"We made several calls to each other today to talk about how to get rid of Corinne, how to make it seem like we weren't the culprits, and how to make sure she's dead before asking for help… Anya was involved from the start. In fact, she taught me everything," explained Rosie.Lucas took Rosie's phone and, after scrolling through the call history, noted the many phone calls made between both girls. Thus, he started to believe Rosie over Anya.As disappointed as he was with Anya, he never expected her to be so vicious and cruel. Not only did she get rid of Corinne, but she was smart enough to get Rosie to do all the dirty work!Lucas glared at Anya. "How do you explain the call history if you had no part in this, Anya? Is there no end to your scheming ways?!" roared Lucas.Anya was so frightened that she started trembling. Still, she kept up the act."I knew it, Lucas! I knew you'd rather believe someone else's words over mine… But I can explain the call history," she whimpered, wip
The conversation between Rosie and Anya took a different turn.In the audio, Anya tried to talk Rosie out of hurting Corinne and saying things like she had forgiven her for stealing Jeremy. Rosie, however, persistently cursed Corinne and said she deserved to die.Toward the end of the last call, Rosie even described how she found the outlaw willing to run over Corinne for some kind of payment before begging Anya to come to the hospital to save her.The weird thing was that every word Rosie said in the recording was from her very mouth, but it was obviously not in the correct order. Moreover, she was sure many of the things Anya said were later added to the recording since she never heard her say all those things to her during their many phone calls.Thus, the recording merely confirmed what Anya said: That she tried to talk Rosie out of hurting Corinne, how Rosie was hellbent on getting rid of Corinne, and, finally, Rosie asking Anya for help in clearing her name.After the record
Lucas' pupils shrank. 'So he's finally come back to life,' he thought while looking at Jeremy. 'But what does he mean that Rosie doesn't need to turn herself in?'Jeremy lifted his head slightly to look at Rosie. His eyes were hollow, yet the intensity in his eyes was enough to kill with just one look. He slowly walked toward Rosie, who was sitting on the floor. Once there, he bent down and lifted her by the collar."I'm going to make her pay with her life!" he roared before dragging her to the end of the corridor.Anya's heart nearly jumped out when she saw how terrifying Jeremy was. However, her fright was quickly overpowered by relief once she realized she was safe. In fact, Jeremy getting rid of Rosie would work out in her favor since that meant she would not have to worry about Rosie testifying against her in the future.Lucas watched as Jeremy, who was not obviously in his right mind, dragged Rosie away. As much as he understood how Jeremy felt at that moment, he could not le
The nurses left the morgue after they put Corinne's body on the stainless steel table.Before they left, one of them said, "Miss, I know you're sad about your friend's death, but it's best not to stay in this place for too long. You can leave after you've said your goodbyes."Anya nodded. "Okay. Thank you, nurse. Don't worry, I'll be fine.""And whatever you do, don't lift the white cloth on the dead body, okay? I don't want you to be frightened by the patient's face; car crash victims aren't always pretty to look at. There'll be plenty of time to look at her after the morgue makeup artist works her magic on your friend," added the nurse.Anya secretly jumped for joy, though she outwardly expressed sorrow. "Okay. I understand."After that, the nurses left her in the morgue as they had other duties to attend to.As soon as they left, Anya lifted the white cloth off Corinne's face—or, at least, what was left of her face. All she could see was a bloody pulp. It was a disgusting sigh
Anya knew there was no surveillance camera in the morgue, so she dropped her sweet facade. Finally able to unleash all of the resentment she held toward Corinne, she cursed at her in every horrible way she could think of."You've beaten me every time, but all that doesn't matter now since I'm the final winner! Hahaha! You lost, Corinne!"Anya never planned to kill Corinne since she thought a country bumpkin like her was not worth dirtying her hands for. However, not only did Corinne steal Jeremy away from her, but she caused her to lose the trust and love of her family as well!"Serves you right for stealing everything from me!"Content with how long she unleashed mouthfuls of curses toward Corinne, Anya decided it was time to leave the morgue.She turned around and was immediately shocked when she saw Corinne staring at her two meters away.'Ahh! It's a ghost!' Anya staggered back, nearly falling to the floor. She looked down at the Corinne lying on the stainless steel table, an
'Corinne would've turned me into shreds now if she's a ghost capable of hurting people. Since she didn't, it means the only thing she can do is to scare me,' thought Anya.Anya cleared her throat and said, "Give it up, Corinne. You can't scare me."Corinne sighed. "Fine. Since I can't scare you, can you, at least, tell me something so I can rest in peace?"Anya frowned in confusion. "Tell you what?"Corinne blinked innocently. "Tell me how to be as good as you in pretending to be the nice girl and how to take advantage of the people around you. I admire how you can get everyone to willingly do the dirty work for you."Anya glared at her. "Stop being sarcastic, Corinne! Have you forgotten how you caused me to lose the trust of all the people that used to love me?"Corinne raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure I did that and not you? Anya, you've not only used and lied to your brothers and best friend but also the man you love the most. Is there no one in this world you care about?"A
"It wasn't until I started imitating Luna's quirks, habits, and looks did Lucas accept me as his sister! I was just a replacement for his long-lost sister. Everything he's done for me is an attempt to assuage his regret toward his sister! Not only am I not thankful toward him, but I feel he's a hypocrite," said Anya.Corinne was stunned. After a moment of silence, she asked, "What about Sunny? From what I can tell, he treats you really well…doesn't he?"Anya rolled her eyes. "He's nothing but a stupid, ungrateful brat. He's only nice to me because I'll put in a few good words for him to Lucas when he screws up his test. That way, he'll get a lesser punishment."He became taken in by you and kept telling me how great you are. Hmph! If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you're his sister instead of me from the way he kept defending you, an outsider, from me.""Then what about Jeremy? How did he use you? You lied to him about saving him, right? That was why he treated you as
Corinne narrowed her eyes. "Is this how you show your gratitude? By letting Rosie take all the blame and go to prison in your place?""Why not? I'll go visit her often and make sure she gets plenty of good food in the prison," remarked Anya.Corinne tutted. "Miss Anya, I'm guessing you think you're being quite generous, don't you?"Anya glared at Corinne. "You b*tch. What gives you the right to teach me how to be a decent human being? Everyone loved and trusted me before you came into the picture. I was the center of their worlds, and they were willing to do anything for me!"They all hate me now, and it's all your fault! I hate you for stealing Jeremy from me, Corinne, and I hate you even more for causing me to lose everything! Because of you, I have to start everything from scratch and work harder to make them trust me again!"Corinne glared at her. "Did you even, for one second, think you lost everything not because of me but because of your deceitful behavior? No one can make
Sherman could not help but feel fearful when he recalled the incident.Rita gently smoothed his furrowed brow. "I knew you'd come to rescue me, just like all the times you did. I love you, Sherman."Previously, Rita confessed her love to him when she was groggy. At this moment, however, she was clearly awake, even sporting a faint smile on her face as she confessed.Sherman immediately blushed. "I love you, too."Rita did not stay long in the hospital; she quickly returned to the Parr family's mansion. Just as Sherman's grandparents had said, Rita did not have any major injuries, so there was no need for her to stay in the hospital that long. In fact, she might even recover faster emotionally under the care at home.Not once did Sherman bring up Rita's job, but she surprisingly resigned from New Capital Times on her own accord. It would be difficult for her to investigate cases with her current condition; not to mention Sherman had handed over the evidence to the police. The polic
"Sherman, I like you. I love you," Rita finally confessed.Sherman, deeply pained, pulled Rita into his arms. "This is all my fault. I should've looked for you quicker. I've never blamed you. All I want is to see you smile. It's enough for me as long as you're willing to let me stay by your side."You don't have to confess to me. I know it's hard for you to do that because of your family. I've seen the way they've treated you, and…"The bodyguards who had barged in with Sherman felt a bit awkward to see their company president in tears. However, the priority was to get Rita to the hospital for a check-up. Being tied up for hours could cause circulation issues, and it could be dangerous if her limbs did not regain feelings soon.In the end, they got the bravest among them to convince Sherman to let them take Rita to the hospital. Instead of letting them do it, Sherman wiped away his tears and, with ease, lifted Rita as if she was as light as a feather.Fortunately, after the hospit
With that, Karen left without looking back. She was carrying Vince's baby in her womb, so how could she pin all her hopes on Sadie? Since Sadie was obviously unruly, she would have to rely on her son.'Sadie can spend the rest of her life with Esmond since she likes him so much. God knows it had been exhausting enough to raise her. Plus, it's only fair for Esmond to take care of her since I've done my part taking care of her until now,' thought Karen.Meanwhile, the only consolation for Sherman was that Esmond did not try to put up a fight. It seemed that he still cared about his daughter Sadie.Sherman led his men to a dilapidated house. Esmond had been cautious enough to choose a rundown house situated at the end of a village.When Sherman barged in, he found Rita lying on the floor while Esmond's men ignored her. Esmond's men had followed his orders, and since he did not instruct them to do anything to Rita, they left her well alone.Before the men could react, they were surrou
Karen cried and silently knelt by Sadie's side without trying to defend herself. Sadie, on the other hand, feebly tried to explain herself. Alas. Vince refused to listen.There had been many occasions before when he had chosen to believe Karen and Sadie, but at this moment, he realized he had been terribly wrong to do that.Rita used to be so kind, understanding, and well-behaved. However, ever since Karen and Sadie moved in, Vince felt like his daughter had become manipulative, always trying to compete for attention, and stirring up jealousy in front of him.Unfortunately, it took Rita's disappearance to make Vince realize that Rita was not trying to compete for attention. All Rita wanted from him was to treat her the same as Sadie.Vince used to think that Rita should give in to Sadie more since Sadie was younger, too."Why don't you go live with your biological father since you prefer him so much? I never want to see you show your face around here anymore! As for your mother, s
Sadie was so anxious that she wanted to jump out. "Mom, don't tell me you fell for it! Why did you call Esmond? Now they all know where Rita is. You've ruined everything, again! What were you thinking?"Karen could not care less. She cried and slapped Sadie. "You nearly scared me to death! What would I do if something happened to you? I didn't raise you just to watch you die. I told you not to meet up with Esmond, so why did you secretly meet up with him? How can you ask him to get rid of Rita?"Are you out of your mind? All I want is for us to live out the rest of our lives peacefully, so why didn't you listen to me?!"Sadie was furious. Karen had stopped trying to get rid of Rita ever since she got pregnant, so how could Sadie not be angry? Rita was like a thorn in her side, and Sadie would never be happy unless Rita was dead."Don't you know I like Sherman? How could you ask me to do nothing when Rita has stolen him from me?! I was the one who liked him first. It's either Rita g
Karen wanted so badly to slap Esmond through the phone.'What good are his pompous words now? We wouldn't be in this mess now if he hadn't hit me back then! What's more, he's saying he's doing this for Sadie. But has he ever thought of what would happen to me and Sadie if he got rid of Rita? Rita's the heiress of the Russell family. Not to mention, she's married to Sherman, so that makes her owner of Parr Group too! What makes Esmond think he can get rid of Rita so easily?'Karen's breath was ragged as she said, "If you don't believe me, just listen to your daughter's screams. I can't save her now; you will literally decide her fate! Plus, I'm pregnant with Vince's baby, so even if I lose Sadie, I still have a kid—which is more than what I can say about you!"Sherman could not help but be impressed by Karen a little. Even in this dire situation, she did not forget to express her heartfelt feelings to Vince, letting him know that she was always on his side. It was certainly not an ea
"Sherman raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's just a minor injury, maybe just a finger. There shouldn't be any major issues. A sprained joint takes only a hundred days to heal, and it might take her even less time to heal if you take very good care of her while she's recuperating."Karen's heart ached upon hearing that. She lunged toward Sherman, wanting to hit him, but the bodyguards stopped her before she could get close.Vince, still worried, held Karen tightly beside him. "Calm down. I'm sure Sadie will come out unharmed if Rita's kidnapping has nothing to do with her. But if it does, then you should know very well that…"Vince's voice dropped an octave. He could not believe his daughter's disappearance had anything to do with his stepdaughter. However, he was not utterly naive.He continued, "How could a girl like her take Rita away? Even the car window was smashed. Others must've been involved. Does her biological father have anything to do with it?"Sherman nodded
"Yes, it's true I met up with my biological father, but it was just a one-time thing. I don't want to go back to him at all! Otherwise, I would've done it ages ago. Dad, I'm really grateful to you for taking me in and looking after me all these years. That's why I feel like you're my real father, even more real than those who share the same blood."How could you unjustly accuse me and Mom like that? Sherman is the one spouting nonsense here. He's trying to push all the blame onto us. Dad, you have to wake up and see the truth!"Karen nodded along, but her heart was racing. 'When did Sadie meet Esmond? How did Sherman know when I don't even know? Seems like Sadie does have something to do with Rita's kidnapping. I have to settle things and get Sherman out of here.'Karen never had the thought of rekindling her relationship with Esmond. The only thing she wanted then was to peacefully give birth to her son. Everything in the Russell family would eventually go to her son, and she would
Sherman detested people pointing their fingers at him when they spoke. He stood up slowly, towering over Vince instantly."You claim to be Rita's father, yet if I were you, I'd choose to shut up and stand aside. I can't believe you're scolding me for threatening Sadie when she's not even your real daughter!"Look at her guilty expression; it's clear she's involved. If you don't believe me, use your brain a little. No wonder Russell Group is declining under your leadership. It's only a matter of time before the company goes completely bankrupt!"Sherman showed no mercy, causing Vince to retreat with every word. Vince clutched his chest, struggling for breath.Karen, despite her weakness, stepped forward to support him. "How could you speak to your father-in-law like this? What has Sadie done to offend you? She has nothing but admiration for you. Plus, she's just a child. How could you treat her like this?"She went on and on, but Sherman stood his ground. Meanwhile, the burly bodyg