
Joshua's statement made the entire room go silent as everyone gaped at the pair of men onstage.Everyone in Banyan City knew that Rianna, the most powerful businesswoman in the city at one point, died due to complications during childbirth, and at that time, Adrian even hosted a memorial for her.At her funeral, Adrian cried his heart out, claiming that Rianna was the most selfless woman he had ever met and that she had chosen to give up her life just to continue the Lynch bloodline.This was why even after so many years, everyone in Banyan City was under the impression that Adrian and Rianna were a match made in heaven, and that if Rianna had not died, they would have spent the rest of their lives together, happily ever after. At this moment, however…Joshua's bold statement destroyed everyone's impression. "Mr. Lynch, you can't frame your father with false accusations just to get out of paying our money back!" All of a sudden, someone yelled from among the crowd.The entire ro
A copy of Rianna's medical report while she was pregnant read that her pregnancy had been uneventful and that she could undergo normal vaginal delivery as planned.However, it was Adrian who insisted on letting her go through a Cesarean delivery.Besides that, the doctors also documented the fact that they had warned Adrian of the complications that could arise from a Cesarean delivery due to Rianna's condition, and that the surgery came with a high risk of death, but Adrian did not waver.On the day of Rianna's surgery, she almost died on the table as the doctors predicted, but fortunately, her sister Eanne arrived at the scene just in time and managed to save her life.Rianna was still alive up until this time, but the final medical report documented that she had died of surgical complications.With that, a series of photos from Rianna's funeral appeared onscreen, including pictures of Adrian crying as though he was a child who had lost his favorite toy.However, on the same da
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