Annie's lament drew Corinne and Jeremy's attention, who both frowned concernedly. 'It'd be best if this sucker for love doesn't get into too many relationships.'The waiter then came in and served some appetizers.Annie seemed to be in a trance, so Corinne placed some salad on Annie's plate. "Why are you spacing out? Didn't you say you were hungry? It's time to eat!"Annie came to her senses and smiled. "Thanks!"Corinne then placed some food into Jeremy's plate too, lest that petty man start getting jealous over his niece.Annie was a chatterbox who continued to talk while she ate. "By the way, have you and Corinne obtained your marriage certificate?"Corinne and Jeremy were stumped.Jeremy tilted his head and glanced at Corinne. "Not yet."Annie frowned seriously. "Why not? Aren't you afraid she'll run away with someone else one day if she's unhappy? Getting the certificate should be a priority! You should make sure to lock her down after all that effort you took to get her b
"Uncle," Annie said, "your wedding to Corinne was so simple that not a single photo was taken! Why don't the two of you get a professional photoshoot now that you two are back together?"Before Jeremy could speak, Corinne smiled coldly and said, "Forget it. He probably doesn't like taking pictures."Annie frowned, looked at the man, and asked, "Are you going to tell me that you don't even plan on taking any wedding photos?"He looked at Corinne and said, "I don't mind taking photos once in a while."Corinne raised her head and glanced at Jeremy in surprise. Since he did not want to get a marriage certificate with her, she was sure he thought it was a waste of time to take wedding photos.She was surprised that he agreed.As soon as she heard Jeremy's willingness for the photoshoot, Annie immediately became excited. "Great! I happen to have a friend who works in a studio, so I'll book a slot for you right now. Treat it as a belated wedding gift for you two!"Corinne remained unin
Corinne looked at Jeremy in surprise. 'He's willing to do a wedding photoshoot right now?'Annie sat back down, excited that there was something to look forward to, and it was such a boost to her mood that even the food tasted much better than before."I can't wait to see you in a wedding dress! I bet you'll look stunning!"Corinne's lips twitched as she continued to drink her soup pensively. 'He's not willing to get a marriage certificate with me, but he's excited to do a wedding photoshoot with me. I wonder what goes on in his mind.'The studio owned by Annie's friend was well-known in the city as a luxury photoshoot studio. Many celebrities were said to have had their shots taken for their wedding, portraits, and magazine covers.She intentionally did not reveal her uncle's identity to her friend, fearing that her friend might feel pressured by his identity when taking photos of her uncle. Even so, her friend still felt unprecedented pressure upon seeing Jeremy.His aura was s
Annie was not too happy to hear that and pouted. "Do you have to be so ungrateful? Aren't you aware that you wouldn't even get the chance to see Corinne in a wedding dress if it weren't for me?"Jeremy placed the magazine down and stood up. He walked past Annie—whom he did not wish to see—and approached Corinne. He gently caressed her cheek and said, "You look beautiful."Corinne, fitted in the wedding dress, glanced up at him shyly. "Thank you.""Let's get our pictures taken." Jeremy took her hand and led her into the studio.Annie folded her arms in displeasure. 'Hmph! Uncle Jeremy is so ungrateful! Corinne looks amazing in the wedding dress, and it's a shame that he's the only one who could see her in that!'After some thought, Annie decided to take her phone out and follow them into the studio. She took a video of Jeremy and Corinne during the photoshoot, set up a chat group, and added all her contacts before sending the video to the group.Zeke was the first to send a messag
Sunny was startled. When he realized it was Anya, he hid his phone behind him. "Nothing!"Anya did not notice anything in the first place, but when she saw Sunny react as if he was hiding something from her, she became curious about why he would act that way. "Why do you look so scared of showing your phone to me? Are you secretly in a relationship?"Sunny immediately shook his head. "No! I'm not in a relationship!"Anya did not believe it, of course. She asked with a smile, "Then why would you be so afraid of letting me look at your phone? Come on now, Sunny. Show me who you were chatting with just now!"Sunny was not worried that Anya would look at his phone. He was worried she would get sad if she saw the video Annie sent.He frowned, thought over his options for a moment, and decided to just admit it so Anya would not continue to pressure him. "Okay, okay! I… I'm in a relationship! I'm entitled to privacy in my chats, so I can't show it to you!"Anya was inevitably worried wh
Anya realized that there was no 'girlfriend' at all. The chat was about Jeremy and Corinne taking wedding photos.Her expression froze instantly, and her expression darkened.From the video, she saw how Jeremy gently hugged Corinne's waist, guided by the photographer's suggestion. He also looked into her eyes, kissed her, and smiled at her.Anya had known Jeremy for many years, yet she never enjoyed that kind of treatment. The video made her heart ache, and Anya was beyond envious of Corinne. She gritted her teeth as her expression contorted sinisterly.Sunny finally caught up to her at that moment, and he never saw his gentle sister with such a terrifying expression before. He felt a little uneasy when he saw that, so he asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"Anya came back to her senses, raised her head, and forced a stiff smile. "I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be okay?"Sunny frowned. He had always known his sister's feelings toward Jeremy, and he could see that she was trying to be brave
Corinne read the chat and said, "They're your friends, so you make the arrangements."Jeremy glanced at her. "I can't."Corinne looked at him from the mirror and raised her eyebrows in puzzlement. "Why not? Didn't you go out drinking with them before? Just make the same arrangements as you always do.""I don't have any money," he quipped.Corinne was speechless. The make-up artist who was changing Corinne's hairstyle had a surprised expression and tried to hold in a laugh. What a shock to hear that a handsome, rich man could say that he had 'no money'!Corinne's lips twitched when she realized that Jeremy had given her all his bank cards. He did not have much money on his phone either."You make the arrangements then, and I'll pay for it," Corinne said considerately.That was what Jeremy had been waiting for her to say. He raised his hand and gently touched the tip of her nose. "Thank you for your generosity then, my dearest wife."The tip of her nose tickled slightly after he
Corinne nodded again. "I want to go home."Jeremy asked nothing else and gently hugged her shoulders instead. "Okay. Then we'll go home.""We?" Corinne frowned. "Aren't you going?"Jeremy gazed down at her. "No one is going to pay the bill for me if you don't go, so there's no point in me going."Corinne rolled her eyes at him. "I can transfer the money to you so you can make the payment."Jeremy said sternly, "Don't bother. I'm in no mood to drink with them if you're not with me. I'm afraid you'll run away again."'Seriously?' Corinne could not stand that reverse-psychology trick and felt as though Jeremy was trying to manipulate her."Fine. I'll go with you."Jeremy smirked, leaned down, and whispered in her ear, "I know you're tired, but we'll go home as soon as I have a couple of drinks with them. I promise to let you sleep well tonight instead of making you toss and turn."When Corinne heard the phrase 'toss and turn', her face reddened in an instant, and the blush extend
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