"Let go of me! Help!” Roger froze at the sound of the woman's scream, releasing his grip on Deborah and stepping back in shock. How had she managed to shout like that?Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to figure it out because two store employees rushed over, closely followed by Jayden."You again?" Jayden said angrily, rushing to embrace Deborah. "Why do you keep harassing my girlfriend?""Even if she is your girlfriend, I have the right to approach her because she's carrying my child," Roger retorted."This baby is mine, and you need to stop stalking Deborah," Jayden declared, feeling her cling tightly to him."That child is not—""Sir, please leave, or we'll call the police," the employees ordered."Deborah, my love, it's okay, I'm here," Jayden said, holding her protectively.She nodded, still not letting go.Jayden shifted her slightly and noticed the marks on her wrist. He immediately felt his blood boil."You animal, she's pregnant and you still hurt her," Jayden fu
"And that’s how it’ll be from now on. By the way, after what happened today, I think you should take self-defense classes once James is born."[That sounds like a good idea.]"Yeah, because that lunatic is still obsessed with you, and I worry he might try something when I'm not around. You heard him, he still thinks you belong to him or something."[I think Roger always saw me more as an object than a person. It’s clear he hasn’t regretted his actions at all.]"He’s so different from his father. Well, all the blame lies with his mother, oh, ex-mother. Thankfully, the other kid is normal and kind like George."[Yeah.]"Hey, I wanted to ask you something."[What is it?]"So... um, can I call that man my father-in-law?" Jayden asked nervously.[Father-in-law?]"You know, Nicholas."[Well, I guess so.]"Jeez, I’m glad I got that out of the way," Jayden joked, noticing Deborah laughing at his words. "Speaking of that, my love, where is your mom buried?"[I don’t know.]"Huh?
"Ah... this is the life," Sophia mused, enjoying a bubble bath with a glass of white wine in hand.Just then, her phone buzzed. She set her glass aside with a grimace and reached for her phone."Ugh... who could it be?" she complained as she unlocked her phone. To her surprise, she found a message from Cassandra. It was unusual because she thought the whole family was in prison and thus couldn’t send messages.Curious, Sophia opened the message to check if it was really Cassandra or just a nosy cop.The message read: Hey, reply! We need your help to get out of prison.Sophia: How do I know it's really you and not an imposter?Cassandra: It's me, obviously.Sophia: Prove it.Cassandra: Let me remind you that we had agreed to cover your hospital bill in exchange for information from you to ruin Deborah.Sophia: Okay... it's you. How the hell are you able to message me?Cassandra: Because they didn’t search me properly—I had my phone hidden in my clothes.Sophia: Haha. Clever,
Ernest and Cassandra observed their parents' newfound fear with growing confusion. It was odd. Just moments ago, Frederick and Vanessa had been defiant and insolent toward the police despite their imprisonment. Now, they were trembling as if facing the devil himself after the ominous visit from that strange officer."Ernest…""I know. I hate their little secrets, and now I have no idea why they're acting like this," Ernest grumbled, frowning deeply."And I doubt they’ll tell us," Cassandra whispered."Yeah…" Ernest was growing increasingly frustrated. It was clear their parents hadn’t shared anything to help their children prepare for this moment. The twins were left in the dark, like naive children. Regardless, they were just as complicit in Deborah’s mistreatment. They had learned to despise her, and now, without the shield of their powerful name or money, they were facing the consequences of their actions—a reality they were unwilling to accept.The parents were oblivious to th
The team agreed on the plan and entered the interrogation room where Cassandra was being held.Cassandra was jittery and on edge, overwhelmed by the silence and being restrained. The door swung open, and Christian, Nicholas, and the detective walked in. Her frown deepened, wondering if they had already questioned her parents or brother."Let’s get started," the detective said, taking a seat and placing a folder on the table."Shouldn’t my lawyer be present?" Cassandra asked, furrowing her brow."Lawyer?" the detective echoed with amusement. "Why would you need one? Aren’t you innocent?""Of course I am.""Then why ask for a lawyer? We already know you and your brother had nothing to do with Alexandra Anderson’s death.""If you already know that, then why am I here?""We just want to talk," Christian said."Yes," Nicholas added. "You left us quite intrigued that day.""What do you mean?" Cassandra asked."Well, on the day of your arrest, you kept insisting that we were liars
Cassandra's eyes widened with fear as she absorbed the implications of their words. The idea of ending up in prison because of Deborah was terrifying. Furthermore, she could see how much Nicholas was struggling to hold back his anger."So, are you going to cooperate or continue to dig a grave for yourself?" the detective asked with a smirk."I…" Cassandra looked genuinely distressed as she felt cornered."I should also inform you that the person you hired to track Deborah has already spoken to us and provided some interesting information about his employers," the detective continued."What… he didn’t…" Cassandra remembered now that the tracker had been in prison. Who knew what he might do."Oh yes, he was quite the clever one, deciding to cooperate rather than rot in jail for a poorly paid job.""Poorly paid? That idiot was demanding an outrageous amount just to keep an eye on her.""I'm glad to see you confirm that you hired him to monitor Deborah and let you know when she was
“With this information, we confirm that you knew perfectly well that your last name isn’t Anderson and that your whole life was a lie,” Nicholas stated.“Alright. I confess that I knew from the beginning, but so what? It was all my father’s doing, not mine.”“And your sister?” the detective asked.“That pampered idiot lived in the bubble of the lie, but when that bitch Sophia called her a bastard, it pissed her off. Out of curiosity, she started investigating until she found the truth. Of course, I played along and said that I had only recently learned about this too.”“Well, now with this declaration, I think we can inform you that we’re going to extradite you to pay for your crimes abroad. Once that’s done, they’ll send you back here to serve your sentence,” the detective announced.“What…” Ernest was terrified; he knew if he went back to that place, he wouldn’t come out alive. “Wait… you… you can’t do that.”“And why not?” Nicholas asked.“Because if you do something to me, y
As they left the interrogation, the three men smiled, having gotten what they wanted.“So it's true. Frederick did work with that guy,” Nicholas said, his anger simmering as he remembered the documents Christian had shown him.“Given the timeline, it’s clear that that was the work of that group’s previous leader, but I’m sure if we shake things up, we might find something good and locate the current leader,” the detective remarked.“I’ll inform Jayden to keep him updated,” Christian said.“Hey, what are we going to do with those two?” Nicholas asked, glancing at Vanessa and Frederick, who were already looking annoyed and frustrated from being confined in those rooms.“I’m only interested in Frederick since we technically already have Vanessa’s confession,” the detective stated.“I’ll come in with you guys,” Nicholas offered.“No,” Christian and the detective said simultaneously.“But I was with you for the twins’ interrogation of the twins,” Nicholas argued.“Yes, but it’s goi
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