Kindergarten, after school.
Grandpa’s men had been lurking around here for more than two days, privately checking the school’s surveillance. Everything was done under Grandpa Kensington’s name, including their covert surveillance of Isla.
When the kindergarten teacher saw that Isla’s parents hadn’t come yet, she stayed a bit longer with her.
Suddenly, someone called out to the teacher, “The principal said the Kensington family is calling because of Ezra and wants you to go over.”
The teacher looked at Isla, feeling uneasy. However, since it was the principal who called and it involved the Kensington family and Ezra, she couldn’t afford to offend anyone. Reluctantly, she told the teacher who relayed the message to keep an eye on Isla.
“Don’t worry, I know her parents.”
The teacher finally nodded and, after warning Isla not to leave with strangers, left.
Isla played alone
“What else is there to explain!”Vanessa stepped forward, shoving Luca’s shoulder forcefully, trying to push him out the door. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, gently yet patiently trying to explain.“No, it’s just that Ezra was hospitalized due to food poisoning, so…” Grandpa had someone investigate. “What does Ezra being poisoned have to do with Isla being kidnapped?”Vanessa was shocked, feeling like there was something she didn’t understand. Luca's expression suggested he had no idea what was happening either.Could it be that she really misunderstood?Luca was surprised and shook his head. “I’m not aware of this matter. It’s just that Ezra’s food poisoning needs to be investigated. Only Isla fed him something else tha
K Group.Suddenly, the lights in the president's office turned on. Luca took off his jacket and casually tossed it onto the sofa. He picked up a bottle of foreign wine from the display rack and expertly poured himself a glass.Looking down at the colorful nightlife below, he swirled the glass in his hand, the ice cubes clinking crisply. He slowly brought it to his lips and drank it all in one go, then poured another glass.After several glasses, he still felt no drowsiness.His mind was filled with Vanessa's words from earlier and the right and wrongs of five years ago.“Was it really my fault five years ago?”This wasn’t the first time he had asked himself this, but it was the first time he had begun to doubt the truth of that incident and whether the child was his.Lost in thou
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist, making it impossible for her to break free. “What are you staring at? Help me pull him away!” Seeing his assistant frozen in place, Vanessa called out, somewhat annoyed. Luca's assistant finally stepped forward but only managed to support Luca, not daring to hurt him in the slightest. Vanessa didn’t know if it was avoidance or fear; she desperately struggled to free herself from Luca's grip. “Vanessa, don’t go, don’t go…” Although Luca was drunk, he could still recognize Vanessa by instinct alone, or perhaps he didn't fully realize it, but his inner regret made him feel that this person was Vanessa. “Luca, let go of me! If you don’t let go, I’ll call the police!” Hearing the word ‘police,’ Luca became even more agitated, mumbling apologies and explanatio
“Daxton, please take care of him for a moment. I’m going to check on Isla.” With Daxton's help, Luca finally released her hand. “Go ahead. For now, I won’t kill him.” Daxton replied with a smile, leading Vanessa to believe he was joking and not to take it seriously. But that statement was Daxton's true feeling; he wouldn't kill Luca yet. However, if Luca continued to entangle himself with Vanessa and harm both her and her daughter, he wasn't sure he could restrain himself from swiftly dealing with him. A few hours later, Mariah called, saying she had landed and would be home soon. With Daxton's reminder, she had already prepared everything, creating an illusion that she had returned home before dark to prevent being followed by paparazzi or gossip reporters. Isla was sleeping soundly, though occasionally she would stir and react to the fright she had
In the morning, no matter what Luca did, he was cold-shouldered by Vanessa and her daughter. Isla, feeling wronged and angry, even refused to talk to him, turning her head away with a pout.Mariah was too tired to accept the breakfast invitation, leaving only the three of them at the breakfast table.“Isla, Mommy has arranged for you to take a day off from kindergarten. You can rest today and see if you still feel scared. If you don’t feel well, just tell Mommy, and I’ll take you to see a psychologist, okay?”Isla knew about psychologists; she had accompanied her mother many times and always thought they were a bit scary. Often, Vanessa would come out with red eyes, barely speaking, and wearing a forced smile throughout the day.Because of this, Isla felt resistant. She shook her head and said, “I don’t want to go to the psychologist. I want Mommy to stay with me. Mommy, don’t cry. Don’t be sad.”
“Isla, when do you want to go to the zoo? I’ll take you!” Luca, eager to keep the excitement alive, asked with a hopeful smile.But Isla, still just a child, wasn’t focused on the logistics. She simply worried that Luca might turn out like her mother—full of promises but always too busy with work, leaving her waiting indefinitely.She tugged on Vanessa’s hand and asked sweetly, “Mommy, will you come with Isla?”“Of course! Mommy will definitely go with you. Uncle Luca doesn’t know how to handle kids, so Mommy will be with you,” Vanessa replied warmly, her tone full of reassurance.Isla’s face lit up, and she jumped with excitement. “Then let’s go today!”That’s the thing about kids—they want to go the moment the idea pops into their head, without a second thought about schedules or planning.Luca smiled, ready to agree, but paused and glance
Because of Luca’s slip of the tongue, Isla, upset and frustrated, locked herself in her room. Refusing to listen to any explanations, she cried even harder, “Mommy and Uncle are both liars!”Hearing this, Vanessa felt a sharp pang of guilt. Isla was right—she and Luca had both deceived her, and their words had lost all credibility in the little girl’s eyes.Unsure how to make things right, Vanessa stood outside the door, thinking of a way to coax her daughter out.“Sweetheart, I promise! Since Uncle Luca isn’t here today, Mommy will take you to the zoo, okay? If you come out, we can leave right away.”For a moment, there was only silence. Then, a small, hesitant voice answered, “Really?”“Yes, really! Mommy guarantees it!”The door slowly cracked open, and the moment Isla spotted her mother standing there, she threw herself into Vanessa’s arms. Sobbing softly, she
With a ‘bang’, Daxton turned off the TV, tossing the remote onto the sofa. His gaze suddenly sharpened as he walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window to check the surroundings of the community, then dialed the phone number for the head of his company's legal department.“Did you see the news?”The head of the legal department, Mike, remained calm, even joking, “You should be talking to the PR department about this. What do you need me for?”“Mike, I’m not joking!”Mike, the youngest genius lawyer in France, was also Daxton’s childhood friend and a friend of Vanessa. He harbored feelings of admiration for Vanessa but knew his family wouldn’t approve of him dating someone like her. He kept those feelings hidden and treated her like a close friend instead.“Alright, alright, don’t worry. I care about Vanessa’s situation even more than you do; after all, she’s m
At this moment, Luca finally sensed that something was off and asked, “What’s going on?”“Hmm, there’s been progress in the Mariah case. We’ve arrested someone who has implicated Beatriz as the mastermind. We plan to apprehend her next.”Upon hearing this, Luca’s emotions surged. “Really?”“Yes, but further proceedings will take some time; for now, we just need to speak with her to understand the situation.”After hanging up the phone, Luca couldn’t calm down for a long time. He never expected that after so much time, there would finally be a breakthrough in the case.Meanwhile, the police acted swiftly after receiving the confirmed information, immediately heading to Ness Corp. The employees were stunned, unsure of what had happened to prompt the police’s visit.The front desk couldn’t stop them, and Beatriz’s assistant stepped forward to inquire about the s
Seeing Isla like this made Vanessa feel uneasy as well. “Alright, you can sleep for a while. If you get hungry, just call Mommy, and I’ll help you get something to eat.”Isla nodded and fell asleep wearily.A few hours later, Isla began to mumble in her sleep. Vanessa called her a few times but got no response, which made her feel something was wrong.Turning on the bedside lamp, she noticed that Isla's little face was abnormally flushed.Vanessa reached out to check Isla’s forehead, and it felt burning hot.Startled, Vanessa quickly called for the bodyguard outside.The bodyguard, seeing the situation wasn’t staged, immediately reported to his boss without hesitation.Harvey, though dissatisfied with Isla's behavior in recent days, had no issues with her as a person. Seeing her unwell made him feel bad, and he immediately called for his
William felt somewhat helpless. He had heard of the entertainment industry's troubles but didn’t know much about how typical agencies handled such situations. However, he remembered that he had friends working at top public relations firms in the country. Perhaps he could ask for their help to resolve this crisis.So he suggested this to the two of them, only to be met with their refusal.Cassandra felt it was entirely unnecessary.“These rumors don’t bother me at all, and this kind of speculation won’t harm me. They’ll eventually fade away on their own after a while, so there’s no need to pay attention to what people are saying.”Leonardo nodded in agreement. “I feel the same way. I don’t care what they say. Besides, I’m not looking to climb the career ladder anymore. I just want to resolve the matter regarding Mariah and clear her name. On
Harvey glanced at Vanessa, seemingly skeptical of her words. He called Melissa and asked, “Did you just call?”“Yes, Vanessa answered the phone. She said you had gone out and to call back later,” Melissa replied.Melissa and Vanessa hadn’t coordinated anything beforehand, but the moment she saw Harvey’s name on the phone, she understood his intention. She remained calm and collected as she explained.“Is there something going on?” Harvey asked, a hint of confusion in his voice, as well as a flicker of guilt, fearing his wife might sense something unusual.Melissa was a clever woman; even though she knew Harvey’s heart wasn’t with her, she had no intention of addressing the underlying issue. Businesspeople are usually shrewd about gains and losses, and Melissa knew when to play her cards for her benefit.So she redirected
Upon hearing this, Luca became anxious and hurriedly comforted Beatriz. “Don’t cry, I believe you.”Beatriz leaned into Luca’s chest, and he helplessly wrapped an arm around her.Seeing Luca’s action, Beatriz felt reassured that he hadn’t begun to doubt her. As long as he still trusted her, everything would be fine. This gave Beatriz a strange sense of confidence.However, Luca felt a hand circling on his chest and immediately stiffened.Having witnessed many situations, Luca understood what Beatriz meant by this gesture. Even if he hadn’t started dating Vanessa, Beatriz’s type was definitely not to his taste.Luca grabbed Beatriz’s wandering hand, his tone weary. “Beatriz, give me some more time. I’m not ready to start a new relationship yet.”Hearing the hurt in Luca’s voice, Beat
After Vanessa was put under house arrest by Harvey, her assistant, Ora, was initially very anxious. However, she gradually sensed something was off when she realized the boss had returned to the country.A few days later, Harvey summoned Ora to his place.As expected, Vanessa was indeed with Harvey, which relieved Ora, but she couldn’t tell what had happened between the two of them, as Harvey's expression was far from good.“I asked you to take good care of Vanessa, and this is how you do it?” Harvey’s face darkened as he questioned her.Ora felt guilty and conflicted, unsure how to respond.Harvey assumed Ora still had feelings for her former boss, Daxton, and his tone grew more displeased. “I know you used to work under Daxton, and it’s fine to care for old feelings, but he’s been arrested now. I hope you can see the situation clearly;
“What do you want with Luca?” Vanessa asked, puzzled.Harvey replied nonchalantly, “Just discussing a few matters with him. You don’t need to worry too much. I won’t do anything to him. Also, I mentioned before that I would help you sort things out here. Don’t worry; I will make sure those who harmed you pay the price.”“What do you mean by that?” Vanessa asked, confused.“Of course, I mean to help you kill Beatriz,” Harvey said with a tone that suggested he was quite pleased with himself.Vanessa’s expression changed rapidly as she looked at Harvey as if he were insane. “Why would you kill her? Are you out of your mind? Who asked you to help me kill her? I want the truth! I want her to face legal consequences.”Hearing this, Harvey, who had been confident in his views, began to waver.&nbs
Ezra wanted to follow them, but was stopped by Fred.“Sorry, but my boss only allowed me to take Isla with me,” Fred said politely to Ezra.Upon hearing this, Ezra understood that Fred meant he couldn’t go along, so he didn’t press the matter. Reluctantly, he glanced at Isla one last time before retreating back inside.As soon as Isla left, Ezra immediately called Luca.“What happened?” Luca, who was still searching for Vanessa, sounded somewhat exhausted.“Dad, I’m sorry, I didn’t take good care of Isla. She was taken away by someone,” Ezra said helplessly, feeling guilty.“What?!” Hearing this, Luca was shocked. “What exactly happened?”Ezra then recounted everything that had transpired.Upon hearing the details, Luca finally let out
Upon hearing this, Vanessa finally sensed something was off.Because her father and Harvey's grandfather were close friends, Vanessa had received Harvey's help, which had allowed her to become who she was today. She had always regarded him as an elder, but now it seemed that Harvey's feelings towards her were different from what she had imagined.Feeling a bit unhappy, Vanessa reminded him, "Mr. Mone, don’t forget your identity and your family."After saying this, Vanessa ordered the driver to stop and got out of the car.However, she hadn’t walked far when she felt a force from behind, and then Harvey tossed her back into the car.The car door was locked quickly, and Vanessa couldn’t open it no matter how hard she tried.“Harvey Mone, have you lost your mind? Let me go! What do you want?” Vanessa was truly angry now.&nbs