Pearl did not say anything in return. Tanner let out a scoff, and his face turned even grimmer. “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”He tightened his grip on her chin and continued. “I won't let you die so easily. After all, there are many ways to torture you.”Her face turned pale slightly, and her breathing became heavy. Tanner flung her back into her seat and quickly drove away. Tanner dragged her into the bathroom when they were back in the apartment. He filled the bathtub with cold water and threw her into it without any hesitation.The water soaked through her clothes and splashed all over him. The biting cold water wrapped around her, and she was so cold that she shivered. Before she could do anything, Tanner grabbed her hair and hissed. “Why must you force me to do this? Do you really want to die so much?”He pushed her head into the water, causing her to struggle with all her might. She gasped heavily for air when he scooped her out of the water. However, he pushed her into
Maisie nodded. “Well, I expected this.”Barbara summoned the waiter and continued. “She’s living in Mr. Hannigan’s apartment now, but I think he’s holding her captive.” She ordered a cup of Blue Mountain coffee, and after the waiter had gone away, she asked, “Aren't you curious about what she said when I told her that you wanted to see her?”Maisie was holding a cup of coffee, and she was stunned for a moment. After a short while, she took a sip from the coffee and asked, “What did she say?”“She said she doesn’t want to see you.”Seeing the crack on Maisie’s face, Barbara giggled and added, “Alright, alright. I’ll stop messing with you.”Maisie crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at Barbara.Barbara leaned forward and said with a smile on her face, “It's true that she didn't say she doesn't want to see you, but she didn't say when either.”Maisie nodded. “That means she doesn’t want to see me. It’s just that she doesn’t want to say it out explicitly.”Barbara l
Ryleigh carefully carried the baby in her arms. She was stunned when the baby grabbed her thumb with his little fingers. “So, all babies are so tiny when they are born.”“That’s right. Louis was this tiny as well when I gave birth to him. His skin was all wrinkled up, and he was ugly,” Larrisa chimed in.Louis was rendered speechless, and Ryleigh chuckled.Louis sat at the side of the bed and took the baby over from Ryleigh. The baby started crying as soon as he was in Louis' arms. He panicked and asked, "Why is he crying?" Maisie walked over. “Come, let me carry him.”She took over the baby from Louis and held him in her arms. She patted the baby gently with practiced ease. After a minute, the baby stopped crying.Larrisa came over and laughed. "It seems like he likes you very much, Maisie.”The nurse brought the baby back to the nursery.Maisie and Barbara did not stay back since they knew Ryleigh needed to rest, so both of them left the hospital.…Late at night, Tanner s
‘I'll never, ever fall in love with you!’Pearl was stunned. She felt as if someone had stabbed her in her heart. Her shoulders trembled, and tears began to roll down from her eyes.“I didn’t—” Tanner clasped his hands on her cheeks and pulled her closer.Pearl bit into his shoulder so hard that he pushed her away reflexively in pain, causing her to fall on the glass shards on the floor.“Pearl!” Tanner hurriedly ran over and scooped her up from the floor. His whole body trembled when he saw the scene in front of him. The glass shards had stabbed into Pearl's cheek.Tanner carried her in his arms and rushed her to the hospital.At the hospital…Tanner sat against the wall of the emergency exit. The floor was littered with cigarette butts, and his palm and collar were dyed with her blood.When he thought about the wounds on Pearl's cheek, Tanner covered his face with his palms in pain as a tear slid down in the darkness.He returned to the ward despondently and sat down on th
Tanner drove to the beach and saw a person standing under the lighthouse not far away. He braked the car abruptly, got out of the car, and dashed straight toward the lighthouse, not even bothering to answer the ringing phone.“Pearl!” Tanner ran towards the figure. “Don’t—”Pearl plunged into the ocean without hesitation, and the turbulent sea engulfed her whole.The icy seawater blocked all sounds the moment she jumped into the sea, wrapping her sinking body. An arm held onto her, and Tanner carried her upstream.On the shore, he placed his hands one over the other, pressed them against her chest, and performed CPR. The bone-piercing chill stiffened his entire body, but he did not dare to stop, not even for a moment.“Pearl, please—” Tanner’s arm muscles contracted and relaxed over and over again as he continued performing CPR. “Please wake up!”Several cars parked behind Tanner’s car, and Helios led his men out of the car.One of the bodyguards pointed to the lighthouse. “Over
Antonio came to the nurse station and asked one of the nurses who were on duty, “Excuse me, why hasn’t my daughter woken up after so many days?”The nurse skimmed through Pearl’s diagnosis and case and then explained slowly, “When a patient exhibits such a condition, it can only be concluded that it’s due to certain psychological factors. This usually happens to patients who have mood swings or wish to escape from reality through extreme means. That’s why they’ll remain in self-isolation even after being cured.“If the patient is conscious but unwilling to wake up, family members should stay here, accompany her more frequently, and communicate with her to stimulate her cranial nerves. That might help her regain consciousness prematurely.”Antonio nodded.He walked back to the ward with a heavy heart and saw Mrs. Santiago standing by the bed, watching over her daughter and sobbing silently. He took a deep breath, grabbed his coat, walked up to her, and draped it on her. “You should
Tanner quickly got up and ran outside to summon the doctor. The doctor rushed into the ward to run a thorough check-up on her. Not long after the incident, Mrs. Santiago and Antonio hurried over.“Pearl!” Seeing her daughter sitting on the bed, Mrs. Santiago completely ignored Tanner’s existence, reached out, and caressed her cheeks excitedly. She could not help but cry. “My precious daughter, you’re finally awake.”“It’s great that you’ve finally woken up. This is great.” Antonio seemed to be relieved, and a huge stone seemed to have been lifted from his heart at this moment.Pearl looked expressionless. Even though she had regained consciousness, she had not uttered a single word.Mrs. Santiago stared at her suspiciously and stroked the long hair that was hanging over Pearl’s cheeks to reveal her entire face. “Pearl?”At that moment, Pearl moved her dry lips, and her hoarse voice sounded. “Who are you?”Mrs. Santiago and Antonio were immediately stunned.The two looked at Ta
Pearl nodded, and she seemed very curious.Tanner gazed into the distance. “It all started with my marriage to her. At that time, I only agreed to the marriage at the request of my family, but I didn’t like her…”‘I first met Pearl at the dinner between the Hannigans and the Santiagos. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen Ms. Santiago from the La Perla Group, and it wasn’t that I didn’t know her. Pearl Santiago has always been rumored to be an arrogant and domineering b*tch, and the scandal that took place at the socialite party a few years ago was the event that turned her into the target of public criticism.‘Because Maizie’s actions had implicated the Hannigans, in order to consolidate the Hannigans’ status in Bassburgh, father asked me to marry such an unbearable and disgraced woman. And I couldn’t help but find this whole facade ironic.‘I met Pearl at that dinner, and that was the first time I really got to her.’‘She did not look arrogant at all. She looked just like any other dign