Tears welled up in Alice’s eyes. She bit down on her lip and shot Natasha and Joseph a disconcerted glance. “I already told you guys to let me come alone. Now, look at what you’ve done. Joshua has misinterpreted my intentions!”Alice sniffed and handed the thermal food container to Joshua. “I made some soup for Luna. Since you think my parents and I have ulterior motives for visiting her, then we’ll leave right now!”With that, Alice turned around. Just as she was about to leave, however, Joshua frowned and grabbed her wrist.“Since you don’t have any ulterior motives for visiting Luna, why are you leaving now? I’m sorry I misinterpreted and misunderstood you,” said Joshua, his gaze fixated on Alice.Luna’s heart turned cold as soon as she heard that.In all the years she had known Joshua, whether as his wife or as her new identity, she had never heard him speak to anyone so tenderly. Joshua had also misunderstood Luna this morning, but he never admitted his mistake, even though
Natasha scoffed and tilted her head away, her eyes full of contempt. “What a waste of good soup!”Alice sighed and grabbed Natasha’s hand. “Mom, please don’t say things like this. The whole reason why Luna is in the hospital right now is because of work. She put in too much effort into work and overexerted herself, so making her soup is the least I can do.”With that, she shot Luna a disdainful glance. “Am I right, Luna?”Luna bit down on her lip but did not say a word. She felt like someone churned her heart with a knife. She finally got to taste her mother’s cooking but could not display her delight for fear of exposing herself.Her birth mother stood right before her. However, not only did she ignore her, but she was also showing her affection toward someone else—an imposter. Alice caught sight of the anguish in Luna’s eyes and smirked. She had planned all that on purpose.Alice had visited Natasha in the morning and found out that Luna Gibson loved drinking Natasha’s soup
Luna took the tissue from Joshua and wiped the tears from her face. “I don’t care what they think,” she sobbed softly.It was not the first time Natasha and Joseph had misunderstood her.“I just…” Luna sniffed and tilted her head up to stop the tears from falling. “I just miss my mother.”Joshua’s entire body stiffened. He frowned and turned around to look at her. “You miss your mother?”“Yes.” Luna nodded. “Whenever I got sick, my mother would always make me chicken soup. She said chicken soup is good for our body, so I’d get well quicker if I drank a lot of it. When I was a kid, I didn’t like drinking chicken soup, and she’d always spend a long time convincing me to drink it. I ended up liking it as I grew up, but I couldn’t drink it anymore.” With that, she heaved a deep sigh and added, “Drinking the soup that Mrs. Lynch cooked for me just now…reminded me of my past. I couldn’t help crying a little. I’m sorry you had to see that, Mr. Lynch.”Joshua frowned. He fixated his penet
By the time Luna finally woke up, it was already evening.She could smell the faint, distinctive scent that belonged to Joshua and hear the click-clack of someone’s fingers on the keyboard.Luna frowned and opened her eyes with some difficulty. The first thing she saw was Joshua’s sharp and chiseled side profile. He was doing some work in the car, his laptop propped up in front of him. He had a pair of defined eyebrows, long lashes, and perfectly shaped lips. Luna had to admit that even though Joshua was a scumbag, he was certainly a handsome one. No wonder Alice was willing to give up her old identity and pretend to be Luna Gibson just to gain his love and affection.Luna stared blankly at Joshua, deep in thought, when he suddenly smirked. “What are you looking at?”His low voice made Luna jolt in shock. When she finally came to, Joshua had already turned his head around and was looking at her. “Did you get enough sleep?”Luna froze for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I did.”
Luna opened the door. When she turned around and noticed that Joshua was staring blankly at her, she frowned. “Come in.”Joshua fixated his steely gaze on her. “Last night…”“Stop,” Luna interrupted him. “Joshua, I don’t care whether or not you remember what happened last night, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t feel like talking about this with you any further.” With that, she sat down on the sofa and picked up her laptop. “I have something else to discuss with you.”Joshua narrowed his eyes, entered the apartment, and closed the door behind him.“I’m assuming these are your men, right?” Luna pulled up all the information that Malcolm had sent her and showed the photos to Joshua. Joshua’s brows furrowed. “Yes, you’re right.”However, Joshua had not seen these men in a while since Adrian had requested them to help him ever since he returned to Blue Bay Villa. Adrian’s reason was that he needed them to help him take care of some stuff. Since he was his father, Joshua did not
Joshua shifted into a more comfortable position and leaned against the sofa. “You went to all this trouble just to ask me for the children back?” he said lazily.“Don’t forget that even though Neil and Nellie call you Mommy, Alice and I are still their birth parents, after all.”The room fell silent.Finally, Luna let out a sigh and chuckled. “If even their birth parents don’t seem to care about them, why should we force the children to continue living with their parents?” Joshua raised his eyebrows, turned his head around, and fixated his deep, penetrating gaze on Luna. Then, just as Luna began to feel uneasy from his stare, Joshua replied, “I still care about Neil and Nellie. I never sent these men over to guard Aura.”“How do you explain the photos, then?” Luna clenched her teeth. She could feel her fury beginning to rise within her. He dared to shift the blame?Did Joshua genuinely think he could do whatever he wanted to the children since he was their birth father?“If you d
The entire atmosphere in the room was so awkward that it bordered on suffocating.Luna let out a sigh and glanced at Joshua. “I admit that I misunderstood you, but…” She lifted her head to look at him. “I don’t think it’s entirely my fault. After all, these men were once under you, weren’t they?”Joshua nodded. “Yes, that’s true, but that’s not what I’m talking about, Luna.” His gaze never wavered from her face. “You’re Neil and Nellie’s adoptive mother. I’m glad that you care so much about them, but you must remember that ultimately, they belong to Alice and me. Therefore, you have no right to say we don’t deserve to be parents.”Joshua then smirked and continued, “Take this misunderstanding, for example. I wasn’t the one who sent these men over to protect Aura, but even if I did, what gives you and Malcolm the right to target me on behalf of my children?”Luna froze at that. She felt as though every joint in her body stiffened, and her blood had turned into ice.Joshua’s words f
“Do you have any idea what they’ve been doing abroad?”Adrian frowned and picked up the photos from the table. He recognized the men in the pictures—they were the bodyguards that he had asked Joshua for. However…“I’m not sure.” Adrian put the photos down. “According to my understanding, since you’ve assigned these men over to me, I should have the final say over what I do with them.” He shifted into a more comfortable position, leaned back against his seat, and stared at Joshua coldly. “My friend needed some help, so I sent your men to help him. What’s the problem with that?”Joshua poured himself a glass of wine and gently swirled the glass. There was an air of aloofness and pomposity about him. “Which friend of yours? Dennis Walter?”Adrian glowered at him but did not respond.“It appears my guess is right.” Joshua sneered. “Let me ask you this, Master Lynch. Do you know why Dennis needed these men?”Adrian paused and lifted his head to stare at Joshua. Joshua gracefully tip