Jenna twisted her foot badly, so Ella took a whole day off to take care of her at home.Not long after she returned home, Jenna's agent came upon hearing the news.Jenna's agent, Abby, was assigned to her by the company three years ago. Although Ella had never met her, she had heard Abby complain about Abby's strictness and harshness on the phone.As it turned out, seeing was believing.The first time they met, Abby completely ignored Ella's Presence and scolded Jenna for half an hour without taking a break.Jenna secretly signaled for help with her eyes.Ella knew she couldn't say anything, so she promptly pushed her daughter forward: "Kaia, bring this tea to Aunt Abby and tell her that the doctor said godmother is sick and needs to rest more, and ask her not to scold godmother anymore."Kaia nodded obediently and carried the tea into the room: "Aunt Abby, you have been scolding for so long? Aren't you tired? Have a cup of tea,"Although Abby had never met Ella, her two children had
After leaving Jenna's bedroom, Kai didn’t go straight to find Kaia. He couldn’t afford to look suspicious now. The things he had just said? Completely made up. Sure, Kaia was sharp, but let’s face it—when it came to matters of the heart, she’d probably rather debate over which snack to eat next than who she liked or who she’d marry in the future.No, Kai’s primary goal was far more tactical. He’d said those things to make it easier to extract info from his godmother. Plain and simple.With his mission done, he headed back to his room. He locked the door behind him, plopped down in front of his computer, and got to work. His fingers danced across the keyboard as he sifted through the results of the genetic report he’d intercepted. He had his theories, and tonight, he was going to dig deeper.For days now, ever since he’d overheard that conversation between his mother and his godmother, Kai had been piecing together something big. His mother... could she really be Lucas's "late wife,"
It took Ella a long time to fully process everything. It wasn't until this very moment that she realized—Mr. Kane knew the truth all along. He knew she wasn’t the real Lila, that she wasn't his biological daughter.The truth hit her with the weight of a thousand bricks, but oddly, it wasn’t as crushing as she thought it would be. In fact, when she started to think back to all her interactions with Mr. Kane, it made sense. There was a coldness in the beginning, sure. When she first came back to the Kane family, Mrs. Kane was practically glowing with joy, all warmth and smiles, while Mr. Kans? Well, let’s just say he wasn’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for her.It wasn't that he was outright rude, but he definitely wasn’t welcoming. He’d scrutinize her every time she spoke, as if trying to decode her. She didn't think much of it at the time. After all, he was a big shot, and she was just trying to blend in.But somewhere along the way, everything changed. He stopped being so co
As Ella looked at the guy standing in front of her, she wracked her brain, trying to match his face with anything from the memories or messages left by the previous “Lila.” Surely, if the old Lila had been obsessed with this guy, there would’ve been something about him in her social media feed, a diary, or, at the very least, a stray text?Nothing. Not a trace of him anywhere.Maybe, she thought, old Lila had tried and failed to snag him, got frustrated, and wiped him clean from her life out of sheer embarrassment.As Ella considered this theory, the Dante cleared his throat. "Miss Kane, do you remember now?"Ella blinked, snapping back to reality. She quickly shook her head, offering him a blank stare. "Sorry, I don’t."This seemed to intrigue him. He took a few steps closer, leaning in with a look of pure amusement. "You think you can just say you don't remember, and that’s it? Unless you've got some proof, this conversation isn't over."Ella tried to keep her cool. The last thing s
Ella pressed her lips together, acting as if she was completely oblivious to the situation unraveling beside her. But just as she thought she could quietly sit through it, Dante—who had been sitting next to her with an air of smug confidence—suddenly spoke up with a mocking grin.“Well, well, isn’t this Mr. Lucas himself, the famous CEO of the Apex Corp? You’re not a student here at Fairfield University, so what brings you to our little anniversary celebration?”Lucas turned, finally pulling his gaze from Ella's face, which he had been studying far too intently, and coolly looked at Dante as if he were an insignificant fly buzzing around his head. After a beat of silence, Lucas replied with a low, detached voice, “Do I know you?”Dante laughed, a sarcastic glint flashing in his eyes. “Of course, you don’t know me. But your name sure comes up a lot.” Lucas's face remained blank as he immediately turned away, dismissing Dante with total indifference.Dante's jaw clenched, clearly irri
Dante and Ella both spun around in sync, as if they were in some kind of slow-motion, dramatic movie scene. "Well, Mr. Lucas sure has guts," Dante quipped, folding his arms and tilting his head. Unfazed, Lucas just smirked, looking straight at Ella. "Miss Kane, you have quite the eye for things. I wonder—did your ex-husband ever realize you had a soft spot for Mr. Dante here?" That stopped Dante in his tracks. "Ex-husband?" he repeated, glancing at Ella with surprise written all over his face. Before Ella could even open her mouth, Leo stepped out from the auditorium. He looked from Ella to Lucas, then to Dante, then back to Ella, raising an eyebrow. "Lila? What are you doing here? And, oh, Mr. Lucas. Fancy running into you too. And… who’s this guy?" As the three men gathered in front of her, Ella could feel her head spinning. This was turning into some sort of twisted rom-com. They say three women make a drama, but no one warned her that three men could make just as big
"Arabella..."The soft whisper of her name slipped from Lucas lips, his voice almost trembling as if the words carried a weight that threatened to crush him. The moment the name left his mouth, Ella felt a jolt run through her spine. It was as if time itself had frozen, the world around her pausing for just a heartbeat.She couldn’t look away from him, her heart pounding in her chest. It’s been years since anyone had said that name—her name. It felt so out of place now, so foreign."Mr. Lucas, are you mistaken? This seems to be Lila Kane, a student from the School of Journalism," Mr. Carter's voice sounded confused, breaking the eerie tension.But Lucas didn’t seem to care. He ignored the comment and walked straight toward Ella. His gaze was locked on her with an intensity that made her stomach churn.Ella, caught off guard, quickly turned her attention to the little creature at her feet. "Oh, where did this little cat come from? It's so cute," she said, forcing a casual tone as sh
As Ella struggled in Lucas's arms, her heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst. She was furious, and her immediate reaction was pure fight-or-flight. She kicked, pinched, and scratched—anything to get him to let go. Lucas barely flinched, despite the bloody marks her nails left on his arm. His grip loosened a little, not out of pain, but from the trembling he could feel in her whole body. That vulnerability made him stop. The second he let her go, Ella delivered a sharp slap across his face, and without a second glance, she turned and bolted toward the door. Lucas hesitated for a second, but instinct kicked in—he couldn’t let her run off like this. He grabbed her wrist, only for her to spin around and bite down on his arm, hard. “Don’t. Touch. Me!” Lucas flinched, caught off guard. “Ella, calm down…” “I told you—I’m not Ella!” “Okay, okay, you’re right. My mistake. You’re Lila.” Lucas's gaze softened, a mix of confusion and worry lurking beneat
Kai's face turned slightly pale."Not only." He clenched the mouse in his hand, and his voice forced to be calm: "We were discovered."Leo was taken aback for a moment: "It was discovered? What do you mean?"Kai took a deep breath: "My mother’s phone is not turned off, but controlled. The other party traced us back through my locator. The garbled characters on the screen should be a message from them."Leo’s pupils shrank uncontrollably.Ella's mobile phone is not turned off, but controlled? Isn’t her current situation more dangerous than she imagined?No, I don’t care about that much.Finding Ella is the most important thing.Thinking of this, he asked Kai again: "Then what do they want to say?"Kai shook his head while typing on the keyboard quickly: "I don’t know, the one they sent is a code, and it needs to be run through the program before it can be displayed."Leo took a deep breath and suppressed the anxiety in his heart."Okay, then try to run it first. Uncle, go make a call a
"Good morning, Dr. Leo.""Are you here to see Miss Lila again?""Dr. Leo, you seem to be in a good mood. Is something good happening lately?"Leo didn't respond to their questions, only smiling gently and nodding in acknowledgment. It wasn't until the doctors and nurses had passed by that he couldn't help but turn and head toward the restroom to check himself in the mirror.After so many years, he had grown accustomed to wearing a mask of warmth and kindness. As for his true emotions, he had almost forgotten what they felt like. But now even passing doctors and nurses could sense his joy... Was it really that obvious?Leo couldn't help but shake his head and smile, washing his hands before turning to leave the restroom. However, just as he reached the door of Ella's hospital room, a nurse rushed out in a panic and collided with him.Seeing the nurse's panicked expression, Leo immediately had a bad feeling. "What happened?"The nurse, recognizing Leo, couldn't hide the truth and gr
Kai choked for a moment. That wasn’t really what he meant.But facing the watery big eyes of his little sister, he naturally couldn’t say anything that would hurt her, so he asked her back, "Do you want to go to the junior class?"Kaia lowered her head and hesitated for only two seconds before shaking her head. "I don’t want to.""Oh? Why not?" Kai asked."Because if I go to the junior class, I have to live in the school and can't eat the food made by my grandparents every day, nor can I buy small cakes," Kaia replied.Well, this reason was in line with the little girl’s character.Kai rubbed her head and said, "That’s right, Kaia can go if you want to, but you don’t want to go to the junior class."Kaia nodded, but soon raised her head again. "What about brother? Does he really want to go?"Facing the bright eyes of his little sister, Kai knew that she couldn’t bear to be separated from her brother, but he still told the truth. "Brother really wants to go."The light in Kaia’s eyes d
One million US dollars Kai said he wasn’t tempted, but the truth was, his mother worked so hard and even put her life at risk for just a few hundred thousand dollars a year.Now, all he had to do was hack into the Quinm Group, and he could get one million US dollars. Kai was confident he could do it!After all, it had been two days, and several experts from different alliances had already confirmed the authenticity of the reward post. This meant they had successfully hacked into the Quinm Group and received the one million US dollar reward.But Kai still kept his promise to his mother.However, he couldn’t help but be curious about who would have such a huge grudge against the Quinn Group. So, he tried to track down the person behind the post.But he never expected to encounter a real expert this time. The person not only easily detected and prevented his intrusion but also effortlessly cracked the fake IP addresses and puzzles he had set up and found his real IP address directly!
Ella didn't respond to Mrs. Kane's words.Her gaze stayed fixed on the doorway until the shadow disappeared from under the crack, and she let out a sigh of relief.But her mood soon grew heavier.She had guessed correctly—Leo hadn't left directly; he'd been eavesdropping at the doorway.But why? After losing her memory, all she could remember was hiding Philip’s secret from him.Why had he been so careful, eavesdropping on her, watching her? Was he trying to get something from her, or was he trying to prevent her from contacting someone?Ella lowered her head, feeling both sad and confused.Mrs. Kane seemed happy after getting Ella’s response and began to look at the calendar, not caring whether Ella was interested or not.On the balcony, Kaia was wearing headphones, watching videos on her phone, and didn’t hear the conversation inside. But Kai heard every word of the conversation clearly.He lowered his eyes, hiding his complicated thoughts.After a moment, he touched Kaia's head an
"Mom..."Ella couldn't stand the enthusiasm of Mrs. Kane, so she had to stop her and said, "Let Dr. Leo have a drink of water first.""Yes, yes, have some water first."As Mrs. Kane got up to pour water, Kaia was quicker and had already poured a glass and handed it to Leo, saying, "Uncle Leo, have some water."Leo looked at the little girl's face, which was almost a replica of Kai's, and felt all his exhaustion disappear in an instant, leaving only a gentle warmth that was almost overflowing."Thank you, little darling."The little girl blushed at the endearment and handed the glass to Leo before shyly hiding behind Mrs. Kane.Mrs. Kane found it amusing and was about to say something, but then remembered that Lila didn't like to talk about Leo in front of the two children. So she swallowed her words and asked Leo to sit down for dinner.After dinner, Leo had planned to stay at the hospital. But Mrs. Kane said, "Leo dear, you have worked hard for Lila these past few days, but this can
Leo nodded and lowered his eyes. "Acute heart failure. The delay on the road was too long, and it was almost dead when it was delivered."Ella was taken aback for a moment. "So... the operation failed?"Leo nodded silently.It was the first time for Ella to see Leo like this.Obviously, his complexion didn’t look much different from usual, but if you looked closely, you would find that those eyes that were always warm were a little darker than usual. Leo had been in the heart surgery department for almost ten years. She was afraid he couldn’t even remember the surgeries he’d had. Yet, he was still so sad because of a failed surgery. Was he dissatisfied with his abilities? Or was it respect and reverence for life?Ella looked at Leo like this and then thought of her doubts about him these days, and unconsciously began to waver again.How could Leo, who was so dedicated to his job and respected life..."Cough cough."The sudden coughing sound from the bathroom interrupted Ella’s tho
Time was running out. Ella directly told Philip her thoughts after reading the email Samuel Griffith left her and the investigations of the past few days."Although you have lost your memory, you read yesterday's email, and you should know almost everything about the Blake family fire case six years ago. The trial of this case six years ago was very rough. This time it seems to be more detailed. But in fact, there are still many procedurally unreasonable places.""The most obvious thing is that this case is obviously derived from the bombing case. According to common sense, you are the only one who wakes up among the two survivors of the bombing case. Therefore, the superiors should send someone to interrogate you based on emotion and reason.""Even if you lose your memory, they should at least check your details and the intersection with the other two dead people.""But actually, has anyone from the police contacted you these days? So far, there should be no one other than me.""No."
Ella hesitated for a moment before confessing, "Officer Philip, there’s something I need to tell you."Philip was taken aback. "What is it?""I have amnesia," Ella said. "I’ve forgotten everything that’s happened in the past few years since I turned twenty-one. That’s why I asked you for that email earlier. I remember Samuel, but I don’t remember what I said to him when we were in contact because I deleted those emails myself."Philip was silent for a while, seemingly digesting what she had just said."So, you don’t remember the Blake family fire six years ago or the recent explosion case?" he asked.Ella pursed her lips. "I don’t remember anything. My knowledge of these events is limited to what people around me have told me and what I’ve read in the news and newspapers."Philip rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.He had thought that contacting Ella would help solve many of the questions he had, but things had only become more complicated. After a moment of thought, h