That same morning, Christian and Nicholas returned to the police station to interrogate Frederick."My strategy worked. He looks like a raving lunatic now," the detective said, amused, pointing at Frederick babbling to himself as they watched him through the one-way mirror."He deserves that and more," Nicholas said."Yes, but we’ve noticed that he and his wife are now suffering from hallucinations," the detective added, sounding a bit worried."Why do you say that?" Christian asked, concerned."With the threat of Vox trying to kill them, we installed security cameras to monitor them. When we reviewed the footage this morning, we discovered their strange behavior," the detective explained, opening his laptop to show them the video.“Damn you! Hey! You idiot!” Frederick shouted hysterically, banging on the bars of his cell. “Those morons left me isolated... What… You shut up! You’re nothing more than a damn illusion…!”"Who is he yelling at?" Nicholas asked worriedly, searching f
"So you're saying the pressure drove them crazy?" Christian commented with a grimace. A good lawyer could use that as an excuse to get them released."I doubt that's it. I think guilt is eating them alive," Nicholas opined."I agree with Nicholas. Those greedy bastards murdered a father and daughter just to steal their money," Christian said, contemplating the legal arguments and responses he could use for this situation."Well, in any case, let's go interrogate him. Don’t worry; I’ve already asked a doctor to be on standby in case this guy loses it and we need to sedate him," the detective said, getting to his feet.Fortunately, Nicholas managed to convince the detective to let him join them in the interrogation room."You! What do you think you're doing—Ah! This is inhumane! How dare you... I’ll sue you for mistreating me like this and..." Frederick began to rant, but his words were silenced by the sound of the folders the detective threw onto the table."You've got quite a thi
The detective laughed out loud upon hearing that."That was a good one.""What are you laughing at?" Frederick asked, irritated."Although I hate Vox and his group, I can assure you that the one good thing about them is their moral code, which prevents them from harming women and children. Therefore, he is not a suspect. The only one with a motive and who benefited from Alexandra Anderson’s death is you, isn’t it?" the detective said, frowning.Frederick frowned, realizing the detective knew this."You arrogant bastard, you killed her!" Nicholas could no longer contain himself and lunged at Frederick to punch him."You bastard, take advantage of the fact that I'm tied up! If I weren’t, I swear I would—" Frederick shouted, but was cut off by a punch to the mouth that knocked out some teeth."Stop it!" the detective yelled, standing up to separate them."Let me go! Let me at him! He took her from me!" Nicholas screamed, showing the anger he felt at that moment."Nicholas, please
Nicholas was crying as he finished reading the letter, and when he looked up, he saw that Deborah was also shedding tears, so he immediately ran to hug her.She was his baby... his biological daughter.Alexandra had never been involved with that man, and now he realized how foolish he had been to believe Frederick’s lies. If he had ignored them, perhaps his beloved would still be alive, and they would have raised their little girl together, preventing Deborah from having the speech problems she faced.Now he felt miserable because everything that had happened was his fault."Deborah, you…" he began to speak, though he had a lump in his throat that prevented him from continuing.[She also left me a letter where she told me the truth… you’re my dad, not Frederick.] Deborah was crying with happiness because there was no blood relation with the person who had tortured her since her mother’s death. The question of why her dad hated her was gone as they weren’t related, and she no longe
The detective immediately called one of his officers, who entered with two bags to collect the samples.“This is illegal! You’re doing this against my will!”“It’s curious that you’re making such a fuss,” the detective began. “I mean, if you’re Deborah’s biological father, why are you afraid of a simple DNA test?”“Besides, it isn’t illegal if the sample was obtained during a fight you had with Mr. Foster,” Christian pointed out with a sideways smile.“…,” Frederick gritted his teeth because their arguments were valid, but if the test was conducted, his lie would be exposed, and that meant he wouldn’t leave that cell because everything would go downhill from there.The detective noticed Frederick’s attitude, which indicated he was trying to find a way to sabotage the test, but he wouldn’t allow it.“Hey Max,” he said, looking at the officer who was putting Nicholas’s evidence into a bag. “Tell the lab that these samples are a priority because I need those results as soon as possi
[Sir, are you okay?] Deborah asked when she noticed that the older man was staring blankly for a moment.“Eh… oh yes, sorry Deborah, I was just thinking about something.”“I understand.”“Well, the important thing is that with these papers, we’re going to put that family in jail,” the detective declared.[Thank you for your support.]“You’re welcome. On the contrary, I regret that justice is coming to you so late.”[What matters is that they will pay for their crimes.]“Yes…” he commented, and just then there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”“Debbie, love, are you here?” Jayden said as he opened the door.[Hi, love.] She greeted him, receiving a kiss.“Detective.”“Mr. Cooper.”“How was it?”“We’re on the right track.”“Excellent,” Jayden said, shaking the older man’s hand and discreetly receiving a piece of paper, which he quickly slipped into his clothes before looking at his beloved. “Well, love, let’s go— today, we’re taking the opportunity to have dinner with my p
When Jayden’s parents came to the front door, they were surprised to see Nicholas, but welcomed him warmly.“Welcome,” Eric said, approaching to shake Nicholas’s hand.“Thank you for the invitation.”“You invited yourself,” Jayden whispered irritably.“Don’t worry, son, it’s no problem,” Samantha said playfully.“Keep annoying me and I won’t let you marry my daughter.”“But they’re already engaged,” Eric commented.“Yes, but as Deborah’s father, I can refuse the marriage if I’m not treated with respect.”[Dad.] Deborah was amused.“Dad?” the Coopers repeated.[Yes. Today I found out that I’m not Frederick’s daughter, but rather the daughter of my mom’s ex-boyfriend, Nicholas Foster.]“In a way, I’m glad things turned out this way, dear,” Samantha commented. “I couldn’t understand how your supposed father would mistreat you, but now it all makes sense.”“Hm…”“That’s why I asked to come and talk as a family since we’ll be one soon,” Nicholas said.“In that case, come in! W
The next day, for the first time, Jayden lied to Deborah, telling her he was going to work. In reality, he met with his father-in-law to go see the man; It would be easier to ask Vox to find Alexandra than to wait for Frederick to tell the truth.“You look to be in a sorry state, kid. What’s wrong?” Nicholas asked, noticing that his companion seemed a bit depressed.“It’s the first lie I’ve told Deborah, and I don’t like it. It makes me feel like I’m turning into Roger,” Jayden said, letting out a sigh.“Oh come on, Jayden, don’t be dramatic. If you were becoming like him, I’d be a stunning blonde with a large forehead,” Nicholas said, pretending to be coquettish as he flipped his short hair and blinked rapidly.“Pfft… hahaha.” Jayden couldn’t help but laugh at the poor imitation. “Thanks. I think that’s what I needed.”“You’re welcome. Now let’s get serious because we’re about to arrive.”“Yes. Don’t worry, my father gave me this card that was handed to him in case we wanted to
Extra 40: A Happy and Perfect Life Part 2That promise came to an end for one of them three years later, as Nicholas was the first to go due to his heart, which began to fail until it simply stopped beating one cold December morning.Despite the immense pain she felt, Deborah fulfilled her father’s last wish… so they buried him with the diamond pendant that had belonged to her mother and grandfather.It was a very sad time, and everyone came together to keep Deborah from falling apart, as she now felt alone, as though she had lost her family again.But her children reminded her that she wasn’t alone, and because of this, they tried to distract her by having her organize the Christmas party.The days continued to pass, and just when they were preparing for James’ wedding, Eric and Samantha Cooper passed away due to old age.That was news that covered all the media outlets, with the headline telling a beautiful love story, as they had gone to sleep together and passed away to the n
Extra 40: A Happy and Perfect Life Part 1Time began to pass quickly, bringing good, bad, and sad moments that gradually changed the family.One good thing that happened was that after much reflection, Roger managed to make peace with his father, asking for forgiveness for all the stupid things he had done when he was younger. He also apologized to his little brother for being such a jerk.Even though he didn’t want to, Elliot reluctantly accepted the apologies because his wife convinced him that holding onto grudges wasn’t healthy.Unfortunately, the Peterson family only got to celebrate being united for a short period of time because two weeks after that reconciliation… George passed away of natural causes.That was a tragic moment for everyone, one that shook his friends, reminding them of how precious and short life is. Those who suffered the most from the loss of their Grandpa George were Howard and Fiona. But their parents, uncles, and maternal grandparents showered them wit
Extra 39: Deborah and JamesAfter lunch, and taking advantage of when his father taking his little siblings to their extracurricular activities, James sought out his mom to talk with her.“Mom,” he called out when he saw her in her study, reading some papers.“Hey, come in,” she said, looking up and setting aside the documents for a moment.“More work?”“Not exactly. These are the reports of the current buildings for sale in the city.”“Huh… are you already looking into that?”“Well, son, your sister graduates next year, and a year is not a lot of time to start a company from scratch.”“Will it already be furnished for her?” he asked, taking the documents to read them.“Yes, that’s why I want to buy a warehouse to remodel or a vacant lot so you and your dad can work your magic to build it and make it just like Elizabeth wants.”“It’s a project I can’t wait to start,” James said excitedly.“Your little siblings are also helping me, looking into sewing stores to buy industrial
Extra 38: A Father’s FearsHonestly, it was a strange conversation for James, one he never thought he’d have… in fact, not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine having this kind of interaction with the man who was supposedly his biological father.After telling him a bit about his school life, James paid the bill and said goodbye to Roger, as he had to get back to the office; he didn’t want to be away from work for too long.When he entered the conference room, he saw his father talking to some other architects.“Great, we’re all set then,” Jayden said, dismissing them. “Son, how did it go?” he asked as James approached him.“Fine, but it was weird.”“So... has he started to feel his age?”“I think so,” James replied, making a face.“And what did he want?”“Well, he just started talking to me, apologizing for being absent, and now he wants us to meet up to talk because he wants to get to know me,” James said, scratching his head. “I don’t know… it seemed odd that he wants
Extra 37: A Late Talk Part 2“Wow, sorry for the confusion.”“Don’t worry about it. My family supported me, and thanks to learning the truth, I understood why we had three grandfathers.”“I imagine you became an architect because of Jayden.”“That’s right. My motivation was seeing how his drawings came to life… it excited me to the point where I wanted to do the same, and as the days went by, that desire grew stronger, so I decided to make it a reality,” he said, his excitement evident in his words. “Though I also saw that Uncle did something similar by turning his sketches into beautiful jewelry, but that didn’t impress me as much.”“I see, but didn’t my dad teach you the basics of the company?”“Yes, Grandpa showed me the trade,” James said with a smile. “In fact, I’m a good appraiser, and I know how to make jewelry because Uncle also taught me the basics of jewelry design and creation. But I see that as a hobby because the only jewelry I’ve made has been for my mom, my sisters
Extra 37: A Late Talk Part 1“I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here?” James questioned, frowning slightly.“James… I…” Roger stammered nervously, his words catching in his throat and refusing to come out.“Are you here to apologize on behalf of your daughter?”“Something like that,” he said, finally managing to speak, though he made a face. “Would you let me talk to you?”“To me?” James asked, confused, pointing to himself. “About what?”“Can I invite you for a drink so we can talk?”“What do you want with my son?” At that moment, Roger saw his longtime rival approaching and standing next to the young man.“Jayden, please let me talk to James,” Roger pleaded.The now platinum-blonde looked confused at his rival. It was the first time Roger had called him by his name, and he could see that Roger seemed genuinely sorry and defeated. Jayden let out a sigh. “James, go with him.”“What?” James looked at him, surprised and confused.“Are you serious?” Roger said, a note of h
Extra 36: Late Regrets Part 2The next morning, during breakfast, Roger was focused on his phone, determined to reach out to James and be the one to make the first contact.“Hey, Dad,” Cassandra called out, trying to get his attention, noticing he was more focused on his phone than his breakfast.“What is it?” Roger asked, looking up.“Well... hey, what are we going to do about last night?”“What?” he said with a frown.“Come on, Dad, aren’t you going to do something about Grandpa and—”“Casandra, enough... I think whatever happened last night should have made the situation clear.”“But…”“They no longer see me as family, and they never recognized you as such, so just forget about it because it’s only the three of us, no one else.”“No…”“Cassandra, enough,” her mother scolded. “I told you yesterday not to go, and all you did was humiliate yourselves in public,” she said, looking her daughter in the eyes. “Grow up already. You lost that boy because you chased something that
Extra 36: Late Regrets Part 1Roger didn’t return home for the rest of the night. He ignored the cries of his ‘daughter’ as he headed to the nearest bar to have a drink and try to clear his mind.Seeing his father defeated and exhausted had made him stop and think.While sipping his third beer, he raised his gaze and saw his reflection in the mirror behind the bar, realizing that an old man was staring back at him... which scared him. He now looked at his hands, which had more wrinkles than he remembered. When had he changed so much?His once beautiful hair was now streaked with gray, his face showed his age, and he had dark circles under his dull eyes.When had he gotten so old?And why did he look like this?He was supposed to age gracefully, but that wasn’t the case... because what he saw in that mirror was a shell of the successful man he once was.He thought back to James. That boy had surpassed him in height; he was the version of himself Roger had always wanted to be: ta
Extra 35: Total BreakElliot was furious to see Roger and his daughter at the party.“Why did you hurt my daughter?” Roger hadn’t recognized James and just wanted to help his princess. “Who do you think you are…?” Then he saw James and, how could he not recognize him? He was Roger’s spitting image, giving the latter the same hateful look Roger himself wore.“I should ask you the same thing, sir. Who do you think you are, crashing a private event?” James asked.Roger was about to respond, but…“What’s the meaning of this?” George asked, approaching them.“Grandpa, they attacked me, and…” Cassandra started to say.“Miss, don’t call my grandpa ‘Grandpa,’” declared Howard.“Tom, call security,” Eric ordered. “Get these two out of the party.”Among the guests, a blond young man recognized Cassandra but didn’t go to help her because his parents didn’t allow it. They didn’t want to end up caught in the middle of the problem and become collateral damage, nor did they want to fall out