After Henry carried Rory into the room and gently put her down, she sat beside Henry, utterly well disciplined.After all, Linda had told her that once she wrote her name in that thick tome, she would become the heiress of the Barnes family and rise above the rest.No one would get to bully her again, and most importantly, Sophie's name was not in it, and Sophie would never be acknowledged.With this, Rory would be Henry's only daughter and the one he acknowledged, while Sophie was nothing!Sophie would never get Henry—Henry could only be Rory's!On the other hand, Linda was left standing outside and only watching as was tradition, since she was not really a member of the family yet.Inside, everything proceeded as planned, with Rory paying her respects to the forebears of the Barnes family, bowing as hard as she could as Linda had told her to and almost bleeding by the time she was done.The only thing remaining after was just the inclusion of her name in the family annals.As
After all, Roger cared a lot about tradition and would only hate Tina even more.And Roger was indeed scowling, but he could not do much with Henry standing between them.Shooting his butler a look, he said sternly, "Get her out of here."Seeing that Tina was not moving, Henry's tone turned cold too. "Stop messing around. It's important for Rory to write her name in the family annals, but I will do the same for Sophie when you bring her back.""Hehe…" Tina suddenly laughed coolly, her lips curled up as she turned coldly toward Linda, who was just bragging about Rory becoming a member of the Barnes family not two seconds ago.Pushing Henry away, she walked straight toward Henry's granduncle, asking, "Excuse me, but what is the most important thing for a child's name to be included in the family annals?"Henry's granduncle was close with Madam Barnes and therefore extended his respect for her to Tina."The most important thing? The blood of the Barnes family, of course," he replie
Henry did not catch the paternity test results that Roger threw at him, and it smacked his handsome, chiseled face, leaving a long and bloody cut into his chin.It flipped a few times before landing on Henry's feet, with the words 'DNA paternity test' marked in bold on the thin sheet.And on the bottom was the red, conspicuous words that read: subjects are not biologically related.Henry did not pick it up or look downward at it, merely keeping his eyes fixed on Tina's face with an impassive look of mixed emotions.Even Tina could not understand just then what that look meant, but she continued holding his gaze.Was he realizing that he was a fool and a cuck, deceived by the very woman he loved so much?Or was he furious that he ended up treasuring someone else's daughter as if she was his own?On the other hand, as Henry was not reacting, Roger wheeled on Linda, his eyes cold.What that woman had done was almost impressive—cheating on Henry, having a bastard, and making him a
At the same time, Roger glowered as he threw Rory to Linda."Rory!" Linda exclaimed, paling as she caught Rory and hugged her with a pained look. "Are you alright? Show Mommy where it hurts…"As she spoke, she rolled up Rory's sleeve, which revealed the bruise Roger had left with his grip.She bit her lip, her tears rolling down her cheeks silently.Even if she said nothing, her message to Henry was exceedingly clear.However, Roger was glaring at the identical faces of mother and daughter, his voice dripping with disdain and disgust. "Take your bastard out of here. Don't defile this family altar.""Henry…" Linda turned toward Henry, her expression miserable and her tears still rolling down her cheeks silently.Rory leaned into Linda's arms and sobbed, shaking her head repeatedly. "I'm not a bastard! No!"Pain showed in Henry's eyes, and he promptly strode toward Linda and Rory.The rage in Tina's eyes flared further as she watched.This was not the first time ever since Lind
Rory was looking at Henry as she sobbed miserably, "Daddy, if you're not my daddy, who's my daddy?"The question left Henry grimacing, and he gently wiped the tears off her face. "It's alright. Don't listen to them—you're my daughter.""Henry…"Linda grasped Henry's arm desperately while she called his name meekly.As they shared a look that only they understood, Henry squeezed Linda's hand in return and gave her an assuring gaze.Seeing that, Roger glowered sinisterly, "Henry!"But once Henry comforted Rory, he stood up and turned toward his father in turn. "Rory is my daughter!"He owed Linda that much.After what Tina had done, his father would not agree to let him marry Linda and go public with Rory.Henry did not appear disappointed—if anything, he appeared relieved.While not being able to marry Linda as promised piled on his guilt, he could make it up to her with Rory.However, Henry's reaction almost left Roger fainting.How could he not understand?! Henry had known
"Rory's presence in the family won't affect Sophie! I'll definitely treat them equally, and I won't give Sophie grief anymore!"Henry would never neglect Sophie out of favoritism.Even if she made a habit of lying, he would tolerate her and patiently discipline her.Tina was left glaring at him anyway. "So you had always known that Rory wasn't your daughter?""Yes.""Haha… Hahaha…" She laughed despite herself at Henry's confession, leveling a mournful look as tears flowed unwittingly down her cheeks.She clenched on her handbag, where she had kept Sophie's death certificate.When she had found out by chance that Rory was not really Henry's daughter, she had decided that she would expose that truth in front of Henry with the paternity test results.After all, he was a man of lofty standing. He was maniacally possessive of Tina even when he did not love her, even forbidding her from having anything to do with another man.Considering that, he definitely would be even worse if
As if a dictator, Roger had decided to drag Tina back to salvage the situation without asking for her opinion.In his mind, Tina had done all these just to officially marry Henry anyway.After Henry and the family had gone five years without acknowledging Tina and her daughter, she must definitely be upset that they had chosen to go public with Linda and Rory instead and deliberately exposed Rory as a bastard just before the ceremony.That way, Roger and the elders would never allow Linda and Rory to be taken in as family, and at the same time, important guests and the media would still be waiting for the reveal of Henry's fiancee and daughter.It was certainly a well-calculated move from Tina, predicting that Roger's reaction would be to stop Linda, a woman with a shady history, from bringing a bastard into their family.After all, the more important their status, the more they valued their pride.And since people would always inevitably talk, god knew that the Barnes family wou
Linda sobbed, "What happened five years ago between you and Tina drove us apart, and that lost us five years… I've waited for you for this for so long. If you get engaged with Tina instead, what would happen to me and Rory? You promised that you'd only marry me…"In the end, Henry was her trump card.She not only had Henry's love, but he also owed her a life debt and due recompense.Any other woman could enslave a man with just one, but she had all three.As for Tina, what did she have?Even her daughter—her only bargaining chip—was now six feet under. What did she have?!Hence, as Linda leaned into Henry's arms, she leveled a look of provocation at Tina.She was dead sure that Henry would fight Roger for her sake, and Tina would lose!To her shock, not only did Henry not do that, but he also pulled her away and strode toward Tina nearby, taking her wrist."Henry…"Linda's eyes widened in disbelief.Just as Roger wished, Henry obviously intended to announce his engagement wi
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
As Henry opened the door, he was left staring in shock as Rory knelt before her own bed, her young, dainty face contorted with sinister malice that did not suit her age.Just seeing that left Henry wondering if this was still the sweet, disciplined Rory whom he knew? He just could not connect that other Rory with the one he was looking at now.As she held a tiny straw doll in one hand and a long needle in the other, cursing Sophie's name while stabbing the needle repeatedly into the straw doll, it was clear that the straw doll was meant to represent Sophie.A fire flared inside Henry's mind—Sophie's death had always been an agony to him, and he owed her plenty and wanted nothing less than to give her a better afterlife.More than that, he yearned for the day that Tina forgave him, and then they could have another child.With that, Sophie could reincarnate and become their daughter once more, so he would have a chance to make amends.When he yearned for those things so much, how
After Henry found out that Tina was the real Orange, watching the footage of Sophie only made him regret even more.He really wanted to go back to seven years ago and beat his past self up violently.Even as he looked tearfully at Sophie—the child of her and Orange's love, so cute and pretty on the screen—he thought she should have grown up pampered as the happiest princess.And yet, he had scorned her even before she was born and treated her with utter insignificance after she was born.Just thinking about how she looked at him, yearning for her fatherly affection, left his heart feeling like it was being stabbed a thousand times over."I'm so sorry, Sophie! Can you come back to me?" he asked, gently brushing his finger against her photo on the gravestone.However, there was no answer to his question, and he felt like he was stabbed again as he kept watching the video alone in the cold winter night.When the video was finished, his tears covered his face.The more Sophie loved
Rory was endlessly confident that she mattered most in her daddy's heart.However, Henry usually arrived very early on her birthdays. When he did not show up by eight, Rory called his number, but no one answered.Still, she was afraid to keep calling and instead texted him.[Daddy, when are you coming?]Once again, there was no answer—he did not pick up as she tried to call later too, and nor did he show up as noon arrived.Even as she felt disheartened, she peered at Linda with the corner of her eye.Linda had gone the extra mile to look pretty, as she had promised to persuade Henry so that they could celebrate her birthday together.She quickly tried to call Henry as there was no sign of him, and they continued to wait all the way to the evening.Meanwhile, Linda had already received the message that Henry had gone to Sophie's grave first thing in the morning and never left since.Furious, she steered her wheelchair and rammed into Rory, knocking her to the floor, all whil
Linda told Rory that Sophie was Henry's real daughter.Because they were connected by blood, if they spent more time with each other and bonded, Rory would become unimportant because she was not really Henry's daughter.There was no way Rory would let Sophie take her daddy away, so she agreed to let Linda make her sick.Then, Linda waited until Henry was on the way to the amusement park before calling him, to make sure Henry would walk out on Sophie.After that, Linda told her that Sophie had stupidly waited for half a day at the amusement park and died.Sophie was really stupid—she knew that Henry did not love her, but she still thought she could steal Henry away from Rory on her birthday!However, because Sophie died, Henry never took her to the amusement park last year for her, even though he had promised to do it every year.Still, seeing that Henry was silent, she promptly played the mature daughter and said, "It's alright, Daddy—I was just asking. It's okay if you just spe
Henry nodded. "Good."After Andy left and Yancy arrived, Rory already changed into fresh clothes, hugging Henry's arm as she sat beside him on the couch, leaning on him with an utterly clingy look.Yancy went over and examined her before concluding, "She's lucky you found her in time and didn't catch a cold. But you have to be more careful—she's still recovering and wouldn't survive an infection."And with those instructions, Yancy left.The rim of her eyes reddened, Rory knew she was in the wrong and apologized, "I'm sorry, Daddy. I should have behaved instead of making you worry. It won't happen again.""As long as you understand. Don't do something like that ever again," Henry rebuked her, but his tone was gentle.Rory nodded repeatedly and threw herself into his arms As Henry still had work to do, he was going to ask Andy to take her home, but she refused. "It's been two weeks, Daddy. I'll stay with you a little longer. I promise to stay in a corner and read my books withou
Rory was crouching at a corner of the office building, her clothes soaked through and her tiny form curled up.She was trembling in the cold as she looked at Henry."Rory!" Henry's eyes widened and he hurried over, catching some of the rain as his bodyguard could not keep up with him.Still, Henry could not care less as he rushed to Rory's side, taking off his suit jacket and wrapping it around Rory, and then scooped her stiff little body up in his arms.As he did, he felt her hands too—they were as cold as ice, leaving his heart tightening.Her large eyes were filled with tears, and she was not behaving like before.After all, whenever Henry picked her up, she would always hug his neck, calling him 'Daddy' sweetly as she leaned her cheeks on his chest.In the winter rain, the chilling winds cut to the bone.Even though Henry had realized that something was wrong with Rory, he did not ask her immediately, but instead strode into the building with her in his arms and took the el
"I need some rest, Rory," he said, his tone a little cool. "I'll drop by later to visit. Just go home and get some rest."It was meant as a warning to Linda as well, to discourage her from using Rory to bridge the distance between them ever again."Daddy…"However, it was the first time Henry was being that cold toward Rory. Before he could reach her, Andy stopped her, "Please, Rory—Mr. Barnes is really feeling ill and needs rest. If you really care, you should listen instead of bothering him further."Rory pursed her lips as she stood at the doorway, her tears welling up in her eyes as she leveled a doleful look at Henry.However, as Henry closed his eyes and she could not get anything from him, she left, looking back every other step.She was very much panicking—was Henry really angry at her this time?And if Henry did not love her, then Linda would not either.What could she do at that point?Nonetheless, she got downstairs and got into a car parked outside.And seeing h
"It doesn't hurt. Really," John teased, seeing the grim look on Tina's face.Annoyed, Tina shot him a glare and pressed on the cotton bud.John gasped, "Oof…"Tina promptly withdrew her hand but still scoffed. "I thought you said it didn't hurt!""My bad!" John promptly apologized—he simply could not be harsh on her.Still, Tina became even gentler then as she worked meticulously.At the same time, Tina's phone kept jingling with text messages, all of which were from Henry, who kept apologizing.However, she only picked up her phone after disinfecting John's face and did not read a single text as she blocked Henry.John then led her to the main bedroom, where the sheets were already changed.He really was attentive as ever.Nonetheless, Tina was really spent. "Goodnight.""Goodnight," John replied and lit some scented candles to help her sleep, while Tina lay under her warm sheets.Outside, the rain was getting heavier.She thought she would stay wide awake after the night