Melissa was evidently taken aback. After a moment, she said, "No, I had no idea.""I actually thought Kirby sneaked over here because he was afraid we would stop him from following you when we just wanted him to focus on his recovery in Keman," Sean said casually, as though he were talking about something trivial.He continued, "He's not fully recovered, so remember to let me know if he contacts you now that he's in Lonla. I have to arrange for him to get proper bed rest, or he might really lose his limbs."Sean deliberately made the situation sound grave to gauge Melissa's reaction. Sure enough, she subconsciously balled her hand, which rested on the couch's armrest, into a fist. She wasn't even in the mood to have the peeled grapes a maid placed before her.Melissa knew the special team of bodyguards Brian had assigned to Kirby to protect her had died in Menko, after which Kirby had been resting and recuperating. Kirby was still hospitalized when Brian was arrested, so there ha
Kirby hadn't left himself any room for escape after this assassination attempt. That was why he'd turned his phone off and hidden it somewhere. He didn't have anything on him to prove his identity. But he hadn't expected Lonla authorities to find out who he was so quickly.Still unable to reach Kirby, Melissa frowned and looked through the news. Perhaps it was because she constantly checked for news on Monica, but she soon saw a photo of Monica leaving a restaurant hand-in-hand with a man.She was dressed comfortably in flats and sunglasses. She held a coffee in one hand, and her other hand was locked with the man's. He was tall, and he held Monica's bag in his other hand. He'd turned to face her as he said something to her, and they were laughing.Melissa was taken aback. The man holding Monica's hand was handsome but evidently wasn't Sean. She was stunned. She wondered if the man rumored to be Monica's boyfriend wasn't Sean.She continued reading the article. Someone in the comme
Sean merely looked at Melissa with pursed lips. He didn't say anything."Why are you looking at me like that, Shane? Can't you save Kirby?" Melissa's tears rolled down her face.Sean said slowly, "I've asked Brayden to keep an eye on things. I need to head to Krontos to deal with something, so I'll see what the situation is like. I can't promise that I can get Kirby out, though. It isn't our turf, after all."Melissa nodded. "Thanks, Shane."He stood up, his eyes still on her. Ultimately, he said patiently, "Be good and remember to take all your meals. Don't throw any tantrums!""Okay." She nodded again.It was only after Sean was gone that she relaxed. She knew he suspected her. Still, there wasn't anything she needed to worry about on Kirby's side. He wouldn't rat on her, no matter how badly he was tortured.At most, he would say the same thing as before—that he'd gone after Monica because he was worried for Melissa when he saw how Sean still refused to accept Melissa.
Sean held Angeline's hand. "I'll deal with this. I'll get you a glass of water.""I want to take a shower first…" Angeline massaged her temples. "Today's liquor seemed particularly strong, and I was in the wind earlier. My head's aching.""Take a bath, then. I'll draw you one," he said softly."Okay." She nodded. "Thanks."Sean drew Angeline a bath in the master bedroom's bathroom. When he came out and saw her leaning against the couch, looking tired while resting her eyes, he went to the kitchen to get her some water with honey.Just then, her phone rang. She picked it up and saw the call was from an unknown number. Still, she answered it. "Hello?"The person on the other end of the line didn't seem to expect her to answer. He sounded choked up as he said, "Angie…"Angeline opened her eyes with a frown. It was Ned. She'd previously set her phone to reject all calls from unknown numbers but later changed it because Kirby was arrested. She'd forgotten to change it b
"I'll be at Grand Court Residences soon—give me two minutes! I'll be there just after turning this corner!" Ned said urgently, afraid Angeline would turn him down.She pursed her lips. "Fine.""Don't rush, okay? I'll wait for you downstairs. Put on a jacket or something. It still gets a little chilly at night," he said.Angeline hung up and got up. With her phone in hand, she told Sean, "I'm going downstairs for a while.""To see Ned?" he asked grimly."Yeah. He's just downstairs, and I'll be back soon."Sean's frown deepened at her words. "Why would you still need to see him?"She didn't explain. All she said was, "There's something I need to confirm. I'll be right back."Sean was still extremely bothered by Ned. After all, Ned and Angeline had grown up together and were childhood sweethearts.In the past, Sean had shown up before Angeline as her elder, trying to stop her from being with Ned. He knew how deeply she'd loved Ned.If Ned hadn't hurt Angeline so thorough
Angeline didn't want to leave any photos of Jessica at the Emmerson residence. After all, she knew the latter was still alive. So, she'd destroyed the photo before leaving the place. Ned had been there with her.Now, Ned headed to the back of the car and opened the trunk, pulling out a photo slotted between the pages of a notebook. He handed it to Angeline.Her pupils constricted at it. In the photo, Jessica was haggard and almost skeleton-like after the torment she'd been through, and her eyes had been devoid of light. The clothes she wore were Juliet's—she'd only been allowed to change into them for the photo."I happened to stumble upon a secondhand store owned by someone from Lonla when I was abroad, and I found this photo inside. I bought the whole album and took this photo out for you." Ned fixed his gaze on Angeline.He continued, "Later, I saw the photo Mallory posted on her Twitter. You were too young then, so you might not remember…"He took out his phone and pulled up
Angeline looked at the photo, unable to hide her hatred and disgust for the Emmerson family. She held out a hand in Ned's direction. "Lend me your lighter."He was taken aback for a while before pulling his lighter out of his pocket. He handed it to Angeline and watched as she set a corner of the photo on fire, her expression aloof.Ned moved his gaze from the photo to Angeline's face. He didn't think he'd done anything pointless. At least it had given him the chance to see Angeline, whom he'd been dreaming of for days.But once the photo was destroyed, he wouldn't have any excuse to see her anymore. He knew there was no way she would agree to see him if not for the matter being related to Jessica.The photo curled from the heat, and the flames slowly burned away Juliet's smiling face as she held Benjamin in her arms. Next to go was George, who was also beaming. Then, Jessica and Angeline, whose expressions were stoic and indifferent, were the last.Angeline only released the ph
Angeline merely glanced at Ned before turning to head inside the apartment building. Ned remained rooted to the spot as he clenched his fists tighter. His breathing sped up as he watched Angeline disappear inside and the doors shut behind her.She arrived in the elevator lobby and had just pressed the call button for the elevator when Ned charged inside. His facial recognition scan was still valid, so he wasn't barred from entering the building.Just as Angeline stepped inside the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse, he burst inside with her. His chest heaved as he watched her. He pressed the button for the fourth floor before turning back to stare at her with a heartbroken look.Knowing that his apartment was on the fourth floor, she paid him no mind. But as soon as the elevator arrived at the fourth floor, Ned grabbed Angeline's arm and dragged her out with him. He unlocked his door and dragged her inside."What the hell, Ned?" she yelled. The door slammed shut be