Kathy asked, "Is Isaac not going to fall for me now?"'He wouldn't even if you weren't defiled,' Stan thought to himself. 'Why are you still not giving up?'He couldn’t say it, however, and instead said, "Yeah. You have no chance now after what Quincy did to you."Even if Stan didn’t continue directing Kathy's spite to Quincy Moore, Kathy absolutely loathed the woman now. "I hate her."With that, Stan stopped playing the recording. "My observation is that she really hates Quincy now. That spite can't be feigned."Irene promptly asked them, "So? Can you now tell me what happened?"Stan glanced at Isaac Jefferson then, and seeing his approval, began, "Well, it started with…"…When he was finished, Stan summed up, "And Kathy’s now still at the hospital."Irene patted her chest as he finished.Thank goodness Isaac wasn’t involved!So Kathy believed in Quincy and was exploited. The thought that Quincy was willing to ruin her chastity on a whim left Irene wary. She must be ca
Irene wanted to build her career steadily, and Isaac chuckled. "Alright, if that's what you want… but," he said, his tone changing sharply, "Come to me directly if you feel doubtful again. Don't bottle it in and stress yourself out.""Yeah, I should've trusted you," Irene murmured softly—this was certainly her own shortcoming, because she should not have doubted him over nothing!If Isaac never noticed and she kept acting suspicious, their relationship definitely would have been affected—since they had just started, they did not hold absolute faith in each other yet.Picking up a piece of pie and holding it inches from her lips, he said, "Try this. It's good."Irene felt a sliver of embarrassment, but ate it eventually. The crunchy crust and the sweetness of the filling unfurled in her mouth, and she held a hand over her mouth as she said, "It's good."She then picked up another slice, and Isaac watched as she stuffed her cheeks like a hamster. Unable to resist smiling in amusem
Ricky asked, "What's wrong?" Irene had already sprung to her feet. "Look at the date—it's today, and it starts at nine… but it's 8:50 now! I won't make it if I don't go now. I should attend it too, since it must've been hard to get this. I can't miss it.""Thanks, Ricky," Irene said, not forgetting to thank him as well. "It's nothing," Ricky replied, watching her. "You're my sister, after all.""I'll treat you to a nice dinner next time," she said as she reached the doorway. "Bye!"Hurrying to Jimmy, she said, "Quick, take me to the Central Hospital." Although Jimmy started the car right away, he asked in curiosity, "Again?""Something came up," Irene said patiently. "Hurry, or I'll be late.""Okay," Jimmy replied.They arrived at 9:25, but when Irene reached the conference hall of the hospital, she found it empty.Puzzled, she glanced at the address on the invitation, but she was at the right place… So why was it empty? She whipped out her phone to call Ricky, but tha
Chad's wife had executed her plan meticulously—she even managed to misdirect Stan, who had traced the message she sent to Isaac back to Ian's casino ship.Now that Isaac had turned against his family and were on the brink of conflict, she could naturally place the blame on the other Jeffersons.Moreover, everyone believed that she was dead.No one would even suspect her.…Jimmy the chauffeur started looking around the hospital as the skies darkened, but Irene was nowhere to be found. Hence, he called Isaac, who had just returned home and was standing just outside the door, to inform him of that. "What?!""Mrs. Jefferson is missing," Jimmy repeated, sweat forming over forehead just then—he was worried that Isaac would be furious if harm came to Irene."How long has she been gone?" Isaac demanded."It's probably been seven hours now. I parked the car after she left, and I never saw her since. I thought she would be busy, so I waited, but she never came out, and she wasn't anyw
Irene was still unconscious. Ricky had tied her to a pillar, and there was a bomb tethered to her waist.Isaac glowered when he saw that.Ricky then showed up with a detonator in one hand, while holding his phone out at Isaac with the other. "Tell me, how did you murder my mother?""I didn't," Isaac replied. "I really doubt that," Ricky laughed coolly. "Why were you there where she died if you didn't? Am I that young and gullible to you?""You're young?" Isaac cast him a sideways glance. "Though you're simply immature."Ricky growled in annoyance. "That doesn't matter. The point is right now, what I say goes."Isaac did not appear upset. "Of course, though I really want to ask: is my being there proof enough that I did it?""Of course," Ricky replied.Isaac was on the verge of flipping out at Ricky's sense of logic. "I was sent a text. That's why I was there—check my phone if you don't believe it."Isaac held it out to Ricky, but Ricky could not reach for it since one of his
Even as Irene and Isaac's eyes met, Ricky asked, "Why aren't you answering? Hah! You don't love her, do you? After all, a man like you can have any woman you want—why would you even get worked up over one woman? If anything, you're keeping my sister… No, you're keeping Irene just because she gave you a child!"Irene never considered that, and when Ricky suddenly said it, it somehow made sense.Was Isaac being nice because he loved her, or because of Tommy?Ricky's words certainly affected her, and if Ricky knew that, someone as smart as Isaac should know that as well.That was when Isaac started walking toward her."Don't come!" Irene exclaimed "The bomb!"Isaac did not seem to hear her, however, and kept walking.Irene blinked even as she watched him, blinking back tears as she smiled faintly and sobbed, "I'm sure you love me.""You're really stupid, aren't you? He hasn't said a thing and you believe him already?" Ricky exclaimed with a tone that said 'I'm-doing-this-for-you.'
Irene opened her eyes to find the timer on the bomb staying at zero without detonating.Just as she was puzzled, Ricky spoke."Sorry, sis. I was just using you to force Isaac into admitting that he killed my mom, and give that evidence to the police to arrest him. But I had no intention of hurting you—that's why it won't blow up."Irene could hardly believe it. "Ricky…""I accept what you told me, and I understand now—if Isaac wanted Mom dead, he didn't have to get her out of prison to do it. It's clearly someone who was using me," he said, as he walked up to untie her. "Are you angry at me?" "No." Irene shook her head. After all, her heart was filled with unexpected warmth—Ricky was in grief after Samantha's death, and it was understandable that he resorted to extreme actions.Even so, he used a dud bomb, making it clear that he did consider her family and did not want to hurt her.Hugging him, she said, "Even though our father left us, you're my brother, Ricky. We'll defini
When the ambulance arrived and rushed them to the hospital, Irene had to wait outside. Although she could help, she did not have a medical license and was not allowed into the examination room.After over an hour, both Ricky and Isaac were found to only suffer minor injuries and were treated accordingly. Still, they were admitted for observation since it was a bomb. Since they were admitted to different wards and Irene could not care for them both at the same time, she called Sheryl to help take care of Ricky.She then called Mrs. Watson, saying, "Isaac and I won't be home tonight. Is Tommy doing alright?""Yes, he's such a good boy. Don't worry, Mrs. Jefferson—I will take good care of him."Irene was naturally relieved since it was Mrs. Watson. "Okay."After that, she called Stan on Isaac's phone. She wanted to tell Stan that Isaac was unavailable and could not work for a while, and to have Stan call if something important came up. However, the instant Stan heard what she sai