Despite the endless buzz of gossip at Fairfield Hospital, one thing remained sacred: Dr. Leo, the stoic and brilliant head of the Cardiac Surgery Department, was untouchable. No one dared to say a bad word about him. Sure, the nurses whispered about his dazzling smile and his genius hands, but the juiciest bit? Apparently, Dr. Leo was still holding a candle for his ex-wife.Dan, had overheard it all. The story went like this: Leo had once been married—or almost married. There had been a beautiful wedding abroad, but the paperwork? Never filed back home. Ever since, Dr. Leo had stayed single, supposedly waiting for this mystery woman to come back. Romantic, sure. But Dan couldn’t help but wonder: What kind of woman could make this man—calm, confident, and devastatingly handsome—hold on for so long?“Dr. Leo.”The clear, melodic voice jolted Dan out of his thoughts. He turned just in time to see a stunning woman approach Dr. Leo. She looked familiar, though Dan couldn’t quite plac
Ella was still wide awake, scrolling through her phone absentmindedly when Leo called her. She checked the time and immediately felt it was late. She was about to decline when Leo’s calm but serious voice came through, “I just received some information about Luke from a friend.”The moment Ella heard that name, she bolted upright in bed. “Where are you, Leo? I’ll come find you right away.”After hanging up, Leo leaned back in his chair at the cozy coffee shop, nodding at the barista. “Another cup of coconut latte, half sugar. Oh, and please pack this lady’s order to-go.”“Sure, sir, one moment.” The barista headed off while Leo gazed out the window. The streets of Fairfield gleamed under the city lights, alive with the hum of nightlife. Yet, even in its vibrance, autumn's chill seeped in, rustling the golden-brown leaves on the pavement.Fifteen minutes later, Ella rushed into the coffee shop, her disheveled appearance proof of how quickly she left home. Wrapped in a coat thrown o
Ella didn’t sleep a wink that night. Every time she closed her eyes, the haunting memories from six years ago came flooding back, vivid and unrelenting. By morning, she dragged herself out of bed, dark circles under her eyes betraying her sleepless night.As she stumbled into the kitchen, her little chatterbox, Kaia, was already bouncing around like an energizer bunny. The moment Kaia saw her, she stopped mid-bite of her toast and tilted her head. "Mommy, did you stay up late working again?"Ella gave her best “I’m totally fine” smile, though she felt far from it. “No, sweetie. Mommy just had a little trouble sleeping.”Kaia, ever the tiny detective, narrowed her eyes. "Insomnia? Is it because of Uncle Lucas again?"Before Ella could respond, her son Kai, with his all-knowing look, chimed in. "Mommy, is Uncle Lucas giving you insomnia?"Kaia gasped dramatically, her big brown eyes widening. "Huh?! Did that bad Uncle Lucas bully you again? I knew he’s a big meanie!"Ella sighed, rubb
Ella appeared lost in thought. “Really? Who could have bought him?”“As far as I know, it’s likely the Lopez family.”“The Lopez family?” Ella deliberately asked, “Which Lopez family? I’ve never had any feud with anyone surnamed Lopez.” At this point, Ella suddenly raised her head, pretending to be shocked. “Mr. Montgomery, you’re not talking about Amy Lopez…”“This matter should have nothing to do with her.”Ella’s heart skipped a beat. Lucas was so anxious to clear Amy’s name before she even mentioned who it was. Was he trying to protect Amy after all?If so, why did he pretend to be indifferent or even disgusted with Amy in front of her before?Lucas had no idea what Ella was thinking and continued, “If it was her doing, she shouldn’t be so calm knowing that I was injured.”Lucas had been hiding his injury from everyone, even the company, saying that he was on a business trip. On the one hand, he wanted to avoid trouble, and on the other hand, he wanted to test Amy’s attitude.Fr
Ella had barely hit send on her message when she tucked away her phone, straightened her posture, and glanced at Lucas, who lay motionless on the hospital bed. His features were strikingly handsome, but in the dim light of the room, they carried an air of indifference so intense it almost felt like a barrier. "Mr. Montgomery," Ella began, her voice steady, “I’ve wrapped up my work for today. Should I order dinner for you?” Without even looking up, Lucas replied coolly, "No need." His detached tone made the room feel even colder. Ella lingered for a second, unsure if she should say something else. Ultimately, she decided against it and picked up her bag. “Alright then, I’ll head out.” As soon as Ella stepped out of the room, Lucas’s gaze shifted to the window. The darkening sky of Fairfield was heavy, promising rain. A vague sense of unease stirred within him. His sharp eyes caught sight of the umbrella by his bedside, and a sudden thought struck him. “Wait. Did Ella even h
“Lila!” Ella had been lost in her thoughts when she heard Leo's voice behind her. She turned around quickly, a bit startled. “Leo, you’re here.” She was about to apologize for standing him up tonight, but before she could say anything, her eyes fell on the stranger standing next to Leo. Ella paused, visibly confused. “Who’s this?” “This is Ethan, the friend I told you about. He’s the tech wizard.” Ethan nodded politely. “Hello, Miss Kane.” Ella quickly collected herself. “Hello, Mr. Ethan. I’m really sorry about tonight. I invited you out, but then… all this happened.” “It’s fine,” Ethan replied curtly, his tone all business. “Leo told me about your daughter going missing and mentioned something about surveillance. I thought I’d come by and see if I could help.” Ella’s eyes lit up. She had been wondering if the surveillance footage had been tampered with. Hearing that Ethan was tech-savvy gave her a flicker of hope. “Yes, I suspect someone messed with the footage,” she admitte
Zane opened his mouth, desperate to argue.But one look at Lucas Montgomery's frosty expression, and he clamped it shut.It wasn’t that Zane didn’t want this job anymore—it was crystal clear that in the past few days, Lucas had found a new favorite. Now, he was starting to treat Zane like an outdated relic.Swallowing his grievances, Zane pulled out his phone and tracked Charlie’s driver, Luke. Sure enough, the app confirmed Luke’s location—he was hanging out with Charlie at a bar in Fairfield.Thirty minutes later, Zane parked on the neon-lit street of Fairfield infamous Heavenly Sky Lane. The place was lined with upscale bars teeming with Fairfield’s elite: Instagram-ready influencers, wealthy trust-fund kids, and business tycoons unwinding after ruining someone’s stock portfolio.Lucas stepped out of the car and immediately looked like he regretted it. The mix of cigarette smoke, spilt tequila, and designer perfume hit him like a slap to the face. He wrinkled his nose and muttered,
Mrs. Kane agreed with the idea and didn't insist on following Ella."Lila, you finished your meal so quickly?"As soon as Ella got off the car, Leo came up to her, thinking that she was worried about Kaia's situation and couldn't eat well, and was about to comfort her.Ella said directly, "Leo, can you accompany me to the Montgomery family?"After all, the Montgomery family was a famous family in Fairfield.Ella couldn't just bring the police to their door. After all, she had no other evidence except for Lucas' words. Going to their door would only result in being humiliated.If she went alone, the Montgomery family might not even open the door for her and just leave her hanging.Only by bringing Leo, with his identity as the young master of the Quinn family, could her proud former mother-in-law have a chance to show up and talk to her."The Montgomery family?" Leo's eyes showed a shocked expression, and then he seemed to suddenly understand something. "You mean Kaia was taken away by
However, Ella suddenly thought of something and looked up. "Dante, the lawyer, did you hire him?"As expected, Dante was stunned before replying, "How did you know?"Although everyone knew that the mastermind behind the Montgomery family's fire six years ago was not only Leo, but also possibly involved the Lopez family, it was also known that it was difficult to bring down the Lopez family with their current momentum.Therefore, both Ella and Lucas did not act rashly.Yesterday, Leo's lawyer suddenly threw out evidence in court implicating the Lopez family, and Ella felt that the lawyer was suspicious, but she couldn't figure out who arranged it.Until just now, when she heard Dante's words, she suddenly understood that it could only be Dante.Ella suddenly felt warm in her heart.She looked at Dante and bowed deeply. "Thank you."DANTE was confused. "Thank me for what?" After a while, she suddenly reacted, "Wait, you don't think I hired a lawyer to save him, do you? You're wrong. I
With this thought, Ella suddenly realized that Kaia not only had a poker face like Lucas, but also had some resemblance to Lucas in his facial features."This is...""My son," Lucas lowered his head and said to Kai, "Kai, call Uncle Dante."Kai obediently called out, "Hello, Uncle Dante."Uncle Dante said he was not good at all.He stared at Kai, his face full of disbelief. "This, this child is yours and Lucas'...""Dante I brought the child over for an exam, and time is tight, so I won't chat with you anymore. You can do as you please."Ella didn't want to discuss the issue of her child's identity with this half-stranger so early in the morning, so she smiled at Dante, then took Kai and walked away.Dante had finally run into her, how could he just let her go like this?But he also realized that Ella didn't want to discuss this topic, so after coming back to his senses, he quickly caught up and steered the conversation towards Kai. "Your son is so young and already taking exams? What
Lucas asked again, "Is there anyone else at home while Amy is out?""There’s a nanny.""Does the nanny take good care of you?"Theo didn’t answer.Lucas frowned at his hesitant expression.If the nanny treated Theo well, he wouldn’t hesitate like this. But if she didn’t, with Theo’s tendency to complain and cause trouble, how could he possibly cover up for her?Could it be that this little guy, at such a young age, had already learned to be afraid of the strong and bully the weak?Thinking of this, Lucas’s expression turned cold."Stand up straight!"Theo trembled and tried to straighten his body like a small pine tree."I’m asking you, is the nanny good to you or not? If you lie, I won’t take care of you anymore."Theo panicked at these words.If Dad didn’t want him and Amy was gone, what would he do in the future?"Not good! The nanny hits me and says I’m a bastard, not Dad’s child! She won’t let me complain to Amy, or else she’ll sell me to a remote mountain and let Amy and Dad nev
"What's the matter with me?"This mischievous child wouldn’t be able to harm her even if he wanted to.Ella paused and said, "Do you want to talk to him first? Otherwise, I'm standing here at the hospital entrance with people coming and going. It’s not good to block his mouth, but if I don’t block his mouth, I’m afraid he’ll say something harmful to you, Mr. Montgomery."As soon as Lucas heard her call him Mr. Montgomery, he knew she was in a bad mood again and immediately said, "Then give the phone to Theo."Ella handed the phone to Theo’s ear and took the tissue box out of his mouth."You little fox.""Theo, say one more word to her and see what happens."Theo’s fear of Lucas was almost innate, so even though Amy had been brainwashing him these days, saying that his father had been lured away by Lila, the fox spirit, and didn’t want them anymore, he still harbored resentment towards Lucas.But now, when he heard Lucas’s voice, he reflexively closed his mouth and even trembled slight
Just then, Ella heard a commotion coming from the direction of the TV station entrance, and faintly heard a child crying."You bad guy! Let go of me, I want to find my mommy...""Your mommy doesn't work here anymore! If you keep causing trouble, I'll call the police!""You're lying, my mommy told me yesterday that she's coming to work at the TV station!"Ella listened from afar and felt a sense of familiarity. Could it be that she had just lamented that Amy wasn’t here, and now she had encountered Amy’s child again?She pursed her lips and originally wanted to turn around and leave. After all, even if the child had lost the protection of his mother, since Lucas had woken up, he should take care of him. It wouldn't be long before someone came to take him away, and it wasn’t her place to play the saint at this time.But just as she took two steps, the child’s crying became even louder, and the voice of the security guard didn’t sound as harsh as before, but rather panicked."You, you
After leaving the court, Ella's mood was not very good.She had planned to go home and take a nap, but she received a call from the delivery company on the way. The furniture she had ordered online out of boredom while recuperating had been delivered in pieces over the past few days.The delivery company had been urging her to pick it up as the furniture took up space in their warehouse.Ella thought for a moment and decided to go to her new home to check on the furniture. She arranged a delivery time with the delivery man and headed to her new home.When she arrived at the doorstep of her new house, the delivery man had just arrived with the children's bed she had ordered. Even with two men carrying it, it took a lot of effort to move the pile of wooden boards.The online store had promised installation, but no one had come to install it even after half a day. Ella contacted customer service and was told that installation had to be scheduled separately. However, all the installati
"Life-saving benefactor?" Ella remained calm. "I never intended to take him away from the beginning."Lucas, who couldn't fit into his outfit, clung to Ella's hand. "You promised to take me to see the trial together today."Ella replied, "Yes, but I also said last night that we need the doctor's approval. I asked the doctor for you this morning, and he said you have to rest in the hospital."Lucas' face twisted into a bitter gourd. He was about to speak, but the ward door was pushed open at that moment."Lila, the discharge has been processed."Mrs. Kane's voice abruptly stopped.She stared at Ella, then at Lucas, and then at her own precious daughter's hand, tightly held by Lucas.The air fell into a deathly silence.Finally, it was Ella who reacted first. She pulled back her hand and smiled awkwardly at Mrs. Kane. "Um, Mom, Mr. Montgomery has something to discuss with me."Mrs. Kane replied, "Okay, you guys talk first. I'll wait for you outside."With complicated emotions, she clos
“Lucas?” Ella frowned. “Why did he come to me instead of resting in his own room?”Zane repeated, “Mr. Montgomery has something to discuss with you.”“Why couldn’t he just talk on the phone?”Zane hesitated for a moment before blurting out, “He needs you to answer the phone first.”Ella fell silent. She didn’t mean to ignore Lucas’s calls. When he called in the afternoon, she was on the phone with Officer Philip. After hearing about Kings Lopez’s confession and Leo’s desire to confess, she had no energy left to deal with Lucas’s matters.It was only when she ran into Matt at the hospital and was reminded of some memories from the past that she thought to ask a few questions.Ella rubbed her forehead and didn’t bother explaining to Zane. She pushed open the door and walked in.Mrs. Kane had been guided by Mr. Kane to watch less TV recently, so she still didn’t know about Leo’s car accident, let alone that he was a murderer.She thought Lila might reconcile with Dr. Leo. So when she h
After asking the question, Matt finally got his answer and stopped being curious.But Ella suddenly remembered something.She turned her head to look at Matt and, imitating his tone, asked a riddle, "That child is not his, right?"Matt: "..."This riddle really stumped Matt for a moment.The child was easy to guess—it was obviously Theo. But who was the "he" in Ella's question? If she was referring to Lucas, then the answer was definitely no.But if she was referring to Theo's father, then the answer would be completely different!After thinking for a while, Matt scratched his head and said, "Didn't we already make it clear that the child's name was Theo?"Ella immediately understood. She guessed it right—or, more accurately, it was Kai who reminded her. The child was actually Lucas’s good friend, Theo's father, Dylan!Ella thought for a moment and asked again, "So he kept the child's identity a secret from me because he had his reasons?"This time, Matt immediately understood that th