The next time Sean met Angeline, he was 17 years old, and she was 12.Angeline had been stabbed twice because she wanted to save Ned. She lay on the hospital bed and refused the Lawsons' help once again.She was a scrawny kid back then. She told them calmly and seriously, "Outcasts should stay out of other people's lives. We should just do whatever is necessary so that we won't harbor expectations of anyone else. So, please don't interfere with my life. This is for the Lawsons … and you."Sean had felt that it was unfair to her back then, but Angeline's calm reply made him come back to his senses.That was when he went behind the Lawsons' backs and told the Fletchers that if they brought Angeline up in the guise of repaying her for the favor, the Lawsons would continue supporting them.This was the only time that Sean had ever interfered in Angeline's business.It was also then that Sean started paying a little more attention to this girl who was focused on just "doing whatever w
Anne's side profile moved in and out of the screen. It had been circled in red, perhaps to make it easier for people to detect her.In the video, Anne's sweaty face was filled with anxiety and fear from the crowd of people pressing against her. Then, she seemed to look in Ned's direction and call out his name. After that, she tried to move forward through the crowd with difficulty.When her face was close enough to show up clearly in the video, she was suddenly shoved forward, knocking against Ned's arm, which was wrapped protectively around Ingrid. Ingrid lost her balance because of the heels she wore.As everyone screamed, Ned and Ingrid rolled down the staircase. Ned's arm was still wrapped protectively around Ingrid.The viral video ended there. It was obvious that someone had pushed Anne.When Zachary saw Angeline insisted on seeing Anne, he turned the car around and made a beeline for the police station. He waited for her there.When he saw her get out of the cab, he straig
It was only when the 14-year-old girl Anne had adopted last year had seen videos of Ned announcing his love for Ingrid that Anne found out about Ned losing his memories.She'd also learned that the people around Ned hadn't dared to mention Angeline's name to him during the two years Angeline was comatose. They'd even burned all photos of her.Anne wasn't educated. It wasn't easy for her to come to Oceanford; all she wanted to do was bring a photo of Ned and Angeline together so she could help Angeline. She would never think of harming anyone, though."I know, Anne," Angeline said soothingly. "Don't be scared, okay? The police won't accuse you of something you haven't done. I'll head to the hospital to check on how Ingrid's doing. Then, I'll think of a way to get you out.""Have I caused trouble for you, Angie?" Anne sobbed. "I'm sorry! I only wanted to help. I didn't expect to cause trouble for you! I was afraid of the Emmersons harming you and finding your mother. I always make a
"They're fine, so don't worry." Vanessa's pregnant belly was prominent underneath her white coat. Her smile was as gentle as always. "Ned protected Ms. Dalton well, so she only had a dislocated ankle. It's already been tended to. Ned's also only been bruised and scratched in a few places."Angeline was relieved to hear that. As long as Ned and Ingrid weren't badly injured, Anne could probably be released soon."Dr. Stone, we've received a call from the ER. They need you there," a nurse popped her head out of the elevator and called out to Vanessa urgently.Angeline moved aside to make way for Vanessa. "You should go, Vanessa.""Alright." Vanessa put her stethoscope into the pocket of her coat. "It's late, so be careful when you head home. Text me when you arrive."Angeline nodded. After leaving the building, she sat in the dimly lit garden. She looked down at her phone and punched in a number she'd memorized. But she hesitated before calling it.As Zachary had said, the current N
Ned's frown deepened at Tommy's words. He flicked his cigarette, looking impatient."If not for you plastering Angeline's photos all over Oceanford College to threaten Ingrid not to leave without a word, we probably wouldn't be able to find her now," Tommy said.The tree leaves rustled in the night breeze. Some loose strands of Angeline's hair fluttered as well, blocking her vision. It was hard to discern the look in her eyes.Angeline clutched her phone tightly. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. So, that was why Ned had plastered photos of her all over Oceanford College. He was using her to threaten Ingrid. How ridiculous."What exactly are you getting at?" Ned asked impatiently.Tommy stubbed out his cigarette and leaned close to Ned. "Though you swore nothing happened between you and Angeline that night, it's still a thorn in Ingrid's side. I bet it makes you uneasy, too."Ned's eyes darkened at having his sore spot prodded at. "So?""I bet Angeline will call you soon to spe
"This whole thing is just an accident. I hope you'll—""Ending up in bed with me was an accident; pushing Ingrid down the stairs was also an accident. Accidents happen to you quite often, don't they, Angeline?" Ned cut her off coldly. "Be at Regalia Hotel at 7:00 pm tomorrow."Explain this to my face. Otherwise, I'll make sure your adoptive mother spends the rest of her life in prison. You know me—I'm a man of my word." He hung up.Angeline's mind was blank as she listened to the dial tone on the other end of the line. She was seriously starting to doubt whether she truly understood Ned. In fact, she wasn't sure whether Ned wanted her to be at the hotel tomorrow so she could actually explain, or so he could drug her.Ned was infamous in Oceanford for being a bully, but he'd always treated her extremely well. The way he treated her and her love for him had formed a halo effect in her perception of him. She couldn't analyze the situation accurately because of that.At that moment, h
"Ms. Dalton," Angeline interrupted. "I'm not your boyfriend, so I can't provide you a sense of security. But once I've decided to give up on something, I won't ever turn back. That's something you can trust.""I'm sorry, Angie. I'm just … I just don't know who else I can speak to about these things." Ingrid bit her lip. "I'll talk to Ned about dropping the case against your adoptive mother. Don't worry about it.""Well … will I still need to head to Regalia Hotel this evening?" Angeline asked."What?" Ingrid was lost."Ned told me to meet him at Regalia Hotel at 7:00 pm to explain everything to him in person. Otherwise, he'd have Anne spend the rest of her life in prison."Angeline had to admit that she had a hidden agenda by telling Ingrid about this. Now, she no longer dared to place her faith in anyone's scruples and conscience. She hoped Ingrid could stop her and Ned from meeting again.After all, no one would want their significant other to meet their ex. And Ned couldn't sa
"That won't be a problem. We've already had a meeting over this earlier—we have to clear the air. Our crew will also contact the airport," the young woman said. "What about your second condition?""Don't disturb Professor Lawson," Angeline said."Of course. Rest assured, we won't." In truth, the crew had already contacted Robert before speaking to Angeline. He was unwilling to have anything to do with the program.…At 2:00 pm, Oceanford's police force released a statement that a man with the last name Houston had been taken away for investigation. At the same time, the crew of The Family Search published a long tweet.They explained the situation from A to Z, including the reason they'd invited Anne to join the program. Since she didn't know how to purchase a flight ticket, the crew had arranged everything for her before informing her of the time and date.They weren't speaking without proof. The tweet came with a recording of the phone conversation between Anne and the crew. In
As soon as the words were out of Angeline's mouth, the sound of lounge slippers padding across the floor rang out. Yasmine ignored the shock on Ned's face and turned to reach for Sean. "Hold me, Daddy!"Sean smiled and lifted her into his arms. Then, he stood beside Angeline and looked at Ned imperiously. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Fletcher. I'm Shane Kingston. Thank you for pushing Angie away in the past—it led to my relationship with her."Ned knew precisely who "Shane" was. Just a few days ago, he'd seen the news about Melissa's press conference explaining her relationship with "Shane".His mind buzzed. He knew Sean and Shane looked similar enough for Dexter's men to have gotten the wrong person. However, he hadn't expected "Shane" to have anything to do with Angeline!"You… Are you the kids' father?" Ned's voice was incredibly shaky."Yes, and again, thank you for that!" Sean smiled. "We've never told anyone about this because I didn't want to endanger Angie and the kids.
Sean didn't give Angeline the chance to finish. "You were right to bring this up to me!"He wrapped his arms around her from behind and continued, "You and the kids will always be my main priority. I know I said I want Melissa to remain safe and happy under my watch, but my feelings for her are purely familial love."She's family to me, and I must care for her. But you and the kids mean more to me than anything else in the world, including her."His honesty made Angeline feel slightly more at ease. She said, "Those are your words, not mine…""I swear on my life that I mean every word." He pressed a kiss to her head. "Can I stay here tonight? I want to sleep with you and the kids. Also, I came from Brayden's place upstairs, so no one will know I'm here.""Granddad made it clear that if anyone finds out about this, he won't allow the kids to see you anymore.""Got it. Don't worry about a thing. Mr. Lawson Senior raised me, and I owe him for that. I won't put him in a tough
Angeline nodded without saying anything. Once Nathaniel was gone, she received a call from Sean."Now that everything has been taken care of, I want to give you a gift," he said, the smile in his tone evident. "Can you have the kids spend Friday night at Grand Court Residences? I want to show all three of you my gift on Saturday."He missed Yasmine and Xavier terribly. Before resolving the issue with Melissa, he hadn't dared to say he wanted to see them. Even if Angeline were okay with it, Robert probably would've objected to his wishes. Now that the dust had settled, he couldn't wait to see them."I don't call the shots regarding the kids now. I'll have to ask Granddad," Angeline said."I'll talk to him about it." Sean was worried Robert would take his anger out on her. "This all started because I insisted on being with you, so I'll handle it. I'll visit Mr. Lawson Senior later today."Angeline didn't know how Sean's conversation with Robert went, but Robert had Asher drop
That night, Melissa called Sean. "Shane, let's publicly announce our divorce. We can tell everyone that we only got married on paper so the Lane family could offer you its protection."Tell them that Dexter repeatedly tried to harm you so he could take the Kingston family fortune, and tell them how he tried to snatch you from the Lane family so he could secretly deal with you."She paused, then continued, "Now that Dexter's in prison, we can get a divorce, and Lori can adopt me as her daughter. We'll become cousins, and we'll still be a family.""Melissa…"Sean was surprised. He didn't expect her to see the light in such a short time."Since you don't have any feelings for me and won't ever make me your wife, I'll settle to be Lori's daughter. That way, you'll always be my family!" Tears streamed down Melissa's face as she spoke. "I adore Lori and want to be her daughter.""Alright," Sean said."Can you head to Keman with me, then? We can visit Dad together before getting
Melissa stared at Lori, who chuckled gently. "It's alright. There's no need to rush into anything. Take your time to think about it. Get good rest for a few days, then go shopping with me. We can buy some clothes to keep up with the changing seasons."I heard from Brayden and Sean that you're the expert in fashion and dressing up. I've always wanted a daughter who could shop, exercise, travel, café hop, and go on spa days with me."She paused and continued, "I didn't get to do any of this with you because you weren't in the best state before this. Now, though, you're all better. You're back to normal, and you've regained your memories!""I'd love that!" Melissa said without hesitation. She'd only done these things with her mother and Emelia in her dreams, but that was all they were—dreams. She was delighted now that Lori was back and willing to make her dreams come true.Sean sat on the couch and sipped his coffee. He knew Lori was doing everything she could to make his life ea
Melissa nodded. Sean said, "I know you have no company management experience. Mr. Lane might have entrusted Trustworth Group to me, but it's still yours. Before you find someone to take over, my plan for the company is still to move its focus back to Lonla."The global situation isn't the best now, and Lonla is the safest place for expansion. That's why the company's focus has to return to Lonla—""You can hand the company over to Brayden," Melissa interrupted. "The only people in this world I trust are you, Dad, and Brayden. Now that Dad's in prison and you don't want me anymore, Brayden is all I have left.""I'm still your kin, Melissa. I won't kick you to the curb and leave you to die. Nevertheless, Trustworth Group is yours. You can have whoever you want to manage it. Brayden is capable of that." Sean looked at Brayden. "What do you think? Are you willing to take over Trustworth Group?""I'll do it as long as Melissa is okay with it!" Brayden nodded. He turned to look
"That's not it! I've always been willing to care for you, and I'm more than willing to care for you in the future! It's not something that I'm forced to do…" Brayden feared his words would inadvertently hurt Melissa, so he decided not to continue in that vein.He said, "C'mon, you should head downstairs to eat something. You've already slept the day away.""I don't want to eat!" Melissa lay down again and pulled the sheets around herself. She said dully, "I want to sleep for a bit longer. Shut the door on your way out."Seeing that she'd already shut her eyes and started weeping, Brayden said softly, "I'll have the kitchen keep the food warm for you. Remember to call me when you wake up, okay? I'll be right downstairs!""Okay." Brayden left the room after hearing Melissa's muffled reply. He shut the door behind him.Melissa remained upstairs. She didn't head downstairs, even when Sean returned. Sean had already spoken to Angeline on the phone and told her he wouldn't meet
Melissa slept in her room and only woke up at night. She removed her headphones and opened her red, swollen eyes. She stared dazedly at the night sky, only returning to her senses when her headphones fell out of her hands.Brayden, who'd been waiting outside this whole time, heard them fall to the floor and hurried into the room. He saw Melissa sitting cross-legged on the bed. She propped herself on one arm while leaning down to pick up the headphones.He hurried forward and picked them up for her, then remained on one knee by the bed. He looked up at her and said, "You slept for ages, Melissa. Do you want to have anything to eat? I got all your favorites, and there are different cuisines. I also got your favorite fruits and snacks!"He'd already had the maids throw out the food he'd bought at noon. Then, he'd had his subordinate buy a fresh batch.Melissa turned to look at him dazedly. She said hoarsely, "Brayden…""I'm here," he said. "C'mon, should we get something to eat
Melissa knew Sean well. So, it was impossible for her not to know if he was being serious. Sean was indeed threatening her, and he was using his life to do it. That way, she wouldn't dare to harm Angeline for fear of hurting him.She loved Sean so much that she could give up her life for him. She wondered why he was treating her that way. He knew she wouldn't allow even the slightest possibility of her threatening his safety.Just then, Sean received a call from Brayden. He said, "...Yeah, I've already picked Melissa up. We're heading to Southstream Manor now… Yeah, you can head over there. Buy some food on your way—Melissa probably hasn't eaten anything yet. She should be hungry."At his words, Melissa couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She covered her face and started sobbing. She'd spent her whole life dreaming of becoming Sean's wife, but he was now in love with someone else and no longer wanted her.Yet, she couldn't do anything about the situation, or she'd be hurting