At Deborah's comment, many people began to laugh and point at Sophia, whose eye was now twitching from all the mocking she was receiving. It was clear that many had learned sign language due to the trial, so everyone understood the mute woman's accusations without any issues."She’s right.""She must be pathetic, trying to steal someone's boyfriend twice.""God… that means she’s washed up as a woman, totally used up, haha.""And she has the nerve to call herself beautiful.""Well, she’s clearly just aiming to get men who’ve been with someone she supposedly considers inferior."“I…” Sophia called out, seeking support, but she realized that the couple was only sticking around for what she could offer and weren’t actually going to back her up.Isabelle simply looked away, unwilling to get involved to save Sophia. She had her own plans to use this event to reconcile with George and forget the divorce so she could return to her rightful home.Sophia was furious, feeling isolated whi
“And regarding the rumors created by this lady,” Elliot began.“Elliot…” Isabelle said, raising an eyebrow, though she seemed amused.“Well… my mother,” he corrected himself reluctantly. “I can only say that this bracelet is exclusive because it’s the first one I made. Initially, I planned to use jade for the leaves, but after examining how much material would be needed and the time required to carve each leaf, we changed it to emeralds. The change in material also affected the final cost of the piece—I didn’t want the price to be so high that only a select few could afford it,” Elliot continued to explain. “Besides, making such changes to crafting is normal for jewelers. We start with a specific idea but end up making modifications or drastic changes by the time the final piece is revealed.”Many of the businesspeople present nodded, as they had experienced similar situations when creating a new product.“And because I value Deborah a lot, I gave her the first bracelet I made and
“You…” Sophia was holding her reddened cheek tightly, but the pain was nothing compared to the shock of hearing Deborah speak.“Impossible,” Isabelle said, astonished.“Deborah…” Roger looked at Deborah in disbelief.“Ugh… damn it! Her first words were supposed to be declarations of love for me,” Jayden complained.“Sorry, my love, I’ll make it up to you later,” Deborah said, moving in to kiss him on the lips.“Well, if you put it that way, I won’t complain,” Jayden said with a flirtatious smile.“Sis, you spoke?” Elliot seemed very excited.“But… how?” Sophia said. “It’s impossible. You’re a fucking mute.”“I’m not mute by birth; I lost my voice after an accident.”“Liar! You’ve deceived us all,” Isabella declared, raising her hand to slap Deborah. But her arm was stopped by George.“That’s not true. The only liar here is you,” George said, letting her go before pushing her back. “In her childhood, Deborah lost her voice after a horrible accident in which her mother lost her
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Just as Roger was about to strike her in front of everyone, another fist moved faster, hitting Roger in the face and making him fall to the ground.“Finally showing everyone what you are,” Jayden said, managing to move in before Roger could land his blow. “Are you really going to hit a pregnant woman?”“The brat inside her is mine, so I can do whatever I want with him.”At those words, everyone looked at Roger with horror, disgust, and disapproval.“Security,” Elliot called the guards who were undercover at the party. They appeared and firmly restrained Roger.“Let me go!” Roger shouted as he was restrained.“We’ve already called the police, sir.”“No… wait, you can’t!” Roger tried to struggle but received a slap from Deborah.“I hope I never see you again,” she said, looking at him with hatred.“Ha… you’re crazy, but guess what… you’re mine because you’re carrying my child.”“You’re mistaken,” Deborah said, wincing with pain as she continue
“Because I refuse to accept this absurd idea. Remember our promise to stay together until death do us part?”“I remember each of our marital vows very clearly,” he said, looking into her eyes.“Then, why don’t we forget all this nonsense and—”“Isabelle, answer me honestly—what happened when Roger was kidnapped in our house?”“What…?” She didn’t understand why he was asking that question.“The house’s security cameras were disabled, and I remember I had gone out to run some errands that morning.”“Um… well, I… I don’t really remember the details and—”“Those men entered the house with the key you provided them to kidnap Elliot, but your plan failed because Elliot went to work with me that day, and only Roger and Deborah were playing in the garden when they came in.”She tightened her grip on the handle of her cup as she stared at the dark liquid. It was true—her plan had failed because Elliot had left the house without her noticing. Isabelle looked up in fear. “How…?”“It took
“Debbie! I love you so much,” Caroline said, hugging Deborah. “Thanks to you, my schedule is now full for these first few months.”“It was a pleasure to help; you deserve it.”“Thanks, but I’m still very angry with you, you terrible friend,” Caroline pouted.Deborah looked at her in confusion.“Come on, don’t play dumb. Why didn’t you tell me you could talk already?”“Oh, that… it was supposed to be a surprise because I was practicing and planned to surprise you all at a special dinner,” Deborah explained, embarrassed. “But hearing someone call my son a bastard made me lose my composure.”“Well, since you put it that way, I forgive you,” Caroline said, letting out a sigh. “That woman is incredible… she was the mistress, faked a pregnancy, and still thinks she has the right to call someone else’s child a bastard… god, you really have to be… ugh… well, let’s forget that. So, let me hear your voice again,” Caroline said, looking at her with amusement."Caroline is my best friend.”
“Alexandra was the same. Whenever she found something she didn’t know or noticed something someone liked that was unfamiliar to her, she would study it to support and encourage that person,” Nicholas said, blushing slightly as he remembered the beautiful smile of his beloved when she supported him in that way.“By the way, may I know why Deborah and Miss Alexandra left?”“Because I’m an idiot. When I returned home for a few months, I received an anonymous message with a picture of Frederick and Alexandra in bed,” Nicholas said with clenched fists. “I felt betrayed and didn’t want to listen to their pleas and explanations… I was blinded by jealousy and believed the lie… ugh… and now I find out how foolish I had been for falling into their trap. I let it ruin my relationship with the love of my life and hurt our daughter.”“That’s why that bastard will suffer the worst death, you’ll see… that scumbag lived by doing that to many more people.”“I know… but no matter how much time passe
Jayden and Nicholas were left confused by the message.“That guy is playing with us… ugh… I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him,” Nicholas complained, clenching his fists tightly.“Calm down, Nicholas… I doubt he’ll betray us; what worries me is that he has something else up his sleeve…and I don’t think it’s anything good,” Jayden said with a grimace.“Something bad?” Nicholas asked, worried. “What do you mean?”“I know Brandon,” Jayden commented, recalling his school days. “Based on our conversation just now, I have a feeling that my mother-in-law’s body is in a horrible place.”“What…?” Nicholas looked at him, scared and concerned. “What do you mean by that?”“Brandon has always had a somewhat sadistic personality and enjoys the suffering of others. So the location is likely to be a terrible place, and he wants to reveal it in person to mock our reactions,” Jayden explained, grimacing. “It makes sense because that guy has proven to be the worst.”Nicholas tightened his fists be
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