Yvonne looked at the transaction slip. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing things must have worked. No wonder Katie managed to cover it up."Lloyd, standing next to her, was confused. "What worked?""It's adult stuff. Not suitable for children. I won't tell you about it."Then, she instructed him, "Bring Finlay to me. There is something I would like to ask him.""Sure," Lloyd agreed, and he smiled fawningly. "Ms. Yvonne, could I listen in on this adult stuff then?""No," Yvonne refused, rolling her eyes at him.Lloyd was a little depressed. He muttered, "I'm an adult! Why can't I listen in on it?"…The next evening, Lloyd brought Finlay to Yvonne after work.Finlay recognized Yvonne instantly. He had a bad feeling about this. "M—Ms. Miller. How can I help you?""Nothing much. I just want to talk." Yvonne looked at Lloyd, who was cuffing Finlay's hands. She said to Lloyd, "I told you to invite him here. Is this how you do it?"Lloyd smiled and let Finlay go. He apologiz
Finlay hesitated for a long time. In the end, he lowered his head and said, "J—just ask the question, Ms. Miller." Yvonne smiled. "Wouldn't it be nice if you cooperated with me sooner? Just tell me, why did Katie give you so much money?"Although Finlay was a man, bringing up things like that in front of Yvonne was quite embarrassing. He stuttered all the way through before finally coming clean.The situation was almost as Yvonne guessed it to be. Katie had borrowed a young man's sperm to get pregnant.However, Finlay didn't know about that. He just thought that Katie had the hots for him. As for Katie's message saying that his mission was completed, he had no idea what it meant.After telling Yvonne everything, Finlay pleaded, "Ms. Miller, I have a girlfriend. I really have no feelings for Ms. Jones. Please don't let Mr. Noah know about this.""I've already promised you that." Yvonne kept the audio recorder and stood up. She towered over Finlay and looked down on him. "If I w
Lloyd was infuriated. "What the fuck are you talking about? If Ms. Yvonne knows about it, why would she come to look for you? "Gwen was by your side. How could you not know where she went? Don't force me to beat you up to make you tell the truth!"Then, he raised his fist."Lloyd!" Yvonne called out to him. She reached out to stop him from punching Chuck.Lloyd was anxious. "Ms. Yvonne, he's so pretentious! You need to teach him a lesson! Who knows if he has Gwen hidden somewhere?""Bro. You're wrongly accusing me. How would I dare to do such a thing?" Chuck said nervously."Let go," Yvonne ordered. Lloyd reluctantly let Chuck go and shoved him.Chuck stumbled backward and hit a wall. He gasped in pain.Yvonne looked at how weak he looked. He was no match for Gwen."What did Gwen say when she left?" Yvonne asked coldly."She said nothing. We barely talked while she was with me." Chuck rubbed his painful shoulder. "I'm only guessing, but maybe Gwen doesn't want to see you."
"Ms. Hawk, just treat yourself at home here. I'll take care of you. Of course, that's if you're obedient. If not …" Chuck chuckled. "I myself don't even know what I'll do."Then, he turned around and switched on the lights on the cabinet behind him. All the tools needed for torture were on display.As someone from Emerald Group, Gwen naturally knew what each tool was meant for. Chuck's tools were even more complicated than the ones the Group had!Gwen gritted her teeth and glared at Chuck. She wanted nothing more than to kill him right now!However, Chuck wasn't afraid. In fact, he was excited. He bawled out laughing. "No wonder you're Gwen Hawk of Emerald Group. You're much stronger than an ordinary woman. When all of them saw the wall of tools, they immediately kneeled and begged me for mercy. How boring!"He suddenly hit the cage. It rang out with a clang, echoing in the entire basement.Gwen still looked murderous. Chuck was even more delighted. His expression turned even
Two days later, Yvonne's men found traces of Gwen leaving Northerna City.Gwen had taken a long-distance bus to the city southwest of Northerna City. Her timing matched what Chuck told her.However, her men only found that lead. No one knew where Gwen had gone after getting off the bus.On the other end of the line, Yvonne's men asked, "I'm already in touch with my men on the other side. When we find Ms. Hawk, do we take her back?""No need." Yvonne looked out at the night sky. Her eyes were filled with mixed emotions. "When you find her, just keep an eye on where she is. Don't disturb her for the time being."Gwen had been with Emerald Group all these years. But now, she finally had the chance to take some time off. Yvonne didn't want to pull her back in. She just wanted to make sure that Gwen was safe.Yvonne put the phone down to hear Stephen's voice from behind her. "Has Gwen been found?"She turned around and furrowed her brows. "How do you know about this?""I noticed
Half an hour later, Yvonne arrived at Hopeful Faith's studio.Conan had long been waiting for her by the entrance. When he saw Yvonne, it was as if he had seen his life savior. He quickly went up to her."Yvonne. I don't know where Chuck got the news from. He heard that Hopeful Faith was having a meeting today. He arrived at the meeting even before me."Yvonne hummed and headed directly to the meeting room. Conan followed behind her. Seeing her there, he felt much more relieved.At the meeting room, Yvonne pushed the door open to see Chuck sitting by the meeting table. Her gaze darkened. "Mr. Jensen, why did you come to Hopeful Faith without letting us know?"Chuck smiled and looked at Conan. He said in an ambiguous tone, "Turns out, Ms. Miller is here too. No wonder Conan had to stop the meeting at the last minute."Although Chuck spoke with a smile, Conan could still hear the mockery in his tone. Conan furrowed his brows. Was Chuck secretly trying to drive a wedge between him a
Chuck was still smiling. "Ms. Miller, I sincerely just want to collaborate with you. Don't overcomplicate matters. You'll make things difficult for me."Yvonne sneered, clearly not buying it."You know very well how this collaboration came about. I know whether you are sincere or not too." Yvonne leaned back. Her gaze was cold. "You keep playing all these games. Aren't you afraid that my patience will run out one day?"Chuck's smile faded a little. "Why do you have to make things so difficult?""If you want to maintain a good partnership, you should know where the line is." Yvonne tapped her fingers gently on the table. She enunciated, "Crossing the line won't be good for anyone."Neither of them was willing to back down.When they were silent at the same time, the atmosphere in the meeting room turned overbearing. Everyone else there didn't dare let out a single breath.Chuck looked at Yvonne and smiled stiffly. "You're way too serious, Ms. Miller."Yvonne smiled. "If you
Chuck left Hopeful Faith and returned to his mansion. He headed directly to the basement.Gwen was leaning against the corner of the cage, resting, when suddenly footsteps woke her up.Chuck kicked the food placed in front of the cage. "You're not eating or drinking! I'll see how long you can last!"Gwen opened her eyes and looked at him with icy contempt.Chuck got infuriated. He punched the cage so hard that it shook."Do you think Yvonne will come and rescue you soon?" Chuck sneered. "You can dream on! I've already gotten someone to use your ID to leave Northerna City. Even if Yvonne looks into it, she will only look toward the southwest. "She will never suspect that you're in my basement!"For the past few days, Chuck had been adding things to Gwen's meals so that he could deal with her easier. However, she hadn't been eating. To err on the safe side, he had to keep her locked up.Seeing the scattered food on the floor, he smiled. If she wasn't going to eat, fine. He d
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