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
Joshua stopped in his tracks and chided, “Just because I’m sticking up for Luna, you think I’ve fallen for her?” He curled his lips into a contemptuous smirk and added, “How about you, Dad? You’re very protective of Hailey as well. Does that mean you’re in love with her?”Adrian grew furious the moment he heard Joshua’s words. He slammed his fists against the table and roared, “How dare you even say that, Joshua? I’ve been friends with Dennis for such a long time now. Hailey is like a daughter to me! Besides, she’s dead now—how dare you even say such disrespectful things?”Joshua chuckled. “No one is certain whether she’s truly dead or not, but…” He turned around and glanced at Adrian. “I learned this from you, Dad.”Adrian was so enraged that he began struggling to breathe. “You b*stard! How dare you even talk to your father like this?”“If I’m a b*stard, what are you, Master Lynch?” snapped Joshua before he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.Adrian flipped t
Neil and Nellie quieted down as soon as they heard Nigel’s words.Luna, too, let out a deep sigh. “I’ll try to think of something as well.” She then comforted the two children before she hung up, somewhat exhausted.Nellie was right. Even if Alice did not dare to treat them like how she did when she kidnapped them, she would still go out of her way to make their lives at Blue Bay Villa miserable.She would not dare do anything to them when Joshua was around, but what would happen if Joshua was away from home?Luna pondered over that for a while, then finally had no choice but to call Joshua.“Is there something wrong?” Joshua did not seem to be in a good mood. There was a hint of irritation in his tone when he picked up his phone.Luna frowned and tried to get straight to the point. “I remember you told me before that Mrs. Lynch has been learning jewelry design on her own, is that right?”Joshua leaned against the leather seat of his car and closed his eyes, trying to suppress h
The glimmer of hope in Luna’s eyes dimmed as she heard Joshua’s response. Her hand started to shake.Luna let out an exhale and tried to compose herself so as not to let Joshua hear how devastated she was. “Mr. Lynch, even if you think I’m just worrying too much, I still have my reasons for doing this.”“Since I’m willing to give Mrs. Lynch all the credit for my hard work, isn’t that a bonus for both of you? If that happens, she can work for Lynch Group without fearing anyone’s opinion…”Joshua leaned against his car seat and chuckled. “If I want to let my wife work for me, I wouldn’t even care what any of my employees think.”Luna’s hand stiffened. Joshua continued in a low voice, “She’s my wife; she can take over any job position as long as I see fit. She doesn’t need to take credit for your work to do so.”Luna felt as though something had hit her.He was right.As long as Joshua wanted to, he could offer Alice any position he wanted in the company. He would even let her be
“This will be my office now.”Luna froze. After a long while, she widened her eyes in delight. “Are you here to work?”Alice shot her an irritated glare. “Of course!”Alice did not know why Joshua had suddenly insisted on sending her to work in Luna’s department, and as her assistant, no less! She slept so soundly that morning when, all of a sudden, Joshua woke her and demanded she go to work. Of course, she was frustrated by that, but she did not dare protest. What ruffled Alice’s feathers the most was Joshua’s instructions. He had informed her beforehand that no matter what, she would have to obey Luna’s orders. The worst part was that Joshua did not allow her to take credit for Luna’s work after the project was completed.Alice could not understand any of this. She was the CEO’s wife, for God’s sake! How could she work as a lowly assistant, and for Luna, no less?Although her official job title was as an assistant, Alice knew that her responsibilities were to take care of e
Luna immediately lunged forward and shoved Alice aside.The glass frame was smashed into smithereens, and there was a gaping hole in Luna’s face in the photo where Alice had stepped on with her high heel. Thankfully, Nigel’s half of the picture was still intact.This was the last photo Luna had taken with Nigel before she came back to Banyan City. Every time she felt tired and burnt out, she would look at the photo, and it would magically give her the motivation to persevere.However…Luna frowned and picked up the remaining shreds of the photo. The broken shards of glass cut into her finger, but she did not seem to feel any pain. She wiped the blood off and gingerly put the photo into her pocket.“Director Luna…” The rest of the employees were gathered around her door with worried faces and contemplated whether to help her or not.Alice automatically sneered when she saw how devastated Luna was. “It’s just a photo of you and Neil. Why are you so upset about it, Luna? It’s not li
Joshua strode over to Luna and extended his hand toward her. “Give me the photo.”Luna frowned and backed away instead of complying. She knew that Joshua probably wanted to help her piece the photo back together again to make up for what Alice had done, but…This was a photo of her and Nigel.Even though Joshua had seen it before, he never paid much attention to it. If she gave it to him, and he restored it for her…Luna was afraid that Joshua would discover the boy in the photo was not Neil as he had thought.Joshua did not know of Nigel’s existence. As soon as he discovered Neil and Nellie’s true identities, he immediately took them away from her. She could not lose Nigel to him, too.“I just want to help you.” Joshua frowned and took a step toward her.Luna immediately shook her head. “There’s no need. I can do it myself…”“Luna!” Joshua’s brows furrowed. “Do you want me to snatch it away from you?”Luna paused, then lifted her head to stare at him.A flurry of emotions
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