Zachary's words angered Mallory again. "I may have ulterior motives for claiming to be Angeline's friend, but are you any better? Do you think veryone was blind to your feelings for her when she was still with Ned? What right do you have to lecture me?""Mallory!" Zachary was mad now. "Even if I had feelings for Angie, I never crossed the line! Don't even think about using this to mock me! And if this matter is such a thorn in your side, we can just get divorced!"He hung up without another word."Zachary Stone!" Mallory shrieked. She clutched her phone tightly as she stared at the ended call. She was this close to having an emotional breakdown.Divorce? Zachary had actually threatened to divorce her!Her hands trembled, and tears filled her eyes. She flung her phone onto the seat and tried to hold back her tears. She snapped at the driver, "Pull over once we're out of the old Lawson residence's compound. Then, get out of the car!"The driver didn't dare defy her. He pulled over
Mallory felt even more aggrieved than before. "But… I feel so wronged, Miles! I'm Zachary's wife, but he's not on my side at all. He shouted at me as soon as Angeline told on me!"Miles sighed. "Everyone's already told you that Angie isn't the same person anymore, yet you just had to go look for her behind our backs. We all know that we only allowed her into our circle because of Ned."She's gone from being Angeline Emmerson to Angeline Lawson now, and she's the heiress of one of Krontos' four most prestigious families. We don't run in the same circles anymore!"He paused, then continued, "I'll be honest with you—we've never considered Angie our friend. All she was to us was Ned's girlfriend. That's why we can't hope that she'll think of us as friends now. It's only right."After talking sense into Mallory, he sighed again. "Alright, that's enough talking. Come home, okay? And be good—don't go looking for Angie anymore.""But what about your VAM agreement?" Mallory had never been
Mallory couldn't help feeling fearful as she recalled how Angeline had sounded when she'd spoken to Taylor earlier. She clutched her phone tighter and said, "This is a critical juncture for our family, and Angeline has the upper hand on us…"She's become the only heiress to the Lawson family after they adopted her and after Sean's death. If she gets the word out, there's no doubt we'll lose the VAM agreement. What are we gonna do now, Miles? Have I caused more trouble again? I meant well, really…"She started crying again.Miles remained silent on the other end of the line, clenching his fist around his pen. After a while, he said, "At least I know about it now. Whatever you do, don't seek Angie out anymore. I'll explain things to her. And make sure you don't have anything else to do with the Emmersons."I'll have someone keep an eye on them to ensure they won't do anything to drag you into the fray. Also… when you get home, tell Zachary all about this. He's on better terms with An
"Grandma, that sounds… Think about how many years have passed since then. I don't think it's really possible if you say the woman looks just like my mom did when she first came to our home. Look at Aunt Katie—she doesn't look the same as she did when she was young, right?" Benjamin couldn't help feeling doubtful at Juliet's words."I agree that the woman looks almost identical to Jay. I thought I was looking at Jay when she first arrived! But Benjamin's right. If she really is Jay, there's no way she can look so young. Still…" Katie's eyes lit up. "Maybe she's Jay's sister! Maybe Jay's parents had another child after she went missing!"She grew even more excited. "I remember Benjamin's maternal grandfather's surname was Lawson, right? Do you think they're the same Lawsons as the ones who've adopted Angeline?"George straightened up at that. "But… didn't they say Benjamin's grandfather is a professor? Didn't they say Jay's an only daughter?""Well, she would've been an only daughter
Even if the woman in Mallory's photo really were Benjamin's aunt, the Lawson family wouldn't care about the Emmersons. This was especially true for Robert."Why aren't you saying anything, George?" Katie turned to look at him. "You're the head of the family, so we need you to make the decisions. We're running out of money now. Benjamin dumped all his money into that game, and we paid through our nose when those gangsters came after us."Benjamin's health is getting worse by the day, and we can't get close to Jodie at all. Benjamin doesn't have a kidney donor, and we all know what'll happen if we drag things out. You have to say something!"Benjamin had already fled the earlier hospital to stay at a hospital in the county. The money that people had donated online was almost all gone. Though the Emmersons had earned some money by putting on a pitiful act during live streams, their reputation had already gone down the drain.When they'd tried live streaming again, the comments had all
Benjamin agreed with Juliet's guess that Angeline had badmouthed him to Robert so she could have the Lawson family fortune, which was supposed to be his. Once he inherited the Lawson family and Lawson Global, he would make her get on her knees before him and beg for mercy!"Yeah, exactly!" Katie said. "I bet Mr. Lawson Senior only agreed to take Jodie in because she resembled Jay. Look at how similar she looks to the woman in the Locke lady's photo!""But… Jay was an only daughter!" George was still unconvinced. "Didn't the police say that Jay's parents didn't give up on searching for her because she was their only daughter? Jay's mother died of sorrow when Jay died on the operating table. That's why Jay's father hates us so much.""He hates us? What right does he have to hate us? If not for us buying Jay and feeding her, she would've died in the wilderness years ago!" Juliet gnashed her teeth. "And look at how Benjamin's the only child she managed to give birth to. The others aren'
"You know what the Emmersons are like. They kicked up a fuss and demanded Oceanford College refund the tuition to them when Angie was still studying there so they could sell her off to be an old cripple's wife."Now that she's been adopted by the Lawson family and is engaged to the son of the Hooper family, who knows what Juliet Emmerson's gonna get up to?" Miles sighed. "And if Angie finds out Mallory was in contact with the Emmersons, our relationship with her is only going to get worse."I didn't tell Mallory this, but I actually indicated my interest in working with Vitality Biotech just a few weeks ago. I'm really worried this will affect Vitality Biotech's decision to work with me if Angie hears about this."Zachary sighed, too. "What are you going to do, then? Are you gonna tell Angie about this?""I had someone keep an eye on the Emmersons, but it seems there's another group of people watching them—I'm guessing Angie sent them. She'll find out about this sooner or later, so
"I know you're capable of murdering someone even if you're crippled…" Angeline said. When she saw how dispirited he looked, she adjusted her crossed legs and continued, "I made a deal with someone to get you back."Aside from handing over all the evidence we had, I also used my marriage to get someone to help bring you back from Keman alive."Thomas' pupils constricted at her words. He turned to look at her. She continued, "Someone has been hoping that I'll cut off all contact with Xavier and Yasmine's father from now on. He only agreed to help get you back alive if I were to get married within a month."She sounded casual and nonchalant as she said, "That's why I've agreed to Nathaniel's proposal. We're going to have an engagement party soon."Thomas pursed his lips. This wasn't something he'd expected. He didn't even know who Xavier and Yasmine's father was. It was a question he'd always been curious about—he even thought it was Ned, who was Angeline's ex-husband.But the one ti