In less than half an hour after the Twitter post went up, its popularity suddenly surged and became the trending search. #LawsonHooperMarriage #HooperGroupHeirProposalThese hashtags topped above the other hashtags, such as #SurvivalIslandBrokenUpIngrid, #NedsTormentedLove, and #NedExwifePhoto. It even had a "hottest" tag behind it. The netizens who hounded Angeline and scolded her because Ned broke up with Ingrid all widened their eyes in shock. They had all thought Ned was going to remarry Angeline. They questioned why she had received a successful proposal from Nathaniel instead.Especially those liveliest, most jubilant of Ned and Ingrid's supporters, who blamed Angeline for their favorite couple breaking up, thinking she got in the way of their relationship, were taken aback. And now, the one they claimed intruded on Ned and Ingrid's relationship was getting engaged. Some of Ingrid's fans refused to accept it, saying that Angeline had initially promised Ned she would r
UpAllNight: "You all are scumbags! You scold Angeline because your favorite couple broke up, insisting on dragging Angeline into your drama. The biggest mistake Angeline had made was marrying Ned. The day they registered their marriage, she fell into a coma. This really shows that Ned is incompatible with Angeline!" World'sRunnerUp: "These Ingrid fans sure are an interesting bunch. Every time something happens to your idol, you blame it on Angeline. Was the stuff Paparazzi Aiden shared not obvious enough? Ingrid intruded on their relationship after Ned lost his memory. She pretended to be Angeline to get closer to him. She's a cunning thief who stole someone else's man. Yet, you lot still dare to be arrogant in front of Angeline. The biggest misfortune in Angeline's life was getting involved with Ingrid and Ned!" Then, there was this Twitter post. Squirrel&Fishie: "Ingrid got together with Ned by pretending to be Angeline. Now that Ingrid decided to stop pretending and return to
Angeline said to Nathaniel sincerely, "Thank you…""Don't sweat it! I'm just doing my job. Hooper Group is a listed company. Ned and Ingrid's exaggerated story was hyped so much today that it crashed Twitter's server twice! Now that news of the Hooper and Lawson families' marriage is out, I'm sure even more people will be paying attention. Hooper Group's stock will shoot up following the marriage alliance with Lawson Global!"Nathaniel smiled and said, "Consider this a win-win situation." Seeing Angeline just smile without checking the top trends on her phone, Nathaniel said, "Ned mentioned on the show that you're his whole world. Paparazzi Aiden even exposed that Ingrid got close to Ned by pretending to be you. Then, Ned ended his engagement to Ingrid after he recovered his memories.""So? Just ask away!" Angeline said with a smile. "Since you've helped me this time, I'll satisfy your gossip curiosity." "Now that you know Ingrid got together with Ned by pretending to be you,
"Mr. Lawson Senior and my grandpa have been planning this marriage alliance for a while. How could this be sudden? Plus, didn't the media report that I'm dating Angie? Didn't you read the news?" Nathaniel mocked. "Quit joking around! How could the others know when I don't know myself? Back then, the media was just making up stories and writing nonsense. You're already staying in Grand Court Residences, so when the media said you were living together, we all just brushed it off. Who would've thought you're actually serious?" Kieron continued painfully, "Oh God! Now that you're together with Angeline and the Lawson and Hooper families have formed a marriage alliance, my grandpa will soon give the final approval for me and Lara! Once we're engaged, I can't date the pretty ladies anymore." Kieron said after wailing, "You're not considerate, my man. Why didn't you invite me to your proposal?" "It's my grandpa's birthday today. We didn't have a birthday banquet because we were prepar
"Okay! I'll call Aurelia right now to have her change the photo," Nathaniel said to Angeline.After hanging up the call, Nathaniel quickly called Aurelia. A few minutes later, Angeline refreshed the Tweet and was relieved to find that Aurelia had changed the sixth photo. Aurelia was so focused on not exposing the twins' faces that she didn't realize half of Jessica's face was showing in the photo. After scrolling through her Twitter feed, Angeline figured that the cause of the storm brewing on the Internet was because of Ned. During a live interview, he said he had canceled his engagement to Ingrid and tearfully declared that Angeline was his whole world. Sean, who was in Keman, also saw this commotion happening in Lonla. He looked through the photos in his study room. Sean enlarged the photo where Angeline smiled with an outreached hand to Nathaniel. He felt something tugging hard on his heartstrings. "Granddad wished that I could get married."Don't worry. I still rem
Angeline calmly said, "You have something you have to do. Shouldn't we reduce contact to prevent your identity from being exposed and for the safety of the Lawson family? Before you left, we were already prepared not to call or meet each other until you've attained your revenge. "Yet now you're saying we're at odds. So, what's not at odds in your opinion? Should I go to Keman to see you? Or are you coming back to see me?" Angeline added, "Don't you think you're being unreasonable?" Sean remained silent on the other end of the phone. "If you're calling to ask about my marriage with Nathaniel, don't worry. We've signed a marriage contract. We'll be like you and Melissa, just married on paper." Angeline said with a hint of mockery, "Well, the only difference is that Nathaniel and I are still living on separate floors after the marriage, and we're not moving in together." Sean felt a lump in his throat. "Are you trying to get back at me?" Angeline remembered the trade offer
Sean went silent again. Angeline would've thought no one was over the phone if not for the sound of Sean's breathing. "Sean, I'm still the same as before. I can continue my life without you." Angeline looked at the diamond ring on the bedside table that she had taken off. "I don't mind regardless if you'll return. For me, there's no difference." "So, I'm not important to you anymore, am I?" Sean sounded strained. "It's neither right nor wrong. It's just that there are other important people in my life now, not just you." Angeline felt a sting in her heart as she spoke. "When you ignored my plea and threatened me with Benjamin, you reminded me of Ned. He once threatened me in the same way. I don't want to experience that again. I hope you can understand me." Sean's breathing quickened. "But Angie, at that time, Melissa's life was uncertain—" "You don't have to explain. I know. I know and understand." Angeline kept her composure throughout their conversation.
Text messages from Brayden, whose number was already blocked by Angeline, kept popping up.He wrote, "Didn't I tell you that being Nathaniel's wife would only lead to your death? Why did you still accept his proposal?"Another message read, "Did you accept the proposal to resolve the public opinion crisis?"He continued, "But the timing doesn't make sense! This proposal seems to have been planned long before this crisis. So, did you really choose Nathaniel?"In the fourth message, he wrote, "Please unblock me first. I won't force you to get married within a month anymore. Don't make any hasty decisions!"Angeline frowned as she watched Bradyen bombard her with messages. She wondered how he could still send her messages when she had already blocked his number.She then looked up online on how to stop receiving messages from a sender. Following the instructions, she clicked on the top right button of the contact and blacklisted Brayden's number.Soon after, Brayden realized he cou
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