"What is she trying to say?" Joshua glanced coldly at Adrian as a sneer crossed his face. "Mr. Lynch, do you honestly think that Jacqueline, a beautiful woman in her twenties, would be willing to marry a man more than twice her age? Do you think you won her over with your irresistible charm somehow?"He fixated his frosty gaze on Adrian's face and said in a tone as cold as ice, "Do you think Jacqueline would have even given you a second glance if it weren't for the fact that you're Adrian Lynch, father of Joshua Lynch?"Joshua's tone was so sarcastic that some of the audience could not help snickering at this. The truth was, everyone knew that a woman in her twenties would never willingly marry a man twice her age, not unless she had ulterior motives, and especially not since Adrian was such a useless man.When he was younger, he relied on Grandpa and Granny Lynch, then after he married Rianna, she became the head of the family, while he eventually became dependent on Joshua, their
"Did you honestly think that as long as Eanne and Carl died, the truth would never surface?" Joshua sneered as though he could sense Adrian's exact thoughts, then tapped on his phone again.Another piece of news about Rianna appeared onscreen.This time, the evidence was even more concrete—this was a record from Rianna's taxi ride at the airport, where she had hailed a taxi to Lynch Mansion.Then, the visitation records of a mental asylum were displayed, which showed that Rianna had been admitted, and Adrian visited her multiple times after her admission.This was followed shortly by Rianna's death certificate, which showed that her cause of death was suicide.Everyone fell silent upon seeing this as they finally pieced together the truth of Rianna's death.It turned out that she had not died while giving birth to Joshua two decades ago, but instead, had taken her own life in a mental asylum in Banyan City when Joshua was five."I obtained these records from Carl Howard, my uncl
Adrian's face turned as pale as the wall behind him. He furrowed his eyebrows and spat through gritted teeth, "Hey, I'm still Michael's father!"He knew he could never change Celia's mind by talking about their marriage, and the only way he could sway her was to use their son, Michael, against her.He knew just how much Celia loved Michael, and Michael would finally prove himself useful if the mention of him could convince Celia to switch sides and betray Joshua.At the thought of this, Adrian sighed and sniffed. "Celia, Michael will get out in a few more years, so surely you wouldn't want him to…see his father like this when he gets released?"Celia froze when she heard this.Adrian was right. Michael always prided himself on being a Lynch and having Adrian as his father for many years, and even at this moment, she had yet to tell him the truth about her and Adrian's separation.Therefore, if he were to discover how haggard his father had become once he got released from jail, h
There was a faint glimmer in Celia's eyes.She lifted her head to stare at Luna rather dazedly, but her gaze seemed to speak a thousand words.Luna knew that Celia was waiting for a confirmation, so she let out an exhale and turned to glance at Joshua.Joshua smiled and shot her a look of affirmation.Luna finally smiled, turned back to meet Celia's gaze, and said softly, "Aunty Celia, if you step forward and expose Mr. Adrian for who he truly is, Joshua will treat you well in the future. Besides, you're the mother of Joshua's brother, and if you expose the truth, Joshua will take care of both you and Michael. He'll never allow you two to fend for yourselves in this cruel world."This tugged at Celia's heartstrings.The truth was, she never cared about Adrian at all—all she cared about was Michael!She almost fell right into Adrian's trap!Michael was her son, and she could see through every last thought in his head. The only reason Michael adored his father was that Adrian had
What Celia said had shaken everyone at the wedding and created an uproar. Everyone started to discuss and whispered to each other.Although Celia had aged with time and she did not maintain her face very well, it was easy to tell she was quite a beautiful woman in her prime.Many people thought she was just a woman Adrian met. Who would have thought…Celia actually worked in the household as their nanny when Rianna was pregnant. In other words, Adrian fell for Rianna's nanny when Rianna was pregnant and, at that time, started to think about killing Rianna.That was why Celia resigned and left Rianna, lying that she needed to go back to her hometown to get married and have kids. The naive Rianna thought Celia was telling the truth. She even gave some money to Celia in hope that Celia would have a great life ahead of her.As people discussed further, they felt even more sorry for Rianna. Their conclusion was how kind Rianna was and what a jerk Adrian had been.Adrian's face looked te
This time, Celia did not hesitate and gathered all of the evidence she had into this recording, including the thing Adrian said to her and how they plotted to frame Rianna…to the extent that Adrian encouraged Michael to hurt Granny Lynch a year ago. In it was also how Adrian used Joshua's name to borrow money from people half a year ago.Celia recorded nearly everything Adrian said to her in the house.Adrian's face paled as he heard the recording. He bit his lip and clenched his hands into fists, and the nerves on his face protruded. "Celia Giles! How dare you do this to me? Did you record every single damn word I said to you?"Celia sneered, "Record? Do you think I'm that free to do it?"She gazed at him and shot him a cold smirk. "Have you forgotten there are surveillance cameras in the house? I was afraid you'd steal the money and spend it, so I changed the hard disk to a new one every month for the past years. I'd simply run through the old footage once and leave it at the war
Joshua waved his hand to ask the staff beside the stage to carry Adrian, who passed out on the floor, away. He gave Jacqueline a cold look."Do you truly believe I'm that kind of person without the things that happened just now? Do you really think I don't know what you're up to? After how hard you try to get close to Adrian and also throw this extravagant wedding?"It just never occurred to Jacqueline that Joshua would so harshly and openly expose her. She was stunned but that did not stop her from giving a cold look to Joshua.She smiled. "I can tell you're not stupid after all."Joshua squinted. "Do you think I won't investigate you after knowing you and Adrian are getting married? Especially when you and Fiona look so alike?"As she felt her senses settling down, Jacqueline's lips curled into a smile. She gave Joshua a look and said, "That's true. But…"She looked at Joshua again before looking at Luna. "If you two are so capable, you should have known why I insisted on havin
Luna's eyebrows furrowed after hearing that. She looked at Jacqueline coldly. "What do you mean by that?"'Didn't Anne head back home with John after they dropped me and Joshua at the rented place? What does her kidnapping…has anything to do with me?' she thought.Jacqueline narrowed her eyes when she saw how confused Luna was. "What? Don't tell me you forgot. You and Anne went shopping in the afternoon. After that, you two went to that restaurant, and I went there too…""Jacqueline!" Joshua interrupted the conversation, fearing that Luna would remember everything should Jacqueline remind her of what happened in the afternoon. "I know you're Fiona's sister, but you shouldn't blame us for Fiona's death."After all, Fiona set a trap and intended to harm Luna grievously, but her plan failed. It was she who met her demise when she fell off the cliff."Who should I look for if I don't blame you two?" Immediately, Jacqueline got distracted as soon as Joshua started the topic.She turne
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