Although the Carews lived in a decent residential area and always used expensive items — which gave people the impression that they were quite rich — it was all a lie. Their lives were not as glamorous as they made it out to be.Marvin inherited some properties from the older generation, but those properties were not in prime locations. It would be difficult for him to sell them should he need some cash.Over the years, Marvin rented out those properties to other people, but the rent received was only a drop in the bucket for his family's expenses; it was not enough to satisfy the family's vanity and their penchant for keeping up with the Joneses.Previously, they could count on Sherlyn's acting money to live a glamorous life but now she was canceled and could no longer get an acting job. In other words, they were doing nothing but frittering away whatever little fortune they had left.The engagement gifts given by Jeremy were their only hope to continue living their glamorous life
"What's your relationship with my birth mother? Why, instead of her, did you go to the hospital to pick me up?"Marvin's face stiffened and he looked at her in astonishment, "You knew about that?""Yeah, and I also know you're not my real father."'This explains why she has been addressing me as Mister Carew lately,' thought Marvin. His eyes flashed as he shouted, "How dare you! When are you going to stop with your nonsense? Corinne Carew, you're my daughter! Are you seriously thinking of cutting ties with your flesh and blood just because you've married into a wealthy family?"Corinne remained calm. "I'm sorry, Mister Carew, but I've already done a paternity test and you and I have no blood ties at all so you can't fool me."Marvin did a double-take. He never expected that she would do something like this. "How dare you do a paternity test behind my back?"Corinne folded her arms lazily. "Oh, I didn't plan for it. I just thought I might as well do it when you and Sherlyn were do
"I don't know about the rest. I only know that she comes from a wealthy family 'cause this one time. Ahem, I happened to see her going into a very grand mansion and addressing the old couple inside as Mom and Dad."Seeing how guilty Marvin looked, Corinne could easily guess that he must have secretly followed Em home so that he could find out more about her.Marvin had that faraway look in his eyes as he took a trip down memory lane. "Your mother has always been one of the quieter ones. Not only is she a straight-A student but she's kind, doesn't put on airs, and is popular in the school. Guys and girls alike worshiped her."'So mom's kind and gentle,' Even though Corinne had no clear memory of her mother, she could nonetheless sense she was always smiling down at her. She remembered that she was already five years old when Marvin adopted her. Logically speaking, a five-year-old should be able to retain some memories of her childhood and yet, Corinne could not recall anything from b
"You should just live your life as a wealthy man's wife and forget about the past. I once promised your mother that I would not let her enemy find you so that her soul can rest in peace in heaven," said Marvin.Corinne was stunned to hear her father — who did not show her any affection before — say something like this to her. 'Maybe he's being nice to me 'cause he still has feelings for my mom,' she thought.Corinne smiled and said, "Thank you for telling me that. I'll live a good life and protect myself. Goodbye, Mister Carew."She then walked out of the room at a leisurely pace.Marvin frowned and let out a long sigh. The fact that Corinne grew up to be twenty years old meant that he already did his part in keeping her safe, just as he promised Emily. It would not be any more of his responsibility should anything happen to Corinne in the future for that girl already spread her wings and fly.…A few burly men were moving the engagement gifts out of the Carew's mansion downstair
Sherlyn snapped out of the shock and looked enviously at Corinne. "Huh! Where else could she have gotten the money from if not by deceiving Jeremy to give her some?" she said saltily.Lilliana, of course, thought the same way as her. "Corinne, you shouldn't use other people's money to clean up your mess. Aren't you afraid that the Holden family would look into this and punish you if they found out you use their money without their permission?"Corinne smiled. "Aunt Lilliana, you seem to have forgotten something very important. Jeremy is my husband so technically speaking, his money is also my money. Take yourself for example, has your husband ever asked you to give back all the money you've spent that was his, to begin with?"Lillian's face first became pale with shock then black with anger. She was so angry that she could not think of a comeback.Sherlyn's face looked even more terrible than her mother's. She thought that the Holden family would look down on Corinne — who grew up
Aaron and Xante glanced at each other. Both of their hearts went out to Corinne. Since she was little, Corinne never experienced what it felt like to have the love of a family. Instead, she was sent to the countryside to suffer all kinds of hardships. They saw with their own eyes the amount of blood, sweat, and tears for Corinne to get to where she was today.Seeing Corinne so down, Aaron decided to change to a more cheerful topic. "Boss, let's go and have fun at the bar now that you've gotten your engagement gifts back."'Drinking in broad daylight? No thanks!' thought Corinne. She was in no mood to be drinking so she waved her hands and said, "Aaron, go find out if any grand mansions have been demolished in Thalassa in the past twenty years. If there is, find out the original owner of the mansion. Also, send someone to find out about an ex-student called Em Love in Thalassa University and send me the information once you have it."Aaron could send this was important to her so he a
Aaron pretended to be embarrassed. "Why me? I'm still a virgin. It'll be so awkward for me to buy that kind of thing!"Both Xante and Corinne were speechless.Aaron was only trying to be funny to liven up the atmosphere but it did not work as both Xante and Corinne were looking at him with disgust and with their mouths in a tight line.He immediately dropped the act and shrugged. "Okay, okay. I'll go get the pregnancy test. Huh! I can't believe that I, the owner of the Newmoon Group, am being ordered around like a little scullery maid. Sigh! What has become of my life!"Xante gave him a side-eye and said nothing else as Aaron continued with his blabbering. She then started the car engine and drove to the nearest drugstore. While driving, she kept looking up at the rearview mirror to check on Corinne.'She doesn't look too well after all that retching she did moments ago,' thought Xante with a worried frown on her face.Corinne was indeed not well. Recently, she burned candles at
"The fetus is developing well but your own body is a little weak. You must rest more and eat more nutritious food. Don't overwork yourself and maintain a good mood. Please ask your family members to take care of you too," said the OB-GYN specialist."Don't worry, doctor! We'll take good care of her," said Aaron with a smile.Corinne walked out of the consultation room in a daze. She was a little overwhelmed at the thought of a baby growing inside of her.She only ever did it once with Jeremy. That night, she had no choice but to do it with Jeremy because he had been given a strong aphrodisiac and would have suffered serious consequences to his health if he did not have s*x there and then.'I can't believe it only took that time for me to get pregnant,' thought Corinne.She was only twenty years old and just starting her adult life; the thought of getting married and giving birth did not even cross her mind a few minds ago so the news of pregnancy was a huge shock to her.Besides,