"Ma'am, please stop trying to escape. Mister Cedric and Mister Maxwell will have our heads if we fail to take you to the summer villa again," said the servant.Phoebe pushed him away hysterically. "Move out of the way! Who do you think you all are? You have no right to tell me what to do!"The servants had been tricked once, so this time, they decided to use force to carry out their orders. Two of them restrained Phoebe while the rest packed up her stuff.Since Phoebe had only stayed in the building for less than a day, there was not much stuff to pack. The servants collected the bits and pieces lying around the apartment in preparation to leave.Before they left, the lead servant heard the sound of crying coming from the bedroom, so he had his subordinate check on it."It's Mister Joey. He seems to be hurt 'cause he's curled up on the floor crying."The lead servant walked into the room. Joey was indeed curled up on the floor, trembling and crying. He was really quite pitiful to
"Don't ask me to calm down! How can I be calm when you're going to take my precious grandson from me?! That's as good as asking me to die!" screamed Phoebe hysterically.The lead servant sighed helplessly and ordered his subordinates. "Take Miss Phoebe and Mister Joey to the summer villa for now. I'll ask Mister Cedric for further instructions after this."Phoebe was not satisfied with the outcome. "What? You're not going to bring Joey to the hospital first?! What if something happens to him?""Don't worry, Ma'am. I've already checked, and Mister Joey only suffered some cuts and bruises. I'll get the doctor from the clinic near the summer villa to tend to his injuries once we're there," said the lead servant.Phoebe frowned. "No! I don't trust those hick doctors! Take Joey to the city's hospital now!"The servants were not going to fall for her trick this time."Ma'am, please understand we're just following orders. Mister Cedric is going to severely punish us if we let you escape
Corinne was not angry; she was just a little disappointed. "Did he say when he'll be back?"Annie shook her head. "Nope. He only told me to keep you company here until he comes back. And to make sure Francine doesn't do anything to make you angry.""Oh."At that moment, Francine's voice came from the door. "I'm not going to make her angry! I've accepted my fate and accepted her as my sister-in-law, okay?"Both Corinne and Annie looked toward the door. They saw Francine walking in huffily with her hands on her hips."Ugh. I can't believe Jeremy would rather entrust Corinne to you than me!"Annie rolled her eyes at her. "Well, it's not that surprising, considering how you treated Corinne in the past."Francine fell silent as the memories of all the mean things she did to Corinne rushed back into her mind. This filled her with shame.Seeing the two girls were about as compatible as oil and water, Corinne quickly interrupted, "Is there anything to eat? I'm starving.""Yes!" said b
Corinne raised her eyebrow calmly when she saw Aaron walking in. 'What's he doing here?'Even though Francine was stunned by Aaron's good looks, she did fall head over heels for him as her heart already belonged to Chester, even if it was one-sided love at the moment.Glaring at him, she asked rudely, "And just who are you? Didn't anyone teach you to knock before coming in? Seriously, the nerve of you."Aaron smiled at Francine before turning to Corinne, saying coyly, "Well, I never had to knock before going into her bedroom, so why do I need to start now?"Hearing this, Francine grew alert. She looked at Aaron from head to toe before looking probingly at Corinne. "What?! Are you her ex-boyfriend?"Aaron said nothing. He simply smiled ambiguously instead.Francine assumed she had guessed right. She put her hands on her hips. "I can't believe you, Corinne! How can you take the opportunity to meet with your old flame while Jeremy is on his business trip? Do you not love him anymore
"I told you I'm fine. Besides, why did you come alone? Where's Xante?" asked Corinne.Based on her understanding of her two childhood friends, they would never come alone in this kind of situation.Aaron smiled. "They went to get some food for you from your favorite tapas restaurant. There was a long line since the restaurant was so busy. I don't like lining up, so I came first."'They? Who's they?'"Who's Xante with?"Annie poured some water for Aaron. "Here you go, Mister Aaron. Please have some water.""Thanks, Annie." Aaron gracefully accepted the glass of water while answering, "Xante's with my girlfriend."'Girlfriend'. The word was like a stab in the heart for Annie. She looked at Aaron in disbelief, thinking she heard wrong.However, Aaron did not look at her. Instead, he looked at Corinne with a smile. "They should be here soon. Boss, my girlfriend is very nervous about meeting you, so please be kind to her, yeah? And please don't tell her any embarrassing stories abou
Aaron put his hand to his forehead and sighed helplessly."But what you're asking me to do is kinda impossible. I'm quite the good catch, if you haven't noticed. Annie won't give up unless I hurt her feelings a bit."Corinne rolled her eyes. "That's why I warned you to stay away from girls like her! They're the type to fall hard and fast! Once they do, they won't give up no matter what. What you're doing is akin to committing a grave sin."Aaron raised a corner of his lips. "Fine, I'll admit I shouldn't have done that. And I promise I'll never do it again."Corinne simply scoffed and said nothing more.Aaron looked around the room and asked curiously, "Boss, where's Mister Jeremy? Why isn't he here with you?"Corinne looked out of the window at the blue sky. "He went on an overseas business trip.""He did what?! How can he still have the mind to work when you're lying here in the hospital? Does he even care about you?"Corinne simply frowned and said nothing.…Meanwhile, in
Annie was worried Francine would do something stupid if she got the wrong idea about Corinne and Aaron's relationship, so she quickly answered, "He's Mister Aaron, vice-president of Newmoon Group. He and Corinne are very good friends. They go way back."Francine frowned in confusion. "What? Corinne is friends with Newmoon Group's vice-president? I thought she came from the countryside. How could she know someone like that?"Annie rolled her eyes at her. "You're really as shallow as I thought you are. You shouldn't judge a person by their background, you know? So what if Corinne came from the countryside? Uncle Jeremy still fell madly in love with her, didn't he? It's not that surprising Corinne will have some impressive friends, right?"Francine felt conflicted. 'So Corinne already knew some impressive people before she even met Jeremy, yet she never once name-dropped them to impress me. Looks like I really should get to know her better…'"Well, he's certainly quite good-looking. W
Xante did not stop what she was doing. After peeling the last of the apple's skin, she cut them into little wedges and fed them to Corinne."It's okay. I know how to take care of Corinne since I took care of her in times like this before you two met."Annie blinked. She could not help but feel something was off when she saw Xante gently feeding Corinne the apple slices.Even though they both worked in Newmoon Group, Annie rarely talked to Xante while working since Xante was a workaholic who gave off the vibe of 'I'm busy, so don't talk to me unless necessary'.Thus, it was a little jarring to see the aloof Xante acting so warmly toward Corinne. 'I've never seen this side of her before…'Just when Annie was trying to figure out the relationship between Corinne and Xante, Francine—never the one to keep what she was thinking to herself—said, "My brother really has his work cut out for him. Not only does he have to worry about other men stealing his wife, but he has to worry about oth
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