“What’s wrong?” Theo stood up as soon as he noticed Luna’s peculiar expression. “Does your wound hurt? Are you upset because you don’t want to meet my parents?”An alarmed expression flashed across Theo’s face. “If you don’t want to meet them, I can give them a call right away…”Luna shook her head. “No, it’s not that.” She lifted her head to gaze at him and said, “Can we have dinner someplace else instead? It’s just that I…don’t like Bamboo Palace.”Luna was worried that she would run into Joshua during dinner. If they bumped into each other this night, Luna feared Joshua would cause a scene and humiliate Theo in front of his parents.“Oh, is that it?” Theo’s face lit up almost immediately, and he stood up. “That’s easy! My parents’ plane will be landing at Banyan City Airport in an hour. I’ll pick them up now and ask them to change the venue to someplace else.”Theo shot Luna an excited glance and added, “You… You’d better dress up! I’ll send you the address of the new venue in
Joshua stood at the hotel entrance in his black suit and appeared to be on the phone with someone. Alice, standing next to him, looked serene and captivating in her sparkling, navy blue dress.Luna looked away from them and felt a sudden twinge of pain shoot through her heart.“Luna?” Theo’s questioning voice rang out. Luna immediately came to and realized that the elevator door before her had already opened. She exhaled and hastily entered the elevator as though running away from something.“This Mr. and Mrs. Allen that you’re meeting with seem like strange people.” Alice pursed her lips in indignation. “They’d already decided to send one of their subordinates to meet with us on their behalf, but they oh-so suddenly changed their minds and decided to come themselves.“They agreed to meet at Bamboo Palace, and I even went all out and decorated the entire place to welcome them, but they changed the venue at the last minute. Don’t you think they’re a little stuck-up? It’s not like
Luna and Theo exchanged glances as soon as they heard the voice coming from the other side of the door. They were more than familiar with it.“Yes, it is!” Nathan leaped out of his seat excitedly, strode over, and flung open the door. A young couple stood outside the door. The man was tall and slender with an aura of sophistication about him, while the woman looked serene and charming. “You must be Mr. Lynch!” Nathan immediately extended his hand out to shake Joshua’s. “Please come in!”Joshua offered a small smile and eyed Luna, who sat inside the booth. She wore a formal and elegant skirt, and she even put on makeup. She looked much more stunning than how she usually looked at work.It was clear that Luna had put in the effort to look good for Theo’s parents.Joshua narrowed his eyes and pulled Alice into the room impassively. Alice strolled in with a smile on her face, but as soon as she caught sight of Theo and Luna in the corner, she froze. After a moment, however, she p
Luna frowned and met Joshua’s gaze. “What do you think, Mr. Lynch?”Joshua stared at Luna’s face and recalled what Jude had said to him earlier this afternoon... “Anything can happen, but I do hope that beautiful employee of yours isn’t Hailey Walter. Otherwise, it’d be disgusting to know that you slept with the woman you hate the most, multiple times.”Joshua continued to stare at Luna stiffly. Eight years ago was indeed the first time Hailey ever met Luna Gibson. Theo seemed to detect the hostility in Joshua’s eyes and immediately interjected, “Aren’t you here to talk business with my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lynch? Why don’t we discuss that now? We have plenty of time to catch up in the future.”Alice feared Luna would accidentally say something to expose her, so she hastily agreed with Theo. “He’s right. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are here today to talk business. Please, don’t let our chatter interfere with your work progress!”Joshua narrowed his eyes and glanced at Luna one more tim
The entire room grew silent as Joshua’s words hung in the air.After a long pause, Nathan smiled and said, “What are you talking about, Mr. Lynch? We’re going to become work partners soon. Plus, your wife is close friends with Luna. Isn’t this marriage meant to be? Why are you—”“Because,” responded Joshua as he pointed his bony finger at Luna, “she’s not a good match.”The atmosphere in the booth grew so silent that one could hear a pin drop. The color drained from Luna’s face, but Theo’s expression did not look good either. Nathan and Celeste looked at one another, bewildered.“Joshua.” Alice frowned and sat down next to Joshua. Then, she lowered her voice and said, “Luna finally managed to find a boyfriend, and both Theo and his parents seem to be very happy with her… Why are you saying things like this? Do you know what’ll happen if you break up a marriage?”Although Alice had lowered her voice and appeared to be whispering in Joshua’s ear, everyone heard her.At first gl
As soon as they heard that, Celeste and Nathan turned to one another.“Besides, Mr. Lynch is right.” Luna let out an exhale. “I’m not a good match for Theo. He’s such a kind and gentle person; I don’t think I deserve him at all. I thought tonight was just a small family dinner, but I didn’t expect an engagement to come out of this. I’m sorry.”With that, Luna turned around. However, just as she was about to leave, she paused as if she had recalled something and took a step back.“Mr. Lynch.” Luna slowly approached Joshua and smiled at him. “Are you happy now?”Joshua snorted in indignation and gently set down the cup at hand. “Yes, I am.”Luna stared at him, and a glimmer of malice flashed across her eyes. A second later, a smack landed on Joshua’s face before he could even react.Luna had given him such a forceful blow that his face was struck to one side from the impact. Luna drew back her throbbing hand and chided, “Anyone can think I’m impure and promiscuous, but you, Mr. L
Joshua felt as though his blood had run cold. He gripped his phone tightly and enunciated slowly, “That’s impossible.”“But…” Lucas’ frantic voice rang out from the other end of the line. “She climbed onto the railing of Bay Bridge! Sir…should I call the police?”Joshua had tried to compose himself, but as soon as he heard that, his calm façade crumbled. He roared into the phone, “Keep an eye on her!”With that, he hung up the phone and stormed out of the room.“Joshua… Josh—” By the time Alice finally came to, Joshua had already disappeared around the end of the hallway.She was so furious that she immediately smashed the tableware onto the floor.Luna! That b*tch!If she wanted to die, they should just let her be!She deserved to die! She should have died six years ago!Joshua came out of the hotel lobby and hopped into his car. He harshly stepped on the gas pedal and sped toward Bay Bridge as fast as his car could go.He finally realized why Luna had stared at him like tha
However, Joshua did not know what Luna meant and instead interpreted it as something else.He narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to commit suicide and frame me for murder…because I stopped you from marrying Theo?” Luna froze for a moment, then chuckled. “You have a very good imagination, Mr. Lynch. This does sound like a good idea.” She let out a sigh and gazed at a distance. “If my death would mean that you receive the punishment you deserve, then it sounds like a fair trade.”However, Luna knew that would not happen.She nearly died many years ago, but not only was Joshua unaffected by that, he even got engaged to Aura. Not only did he manage to land another woman, but he also received a reputation as a faithful and devoted husband.Therefore, Luna did not want to die. Not before Joshua did, at least!“You’re willing to risk your life just to get back at me,” commented Joshua coldly as he squinted. “Do you like Theo that much?”Luna sneered but did not reply.Joshua sighed a
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