Still, Tina knew she was in the hospital as she picked up the scent of antiseptic in the air.As she just woke up, her mind was muddled—all she remembered was being in Henry's car, where he took advantage of her being drugged to force her to lose herself.Her rationality crumbled under the drug, but just as she thought Henry would get what she wanted, she realized she was on her period and stopped resisting.Even if Henry hated her, he would not do it when she was having her period, and he had no choice but to take her to the hospital.As the rest of her memories were a mess, she did not bother to remember that her drug-fueled self was getting intimate with Henry.She slowly got up, smiling in disdain when she realized that she was alone.How pragmatic of Henry—as soon as he realized he could not screw her, he only took her to the hospital and left without waiting a single second.She did not hesitate to get out of bed, since she was fine now that the drug had worn off.She was
John glanced at Tina. "Thank you."The drawing room light was directly in front of him, and the glow made his eyes radiant as he watched her.Unable to meet his gaze, Tina quickly headed to the tearoom to avoid him.Madam Barnes made some small talk with John in the meantime before excusing herself to the tearoom.Tina was still brewing tea and greeted Madam Barnes as she watched Madam Barnes enter. "Grandma.""What do you think of John?" Madam Barnes asked right away.She was very much satisfied with John, and she immediately thought of the Levines and John when she decided to arrange a blind date for Tina.Despite that, she also understood that even if she thought the world of Tina and that she deserved anyone, neither John nor the Levines would agree.She just wanted to get someone who would take care of Tina and not hurt her, which was why she was ready to pick John's cousin instead.Even if he would not have actual authority, they were close, and John had always watched o
Henry smiled slightly, expressionless as he strode in."Family? Have I missed something?" he asked evenly as he took off his coat and passed it to a maid. Walking up to the couch, he subtly glanced at Tina before sitting down opposite John, folding his legs while leveling his cool visage at John.Then, as if finding the room too hot, he reached up and loosened a couple of buttons on his collar.He looked pointedly at John, hiding a smile as he adjusted this collar.From John's point of view, he just happened to be able to see the many hickeys beneath.Judging from the hue, they were recent—and it went without saying who had done it.Even as John's gaze darkened, Henry stayed silent—a quiet provocation and an assertion of advantage.After all, he had told John more than once that Tina was his.On the other hand, Madam Barnes could not see what Henry was doing, only seeing that nonchalant expression on his face."You missed everything."She almost said that out loud, as she h
Having no memories of the past five years, to Madam Barnes, Henry's words seemed to show that he still did not care for Tina, even using her lowly status to hurt her.She shot Henry a glare, but she could not humiliate him that much either.Taking Tina's hand and squeezing it as a silent assurance, she said very quietly, "Who is Tina, you ask? I've told you all this while that she's a member of the Barnes family."She had never announced it because she had hopes that things would work out between Henry and Tina.If she announced it, that would really make Tina Henry's sister, and it would be incest if they got together.She did not think that staying her hand allowed Henry to exploit that fact just to hurt Tina.As such, she announced, "I will pick an auspicious date where I formally announce Tina as my god-granddaughter, and she will formally be a daughter of this family."It was as much as a retort to Henry as it was a praise for Tina for John's sake, while cutting off any cha
That was exactly what bothered Tina, as she could not come up with an idea that would stop Madam Barnes from arranging more blind dates for her once and for all, and without wounding Madam Barnes."As for me, I'm sure you've heard the rumors about me," John continued quietly."Ah… Ahem." Tina could not help clearing her throat.She was not really a part of Jadelight's elite circles, but she did hear gossip about him.John was twenty-eight just like Henry, and their families were equal in standing. On top of that, they were equally successful heirs, but John also stayed well away from romantic affairs.He was never seen with a woman, unlike Henry, who went public about his affair with Linda as early as in university.As such, rumors started to spread that John preferred men, and suddenly every man was scrutinized under a microscope, as they were all speculated to be his lover.Naturally, Tina had not been curious before, but she was curious now as humans were creatures of gossi
Tina was trying to draw the attention of the servants, but none of them were coming."Heh." Henry snorted, reading her mind.Tina realized right then that Henry had sent them away, and none of them would come no matter how much she yelled.Since there was no help in sight, Tina raised her hand, ready to hit Henry, only for him to grab her wrist and pull. Then, he shoved her against the craggy boulder, leaving her grimacing in pain and kicking at him. "Get off me!"However, Henry pressed his own legs on hers, keeping her immobile as he grabbed her chin to force her to meet his gaze, snapping demandingly, "You don't like John Levine. Tell Grandma that right now."Tina glowered. "Why should I listen to you?!" Who did he think he was?!"Why, you ask?! Because you're my woman!" Henry bellowed, not hiding his possessiveness at all. "As long as I don't consent to it, you're not hooking up with another man, you hear me?!"Such was the worst attribute of men—even if Henry never loved
Tina returned to Madam Barnes' house.Remembering that Henry got in her room even though she locked the door, she headed to Madam Barnes' room, hugging her arm and asking tenderly, "Grandma, may I stay with you tonight?""Of course! I'd love that." Madam Barnes smiled lovingly, patting her head.With that, Tina slept beside Madam Barnes, hugging her arm and sleeping soundly.It was a rare moment for Madam Barnes, as she watched Tina huddled so closely to her under the bed lamp.The child had always been sweet toward her, and she could see that Tina really did not despise her at all.It was unlike Irene, who always greeted her 'grandma' sweetly, but cringed from her being old.The thought left Madam Barnes' gaze tender as she watched Tina.Meanwhile, Henry arrived outside Tina's room in the dead of the night, glowering as he looked into her empty room.She was hiding from him!-Tina was still clinging to Madam Barnes' arm the next morning, and they headed to the dining room
John chuckled. "Just keeping up the act. Don't worry about it."Tina's mind was considerably eased nonetheless. "Can you take me to the hotel yesterday first, John? I left my bag there."Just addressing John by his first name left his eyes lighting up, though he shook his head. "I picked it up for you last night. It's in the backseat."Tina turned and saw that it really was, and she picked it up. "Thanks."She took out her phone, but it was turned off since it had run out of battery.John took it off her hands as if it was only natural and started charging it."Thanks," she said again.John smiled at her in exasperation. "People who are dating aren't this formal."Tina blushed in turn—she had never gone on dates before.As soon as she knew love, she became completely obsessed with Henry.It was not as if she had no admirers, but she simply had no eyes for anyone else.But before long, Henry got together with Linda, and though what had happened five years ago kept them togeth
The instant Tina tapped on the notification, she found Henry kneeling outside her door, motionless.She swiped through her phone and saw that most notifications were from Henry, with the first of many being sent at three in the morning.That meant Henry had driven straight to her place after leaving Rose Garden and knelt outside her door for almost four hours.But Tina remained unaffected.Remembering the video John had sent earlier, she had a hunch that Henry was outside after he became aware of Rory's true nature.She soon tapped out of the notifications and kept chatting with John since she found herself in a good mood first thing in the morning.When John said he had yet to have breakfast, Tina could read between the lines and did not play dumb, telling him that she would cook extra portions for him when he came over.John replied: [Already on my way.]Tina could not resist a smile. [Drive safe. See you soon.]After putting down her phone, she went about her daily routine—
It was an especially long night, and every passing second was especially gruelling as Henry stayed on his knees outside Tina's door, like his heart was being stabbed.-When Tina woke up, she noticed that John had just texted her a minute ago.[Are you up?]Tina smiled ever so faintly as she replied: [Mornin'.][There's a video you should watch.][Okay.]While waiting for the video to be sent to her phone, she noticed many notifications from her alarm system.It was the first time this had happened since she moved in, and she was about to tap on it when John's file was downloaded.Tina tapped on the video first and immediately recognized that it was taken outside Rsoe Garden when she tapped on it.A familiar car was outside Linda's villa—it was Henry's.Tina's gaze cooled as she looked on.Yesterday was Sophie's death anniversary and also Rory's birthday.And given how much Henry doted on Rory, it was not hard to see that he went to the Rose Garden after visiting Sophie's
As Henry's car soon disappeared in the night, Rory was left behind and too exhausted to give chase.She lay sprawled on the ground, watching as Henry left her, and her body's warmth slowly faded.Her gaze was endlessly horrified and helpless.Was he really going to leave her?-After leaving Rose Garden, Henry drove straight to Tina's apartment, having paid a hefty sum to buy the adjacent units to hers after finding out that she had moved there.He drove into the car park but stayed downstairs.The apartment complex was very quiet as it was three in the morning, but his heart could not quiet down at all.After all, he had been horrified since the moment he exposed Rory's two-faced nature.It was so obvious, but he just did not see it!He really was too overjoyed from the reunion when Linda showed up, passing herself off as Orange.The delight of the lost and found was just too much, and he cared even more for Linda when she told him that Mama Orange was dead, and how much su
It was such a horrible sight that Henry eased his foot off the gas pedal before he knew it, and his car clearly slowed.To Rory, it was a ray of hope—just as she thought, he loved her and could not really bear to leave her.He must be heartbroken to see how much she loved him and chased him until she got hurt.With that thought, her utterly discouraged spirit was once again soaring.So what if Sophie was his real daughter?! She was dead! And all a dead person could do was lay six feet under, unable to do a thing!But Rory was different—even if she was not connected to Henry by blood, she was alive.That meant she could sweet-talk him, whispering nice words to cajole him.And what could dead Sophie do about that?Hence, Rory found renewed strength despite being exhausted and started crawling toward Henry's car, bawling as she did.She had a clear objective and did not care that her hands and knees were scraped through."Daddy… Look at me… It hurts so much… Daddy…"As Rory g
Henry paused as he turned and suddenly turned toward Rory.Despite her leveling a miserable look at Henry with her eyes swollen from tears, he was still not relenting.In fact, he was endlessly cold as he glared at her with a cool look that cut to the bone."I'm telling you one last time—don't call me Daddy, you hear?"Rory had only seen him give Tina and Sophie that look before and had never expected him to look at her the same way now.She was left trembling endlessly, her lips parting as she really wanted to call out to him and sweet-talk him like she always did.But that icy glare left her speechless, and she could only watch as Henry turned and strode off, his footsteps soon fading into the distance.Did he really hate her now? Was he leaving her?Even as the thought struck her, she shook her head repeatedly!No! Henry could not leave her! She could not lose him! "Daddy!" She finally called out again as she leapt out of bed and started running without putting on her sho
However, was Rory really innocent?Henry might have believed Linda if he had not seen what Rory did with his own eyes—how malicious she looked when she cursed Sophie, and how vile the words she breathed were!Just remembering the sight left him shuddering.Not even a normal adult should have been capable of such vile words, and Rory was only seven!But what frightened Henry the most was how she was once again the good girl Rory as soon as she turned and saw him.She could switch between her personalities as if it was second nature, just like what Linda always did behind his back.The phrase 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree' really came to mind!Why could he not just see that from the start?!Rory had grown up by Linda's side, and Linda was a mother who was so immaculate with her pretensions.With such influence, would Rory have been all that different?"Adopt Rory, you say?" Henry breathed so quietly that no one could tell what he was really feeling just then.But s
Linda already had some choice words in mind for Rory after Henry never showed up today.So, her eyes were flaring in annoyance when she opened them, as Rory made such a loud ruckus past midnight, waking her up.She was ready to give Rory a beating as she moved from her bed to her wheelchair and headed to the next room.That was when she heard Henry's voice.She did not rush inside, however, and eavesdropped outside, cursing Rory's incompetence when she realized what just happened! Rory could not even do one thing right and had to let Henry catch her cursing that brat!At this point, Linda was well aware that any chances she had of getting back together with Henry depended entirely on Rory, so she must not let Henry become disappointed in Rory.Rory was her trump card. And if she lost her trump card, she had no shot of getting Henry back.And how could she accept something like that?!She had stayed by his side, putting up an act for years! How could she just allow herself to
It had never crossed Henry's mind that Rory was lying.He was prejudiced and had absolutely fought with Sophie, insisting endlessly that Rory would never lie.But was Sophie lying just because Rory did not?At this very moment, Henry did not even dare to think about how many lies Rory had told him over the years.And because he had absolute faith in Rory, how many times he had glazed over the facts and blamed Sophie!"Daddy…" Rory was truly terrified now, clutching her cheek where Henry slapped her in disbelief while her tears welled up in her eyes.In truth, Henry did not hit her that hard—he was holding back, compared to the times her mother had slapped her.But her heart hurt.Her daddy… The daddy she loved so much, the daddy who spoiled her so much and never raised his voice at her, slapped her because of Sophie!He did not just forget her birthday because of Sophie—he even struck her now!But she did not blame him.It was all Sophie's fault—and she hated Sophie even m
Rory asked, "Daddy? Is that my birthday present?"At the same time, she knew very well that if Henry saw what that straw doll really was, he would be absolutely furious.That was why he must not let him see at any cost.However, Henry was still glowering as he threw the gift aside, taking a step forward and glaring at her menacingly. "Show it to me!""Daddy…"More tears gushed from Rory's eyes, as if Henry terrified her.And yet, she gingerly reached out, tugging on the hem of Henry's shirt, chirping sweetly, "Daddy, you're scaring me. Don't look at me like that."At that moment, she was once again the Rory that Henry was so familiar with.Mature and obedient.Kind and innocent.Guileless and harmless.But Henry could not forget about the Rory he saw just now.And seeing that she kept trying to manipulate him, he lost all patience and pushed her aside, while reaching for the blanket with his other hand."Daddy! Don't look!"Rory cried as she lunged over in a panic to stop