In the end, Sophie was Henry's daughter—he would not let it slide.That must mean that Tina did not have solid evidence and had to suck it up because she had nothing.It also explained what she had done at Barnes Ranch just days ago!Now, it was really no surprise that Tina would expose Rory for not being Henry's biological daughter.She was not aiming to get Henry back—she wanted revenge for Sophie!And once Linda was sure that Tina had no proof and that the only witness was dead, she was slightly relieved.She should be coming up with her next steps tonight.She stopped halfway home to swap cars outside a mall.In it was a first aid kit that Henry had placed there for Rory, and she cleaned up her head wound.Still, the sight of herself bleeding left her glowering viciously.'Tina Smith, you bitch!' If Linda had not done her best to cushion the blow each time Tina shoved her head repeatedly on the ground, she would not just be bleeding—she might really die bowing in front
Linda was just thinking about what she should do about Tina to keep driving her further from Henry.Tina clearly resented Henry now because Henry protected Linda unconditionally, so Linda just had to trick Henry into hating Tina once more…But even before she could finish the thought, her face dropped as Rory bawled beside her, telling her that she had called Henry."Who told you to do that?!" she snapped at Rory right then.The brat could never do anything right!Linda was never going to tell Henry in the first place, as she had no idea what she should say when he asked how she got hurt.Her tears still on her cheeks, Rory was left too scared to say a word even though her lips twitched.Linda was really too weary for her, but the damage was done. She could not call Henry to tell him not to come either, as it would be obvious that she had something to hide.After some thought, Linda sent Rory to the doorway to wait for Henry, while she quickly cleaned her forehead and lay on
Linda was clearly shocked, not expecting Henry to immediately guess that Tina had hurt her.However, that reaction put her mind at ease.She had already thought of a plan—Tina could only have known that she killed Sophie from Quentin, so she was lucky that Quentin was dead.There was no evidence proving her crime now, and without evidence, Henry's immediate reaction to anything was to take her side when it came down to her and Tina.So what did she have to worry about?Her heart utterly gleeful, her lips curled up slightly as she looked up at Henry, who was glowering because Tina had hurt her.Still, she restrained herself and called out to her maid, "Mrs. Long, could you take Rory upstairs?" She would never forget to maintain her perfect image as a mother at every waking moment and take care of Rory even if things were bad."Mommy…" Rory looked at her worriedly."Be good now." Linda smiled at Rory. "Don't worry about me—I'm fine, and Daddy's here. Go to bed now.""Go on," H
Tina was always earnest toward anyone and anything, unlike Linda, whom Carl despised for her hypocritical nature despite her ability to keep up appearances perfectly.When Tina was first brought to Barnes Ranch, she considered herself an outsider and took everything lying down.Carl heard that she eventually gained some confidence because of Henry and changed just slightly but never abused his concern to start trouble. However, she would still fight back if someone pushed her too far.Therefore, if Tina really did attack Linda tonight, it could only be because Linda had really driven her to the brink.As Carl glanced at Henry, he really wondered why Henry could never understand that.He knew that he should not speak right now, but he could not help asking, "Ms. Cook, may I ask why Ms. Smith attacked you?"Linda was clearly taken aback but soon gathered herself and looked up from Henry's arms at Carl, shaking her head as her tone turned even more aggrieved. "I don't know—why wou
There was no hiding the concern in Henry's voice, and he was studying Tina from head to toe as he spoke.He could not see under her clothes, which were not torn, so he had no idea where she was hurt and did not pull her too forcefully.However, he kept holding on to her wrist firmly, stopping her from freeing herself while shooting Carl a look to examine her.Carl was stunned as Tina looked positively demonic just then, and he could not quite recover.It was Henry's sharp glare that jolted him to his senses, and he hurried over.Seeing that Tina was not in her right mind, he said mildly, "Please, Ms. Smith. Madam Barnes' heart would break if she woke up to see you hurt."Although Tina twitched ever so slightly at the mention of Madam Barnes, the flaring hatred in her eyes did not die off.Instead, she told Carl calmly, "Don't worry. I'm not hurt, Dr. Sandler. This isn't my blood—it was Linda who…"Tina remembered Linda's heinous act even as she was about to mention the dog's bl
"Henry!!!"Linda suddenly yelled, grimacing as if her heart broke from seeing Henry's wounded arm.Not caring that Tina was a threat, she ran toward her with eyes filled with concern. "You're hurt…"She seemed to have moved too quickly and slipped, while Henry relaxed his grip from Tina's wrist and reached out toward Linda in reflex.As Linda fell into Henry's arms just like that, she did not seem to notice Tina behind her back, as her eyes were glued to Henry's injury.Her eyes teary, she called out to Carl, who was just a few paces away, "Dr. Sandler, please, you have to help Henry…"While she was a little afraid that Tina could kill her, she was even more certain that no harm would come to her as long as Henry was right there with them.Therefore, she was not actually worried at all.As for Tina, she knew that Linda was not actually worried that Henry was hurt—Linda was yelling to interrupt what she was about to say.However, Tina did not care.She had come to kill Linda a
Henry was serious about making amends to Sophie, so why did Tina have to be so stubborn about it?And he should be upset, but the sight of her being so pale in his arms stopped him from being too harsh on her.He should also be leaving her in Carl's care too, but his body reacted quicker than his mind, and he scooped her up in his arms."Henry…"Watching as Henry's attention was completely fixed on Tina, Linda had to fight back her jealousy and call out meekly to Henry.She appeared more hurt than Tina, so Henry was not going to leave her behind…Henry glanced at her but did not leave Tina with Carl as she had expected, instead telling Carl, "Take care of Linda."Carl had served the Barnes family for years, and Henry trusted the family doctor."Yes, Mr. Barnes!"With Carl's reply, Henry promptly strode out, still carrying Tina.Linda's eyes widened in disbelief, finally realizing that Henry was really leaving her, despite her being injured, and leaving with Tina."Henry…"
Tina woke up early the next morning, not sleeping for long despite being sedated.She felt a splitting headache even as she opened her eyes and soon realized that she was on the giant bed of the main bedroom back at the villa.Soon, memories of last night rushed into her mind, to the moment when Linda had so spitefully thrown the dog's blood laced with cursed talismans on Sophie's gravestone, as Linda wanted Sophie to suffer even in the afterlife.As Tina was about to set out, feeling hatred welling up in her as well as the impulse to murder Linda, she heard Henry's voice from the balcony.His tone was gentle as he comforted Linda, who appeared scared. "It's alright—last night was just an accident, and it won't happen again. I've arranged for bodyguards, and she's never going to hurt you and Rory…"Tina could not be bothered to listen to the rest, as all she heard was that Henry had arranged for bodyguards to protect Linda.And that meant Tina could not even reach Linda now.Her
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