Ned stepped into the elevator and came face-to-face with the two children. His eyes instantly turned red as he couldn't help remembering the horrible things he had done to Angeline in the past, like the time in Dmont when he pushed her down the stairs, almost killing her and the children.The elevator dinged, and Angeline stared at Ned, who was standing directly in front of the elevator doors. She wore a tight frown on her face."Mr. Fletcher, could you please excuse us?" said Lenny politely, carrying the two suitcases belonging to the twins.Ned turned around and quickly exited the elevator."Mommy, that man is acting strange!" said Yasmine, looking up at her mother.Angeline settled the children down in their seats with a smile and fastened their seat belts. Just as she was about to get in, she heard Ned's soft voice from behind, calling her name."Angeline…"She turned back to face him with a cold expression and asked, "Yes?"He clenched his fists and said emotionally with
Ingrid came to Ned for help because she had no other options left. Despite the Fletcher family's bankruptcy, they still had some connections. Ned was her last hope."I understand. You're here because of Tommy," Ned said, pressing his lips together.It was a while before he finally said, "I'll find a way to make Tommy's life a little easier. Don't worry."Ingrid turned to wipe away her tears.She exclaimed, "Thank you! You've helped me so many times over the years. This time, I'll help you in return. I'll make sure Angie forgives you. Just wait for my call…"With that, she got in her car and left.That same afternoon, Angeline took the children to the old Lawson residence to spend the day with Robert and Jessica.The whole family gathered in Jessica's greenhouse, which was warm and pleasant all year round.Yasmine stood on a small ladder, lifting the watering can to water the flowers, while Jessica and Sandy carefully watched over her. Xavier sat on the swing, watching something
As Asher described the situation, Angeline felt like she had fallen into an icy abyss. Her whole body went cold, and she was frozen in place."What about the surveillance cameras? Have they been reviewed? Have you called the police?" she asked, standing up and heading toward the office exit.Asher replied, "I've called the police. They're already helping with the search and rescue. All the surveillance footage has been checked, but nothing has been found. "I suspect it's a kidnapping, so I'm having people investigate known enemies. Someone could also do it for money, so please answer any unknown calls.""Okay," Angeline said before hanging up the phone and heading to the elevator with Lenny.The secretarial staff didn't know what was happening and asked Jamie. But he shook his head, saying, "I don't know. Ms. Lawson left without saying anything."As soon as Angeline got into the car, she tried to call Sean, but no one answered, even after several attempts.Her face turned pal
"My child is missing…"Before Angeline could finish her sentence, Brayden had already hung up the phone.Her grip on the phone tightened, and her breath trembled. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she returned Lenny's phone and forced herself to calm down.She then dialed Danny's number and, with a breaking voice, said, "Danny, Yasmine is missing! She and her classmates entered the woods to dig for treasure, and the guard was knocked out. When the others noticed they'd been gone for too long and went to check, both kids were already missing."Danny stood up from his office chair in shock and said, "Boss, don't worry too much for now. Yasmine's always been clever and resourceful. She'll be okay. "I'll send some men to look for her right now, and we'll have our tech team check the surveillance footage. I'll call you as soon as I have news.""Alright!" she replied.Angeline soon arrived at the kindergarten. Asher was also on-site, and he quickly approached her, saying, "We're
Angeline's heart was in her mouth."Mommy!"At the sound of Yasmine's voice, Angeline could no longer hold back her tears, which streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls. She choked back her sobs, trying to sound calm so her child wouldn't know she was crying."Yasmine, Mommy is here! Mommy is here…""Mommy, Gabriel and I are at the hospital. Some bad people tried to take us, but the strange man saved us. He crashed his car into the bad guys' car, and he got hurt trying to protect me."Yasmine, hearing her mother's voice, wanted to tell her everything at once. Her words were all jumbled together as she struggled to speak fast.Angeline didn't want to waste another second. She turned around and headed straight out of the kindergarten."Yasmine, stay where you are and wait for me, okay? I'll be there soon!""Ms. Angeline!" Asher called out, catching up. Seeing the look on her face, he asked, "Has Yasmine been found?"She nodded and said, "Someone saved her from an
"It has nothing to do with me. The one who saved Yasmine was Ned!" Ingrid said.Angeline remembered Yasmine mentioning a "strange man" on the phone and that he got hurt while saving her.Through Xavier, Yasmine knew that Ned was Angeline's ex-husband, and he had done many things to hurt her in the past. Although Angeline never told the children about these things, Xavier discovered some of them while searching for his father.At one point, the kids even believed that Ned was their terrible father.That was why Yasmine referred to Ned as the "strange man"."Is Ned okay? Where is he hurt?" Angeline asked.Ingrid, wearing large sunglasses, pursed her lips and said, "Ned got hurt while saving Yasmine. Aren't you going to see him in person?"Asher, standing nearby, reached out to take Yasmine from Angeline's arms and said, "Oh, my little princess. You really scared me and your mommy.""I need to inform the police. I'll take Yasmine to the car first..." he then said to Angeline, who
But Angeline had given Judith a slap straight to the face.Holding her cheek in her palm, Judith pointed an unsteady finger at Angeline. "You… You…""I suggest you get some mouthwash to cleanse that dirty mouth of yours!" Angeline retorted with a grim expression."Didn't you hear what the police and the teachers said? It was Gabriel who insisted on going on a treasure hunt during naptime. He cried and kicked up a fuss. He also didn't want any teachers going with him and wanted other children to join him!"My daughter only volunteered to accompany him because there was no other way to appease him! Had it not been for Gabriel, would Yasmine even have been kidnapped?"Angeline initially didn't want to pursue the matter and had even intended to compensate Gabriel's family for having Gabriel implicated because of Yasmine. However, because of Judith's crude speech, Angeline was determined to push back."You! How dare you hit me? How dare you hit me!" Judith exclaimed incredulously.
Angeline looked at Ingrid briefly before finally asking, "Ingrid, this isn't like you. Weren't you deeply in love with Ned?"I remember you telling me when I just woke up from my coma that Ned was your everything. And because you grew up with your uncle's family without your parents, Ned was the one who gave you all the happiness you'd ever known. You should use this opportunity to get Ned to fall for you!""I love him! I really do!" Ingrid choked up. "But Angie, his love for me was stolen from you. I know that full well. I heard from others that truly loving someone means wishing them happiness. Even if it hurts me, I want to love Ned properly.""That's not what love is." Angeline clenched her phone tightly in her hand. "To love someone is to possess him fully. It is wanting to be with him no matter the circumstances. True love is being unable to withstand him treating anyone of the opposite sex that isn't you or his relative well. That is my understanding of love."After
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