Back when they had been in the transport vehicle, a young hoodlum named Ron Callum had also been on board with them.Perhaps Ron had heard rumors about them because he had known that the man of the house had abandoned Mark and his mother. That was why the mother-and-son duo had decided to leave.One night, Ron had accidentally bumped into Mark. He had grabbed Mark, demanding an apology from him.Yet despite his young age, Mark had been as stubborn as a mule. He had stared coldly at Ron, which only infuriated him further.Ron had cursed, saying, "You're a bastard who got abandoned by his father! And your mother is a mistress! Why are you acting all high and mighty?"Before he had managed to finish his insult, Mark had swung at him.Although Mark had been small in size, he'd still packed a mean punch. Ron had spat out a mouthful of blood from the hit. Enraged, he had immediately started beating Mark mercilessly in the compartment.At that time, Mark's mother had still been sick.
Katie followed behind Noah. Her expression darkened before she quickly put on a smile. "It went well. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to get the goods shortly.""Is that so?" Noah sat down on the couch, gesturing for Katie to sit beside him.Katie nestled into Noah's embrace. She told him about the interesting things she had seen and heard at the mines over the past few days.Toward the end, Katie looked up at Noah. "During my trip, I found out Mark was the owner of the mines. Do you know who Mark is? He's a Principal of the Emerald Group. I didn't expect my father to have connections to someone like him!"Noah's eyes darkened at the name.Although it was just a brief moment, it didn't escape Katie's notice.She knew something was up, and her mind raced. With how things are turning out, she had to take the gamble. She didn't want to become Yvonne's pawn!"Noah, why are you being so quiet?" Katie asked. "Do you know who Mark is?"Noah retorted, "Why would I kn
Noah suddenly choked Katie and pinned her to the couch. He coldly threatened, "Katie, I didn't even hesitate when I tried to kill my grandfather. Do you think I would spare you? Dead men tell no lies."Katie showed no fear. "Won't it arouse suspicion from Stephen if you kill me now? Noah Anderson, I'm not afraid to die. I'm just worried ..."Katie raised her hand and grabbed Noah's arm with a small smile. "My death will only bring you trouble."It had only been a month since Philip's accident. If Noah's woman were to get into an accident as well, especially when she was his alibi for New Year's Eve, it would surely arouse some suspicions.Noah couldn't possibly be unaware of this."Instead of letting someone else take advantage of our fight, we should join hands to solve the problem at hand." Katie sensed that Noah's grip had loosened slightly."Noah, we've always been together. Hurting you wouldn't benefit me either. I said those things because I know I don't hold much weigh
Yvonne's heart sank. She hadn't expected Stephen to figure it out so quickly!She acted surprised and gave Stephen a shocked look. "Is Katie already on the move?"Stephen could see through Yvonne's act. He smirked and played along. "So, it was you. Tell me, how did you manage it?"Yvonne shrugged. "It was nothing, really. What you should be curious about is what Katie did.""But aren't you curious how many stocks Noah sold?" Stephen asked.Yvonne pretended to be curious. "So, how many stocks did he sell?""It was worth about 200 million dollars." Stephen huffed."That much?" Yvonne feigned surprise. "Katie is quite ruthless. Just 84.5 million dollars would have been enough."She continued, "However, the fact that Noah was willing to take out such a large sum of money meant that Katie has something over him. It's safe to assume that Noah and Mark conspired together to hurt Philip."Yvonne pondered for a moment. "But now that they've reached an agreement, we won't be able to mak
"Oh?" Yvonne arched her brow slightly and spared a glance at Noah. "What a great day, indeed." It turned out that Noah had not only invested 200 million dollars, but he had also involved himself in it.Katie was such a greedy woman. Recollecting herself, Yvonne picked up her glass of fruit juice and proposed a toast to Katie. "Congratulations on successfully marrying into a wealthy family as you wished, Ms. Jones." Katie frowned. She could sense Yvonne's sarcasm. Then, she curled up the corners of her lips into a bright smile. "It looks like I'll be your sister-in-law in the future. Despite everything that has happened, we still end up becoming family."Yvonne chuckled. "Well, you'll first need to have luck."Katie's face fell at once. "What do you mean?"Staring into her eyes, Yvonne continued, "What's with the change of mood? I'm just saying that I won't make the same mistake again. I didn't say anything about you not being able to get married into the Anderson family."
While Yvonne was thinking about how to ask Stephen to go back first, she heard him unbuckle his seatbelt. He got out of the car and looked at Caleb. "Do you have so much free time lately, Mr. Turner?"The atmosphere between them was nowhere near amicable.Curling up his lips, Caleb replied, "I'm not as free as you, Mr. Anderson."Although they had only exchanged a few words, Yvonne could sense the growing tension in the air. Feeling her head throb, she cleared her throat to ease the stalemate in front of her. Then, she looked at Stephen. "It's late now. Go home first, Mr. Anderson. Thanks for the dinner tonight."After saying that, she walked toward Caleb and said in a soft voice, "I need your help with something."Caleb didn't ask anything further. He simply followed Yvonne into the villa. As Stephen stared at their receding figures, his expression darkened. …Less than half an hour later, Caleb came out and saw that Stephen was still standing by his car. He couldn't hel
Yvonne had asked Caleb to investigate Mark's mother, Jennifer. Ever since then, she had been patiently waiting for his news. During this time, Carmen got someone to send an invitation to Miller Jewels to invite Yvonne to a banquet. Yvonne showed up at the venue on time.Carmen was surrounded by a group of wealthy ladies. The moment she looked up and saw Yvonne, her eyes instantly brightened. "Please excuse me. I need to go greet my friend over there."As she spoke, she gave the champagne to the waiter and stepped away from the crowd. Katie was standing not far away. She had been waiting for the people around Carmen to disperse. Upon seeing Carmen was on her own now, Katie approached her with a glass of champagne. However, Carmen continued walking ahead. It seemed as though she hadn't seen Katie. Katie followed Carmen's line of sight, only to see Yvonne in a long, red dress in the distance. She resembled an alluring rose.Several other guests had noticed Yvonne too. They kn
As soon as Katie finished speaking, the other guests began to whisper among themselves about it. Ariel was stunned. She couldn't think of anything to say and simply stared at Katie in shock. At this moment, Katie seemed so unfamiliar to her, unlike the person she had thought she was. Jodie couldn't stand it anymore. Pulling a long face, she retorted, "Katie, stop dragging Yvonne down! Aren't you aware of what you did? Ariel trusted you so much, yet you abused her trust and hurt her repeatedly! Do you even deserve to be her friend?" "I ... I only wanted to help her." Katie remained aggrieved. "Since you believe Yvonne's words, whatever I say is going to be useless." "Oh? What did I say?" Yvonne's voice came through before she stepped into the scene. Standing in between Katie and Ariel, Yvonne looked at Ariel and asked, "Ms. Clarke, did I say anything that drove a wedge between you two?"Ariel shook her head."I only taught you how to deal with those who casually leak medic
A light breeze blew by in the courtyard. Agatha slowly recounted the past.Back then, Daniel and his wife, Katherine, had just had Mark. The entire Carrington family had been celebrating.They had doted on Mark and taken him wherever they went.That day, they had headed out. Before they'd known it, Mark had been taken away.Just when Daniel and Katherine had been on the brink of losing it, they had received a call from the kidnapper to bring the ransom to a specific spot.They had gotten the money and driven there without any hesitation. No one had thought that they would ever return after that. Even Mark had disappeared.When Agatha finished recounting this, her cup of tea had already cooled.She wiped her tears away. She said through a catch in her throat, "Katherine was hugging the bag of money tightly until the moment she passed away, as though she were hugging you."Mark furrowed his brows. Now that he'd heard the truth about Daniel and Katherine, he should have felt pain
As Yvonne left the room, she could tell that Stephen's mood was much better.She looked at him. "Are you thinking of something nice?""No." Stephen looked at Yvonne with a rare twinkle in his eyes."Let me take you to breakfast." Before Yvonne could respond, he took her hand and led her to the elevator.Thinking about how he'd stood outside her room the entire night, Yvonne decided to let him hold her hand.Then, her thoughts drifted to Otto. Somehow, she had a bad feeling.…At the same time, Mark was in the courtyard of Carrington Mansion. He sat next to Agatha and poured some tea for her.He handed her a cup of hot tea. "Great-Grandma, try this."When he noticed that Agatha had no reaction, he called out to her once more. "Great-Grandma?""Huh?" Agatha came to her senses. She looked at Mark in confusion. "What is it?""You've been distracted since yesterday. Are you thinking of something?" Mark asked.Agatha shook her head. "Nothing." Then, she picked up her teacup and
Yvonne stood by the door of the bedroom and looked at Otto, who was looking out of the window in a daze on the bed.The sun shone on his face. He looked quite hungover and had a sickly pale face.Yvonne hesitated for a while before saying gently, "Mrs. Jenner called me last night. She's worried about you."Otto didn't respond.Yvonne went in closer and added, "She said that you called her and asked about your father. She found it strange."Mr. Carrington, why did you suddenly think about your father? Did Mrs. Carrington Senior bring him up yesterday?"All Yvonne got was silence.Luckily, she was patient. She sat on the couch and followed Otto's line of sight. Tiny dust particles were floating among the sunbeams. Yvonne also fell into a daze as she watched them float about.Suddenly, Otto asked, "Have you ever felt like your world was falling apart?""Hmm?" Yvonne was confused. "For example?""I mean, like the person that you trust turns out to be different from what you'd t
The next morning, Yvonne opened her door to see Stephen standing outside. She was caught off guard."What is wrong with you this morning? Why didn't you knock…"While talking, Yvonne noticed that Stephen was still wearing the same clothes as the night before. She furrowed her brows and asked, "Don't tell me you didn't leave last night? Have you been standing outside this door all this while?""Hmm." Stephen looked at Yvonne intently. "I thought you would've figured it out quickly."Yvonne was speechless, but she thought to herself that she'd slept like a baby the night before.She smiled at him. "Figure what out?" She noticed Stephen frowning as though he were on the brink of losing his temper.She quickly added, "I-I mean, you have to give me a hint, right? I've thought about it the entire night, but I still don't understand. My brain isn't functioning well."Stephen asked suspiciously, "You've been thinking about it the entire night?""Yes, which is why I didn't look for yo
"If I hadn't come to find you tonight, you probably wouldn't tell me anything about what happened tonight, would you?" Stephen asked in retort.It wasn't a big deal, as long as they returned safely. Yvonne wondered why she needed to report this to him.But she still smiled. "It's late. How could I disrupt your rest? It would've been the same if I told you about it tomorrow morning, right?"Stephen sniggered. "Yvonne, you still don't know where you've gone wrong."He suddenly went in closer to her. Yvonne instinctively retreated until her back was up against the wall. She glared at him."What on earth is wrong with you? I've already said that I would've told you tomorrow morning—"A punch went past Yvonne and landed brutally on the wall.Yvonne was a little stunned. She looked into Stephen's eyes and furrowed her brows. "Stephen, I don't want to quarrel with you for no reason. "Mrs. Carrington Senior went to look for Otto today. Calbert couldn't reach him the entire day, so he
Jane returned to the private room, distracted.She sat down next to Cory. She looked at him as he reached his hand out to her in confusion.Cory furrowed his brows and asked unhappily, "Where's the wine?""Wine… Yes! Wine!" Jane came to her senses. She was just about to get up when Cory pulled her back.He grabbed her by her chin and forced her to look at him. "What happened when you went out?""N-Nothing."Cory tightened his grip. Jane furrowed her brows in pain. "I-I… I saw Yvonne. She told me that she and Stephen got remarried.""What?" Cory relaxed his grip a little. "They got remarried?""Hmm.""So, what?" He had no intention of letting her go, and he looked at her sharply. "Does it bother you so much that Stephen got remarried?"Jane looked at Cory frantically. "Cory, what do you mean by that?""What do I mean? You know what I mean."Cory went in closer. His tone turned icy. "You used to pursue Stephen. Now that you know he's gotten married, you're in this shitty mood
Yvonne turned around to see Jane smiling at her ambiguously. She furrowed her brows. How were they always bumping into each other?Jane crossed her hands in front of her chest and leaned against the wall. She swept her gaze at Calbert and Otto. "Two guys and one woman. You sure know how to have fun!"Calbert instantly snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?""Why are you being so fierce? Did I hit the nail on the head?" Jane snickered. "Two guys and a woman came out of a private room in the middle of the night. Anyone would come to the same conclusion. We're all adults. There's no need to pretend to be innocent.""You—" Calbert was about to go up to Jane, but Yvonne stopped him."Since Ms. Ford is here, I'm guessing so is Cory?" Yvonne smiled, yet her smile didn't reach her eyes. "If you cause a scene here and this bar gets raided, guess who'll be the ones walking out here alive?"Jane's expression turned ugly. "Are you threatening me?""It's just a kind reminder." Yvon
Calbert and Yvonne managed to track Otto's car to a bar, thanks to the information they'd gotten from his staff. Otto's car was right outside the bar.Calbert looked at the neon sign and furrowed his brows. "Why is Otto here? Did what Mrs. Carrington Senior said really hit him so badly that he has to drown himself in alcohol?"Yvonne said nothing and headed directly inside the bar."Wait up for me!" Calbert went after her. He subconsciously protected her from all the drunk patrons.The lighting in the bar was dim. Many of the patrons were drunk and having fun.Yvonne and Calbert walked around the booth area, but Otto was nowhere to be found. They pulled a server over to ask if there was a patron by the name of Otto Carrington who had reserved a private room.Coincidentally, the server had just taken two bottles of wine to Otto's room. So, he led them to the private room.Calbert tipped the server before opening the door and entering. The entire room reeked of alcohol.He looked
After Agatha left, Otto stood in the same spot without moving.A long time later, Zac entered the office. He looked at Otto's back and asked quietly, "Mr. Carrington, will you still see the client?""No." Otto sounded heartbroken.Zac didn't dare ask further questions. He gently closed the door and reminded the secretary that no one was to disturb Otto.In the office, Otto was alone. He slowly walked over to the couch and slumped into it. His mind was in a mess."Alexander was the one who planned the kidnapping back then."Agatha's words rang in his mind for a long time.Alexander's young face appeared in Otto's mind, smiling at him affectionately."Otto! Amazing! Yes! Just like that!""You're amazing at badminton! You're going to make the country proud! I'm going to be so proud of you!""Otto, my son!"Memories of his interactions with Alexander flashed across his mind at that moment.Otto couldn't imagine that such a loving father would do such an absurd thing. Alexander