The exquisite inkwell fell on the floor, but it did not shatter as ordinary ones would. However, one of its corners chipped off when it hit the floor, giving it an ugly imperfection. Leia pretended to cover her mouth. She half-closed her eyes to hide the cunning in her gaze. "Sorry for bumping into you, Bianca, but… you broke Grandpa's favorite inkwell! Don't you know that it's an antique? Dad bought it at his old friend's auction at a high price. Grandpa usually keeps it safe, but you…" Bianca's heart skipped a beat when she saw the inkwell on the floor. She had an ominous feeling about it. She had never seen that small antique before, but she could tell from the exquisite carvings that it was worth a lot of money. It was a pitiful sight that it lay broken on the floor. At the same time, the old couple came into the study. Old Mr. Norman could sense that the atmosphere in the study was not quite right. "What's wrong?" He asked sternly. Leia hurriedly ran next to Old Mr.
Bianca returned to her house unhappily with the pieces of the broken inkwell in her hand. The caretaker noticed her from afar and said excitedly, "You're back, Madam. Sir was mentioning you earlier. What do you want for dinner?" Bianca glanced at her watch and noticed that it was half-past six. She was quite surprised. "Luke usually comes home late. Why is he home so early today?" Her voice was more shrill than usual. The caretaker smiled. "I didn't ask him, but he seems to be in a good mood…" Bianca nodded and stepped into the living room. Luke was sitting on the couch reading a financial newspaper. He smiled happily when he saw his wife come into the house. "You're back." "Mm." Bianca took off her jacket and tossed it on the couch. Luke could see the worry in Bianca's face. Luke put the newspaper away, hugged her from behind, and gently kissed her. "What's wrong? Why do you look so down? Did someone bully you?" Bianca opened the box in her hands and revealed the b
Bianca was watering the plants on the balcony with a watering can. She had just put the watering can away when she saw Luke browsing the movie catalog. She noticed the name of the movie that Luke had picked and could not help but ask, "Why are you playing a horror movie? I thought you always like sci-fi or war movies." She did not want to admit that she was afraid of watching horror movies. That would make Luke think that she was a coward. Luke smiled and turned off all the lights in the room. "Let's watch something else today. Don't worry, I'm here," he said mysteriously. He beckoned at Bianca and told her to sit on his lap. Bianca hesitated for a while before sitting down next to him. She was not fond of horror movies, but she was very curious about the contents of the movie. With Luke sitting next to her, she was not as afraid. In fact, she was quite looking forward to it. She leaned on his chest as he started playing the movie. The movie had just started playing w
Meanwhile, at the Norman residence. The lamp in the yard cast a dim light on the fragrant garden and onto a gentle breeze of the early fall. Under the dense canopy of leaves was a white steel table. On it was a white porcelain pot with a small mouth that emitted a wisp of vapor. Next to the pot was a basket with an assortment of delicate desserts. Jack stared vacantly at his beautiful and elegant wife, who was sitting in a rattan chair and sipping a cup of tea. The entire space belonged to the couple. As he stared at her, time seemed to have frozen, and they were back in their younger days. Jack was in a calm mood. He was not bothered by the political squabbles at work or any other earthly worries. All he wanted to do was sit there and enjoy the tranquility with his wife. He admitted that he had failed her. Because of him, their birth daughter had gone missing for more than twenty years, and they had adopted Leia from an orphanage. His wife had doted upon the young girl
Leia could not accept that horrible fact. She instantly went to the best hospital to confirm if she was really pregnant. 'What if the pregnancy test kit is faulty?' She remained hopeful. 'What if I'm not really pregnant?' She rushed into the VIP wing of the hospital wearing a mask and an oversized pair of sunglasses. The nurse took a urine and blood sample for the hCG test. Half an hour later, the head of the obstetrics department read Leia's test report carefully. "You are pregnant, Ms. Norman. The baby is thirty-six days old," she announced formally. "That's… that's impossible! I can't be pregnant!" Leia shrieked and covered her mouth. She felt her blood turning cold. "Your urine and blood tests both show that you are pregnant, Ms. Norman. It is almost impossible that both tests are wrong. Do you want to carry the child to term?" The doctor did not know how else she should explain it to Leia. Leia was already an adult. If she did not want a child, she could have taken
Leia stepped out of the hospital entrance and hurried over to the parking lot. She did not want to be late. After all, her father had summoned her back home, and she dared not disobey him. She had just fastened her seatbelt when she realized that the pregnancy test report was missing. She must have accidentally dropped it when she bumped into that young woman earlier! Leia's head spun. She wanted to go back up to collect it, but there were so many people in the hospital, and someone might have already taken it. Moreover, if Xavier had picked it up, he must have already seen it. There were so many people with the same name in the world. Even if Xavier had seen it, he might not guess that it was her. Even if Xavier guessed that it was indeed her, all she had to do was not admit it. Leia breathed a sigh of relief after thinking of that. She started the car and left the hospital. She tuned in to a radio station, hoping to lighten the mood by listening to some music. There
Jack paused for a moment as he looked at Leia's pathetic demeanor. "Are you still trying to deny what you've done, despite all the evidence that's been laid bare in front of you? If you've been honest with me right from the start, I wouldn't have been so angry. Do you think that I'm an idiot?" Jack had to admit that the mountain of evidence presented to him was true. He was stunned when he first saw the evidence. He could not believe that his "considerate" daughter could be so ruthless in private. It took him a long time to accept it. Tears swished in Leia's eyes. Her back was straight, but her chest was heaving. "I only have one question for you, Dad. In all my years in the Norman household, have you ever treated me as your daughter? You've always been cold to me, and I can never figure out what you're thinking. You don't seem to like me no matter what I do to gain your favor. I thought that it's just how your personality is, but the truth is cruel to me… "Ever since Bianca
Jack calmly kept away the stamp pad and the documents. Queenie happened to step into the study as he locked the drawer. Leia remained kneeling on the floor, staring vacantly at her father's actions. How she wished that she could spit fire from her eyes to burn those documents into ashes! Fortunately, her mother came back just in time. Her father would not give her a hard time. Queenie's smiling face sank drastically when she saw her daughter kneeling on the floor while sobbing as though she was punished. She hurriedly rushed up to Leia and helped her up. "Why are you kneeling on the floor, Leia? The floor is so cold. Get up!" Leia stubbornly remained kneeling, her frail body swaying as though she was a dying flower, and shook her head at her mother. "I should be punished for my mistakes, Mom. Dad is right to punish me." When Queenie heard that, she dragged Leia from the floor and glared at her husband. "Why did you have to make her kneel if she did something wrong? You co