“Look after Nellie, I’ll come home immediately.”Joshua hung up the phone and stood up to leave.“Wait, wait!”Hearing him mention Nellie, Luna hurriedly stood up. “What happened to Nellie?”His hand that held the door handle trembled slightly. He turned his head and studied Luna’s face coldly.Facing his suspicious eyes, Luna sucked in a deep breath. “I’m Nellie’s personal servant; caring for her is what I should do.”The man opened the door and strode into the hallway. “Let’s go.”On the way to Blue Bay Villa, Luna tried to ask him about Nellie’s situation. He glanced at her coldly and threw the contract at her, “You’re not her personal servant yet.”Luna pursed her lips, signed the contract, and handed it to him. “Can you now tell me what happened to Nellie, Mr. Lynch?”Joshua frowned slightly. “Aura came to look for Nellie.”Luna felt like her heart fell into a deep chasm just by listening to him. Aura went to look for Nellie!Why?Nellie was the smallest amongst he
“She hit her.”Aura pouted slightly and continued, “The moment she entered the room, she accused Nellie of offending me before she slapped her. I couldn’t stop her in time.”She even faked a distressed expression as she knelt and reached out to touch Nellie’s face. “It must’ve hurt so much, huh?”Nellie glared at her, eyes full of hostility, as she slapped her hand away and wriggled out of Joshua’s lap. She ran toward Luna and interlaced her fingers with hers. “You…are you okay?”Luna straightened her back, though the pain from the kick still lingered. “I’m fine.”Aura poured all her strength into the kick, and Luna still carried an old wound from the accident six years ago. The kick almost rendered her unable to stand.Nellie knew this all too well. She tugged at Luna’s finger anxiously and settled her down on a corner of the sofa. “Does it hurt?”The little girl’s concerned voice and attitude made Joshua furrow his brow slightly. “Aura, you said she hit Nellie?”Aura’s hand
“Does it still hurt?”In the small bedroom upstairs, Luna knelt in front of Nellie as she carefully applied ointment on the little girl’s face with a cotton swab.“It hurts!” Nellie looked at Luna, teary-eyed. “Mommy, it hurts.”“Shush.” Luna frowned and raised a finger, placing it to her lips. “Be careful what you say. I’m your servant, so call me Auntie.”“Oh.”Nellie wiped her tears as her pair of big, dewy eyes were filled with distress. “Auntie, this is the first time someone beat me like this since I was born.” Her small body trembled from her sobs.Luna’s heart clenched in pain as the tip of her nose turned pink.It was all her fault.She should not have left Nellie in this villa alone to make Joshua less suspicious of her.Inhaling deeply, she held Nellie’s hand, her eyes full of self-blame. “It’s not your fault; it’s all because of that bad woman.”Nellie pursed her lips. “I hate her to death.”“You’re not allowed to talk like this in the future.” Lips tucked togeth
Not long after Neil sat down, the waiter began to serve Aura.Neil reached out his hand to stop the waiter—who was delivering food to Aura—and asked with his big eyes blinking, “Hi, what’s this dish?” The little boy was so cute and well-behaved that the waiter could not help but stop and smiled at him. “This is filet mignon. If you want to eat it, ask your mom to order you one!”Neil looked at the waiter with a smile and nodded. “Thank you, you’re very beautiful!”The waitress, in her forties, was delighted by the little boy’s compliment, and even the steps of serving food became a lot lighter.“Do you want to eat that steak?” asked the frowning Anne.Neil smiled slyly. “No.”“Then why did you just—” “Godmother,” interrupted Neil before Anne could finish. “Let’s make a bet.”The boy took Anne’s cell phone and started the stopwatch. “I bet that woman won’t be able to continue eating in ten seconds.”Anne eyed him dubiously. “She just started eating.”She gave Neil a side-ey
Luna merely passed her and continued to walk toward the bus stop. “We have nothing to talk about.”“Is there nothing to talk about, or are you just afraid to talk?” Aura opened the door and got out of the car, grabbing Luna’s wrist. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s on your mind!“You should be younger than me. Let alone having a baby, you’re still a child yourself, right? A woman who has never given birth to a child, yet you’re desperate enough to slave away under a six-year-old girl just for a salary of a few thousand dollars a month?”Luna shook her hand away. “Then you tell me: what am I doing this for?”Aura narrowed her eyes.The situation was chaotic yesterday so she paid no attention to the woman’s appearance. As she was up close to her at this moment, however, she found her face to be flawless as if it was carved by an artist.“You’re pretty, but you should also know that Joshua is my fiance. I advise you not to seduce on him so shamelessly!”Luna smiled.Did Aura consi
There were ten pages of information on Luna.Joshua studied the document for a long time but found no flaws in them. Mildly annoyed, he got up and went to the bathroom.“Okay, you’ll have to take care over there.” Joshua heard a crisp childish voice the moment he entered the bathroom, and he stopped washing his hands.The company clearly stipulated that staff members were not allowed to bring their children to work. Why were there children in the company at this hour?He furrowed his brows and followed the voice before it led him to a compartment. The moment he walked to the door of the compartment, and before he could knock on the door, it opened.Smack! The door to the compartment slammed into his forehead loudly, and Joshua hissed as he instinctively covered his forehead. Neil walked out of the cubicle a trace of sly pride flashed in his eyes for a second before he raised his head and looked at Joshua apologetically. “I’m sorry, so sorry! I didn’t know someone was outside s
Joshua’s held a fork in his hand and paused slightly.He raised his head, and those black eyes looked at Luna’s face indifferently. “If I asked her to move in, then those women who wanted to hook up with me wouldn’t have a chance anymore, would they?”The man’s words made Luna squint slightly, but after a while, she smiled. “I always thought that the relationship between Mr. Lynch and Ms. Gibson was strong enough. It seems that I’ve been thinking too much.”Joshua curled his lips faintly. “Even so, some people who approach me with a purpose from the get-go stand no chance.”“Then Mr. Lynch is very faithful and loyal to his lover,” retorted Luna. “It seems that I misunderstood you.”Noticing that the atmosphere on the dining table grew more intense by the moment, Nellie quickly stretched out her little hand to stop their eye contact. “Stop arguing!”“We’re not.”Her daughter’s anxious voice made Luna come back to her senses.She quickly calmed herself down and gave Joshua a fain
“I feel like eating cake today!”In the children’s room upstairs, Nellie pushed open the door with a small hand and held Luna’s with the other. “The sweet yam flavor that I tried before.”Luna smiled helplessly and nodded. “Okay.”Both mother and daughter went downstairs, immersed in their conversation. As soon as Luna reached the top of the stairs, she saw the photo that hung on the wall beside the stairs.She froze. The photo showed how she was before.She stood beside Joshua in a wedding dress and looked at him, her eyes filled with love and shone with the light of a thousand stars.Joshua’s face, on the other hand, was as usual—eternally empty and expressionless.Looking at this photo, Luna felt like she was being struck by lightning.She remembered how she carefully selected her and Joshua’s wedding photos, one by one. She poured her effort into her little project and hung them everywhere he could see. She felt that one day, he would understand her sincere feelings for him
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