"Got it." Terrence approached Claude, intending to snatch Yvette away from the latter.To his shock, he had just reached out when Claude kicked him onto the ground with immense force. With a loud thud, Terrence landed on the ground, far away. It hurt so bad that he clutched his chest, struggling to speak.Seeing that, Yara hastened to help him up. She shot a fiery look at Claude. "How dare you kick my son!"Claude carried Yvette while his eyes exuded a frosty, hostile stare. Rainwater dripped from each strand of his hair as he approached the mother-and-son duo. It was as if he had transformed into a demon.He growled, "Do you have a death wish?"Yara and Terrence were terrified of him. They didn't dare utter a word.As Claude carried Yvette away, he turned to remind Yara of something. "Yvvy's will mentioned a recording she kept. In the recording, you promised you would have nothing to do with her from now on. I hope you haven't forgotten about it."Yvette would rather die th
Xavier listened silently. His gaze darkened, but he didn't respond to Tristan's derogatory words. It was precisely because of his indulgence that no one had treated or respected Yvette as a person. Be it Tristan, Shannon, Mark, or even the household staff at the manor, no one had shown her any regard.Tristan left in a hurry after he received a phone call.After he left, Xavier subconsciously picked up his phone. He noticed a missed call from Yvette.He dialed back but was greeted by a monotonous, pre-recorded female voice. "Sorry. The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later."Xavier threw his phone aside in annoyance. Then, he stood up and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window before lighting a cigarette.What Yvette had said earlier at dawn about her regrets echoed in his mind. A bitter taste rose in Xavier's throat. As he coughed heavily twice, he heard a woman's voice from behind him. "You should smoke less, Xav. It's bad for your healt
Outside the window, the wind howled. Yvette's pale, slender hand rested on her abdomen. Her gaze was vacant. Claude had just told her that the doctor had discovered she was pregnant.Yvette felt sullen; she had conceived the baby at a bad time.Viola studied Yvette's gaze, which was hollow and devoid of any will to live. She made a tough decision right then and there. "Yvette."It took a while for Yvette to come to her senses. She turned her head toward Viola and responded, "Yes, Viola?"With reddened eyes, Viola gently brushed the stray hairs away from Yvette's temples with her hand, which was marked with signs of aging. "Yvette, I don't have children and have always treated you as my own daughter. I wish, above all else, for you to have a healthy life. Being wealthy and affluent isn't really that important. "How can I live on if my only daughter yearns for death?"Yvette's eyes widened at the sight of Viola grabbing a fruit knife. "I took care of you until you were ten
About a month into summer, the areas to the south often experienced heavy torrential rain. In the days following Yvette's discharge from the hospital, Claude made time to keep her company. Yvette suffered from the aftereffects of taking a copious amount of sleeping pills. Her physical condition had worsened compared to before. However, she was in good spirits. Even when she didn't feel like eating, she would force herself to eat as much as she could.She never mentioned Xavier's name when Claude was around—not even once.Perhaps she knew she might succumb to the pain if she brought him up. She didn't want to subject Claude to negative emotions because of her, either. When Yvette was alone, she would stare at Xavier's WhatsApp profile picture. She wondered how she should bring up the topic of divorce with him again.One day, as Yvette was returning home after buying groceries, someone stood in her way and blocked her path.It was Daphne. She had a pair of sunglasses and a ma
Yvette finally understood what Daphne had meant by her parting words. The latter had resorted to complaining about her to Xavier. Before Yvette could respond, Xavier spoke again, "Our divorce is between us. You shouldn't have gotten physical with Daphne. She's in the hospital now."Yvette was stunned for a moment. Then, she quickly realized the situation. She hadn't expected that Daphne would resort to such despicable tactics to frame her. What was even more incredulous was that Xavier actually believed it."Believe it or not, I just happened to meet her. I did nothing to her." Yvette then hung up immediately.In the hospital, Xavier's expression became strained. Daphne lay on the hospital bed with a bandaged forehead. After that brief meeting with Yvette, she had hit her own head and accused Yvette of the act. "I just wanted to have a proper talk with her, but she…"Daphne didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she took out a stack of photos and handed them to Xavier. She'd ha
Mark wasn't advising her—he was educating her. In the past, literally everyone had had the right to lecture Yvette. From Xavier's family members to Mark, the secretaries, and even the household staff at the manor, everyone could "advise" her as they pleased. Back then, Yvette had to smile back and pretend to be grateful. But now she was tired of constantly allowing others to belittle her.Her hands, which were hanging by her sides, clenched into fists. She shot a cold glare at Mark and said, "So what if he's angry? What does that have to do with me? If you have nothing else to say, please leave."Mark felt a chill in his heart from her icy gaze. Before he could react, Yvette slammed the door shut in his face. This was the first time Yvette had turned him away. In the past, he was always the one who treated her indifferently. Why had the tables turned now? Could it be that she truly no longer wished to please Xavier?…Yvette knew that Mark would certainly tell on her once
Despite how afraid Yvette was, she could only cautiously protect her abdomen. After what felt like an eternity, Xavier finally stopped. "Don't make me angry, Yvette." Xavier breathed heavily. Yvette could barely make out his words. She had a vacant look in her eyes as she asked, "Didn't you say you would never touch me? What do you think you're doing now?"After saying that, she buried her face in the pillow. Xavier failed to notice how pale her face had become. She then said, "Does your beloved know about this? If she knew, she would be angry, wouldn't she?"In the past, Yvette had thought Xavier could be heartless but also deeply loyal to the woman he loved. Now, she only found him to be unbearably unpleasant. When she said "beloved", Xavier knew she was referring to Daphne. "Did you think about that when you were with Claude?" His words pierced her heart like a knife.Xavier wasn't one to suppress his grievances when faced with a woman, especially not when the woman w
After Tristan had learned of Yvette's pregnancy, he had instructed the hospital staff to keep him updated on her condition. Upon hearing Tristan's words, Xavier felt his heart skip a beat. "What happened?" "I don't exactly know what's going on, but when I went to the hospital today, the doctors said Yvette had died." Xavier felt as if he had been struck by lightning. How could Yvette be dead? She had been fine just last night!Xavier stood up and instantly felt a bit light-headed. "What exactly happened?" "The doctors told me that Yvette was brought in late last night. She died today after they failed to resuscitate her." Without another word, Xavier grabbed his coat and left for the hospital.As he drove there, the words Yvette had uttered the previous night echoed in his ears. "Mr. Lane, would you be sad if I died?" For some reason, he found it difficult to breathe. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt but still felt suffocated.When he finally reached the ho
"We've found her, and we're currently figuring out how to obtain her biological sample," Elijah replied.Zoey was really anxious. She said, "Great. Once you've got it, come back as soon as you can.""Okay."Zoey hung up the phone and laid down to rest, but she just couldn't fall asleep.If Xandra really was Gemma's daughter, given Gemma's doting and overprotective nature, she would want to give half of everything she owned to Xandra.No, it wasn't just half. By then, Zoey might end up with nothing, and everything would go to Xandra.Zoey had a rough night and didn't sleep well, but fortunately, Elijah sent a message saying everything had been arranged. They were coming back today, so they could move forward with the examination earlier than planned.Just as things got settled over at Zoey's, online articles started trending elsewhere."Zoey Yandell is suspected to be the biological daughter of Yara Cadwell.""Zoey Yandell is unwilling to acknowledge her biological mother in or
"Fine, then. What a pity," Kiki said as she put down her phone.Yvette reassured her, saying, "There's nothing to feel bad about. What happened today was a warning to Zoey that I'm not someone to be messed with."Kiki nodded, saying, "Yes."They all understood that as long as Zoey was the Zelnik family's daughter, she would always have someone to protect her.Kiki said, "Gemma treats her adopted daughter so well. If she had her own kids, they'd definitely be happy too.""Yes, indeed."Yvette admired Zoey for having such a supportive mother who stood by her no matter what happened.Kiki asked, "Yvvy, have you ever thought about finding your biological mother?"She suddenly realized that many parents who abandoned their children might have done so because they had no other choice, or perhaps they did so for other reasons.Yvette shook her head. "I don't want to be disappointed again."Parents who could abandon their daughter at the orphanage probably didn't love her very much.
Kiki nodded and said, "Yes, it's them. They're incredibly arrogant. Just thinking about it still makes me really angry."Yvette picked up her phone and made a call. A bodyguard that was stationed nearby answered her.Kiki overheard her telling the person on the phone to isolate a few of them and beat them up."What do you mean?"Kiki still didn't understand what was happening.The driver started the car and drove them to a secluded location.Kiki then realized that all the people who had previously pushed her were now being cornered and beaten up."Yvvy, this is...""I can tolerate it if they bully me, but I can't stand it when they bully you," Yvette said, enunciating each word clearly.Kiki felt moved. She hugged Yvette tightly, saying, "Yvvy, you're amazing! My true love!"Yvette couldn't help but laugh. "Dummy. You're my best friend. You stood by me, so of course, I'll stand by you."She was no longer the person she once was, with nothing to her name. Yvette now had weal
Zoey never imagined that Yvette had secretly recorded their conversation back then.She immediately told the approaching reporters, "Stop taking pictures."However, even if the reporters didn't take photos, the guests who attended would take pictures and record videos."With this whole mix-up between the real and fake daughters, is Zoey actually from the Yandell family or the Snyder family?"Lawrence was upset and said, "My daughter, of course, took my last name.""Ah, so Yara was having an affair..."The people who came to attend the funeral on behalf of the Snyder family were instantly displeased."Are you kidding? Yara has been with you all along. Do you think us Snyders are a bunch of nobodies?"The members of the Snyder family and the people from the Cadwell family suddenly started arguing fiercely.Yvette looked at everything happening before her and just felt a deep sense of sadness.Kiki was supporting her upright, fearing she might get unintentionally caught up in th
The people present whispered to each other, confused about what Yvette was trying to do."Yvette, we were in the wrong before. Please don't take our words too seriously."The ones who previously criticized Yvette were now pretending to say nice things, fearing retaliation from her.Zoey and Lawrence stood among the crowd, unsure of what Yvette was going to do or say.Yvette ignored the person speaking and instead pulled out a report. "This is a paternity test. I am not Ms. Cadwell's biological daughter."She spoke about it boldly and bluntly.Everyone present was stunned to hear that, including Zoey and Terrence.Terrence never imagined that the sister he grew up with was not actually the daughter of the Cadwells."Yvette, don't joke around," Terrence said while forcing a laugh.Yvette looked at Terrence and said, "I'm not joking. To avoid anyone thinking I'm faking it, I've undergone tests at several major hospitals. I'm definitely not a daughter of the Cadwell family or the
The corners of Jeremiah's lips curled into a faint smile. "It seems like things aren't looking good for him."Tristan was immediately infuriated upon hearing those words. He grabbed Jeremiah by the collar and demanded, "What nonsense are you spouting?"Jeremiah looked calmly at him and said, "You're not very good at lying."Tristan was indeed that kind of person—he had no hidden agendas or schemes."You're Xav's own brother. Do you really hate him that much? Do you want him to die?"After hearing this, Jeremiah's expression remained unchanged. "You and Xavier are supposed to be best friends. Can you guarantee that you're not jealous of him and have never thought about making him disappear?""Of course not," Tristan affirmed confidently.When he was younger, he indeed felt jealous of Xavier and was unhappy about always being overshadowed by him. But as he grew older, he realized that everyone had their own strengths and that there was no need to compete with others over everythin
The members of the Cadwell family looked at each other in confusion, and then they began to apologize to Yvette and Kiki."Yvette, I'm sorry. Please forgive us. We're old and unwise.""Yes, yes, we're unwise. We're sorry.""Miss, please forgive us. We'll cover all your medical expenses."They all apologized at once, but only they knew how sincere the apologies actually were.Kiki tugged on Yvette's hand and asked, "Yvvy, what do you think we should do?"Yvette had already figured out how to deal with them. She said, "Since they already realized their mistake, let's just let it go.""Okay." Kiki, seeing that Yvette wasn't bothered by it anymore, agreed as well. "Just make sure you don't bully others by abusing your power in the future.""Right. Yes."Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had narrowly escaped a crisis. They didn't realize that Yvette had already planned on how to deal with them.This was, after all, a funeral parlor, and some media reporters would s
Yvette was somewhat confused by this, and so was Kiki."Wasn't there just a lot of crying and talking inside? Why did it suddenly get so quiet? Are they holding some kind of ceremony?" Kiki asked."I don't know. Let's go in and take a look."When they walked in, they finally understood the reason why it was quiet.Tristan had arrived.At that moment, he sat atop a sandalwood chair, surrounded by bodyguards all dressed in matching black uniforms.Terrence stood in front of him, sweating profusely.The others were also too scared to make a sound."Where's Yvette?" Tristan asked again.After receiving a call from Kiki, he quickly rushed over. However, when he arrived, he didn't see Kiki or Yvette.He wasn't as easygoing as Jeremiah. Right there on the spot, he had everyone surrounded and made them all line up properly, demanding everyone to clearly state who had been bullying Yvette.When confronted with the power he exuded, the crowd instantly lost their earlier arrogance, and
Most of the people present recognized Jeremiah's face, but they mistook him for Xavier."So it's the son-in-law of the Snyder family who's here." They didn't let go of Yvette but instead complained, "You're here just in time. Teach Yvette a lesson. Her mother passed away, but she refuses to wear mourning attire."Terrence saw Jeremiah approaching from a distance and immediately stopped paying attention to the relatives around him, quickly running over."Everyone, you've got it wrong. This is Xavier''s twin brother. He's currently the CEO of Titan Corporation."After speaking, he gave the group a few subtle winks.The members of the Cadwell family liked to bully the weak and feared the strong. After knowing that the person in front of them was the CEO of Titan Corporation, they all put on smiling faces."We're sorry. We mistook you for someone else."After that, they continued to insist that Yvette kneel. "Come on, Yvette, stop being stubborn and just kneel!"Jeremiah saw what w