Stefan furrowed his brow upon hearing this.A split second later, he covered the woman's naked body with the sheets and turned to glance at Kurt. "Take her away."Kurt nodded, then picked the woman up with the sheets wrapped around her."I'm sorry, but we can't allow you to take her away." A few men finally plucked up the courage to stand up to Stefan. "We're under orders to protect her, and if we don't keep a good eye on her and that old geezer, Tyson will kill us!"The rest of the men snapped to their senses when they heard this.Even if this woman was not Gwen, Tyson ordered them to escort her to her prison cell where she would be kept with Andy. If they allowed her to be taken away, Tyson would be furious!At the thought of this, the men began surrounding Stefan and Kurt.Kurt furrowed his brow and whispered, "Boss…"He knew that although he and Stefan possessed weapons, they were still no match for a room full of men. They were clearly overpowered, and no amount of weapons
Everyone fell silent when they heard this.They were all terrified of Tyson because he was a ruthless man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.Luke, however, was different. Back when he was in charge, he treated everybody with respect, even the lowly ones.If they were to choose…they would no doubt choose to serve Luke!"Boss." All of a sudden, a man who had been silent all this while stood up and strode over to Luke, then bowed. "Ever since you left, we were all forced to serve Tyson. If you're willing to come back, I'm sure all of us will change alliances. None of us want to live like worms for the rest of our lives."With that, he lifted his head to stare earnestly at Luke. "Are you willing to come back?"Luke smiled. "Live like worms? Are you talking about the way you treated this lady just because Tyson ordered you to? If I hadn't shown up just in time, you all would've continued abusing her, thinking she was Gwen, right?"Even before knowing my identity, none o
Gwen told Stefan her address with a puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong?""Wait for me. I'll be there soon." With that, Stefan hung up and sprinted back to the car.Kurt paused then followed suit, still carrying the woman in his arms. He flung the car door open before Stefan could even start the engine. "Boss, you were drinking just now. I think it'd be better if I drove."Stefan furrowed his brow, suddenly remembering that he had drunk a few cans of beer with Diablo when he tried to find out where they kept 'Gwen'.He was so anxious about finding Gwen as soon as possible that he forgot about this.At the thought of this, Stefan sighed and got out of the car, then slid into the front passenger seat.Kurt opened the door and placed the woman into the backseat. "Hold on tight. I'll be driving very fast."With that, he plopped into the driver's seat and started the car, stepping on the gas so abruptly that the woman in the backseat slid right out of the seat!She finally under
When Stefan stormed into the lift lobby, all the lifts were occupied on the 40th floor. Gwen, on the other hand, stayed on the 11th floor.When he saw the numbers above the lift, Stefan swiftly turned and sprinted toward the stairwell.He wanted to see Gwen as soon as possible!When he first heard of Gwen's capture from Diablo and subsequent fate, he risked everything he knew to find her immediately. When he saw those men in the room with her, he almost lost himself to rage, thinking it was Gwen they were assaulting.Even though he was relieved to find out they had gotten the wrong woman, he still wanted to find Gwen as soon as possible.He knew that if Ben and that wretched woman had not been messing around in the villa that morning…Gwen would have really been caught!Stefan had never once felt such fear—fear that he would fail to protect her and lose her once more.He did not feel an ounce of fear when Kate suggested he sacrifice his life in exchange for Gwen's. He knew that t
Although she had begun to develop feelings for Stefan after spending most of their time together, Gwen did not want things to progress beyond friendship.After all, she had someone else in her heart and could not allow herself to fall for Stefan and thus deliberately avoided physical contact with him all this while.Stefan's actions clearly crossed the line and made her visibly uneasy.At the thought of this, she began to struggle even harder and exclaimed, "Let go of me, Stefan!""I…I'm not Stefan." Luke paused when he sensed Gwen's discomfort. "I'm Luke."Gwen's entire body stiffened when she heard this familiar name.The blood in her veins ran cold, and every single fiber in her body was standing on end.How could this be?She bit her lip, wanting to say something in response, but no words came out."It's me," Luke repeated, enunciating his words carefully as he stared at Gwen. "Gwen, look at me. You're not dreaming. It's really me. I'm Luke. I've always been by your side,
"He's fine." Luke paused when he heard the mention of Gwen's father, then continued in a choked voice, "You… Did you know that Ben brought another woman back to your house?"Gwen paused, then nodded. "I do."Tyson's men had even mistaken that poor woman for her and captured her instead.Even after Joshua and Luna arrived, Gwen was still terribly frightened by that incident. If Ben and that woman had not shown up, Tyson's men would have found and captured her instead.In other words, Ben and his girlfriend saved her life."Well…" Luke nodded and explained, "They took her in place of you and told me and Kurt that they found you. I was fooled into thinking that you had been taken away…"At the mention of this, Luke's grip tightened around Gwen as though he was trying not to lose her again. "After hearing this, I tracked them down to a hotel in town, but when I broke in there, I realized it wasn't you they had caught…"As he recounted this incident, Luke hoarsely continued, "Do you
Joshua was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know."Although he had been in touch with Stefan lately, it was always Luke he was corresponding with—never Steven.When he thought about it, the last time he recalled meeting Steven was almost a fortnight ago.The two brothers shared a single body, yet it was as though Steven's subconscious disappeared, leaving only Luke behind.Joshua also wondered about this and brought it up to Luke before.Although Luke was also in charge of their shared body, he, too, did not have any idea where Steven's subconscious went, nor how to make him reappear again.Joshua suggested Luke get this checked out, but Luke had been so busy dealing with Tyson and formulating a plan to rescue Andy that he did not have the time to visit a doctor.Their utmost priority was to track down and save Andy; Luke could get himself checked when that was done.Who would have thought that the fake Gwen would cause Luke to expose himself prematurely and r
"Life and death?" Tara perked up when she heard this and frowned. "What happened? Is your wife threatening suicide because she thinks you cheated on her?"Joshua rolled his eyes at this. Could she be any more childish?He paused, then continued in a low voice, "I need you to send your men out to rescue someone. An old man."Tara was silent for a moment before realizing what was going on. "You want me to save Gwen's father, don't you? Alright, then. I'll send my men out."With that, she hesitated for a moment, then asked, "That's all I need to do, right? Do I need to be there myself?""No need," Joshua replied."Thank heavens!" With that, Tara hung up and dialed the number of the manager of Moore Group's Sharnwick City branch.After passing on Joshua's message, Tara raised her brow, glancing at the man sitting next to her at the bar, and smiled. "Sorry, I must've missed this while I was on the phone, but what's your name again?"The man glanced at her, frowning. "John Young.""
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