Elliot playfully teased the girls with that information but told them to stay tuned because soon there would be a trial against their ex-friend’s parents.Before saying goodbye to them, they exchanged phone numbers.“What’s wrong, Debbie?” Elliot asked, noticing her melancholic expression.“It felt strange talking with people my own age,” Deborah admitted.“Well, you’d better get used to it, my love, because this will be your new way of life.” Just then, Jayden arrived carrying a large gift bag.“Hello, my love,” Deborah greeted him with a kiss on the lips.“How was the shopping?” Jayden asked, noticing that they weren’t carrying any bags.“Excellent! Debbie just bought me a luxury gaming chair.”“The new one with the cup holder?”“Yes, that one,” Elliot said, happily showing off a photo of his new chair.“Wow… I’m going to get jealous because my Deborah hasn’t given me such an expensive gift,” Jayden joked, noticing that Deborah was blushing at the comment.“It’s because I’
“There actually wasn’t a body in that place,” Christian said, grimacing as he pulled out the reports he had found. “A month after your mother’s death, Frederick exhumed your grandfather’s body, and when I looked up the records, I saw that he brought two bodies there to turn them into diamonds.”Deborah felt like the ground was crumbling beneath her feet.“You’re saying they’re going to seek their freedom by negotiating with Deborah’s grandfather’s body?” Jayden asked, frowning.“Yes…” Christian replied. “Fortunately, I found out before they could use this information against us, and I also wanted to let you know that we’ve recovered your mother.”“Seriously? Where is she?” Deborah asked, looking around anxiously.“For now, she’s in a safe at the detective’s office as it will be considered evidence for the trial, but once this is over, they’ll return her to you.”Deborah nodded sadly, as part of her understood the situation while another part wanted to ignore all the protocols to
Early the next morning, Deborah left with her future mother-in-law since the former had asked the latter for help—Caroline would be busy at the salon until the afternoon, Jayden and her father were working on the new hotel project, and George and Elliot were occupied supervising the jewelry production.“At last, I have a day with you,” Samantha commented as she saw Deborah getting into the vehicle with the help of the driver.[Yes.] Deborah nodded and thanked the driver with a gesture.The driver smiled and, after closing the door, returned to his seat to start driving.“I’m excited to see how this little one is growing,” she said, placing her hand on Deborah’s belly.[It’s heavy.] Deborah replied.“It’s normal, dear. Soon you won’t want to stand up, and I imagine your feet are starting to hurt,” she observed, noticing Deborah pouting and nodding. “Don’t worry, once we leave the appointment, we’ll go to the mall to get you a foot massager and some bath essence so you can pamper y
“At last, you show yourself,” a man said, his tone dripping with arrogance as he took a seat at the table next to Deborah. He didn’t wait for an invitation or response and just plopped down. “God, for mute, you must really think you're a diva. I couldn’t locate you,” he said, pushing aside the plates. “Tch… disgusting. Hey, waiter, do your job and clean this up. Also, bring me a decaf coffee with almond milk,” he ordered.The waiter frowned but, seeing Deborah’s calm demeanor, grudgingly complied, placing a new cup of black coffee in front of the man before retreating.“Idiot… God, what kind of morons do they hire here?” he complained, sipping the coffee with evident distaste.[Who are you?] Deborah signed, her irritation evident in her words.“Let’s see, Deborah, instead of flapping your hands around like an idiot, just write,” he scolded. “I don’t understand you and don’t want to learn.”Deborah raised an eyebrow and made a face as she pulled out her notebook and pen to write he
Deborah was seething, trying to bite the inside of her cheek to suppress the insults she wanted to hurl at this rude man. She was tired of his attitude.But she couldn’t speak, as that was part of the plan they had devised for this situation.Two nights ago, when she learned the harsh truth about what Frederick had done, she was enraged to discover that he planned to use her grandfather as a bargaining chip for his freedom. She sought to recover her grandfather and prevent them from escaping.Knowing those two, they wouldn’t realize she could speak now, as they had always been indifferent to anything about her unless it involved money.Taking advantage of this, they planned to let the news of her gynecologist appointment reach Cameron so he would use that day to contact her.Once the bait was taken, they arranged a safe place for him to meet with her.So, Deborah was now listening to this man’s proposal, pretending to still be the mute and submissive girl Frederick and Vanessa th
“Eh? Ah… um… sorry, Mom,” Jayden said, embarrassed, as he turned to greet her.“My love, don’t scold him,” Eric said, approaching to hug his wife. “He was a bundle of nerves because he was worried about Deborah and James. At work, he spilled his coffee twice because he was distracted.”“Dad…” Jayden complained, blushing as Deborah laughed.“Well, in that case, I forgive him,” Samantha said, letting herself be pampered by her husband.“Did you do that?” Deborah asked Jayden.“Um… well—” he began awkwardly but was cut off by a kiss. “Well, maybe I did,” he admitted, making everyone laugh. “So, tell me, how did it go? What happened with that guy?”“Don’t worry, everything is going according to plan,” Deborah said.“Though, son, you owe me a huge favor for this,” Samantha said. “I was really holding myself back from leaving my hiding place and hitting that supposed lawyer because he kept insulting Deborah.”“Eh? Was he that rude?” Jayden asked Deborah, looking into her eyes.“Yes,
The next day, Deborah arrived with Caroline at the designated place to sign the pardon and free her ‘poor’ parents.“Be careful, Debbie, there are steps here,” Caroline said, holding Deborah’s hand as they entered the place.[Thanks for coming with me, Carrie.]“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this. You know I love drama,” she whispered, making Deborah laugh.When they reached the door of the office Cameron had indicated, they saw a woman sitting at a desk next to it.“Good morning, we have an appointment,” said Caroline.“Good morning, under whose name is the appointment?”Caroline looked at Deborah, who shook her head. “Well, I’m not sure under what name it was registered, but we’re looking for lawyer Cameron Palmer, he’s the one who scheduled this meeting.”“Oh… the pardon practice,” the secretary said, confusing the girls a bit. “Sure, while I notify him of your arrival, you can take a seat.”“Thank you,” Caroline said, helping Deborah sit in the nearest chair and noticin
“Well, are you done reading?” Cameron asked, exasperated.[Yes, but I don’t understand… the first page is the pardon, but what are the other pages for?]“That’s why I told you to stop reading things you don’t understand and sign already.”[Not so fast; don’t you remember what I told you?]“What are you talking about?”[I’m not signing anything until you give me what you promised.]“First, sign…”[Then, no.]“Hey, you,” Caroline spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. “Kid, shouldn’t you say something about this? This lawyer is doing something illegal right now.”“Uh…” Judge Hunter looked a bit nervous.“As far as I know, a pardon shouldn’t be conditional upon receiving something in return, because that’s what a pardon is for,” Caroline stressed, crossing her arms.“Oh… well, that…”“Shut up, woman, don’t talk about things you don’t know,” Cameron said, annoyed. “And look, to stop you from crying, here it is,” he declared, looking at Deborah while pulling out a gold keychain wi
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