The cop stood up and said, “Actually, I’ve already finished recording her statement. It’s just that she kept on insisting that we arrest her boss…”Joshua smiled at him. “Thank you so much, officer.” Then, he lowered his face to glance at Irene. “Ms. Cook, shall we go now?”Irene was already excited by the fact that Joshua Lynch, the richest man in Banyan City, wanted to send her home, but with him directly talking to her, she felt as though she was on cloud nine.She stood up somewhat dazedly and replied, “Okay…”Because she had been so badly beaten up, coupled with her excitement, Irene almost fell as soon as she stood up.Joshua immediately grabbed hold of her. “Be careful.”Irene was so overjoyed by his reaction that her entire body felt light as if she was about to float off like a balloon at any minute.Was this a dream? Why else would Joshua Lynch treat her so kindly all of a sudden!Joshua dragged her out of the police station. Irene was so overcome by delight that she
“Alice Gibson?” Irene glanced at Joshua with a puzzled expression. “Who’s that?”Joshua narrowed his eyes and showed Irene the screen, which displayed the name ‘Alice’ on it. “This person. Who is this? How do you know her?”Irene furrowed her brows. “She added me through the company group chat tonight after I exposed Luna’s wrongdoings.“She told me she’s enemies with Luna, so I accepted her friend request and chatted with her for a bit… We gossiped and talked about Luna.”Joshua frowned upon hearing this. “Where’s the chat history?”“I deleted it.” Irene pursed her lips. “This person named Alice told me that Luna knows a very skilled hacker and that she might hack into our phones. She told me to delete our chat history, so I did.”Joshua narrowed his eyes slightly.This person named ‘Alice’ definitely had something to do with Irene being beaten up. Joshua guessed that she probably wanted to cover her tracks, so she lied to Irene about the hacker to get her to delete the chat
Alice triumphantly sent the text as she stretched herself, yawning. Then, she switched off the backup phone, went out into the yard, and tossed it into the man-made lake behind Blue Bay Villa.There. Evidence destroyed.“What are you doing?” Suddenly, a cold voice rang out behind her.Alice froze that instant, and it was only a long while later that she turned around somewhat stiffly.Joshua stood behind her and leaned against one of the gazebo’s pillars. He fixed his cool, impassive gaze on Alice’s face.Alice suddenly felt grateful that she texted Irene instead of calling her.Did he…notice anything?Alice let out a small cough and tried to suppress the panic she was feeling. “It’s a backup phone that I used when conducting business abroad. I found it just now and discovered it had already broken, so I can’t use it anymore. I threw it into the lake out of frustration.”She scratched her head sheepishly. “Was I too rash? Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to throw it into the lake. I
Luna’s sudden turn-around startled the employees that stood behind her.One of them eyed the Bluetooth earphones that Luna was wearing and asked cautiously, “You…can hear us?”Luna furrowed her brows.Of course she could.She was wearing her Bluetooth earphones because she had called Neil on her way to Lynch Group Tower and forgot to take them off when she got out of the taxi.These people thought she could not hear her, so that was why they even dared to gossip about her right behind her.Luna did not want to get involved, but she could no longer tolerate their ever-growing atrocity.She narrowed her eyes and glanced at the woman who had spoken. “You still haven’t answered my question. What happened to Irene?”The woman hesitated for a moment before finally handing Luna her phone. “Take a look at it yourself… We didn’t want to believe this at first, but look at this chat history…”Luna frowned, took the phone from her, and glanced at it.A chuckle escaped her as she read wha
Alice had come specially to watch this scene unfold.Irene knew that chat history could not be used as evidence in court, so instead, she posted them online to spark public dispute.At the same time, Alice had contacted her with another number and convinced her to make a scene. [If I had suffered injustice like this, my friends would definitely stick up for me! I’d show up in front of Lynch Group Tower with a banner and humiliate this woman!]When she thought of this, Alice glanced at the group of people who had stormed up the stairs.Irene was indeed a very useful pawn in her game. There was always use for people who did not know how to think for themselves and blindly followed orders.Alice sighed and gracefully strolled toward the front doors, her heels click-clacking on the pavement.“Mrs. Lynch?” All of a sudden, the security guard at the door raised his arm to stop her. “What a coincidence. We meet again.”Alice frowned and lifted her head to glance at the man.The man be
“Luna, come out!”“Luna, come out and apologize!”“Come out now! Stop playing dead!”…Outside the design department was Irene, who brought a few of her friends and a few others hired bodyguards. They revealed a banner.The group protested outside the design department as they held up banners and flags, all while murderous intent burned among them.Irene sat in the middle of the group. The bruises on her face seemed to be even more serious than the day before.She was sobbing with tears.“I admit that I shouldn’t have spread unconfirmed rumors, but how ruthless of you to treat me this way, Luna! I was about to go on a blind date today. Look at me now! Not only can I not go on the blind date, but I also lost a good job I just found yesterday. You have to compensate for my losses, Luna! My physical, mental, and emotional well-being! Waa…!”The noise outside was quite loud, but Luna was in her office with headphones. She heard nothing.Arianna looked at Zayne, then at Samson. Sh
Irene was extremely agitated. “What you said yesterday was all true, right? How dare Luna accuse me of spreading false rumors. She even got people to beat me up…”Celeste slightly furrowed her brows before, a moment later, she laughed. “I pity you. Not only is Luna so immoral, but she’s also vicious…”“Mrs. Allen, are you here to look for Luna as well?”Celeste smiled. “Of course.”When she returned to the hotel the night before, Theo accidentally overheard her casually mention her meeting with Luna in the hotel to Nathan.Theo was currently at home on a hunger strike, forcing Celeste to apologize to Luna.Celeste was there not to truly apologize to Luna, though. She came to make Luna break up with Theo.Celeste did not expect that there would be a protest outside of Luna’s design department.Celeste raised her eyes and watched as the people held up their banners, smiling a little before she turned to look at Irene. “Actually, protesting this way won’t bring results. It seems t
Celeste’s expression instantly contorted uglily upon Luna’s words.She glared at Luna fiercely. “What do you mean by this? Are you trying to show off your wealth to me? Isn’t my son the one who gives you your money?”Luna sneered. “Mrs. Allen, I was wrong in calling you a crazy old hag. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”Celeste furrowed her brows. Why did Luna suddenly change her attitude and apologized to her?She harrumphed coldly. “Good that you know that, you…”“I really shouldn’t have called you that,” Luna coldly interrupted Celeste before she could finish. “In my eyes, crazy old hags would still have a small brain. You, on the other hand, don’t even have one.”Celeste’s eyes widened. She raised her voice a few octaves. “What do you mean by that?”“What do I mean?” Luna sneered. She picked up the check that Celeste gave her and elegantly tore it up into pieces. “In your opinion, a famous artist, whose works cost at least a few million dollars, is only worth five million dollars? 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