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
[I'm sorry, the device you called has been turned off.]Hearing the answering machine, Tina calmed down—SJ should be asleep at this hour.She sent a text instead: [Call me when you wake up.]With that, she slid her phone back into her handbag and was heading down the subway station when a car honk blared behind her.She turned to find John's black Maybach still waiting there—he had never left.Tina returned to it, ready to thank him again, but soon remembered what he said about being too formal and stopped herself."Not bad." John's lips curled into a small smile in praise.Tina sighed in exasperation at him in turn, and as they locked gazes, they could not help laughing.In that moment, Tina felt like she had grown closer to John despite that invisible ravine separating them.Nonetheless, she asked, "If Madam Barnes arranged for me to meet you, then why was it Martin who picked me up?" She was not blaming him—she just wanted the truth.John sighed in exasperation. "I was
"It's all here," SJ replied as he slid the file on all the information he had gathered to Tina.Tina took it and paid the remaining balance. "I'll reach out again when I need your help."Having received his payment, SJ nodded and left.Tina quickly opened the envelope, reading through everything carefully for anything she could use—but there was nothing worthwhile even after she flipped through everything.SJ was a very famous PI in Jadelight, but even he could not find any leverage against Linda.That meant anyone else would fail just the same.Tina was left staring fixedly on the last page, overwhelmed by the helplessness she felt inside.The only one who knew that Linda had poached the kidney meant for Sophie was Quentin, and he was dead.Naturally, Tina had sought out Quentin's wife, but the woman knew nothing.She told Tina that Quentin had arranged everything, stopping her from donating her kidney to Sophie.As for who it was or even whether Quentin was paid for it, Que
Heartbroken, Linda was forced to head abroad.At that time, Stan and his friends saw how depressed Henry was.That was why it was not just Henry who despised Tina—being his close friends, Stan and the rest of Henry's buddies all despised Tina as well.Even if Tina had a child with Henry, none of them cared.However, even as Stan ranted on indignantly for Henry's benefit, he suddenly realized that instead of calming down, Henry looked ready to snap.If anything, it looked like…"Wait, have you fallen for Tina?!" Stan asked with a dumbfounded look.Even he doubted that was the case as he asked that question.Henry had spent years looking for Linda, and when he finally did, he immediately spoiled her rotten, obsessing over her in mind and spirit.Why would he ever fall for a scheming bitch like Tina?Indeed, Henry's expression changed as he gave Stan an incredulous look.There was no way he would fall for Tina!"Exactly!" Stan laughed. "Why would you ever fall for Tina?!"He
Henry did try to force Zach to give up the alleged evidence he had against Linda and even put him through pain that only professionals could endure, let alone a normal person.But since Zach did not give up, he simply presumed that Tina bore a grudge and framed Linda, all because Linda had stolen the kidney meant for Sophie, allowing Rory to survive while Sophie died.If the truth was what Tina had claimed, however—that Rory was not even a match for the kidney transplant meant for Sophie—then that could only mean that Linda had meant to murder Sophie in the first place.Everything she said—that she loved Rory too much and did not want to lose her, and that she felt guilty from picking her own child out of selfishness… Those were all lies!On the other hand, tears were welling up in Tina's eyes as she felt as she was brought back to that day."Linda never meant to let Sophie live from the start. And she didn't just steal the kidney meant for Sophie—when Sophie's condition turned te
Tina glared icily at Henry as she snapped, "What's the point of kneeling here?! You don't even get to apologize as long as you have yet to avenge Sophie!"Henry's burly figure clearly cringed from Tina's words.His lips parted but he had no idea what to say, because he had a hand in Sophie's death too.If he had not told Eric Sandler to prioritize Rory if there was a donor match, Linda would not have been able to steal the kidney meant for Sophie, and Sophie would be alive.Even if he did not know, he was still the reason Linda succeeded, and that made him the chief culprit of Sophie's death."Tina…" He tried to speak despite the difficulty, only to stop.However, Tina knew what he was going to say, seeing the look on his face, and was absolutely seething as she stared daggers at him. "Are you going to tell me that Linda has already suffered for it?! That she's lost her legs and now a hand—""No…."Tina's outburst certainly reminded him of the dastardly things he said to defend
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