"You don't need to say a damn thing," he flicked his lighter and smirked. "I found you passed out on the street and brought you back. Even had a doctor check you out."Kisa's heart pounded at his words, and she instinctively clutched her stomach.David gave her a cold glance and snickered. "No wonder you never had the balls to take on Gilbert. You've been carrying his seed all this time.""You knew I was never serious about working with you?" Kisa asked.David chuckled. "Your acting skills were top-notch. I was fooled until Mia handed me those classified files. But no worries. Everything is under my control now.""What else do you want from me?" Kisa asked, her voice icy. "You have already gone after Christopher, Carolyn, and taken everything, from the Kooper residence to GK. What more could you possibly want?"David sneered. "That is not even close to enough. Compared to the pain I have suffered, those things are mere child's play."As he gazed upon Kisa's enraged face, David l
'Just as I thought...' Kisa's heart was a tangled mess as she cast her eyes downward.David sneered. "You know Gilbert's been hurting you all along, right? Meanwhile, my son risked his life to save you, but you still chose Gilbert. And then there is the old bat. Just because Gilbert likes you, she crushed my son's dreams and kicked him out of the country. Even now, that old bat is still selfish as hell."Suddenly, David bent down and glared at her. "If you had to choose again, who would you pick?"Without a moment's hesitation, Kisa looked up and replied, "Gilbert. I would still choose Gilbert."David stood up straight, laughing bitterly. "Damn, you are heartless, just like your mom.""Favor and feelings are two different things. Jensen saved my life, and I would do the same for him. But emotions can't be forced.""Right, you can't force it. She only stayed with me because she felt obligated. That was why she was able to move on so easily with Christopher. But she always loved Da
"Let me go. Gilbert would never trade me for his grandma. In his heart, she is his queen bee."David lit a cigarette and spoke in a slow, menacing tone, "I'll let you go when I find Mrs. Kooper Sr.""Why the hell do you even care? Let bygones be bygones," she replied."But I can't." David chuckled. "I've been in hiding for too damn long, scheming for years, all for this moment. I can't stop now. Mrs. Kooper Sr., Gilbert, and you all have to pay the price.""You resent Mrs. Kooper Sr. for booting you out of the Kooper family, huh? But let's be real, as a mother, she is bound to play favorites with her own flesh and blood. Plus, she treated you like royalty every other day and even wept when mentioning you to me. She has still got a soft spot for you, doesn't she?"David stayed silent, the smoke from his cigarette coiling around his fingers and enshrouding his face.Kisa let out a breath and continued. "And my mom, she didn't betray you. She had a diary—""There is no damn diary,"
Kisa asked, "What did David tell you when you confronted him?"Thomas helped her put on her coat and replied, "Not a damn thing. And he didn't breathe a word about our mom either. Come on, Kisa. He's asleep now, so we got to go. We can talk outside.""But there are guards all over the damn place. How the hell are we supposed to escape?" Kisa asked, feeling worried."We can. I dug a hole in the backyard ahead of time. We'll slip out that way." Thomas sighed, "Maybe my biological father feels guilty about me. That's probably why he let me stay here and didn't even bother to put a tail on me. Lucky for me, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to get you out." Thomas spoke with conviction, and Kisa did not dwell on it further.Once they made it to the ground floor, they made a beeline for the backyard. "What the hell? There were guards posted outside my door. How come they are not here today?" Kisa wondered."Oh, I just made up some excuse to get them out of our way. We need to ma
"Since it is just a meaningless call, just hang up..."The line went dead.Kisa sat on the ground, stunned.'Gilbert didn't even bother saving my number. How much does he loathe me to treat me like a complete stranger? And that woman, what the is she doing with Gilbert? They seem too close!'Countless speculations raced through her mind, making her heart ache. But she took a deep breath and forced herself not to overthink. The urgent task was to get out of here.Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the distance. she gritted her teeth against the pain in her belly and squinted in its direction. With a streetlamp close by, she eventually saw that the person was Thomas. He had escaped, but he was hurt.Without hesitation, Kisa ran over to him and asked, "Are you okay?"Thomas froze for a second before blurting out, "What the hell are you still doing here? You need to get out of here, now!"Kisa did not reply. Instead, she pulled him to a nearby spot to sit down. Thomas had injur
Thomas was holed up in the hotel. He was injured and his legs were practically useless. To make matters worse, his wound was starting to get infected, and he could not manage on his own without proper care.Meanwhile, Kisa was weak. When she tried to get up, she moved too quickly, causing her to stumble and fall clumsily to the ground as soon as her feet hit the floor.Gilbert was standing there, watching her with piercing eyes. His voice was colder than the icy winter winds. "What the hell were you doing in that alley? Are you and David scheming something again?"Kisa shook her head, struggling to get back up from the ground. She looked at Gilbert and asked, "Is your grandma okay?"Gilbert's eyes scanned her up and down as he spoke with a frigid tone, "You look like a hot mess. Are you playing the distressed damsel to help David extract information about Grandma?"As Kisa listened to Gilbert's baseless accusations, a sharp pain pierced her heart. She took a deep breath and said n
Gilbert just could not bring himself to be cruel to the woman before him. Despite everything, he took her to his place—a decrepit courtyard tucked away deep in the alleyways of the old city district.Kelvin had been taking care of his grandmother's illness here. With Kelvin around, Kisa did not have to worry about Thomas' injury. But Kelvin was not exactly thrilled to see her. As soon as he laid eyes on her, his face darkened, and he grabbed Gilbert's arm, saying in a harsh tone, "Why the hell did you bring her here? What if she rats us out to David and puts your grandma in danger?"Kisa was quick to defend herself, blurting out, "I won't tell David. I just escaped from him."Kelvin sneered, "Yeah, right. You're full of sh*t. Who knows if you and David cooked up this little scheme to mess with us.""I didn't—""Enough!" Gilbert cut her off coldly, turning to Kelvin. "Check out Thomas' injury first."Kelvin scowled. "Are you kidding me? Not only are you not kicking her out, but no
Before Kisa could finish her sentence, the creaky wooden door was suddenly pushed open, and Gilbert stood coldly at the entrance. "If you've got something to say, just say it. No need to stir up trouble here." His eyes filled with disgust.Kisa's heart sank. She averted his gaze and said, "I just want you guys to watch out for Sara. She's very likely working with David. She was responsible for the collapse in the basement of the Mullen residence."Gilbert leaned against the doorway and lit a cigarette. "She's more honest than you are," he said, his voice tinged with fatigue.Kisa felt a sudden pang. "So you don't believe me?" she asked.Kelvin suddenly let out a cold laugh. "You just said it yourself. Sara confessed to us that she was helping David, including the incident at the Mullen residence. She overheard David plotting to hurt Mrs. Kooper Sr. and risked her own life to save her. If it wasn't for her, Mrs. Kooper Sr. would probably be in David's hands right now.""No..." Kisa