Luna had a rough night. She kept having dreams then woke up from them before she fell back into another dream.In her nightmares, Luna’s photos were circulated all over the internet, and everyone judged and condemned her. Some even went so far as threatening to end her.By the time Luna got woken up by a phone call in the early morning, she was drenched in cold sweat. She picked up the phone with a throbbing head. “Hello, who is this?” “It’s me,” Theo’s voice rang out. “Nigel contacted me this morning and told me you were bullied in Sea City.” Theo let out a sigh. “I still have some things to settle here at the art gallery, so I’ll only be able to go over to Sea City in the afternoon.”Luna paused. “I’m fine. You don’t have to come over.”“Of course I have to.” Theo sighed again. “Nigel told me everything. He told me what happened at the cocktail party and the cameras you found in your room. It must be tough for you to be there all alone. Joshua and Alice are back together now, s
“The butler who messed up the guest list was already punished. The only reason I’m here is to give Ms. Luna a proper welcome here at Sea City.” Gavin’s expression made Luna feel uncomfortable. There were two rows of seats inside the RV. Joshua and Alice were seated on one side, while Gavin occupied the other row of seats. Luna contemplated for a moment before she finally sat in the same row as Gavin. Feeling uneasy, Luna deliberately chose the seat furthest from him, but Gavin was oblivious to this and instead approached her. “Ms. Luna, I heard you’re one of the most gifted designers in the field of jewelry design. Is that so?”The scent wafting off of Gavin made Luna a little unsettled. She immediately shifted an inch over to get away from him, but Gavin scooched over as well. Finally, Luna had no choice but to set down her documents on the seat between them to act as a physical barrier.Gavin frowned and tried to pick the documents up.“Stop,” warned Joshua just as Gavin was a
Luna laughed at Alice’s words and shot her a glance. “You want me to apologize?”Alice deliberately bumped into her and made her fall right into Gavin’s arms. He took advantage of her, yet she was supposed to apologize instead?“Yes, you should apologize.” Alice pursed her lips and was about to say more when Joshua hung up his phone and got out of the car. He had been taking a phone call, so he did not notice what went down outside. He glanced at Gavin, who was rubbing his swollen face, then at Luna, who was cleaning herself with a tissue. “What’s wrong?”Alice immediately grabbed onto Joshua’s arm. “When I was getting out of the car just now, I accidentally bumped into Luna, and she fell. Gavin grabbed her to break her fall, but she thinks Gavin was trying to take advantage of her.” With that, Alice pointed at Gavin’s swollen cheek. “Look. She slapped him right across his face, and now she’s trying to clean herself up… Aren’t you being a little disrespectful, Luna? I asked her to
Luna glared at Joshua. “Does Mr. Lynch agree that my not apologizing will affect the business relations between Lynch Group and Walter Group?”Even though the Walter Group did send Gavin over, he was just an ordinary employee! If the Walter Group was willing to give up on this collaboration because of him, this opportunity was not worth the time and effort at all!Perhaps Alice did not understand that, but Joshua certainly did. However, he still stared at her and waited for her next move. It was blatant he wanted her to apologize.“I’m here for an on-site investigation, not to stir up trouble.” Joshua glanced at Luna, then at Alice. “Apologize to him now.”Alice was overcome with glee at his words. She linked arms with Joshua and stared at Luna smugly. “Come on now, Ms. Luna. Joshua has asked you twice. Aren’t you going to do as he says? I know you two are close, but he’s still your boss and the CEO of Lynch Group! Why are you still hesitating? You’re not as good an employee as you
Luna knew Gavin said that to irk her. Although she was aware of his intentions, she could not help but still feel somewhat dejected at it.He was right. Even though Joshua had forced Alice to apologize, that did not change anything. She was still the most important person to him.Luna’s chest tightened at the thought, but she merely let out a deep sigh and tried to push it out of her head. Clutching the documents in her hands, Luna strode past Gavin and made her way toward the factory. She could hear Gavin let out a snort before he caught up to her quickly. “Ms. Luna, I hear you’re still single. Don’t you feel a little envious when you see Mr. and Mrs. Lynch being so intimate with each other? Don’t worry, though. As long as you keep your eyes peeled, I’m sure you’ll find love soon enough. Maybe you’ve already found it without even realizing!” Luna did not even give him a second glance. She picked up her speed and hoped Gavin would give up chasing after her, but he followed closel
Alice gritted her teeth and scowled at the worker, “Are you trying to shift the blame? Do you know I can fire you…” Before she could finish, however, Alice recalled that she was no longer Hailey Walter. She was in no place to fire anyone because the factory and all its employees belonged to the Walters.She shot the supervisor a murderous glare and snarled, “You’d better take care of this!”That startled the supervisor. For a moment, this woman sounded almost identical to Hailey Walter. “Yes, will do!”As she secured the supervisor’s guarantee, Alice turned around and glanced at Luna. “What are you waiting for? Joshua saved you. Why aren’t you helping him?”Luna paused, then realized she was right. She immediately walked over and grabbed hold of Joshua’s other arm. Although the injury did not break any of Joshua’s bones, the wound still looked quite serious. Joshua was clutching his right arm as he grunted in pain, and Luna could not help but feel distraught at the sight. She cou
The sudden accusation made Luna dumbfounded. She paused and sneered at Alice, “Why do you think I care?”It was true she did not hear the worker’s cries of warning, nor Joshua and Alice’s words of caution. If she had heard them, why would she not get out of harm’s way?Luna let out a deep sigh and glanced at Alice. “Mrs. Lynch, are you suggesting that I was so certain Mr. Lynch would save me if I placed myself in harm’s way?”Alice’s face turned pale at her words.Luna continued with a smirk, “You were right, Mrs. Lynch. Although Mr. Lynch made you apologize to me just now, he still comforted you instead of me. This clearly shows that he deeply cares for you. If that’s the case, why would he treat me differently? Why would I be so certain that Mr. Lynch would save me if I put myself in danger?“If I had made the wrong call, Mr. Lynch wouldn’t have rescued me, and I’d be the one in here, getting stitches. Let me ask you this, Mrs. Lynch. If you were in my shoes, would you put yours
“You’re hurt…”“Just because I’m hurt doesn’t mean we should delay our progress.”…The two voices grew further and further away. Luna stood motionless as she watched the two of them leave. There was an indescribable feeling in her heart.After a while, the supervisor let out an awkward cough. “Ms. Luna, shall we…continue?”Luna finally came to and picked up the documents in front of her before she turned to look at the supervisor. “Please continue…”It was noon when they finished their on-site investigation. According to the plan, they were supposed to have lunch in the car as they made their way to the next destination to attend the symposium for the design schemes.However, citing Joshua’s injury as an excuse, Alice insisted on heading to a nearby restaurant for lunch instead. Luna wanted to head to their next destination as soon as possible, but since Gavin and Joshua did not object, Luna had no choice but to follow.In the restaurant, Alice and Joshua sat on one side of th
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