Rose couldn't believe her eyes.Weren't Summer and Kristen always at odds? When did they become so affectionate?Noticing how Kristen was gazing at Summer with such tenderness, Rose felt her heart burn with jealousy.No! She couldn't let them make up! Kristen's attention should only be on her! This was something Rose felt she was owed. She clenched her fists tightly and then retreated into her room with a stormy expression.…Convincing Henry went far more smoothly than expected.Initially, he had strongly opposed it, much like Kristen. But after hearing Summer's reasoning, he pondered for a long time and eventually agreed.Rose, however, was still unaware of this decision. She spent the entire night brainstorming ways to create opportunities for Summer to fall in love with Anthony as soon as possible.As for Anthony, he had been conflicted about whether he should continue with his involvement before arriving at Hartford Manor. He had even considered telling Henry about Rose'
"School?" Rose was shocked.Anthony, who had been chatting with Henry, was also taken aback."Yes. She didn't want to take lessons at home, so I let her go," Henry explained.Rose's face turned pale, while the private tutors exchanged awkward glances."Um, Mr. Hartford Senior, we've finished our breakfast. We should go prepare the teaching materials for the lessons," one of the tutors said."Of course. If you need anything, just ask the maids," Henry replied kindly.Then, the tutors, including Anthony, got up and left the dining room."Rose, Summer probably didn't want to worry you. She has her reasons for doing this," Henry said gently."I know. It's just… I don't understand why she didn't tell me…" Rose fell silent, her lips pressed in a thin line.Damn it! Why on earth would Summer choose to go to school instead of attending private lessons at home in the middle of all this turmoil? Was Summer out of her mind? If she wasn't going to stay home for lessons, then what was the
However, Summer was no longer the person she once was.…Summer was wearing a custom-made school uniform for elite schools, complete with a shining school badge.The horrible makeup Rose always smeared on her face was gone. Her long hair was draped across her shoulders in soft waves, and she only wore a pearl hair clip near her left ear.Summer had always had good looks, and she was stunning even without makeup. In the past, her original radiance was simply shrouded by her meekness, along with the terrible makeup and messy hair.The car pulled up in front of the academic building. Getting out of the car, Robin respectfully opened the car door for Summer.As soon as Summer got out of the car, the passersby seemed to have frozen in time. They all turned their attention to Summer."Ms. Hartford, I'm always available. If you need any help, feel free to call me." Robin handed Summer her school bag."Okay." Smiling, Summer nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Cohen."Robin nodded a little. Then,
Annie was stunned for a moment. After all, Summer had always been a useless heir. She had never dared to speak a whole sentence to Annie and the young ladies, let alone look them in the eye when she talked.Annie wondered what was wrong with Summer today.Now that the person who had always been beneath her was suddenly talking to her like that, Annie felt like it was a threat to her pride.Walking up to Summer, she answered in an arrogant tone, "Yes. I was the one who did it. I was just putting trash where it belongs. What's wrong with that?"Summer looked at Annie. There wasn't even a hint of fear in her eyes.Meanwhile, Annie felt a little intimidated by Summer's gaze."What are you looking at?" she asked in an unusually loud voice, which was evidence of her guilt.Then, she suddenly screamed at Summer and reached up to grab the latter's hair.However, before Annie could touch Summer, someone had already grabbed her hair instead.After that, a shocking scene played out in fr
There were people both inside and outside the classroom, but it was completely silent.Then, Summer took out her phone and started a timer.Annie's face was covered in rotten fruit peels and juice. She had never smelled so bad before, and she kept having the urge to throw up. However, she couldn't even be bothered to clean herself up. Turning around, she looked at the others. "What are you standing around for? I didn't do this on my own!"The others didn't say a word.Summer pretended she never saw their conflict. Taking out a textbook from her bag, she began flipping through it expressionlessly.In just a few minutes, the whole world seemed to have turned upside down. The person who was usually the victim was sitting at the side with a cold and emotionless demeanor. Meanwhile, the bullies were surrounded by trash as they hurled insults at each other.Someone commented, "Wow! Summer's retaliation really is something!""She's so cool!" someone else agreed.A student said, "I'v
"Sorry, sir. I really wasn't being respectful, was I?" Summer tapped the desk lightly with her slender fingers. "It's a very serious offense. Perhaps you should… call my parents."As soon as Summer said that, Ivan froze.Even students in the elite schools weren't so arrogant that they would actually tell their teachers to call their parents."There's not much going on at home these days, and my elders should be free to come over. Shall I make the call for you?" Summer asked.Ivan's face instantly turned pale.Getting the elders of the Hartford family here would be the death of him. As far as he knew, Summer never told her family about getting bullied at school. If her family came over right now, the cat would be let out of the bag."It's not that serious," Ivan said, trying to gloss it over."Oh." Summer raised an eyebrow. "Then, we'll leave it for when you feel it's serious enough, Mr. Sutton."Ivan's face turned ashen.In the final three minutes, the rich young ladies did ev
News of Summer's change in behavior quickly spread throughout the school. Everywhere she went, gazes would follow her.She pretended she didn't notice it.When she arrived at the entrance of the teacher's office, she heard the teachers talking about her as well. "This is too much! How could she shove a classmate's head into a pile of trash? That's inhumane! These rich kids would do the worst of things just because they come from powerful backgrounds!"Summer scoffed.She had simply shoved Annie's head into the pile of trash Annie had created. This was nothing compared to the bullying Annie had done to her. But these teachers were feeling bad for the students now?Summer lifted her hand and knocked on the door.The voices in the teacher's office fell silent.It was slightly disappointing, but because of her connection to Hartford Group, those people would never dare express their hatred toward her. At the very least, this was the situation right now.Her simple retaliation t
Normally, in a school where they had so many students coming from rich, prominent families, the teachers would rarely treat their students like this. Yet, why were they treating Summer like that?It was because they knew that Summer was meek and docile. She would not tell her parents about what happened at school.These teachers were not afraid of the students. Instead, they were wary of the rich, prominent families that these students belonged to."Did I say something wrong, Mr. Sutton?" Summer looked Ivan straight in the eye."Are you saying that all of Annie's misdeeds, such as dumping trash all over my desk, tearing my textbooks and homework, and forcing me to drink dirty water, are just playful banter? On the other hand, I'm bullying her by making her clean up the mess she made on my desk?""You!" Ivan could not come up with a rebuttal to Summer's question."Do the rest of you share the same opinion as Mr. Sutton, too?" Summer's gaze drifted across the other teachers inside
"No! You can't touch my children!" Lily said in a panic."Then, tell me who that man is. Where is he right now?" Summer demanded.Lily froze.After a brief internal struggle, she said, "His name is Xander Flint. We met at the airport two years ago when I went for a charity event abroad with Kristen. After we got to know each other for a while, we started dating.""How much have you told him about my mom?" Kristen asked."Not much. I've never told him anything private. At the most, he would occasionally ask a curious question, but that's really rare. They were mostly insignificant!" Lily seemed eager to defend Xander.She continued, "He works in rehabilitation therapy for autistic children. He's a really good person. Ms. Hartford, you must be mistaken. He would never try to harm Kristen.""Where is he right now?" Summer asked coldly."He's been busy the past few days, and I have been, too. We haven't really contacted each other. He didn't answer me when I tried to call him just
The hotel where Summer and everyone else was staying had viewing balconies on each floor.At this hour, the balconies were practically empty. A figure was pacing anxiously in a corner. She seemed to be trying to call someone, but the other party wasn't answering."It's already so late. Who are you calling?" At that moment, a cold voice was heard behind that figure.The person was startled and quickly turned around. "Summer, didn't you go back to your room to rest? Why are you here?""I'm out catching ghosts," Summer said slowly.Lily's face paled a little as the corner of her lips twitched. "Is this some new game you young people are into? I don't really understand them, but you go ahead and play. I'm going back to my room to sleep."Just as she was about to lower her head and leave, Robin came in from the entrance with a few bodyguards and blocked the exit."Summer, what's the meaning of this?" Lily frowned.Summer glanced at Lily's phone. "It's already so late. Who are you ca
"What kind of person? Describe him to us. We might have seen him around," Emma said.Summer looked at the six staff members in the room. All of them were Kristen's closest people."He was chubby, short, and had narrow eyes," Summer said.She quickly swept her gaze around the room, taking note of everyone's reactions.Emma thought for a moment before she asked the others, "Have we seen someone like that around?"The others shook their heads after some thought. "There are so many crew members. We were mainly at set A today, and he might be from B."Summer looked away. "Alright, then. It's not that important. What's important is that we enjoy our dinner!""You really just latch onto one thing after another." Kristen laughed helplessly.Summer laughed as well. After that, she lowered her gaze and slowly started to eat.The dinner table was very lively, but Summer didn't really say much. She would only chime in on occasion.Then, when it was past nine, Summer excused herself to
"Mr. Hunt, what probation period?" Kyle suddenly appeared out of nowhere just as Mason was lost in his thoughts.Mason remained silent, but the look he gave Kyle was practically enough to kill.Kyle immediately stood up straight. "Don't worry. I'll definitely take care of the future Mrs. Hunt!"Kyle had some understanding of Mason.Mason had a death stare just now, but the moment Kyle mentioned "Mrs. Hunt", Mason's expression softened greatly.Mason instructed, "Keep a close eye on this Kristen affair. Make sure Summer isn't hurt.""Understood. I'll do my best!" Kyle responded.Mason cast him a glance before he got into another car.He had deliberately put things on hold for two days at Royal Financial Group to let some uneasy individuals stew in their own anxiety. Now, it was time to pull up the net.Summer returned to the hotel and met the director, who was just about to go have dinner, in the lobby."Mrs. Hartford, did you go out for some fun?" the director, Joshua Hanz, g
Kyle had gotten visibly tanned. He glanced at the wailing men and snapped, "Shut up! Keep crying, and I'll cut off your tongues!"At that moment, Summer rushed inside."Ms. Hartford," Kyle greeted politely.Summer nodded at him. "Was it these two?"Kyle nodded. "Yes. You two, tell Ms. Hartford exactly what you did."One of them said, "Someone told us they had a grudge against the production manager and wanted to delay filming. They gave us some money to tamper with the chandelier a little. We just wanted to delay the filming. We didn't mean anything else!"Summer said coldly, "So, you were just supposed to delay the filming? If the production manager hadn't noticed something was off, he wouldn't have been worried and ordered a recheck of all the equipment. If the filming had continued as planned, the chandelier would have been hanging over my mom's head."She sneered. "Then, if the chandelier with the tampered rope fell, my mom would have died on the spot! Is this what you call
Donny cried out in a panic. "No, don't go! She's a good person. She wouldn't hurt you! You must be mistaken.""She".Summer stopped and turned to look at Donny. "Who is she?"Donny averted his gaze and shook his head frantically. "I can't tell you. All these filthy people are trying to hurt her. I won't tell you no matter what." "Alright. Then, I'll ask you a different question. When did you get to know her? Was it before or after your father died?" Summer asked coldly.Donny was much more helpful this time. "It was when my father was sick. She sent money over for the treatment and even helped bury my father."Summer's heart sank yet again.Kristen had only planned her comeback since last summer, and Summer had only recently found out about it.If this woman had been secretly plotting against Kristen all this time, she was likely one of the first people who knew that she wanted to make a comeback.Or that person didn't care about whether Kristen was making a comeback or not.
"I'm going to the set. I have a feeling that if the issues with the props hadn't been discovered in time, it would have affected my mom," Summer answered.Mason lightly patted her head and looked down at her. "Don't rush it. If you ask about it and alert the mastermind, it would spook them. I'll have one of my men do it."Summer calmed down thanks to Mason's reassurances."Okay." She nodded.Mason gently caressed her cheek before he made a call.While they were waiting for the news, Summer couldn't sit still at all. She rushed over the moment Mason's phone rang.The one who called was the person Mason sent to look into the props at set B, so he put the phone on loudspeaker. "Mr. Hunt, I asked around. The problem was with a massive crystal chandelier. When I casually mentioned that it was good that no one was hurt, one of the crew members told me that the chandelier would have been over Kristen's head if they had gone on with filming."Summer gritted her teeth tightly.So, it
"After Mrs. Hartford married into the Hartford family, Mr. Hartford entrusted me to deal with that man," Robin explained."Deal with him?" Summer was a little confused.From what the lunatic said last night, his father should still be alive."I didn't kill him. I just gave him a large sum of money and sent him back to his hometown. He was admitted to a local mental hospital and was kept there until last fall when he finally passed away from illness," Robin answered."How about the other one?" Summer asked."His name is Donny Finn. He's been a loner since he was a child. No one knows who his mother is, but he's definitely his father's biological son. Actually, he's always been mentally stable. There was never any news of mental illness, and he's made a living in his hometown through farming and odd jobs."When he turned 20 years old, his family introduced him to a possible wife. It's one of the women he killed," Robin said.Summer lowered her gaze and gently tapped her fingers ag
"Right in the trash can ahead." Emma pointed outside.Summer nodded and started walking toward it. Emma was stunned for a moment before she grabbed Summer's arm. "You don't have to go that far. We can just buy some flowers if you like them. They've already been thrown in the trash.""It's fine. I don't mind." Summer pulled her arm free with a smile before she walked out.As soon as she stepped outside, Summer saw the trash can. However, the trash can was completely empty. There wasn't a single flower inside.Summer licked her teeth as her gaze darkened."Huh? Where did the flowers go?" Emma followed her out at that moment, and she was stunned to see the empty trash can.Looking around, there was a group of paparazzi lurking outside the set, waiting to take pictures.Emma frowned. "One of the paparazzi must have taken the flowers! They're so annoying!"Summer smiled. "It's fine. If someone took them, then at least they're being useful. I only wanted to take them back to avoid