Andy naturally could not stop Roger from calling the cops.But even as he grimaced anxiously and wondered what he should do, he noticed Henry opening his eyes in the ICU ward from the corner of his eye.Andy's eyes lit up—Henry was awake!Emboldened right then, he snatched Roger's phone away before his call was answered, hanging up.Roger was naturally furious, but before he could snap at Andy, Linda glowered and snapped at Andy first as she was waiting for Roger to call the cops. "Mr. Cox! What do you think you're doing?!" she bellowed."Mr. Barnes is up," Andy replied shortly.Everyone turned toward Henry right then."Henry!" Linda was immediately rushing to Henry, pressing herself against the glass while looking at him tearfully.She was naturally pleased to see him wake up but still could not help groaning why he could not simply wake up a little later.And since Henry was up, Roger was too distracted to call the cops as the doctor soon arrived.Once Henry was examined
Though Linda was basically telling Henry to have Tina arrested, Henry said, "I owe her and Sophie."He had indirectly killed Sophie—he deserved to be stabbed by Tina, so why would he blame her?Though Linda knew this was not the time, she really did not want to let Tina get away with it."I know you feel very guilty toward Sophie and Tina," she pressed. "But whatever happens, Tina doesn't get to stab you—"Henry suddenly scowled and cut her short. "Linda! Even if you did it for Rory's sake and couldn't have known that Sophie's condition would worsen, you had still stolen the kidney meant for Sophie, and that's a fact!"That's why Sophie died! So both you and I are murderers, even if we didn't do it with our own hands!"Linda was scoffing inwardly at Henry's words but did not let it show on her face as she kept sobbing, "I know I've wronged Sophie and Tina—I never forgot. But I still care too much about you."But even as her tears covered her cheeks, Henry did not try to comfort
It was only then that Henry noticed Linda on a wheelchair and quickly asked, "What did the doctors say?""That I'm wheelchair bound," Linda replied, her voice cracking.She was really terrified even if she knew Henry would definitely get her the best doctors—what if they failed to treat her? Was she really bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life? "No. I'll make sure that you're fine," Henry said, offering her a gentle assurance.He said that as long as he was around, he would protect her so that she would not suffer again."I believe you, Henry. You definitely wouldn't let anything happen to me." Linda smiled, Henry's tenderness warming her heart after it fell to rock-bottom.As she grasped Henry's hand, he did not withdraw his hand, so she sobbed, "I get it, Henry. I can't make amends to Sophie with her gone."But from now on, I'll fast from time to time so that she'll be happy in her next life."I'll also continue to do charity so that good karma will reach her—anythi
John never had children, but he could understand Tina's thoughts as a mother.Desperate measures, as they said.And as long as it could ease her mind, he was willing to keep her company."Okay." He agreed to go with her first thing the next morning without hesitation.Tina did not refuse, but by sheer coincidence, John got a call from Levine Gardens before he went to bed—his grandfather was taken ill, and he had to head home.He would have brought Tina along, but she was in no state to be introduced to his family, just as it would pile on her stress.As such, he decided to head home alone, though not before telling Tina before she left, "Wait until I'm back. I'm going with you.""Yeah." Tina nodded.Before she went to bed, she texted him again to ask about her grandfather. He replied that his grandfather was mostly fine, adding that she should not worry and should go to bed soon.Tina took a sleeping pill and lay down but barely slept a few winks when she woke up, staying wi
John was driving at top speed to Laston to look for Tina. After his grandfather was rushed to the ER last night and Tina texted him, he had actually just gotten off the phone. He was reaching out to a specialist who could help Tina, but he did not want to pressure her and did not tell her, only asking that she wait.Once his grandfather's safety was assured and his grandfather moved to a normal ward, he finally had time to check his phone.When he realized that Tina had not waited and had gone to the shrine in Laston alone, he quickly called her, but she did not answer.Though he was worried, he waited until his grandfather woke up and was alright before leaving the hospital, driving straight to Laston.He was worried as he drove, and his worst fears came true as soon as he saw Tina's car swinging toward the railing to avoid the school bus and crashing through it down into the river."Tina!"John's eyes widened as he screamed at the top of his lungs, stopping aside and runnin
"Tina!"John rushed over toward the car wreck, his foot wobbling and stumbling once.That was when one of the rescue team members said, "Sir, there's no one in the car."It was only then that John noticed the gaping hole in the windshield, which must have shattered when it crashed into the railing.Even if she had managed to get out, her chances were still not optimistic.The rescue team were not holding out much hope either—over the years, there were plenty of others who had, deliberately or otherwise, fallen into the river.None of them had ever survived—some corpses were recovered, but others were washed by the river to heaven-knows-where and were nowhere to be seen.And the rescue teams always know that loved ones would never accept that reality, but they still explained to John, "The undercurrents below are terrible, and there are plenty of boulders around. If a car ends up like that, a person won't survive at all…""Keep looking," John replied.Unlike the rescue team, he
Though the care worker promptly caught Henry and helped him back to his bed, Henry did not lie down."Henry! Are you trying to kill me?!"Linda was teary-eyed as she stared at Henry's stomach, where blood was seeping out.It was as if Henry did not notice her at all, however, as all he could think about was what he had just heard on the news.Holding himself steady against the bed, he picked up his phone to call Andy, instructing him to double the search for Tina.Once he hung up, he called out to the bodyguards outside. "Take me to the bridge."Roger Barnes had been concerned that Tina might come after Henry again, so he had Andy arrange for these bodyguards.Though Linda said nothing when Henry called Andy to double the search efforts, that was because she knew very well that it had been almost ten hours and there was no chance Tina would survive.Even if they doubled the search, all they would find was a corpse, and the dead never posed a threat.Linda certainly felt cathar
"No, sir."Andy's voice was exhausted—he had gone three days and nights without sleeping much.After a long silence, Henry said quietly, "You can stop now." He closed his eyes with a look of anguish, feeling like a chunk of his heart had gone missing.-Two years later…"Passengers of flight CZ3491, please proceed to the terminal for boarding…"Hearing the call over the PA system, Tina got up, pulling along her little suitcase and headed toward the terminal.As she boarded her flight and took her seat, a young girl around five approached her.As the girl passed Tina, she slipped and fell.Tina reached out to catch her before she knew it, steadying the girl, although she dropped her ice cream on Tina's wrist.Her parents had taught her well—once Tina helped her to her feet, she nodded at Tina and said in her sweet voice, "Thank you, ma'am."Then, noting that she had dirtied Tina's clothes, she wiped it for Tina. "I'm sorry, ma'am…""It's alright."Tina could not help reme
Linda kept rambling on. "I was just too hurt and said those things in the heat of the moment!"It isn't what I really think—I feel guilty hurting Jimmy, but I had no choice! You know that Rory is my life!"Rory is only seven—her life has just begun! But she was in the terminal stage and had no kidney donor and could die anytime."You know how much my heart hurts seeing her suffering from her illness."I had tried other other options, but I know Tina hates me, which was why they had deliberately denied Rory!"I begged them, only for Tina to humiliate me, making me bow to her in public! I even did it, but they still refused!"What can I do?! I can't just watch Rory die…."Henry did not take her side over her words and snapped coolly, "Even so, you don't get to hurt Jimmy! You know that he has a tournament!""Yes, I do!" Linda nodded. "But if I didn't do it, would you have approached him?! You can be considerate about his dreams, but not me!"I know I'm selfish, ignoring national
All Linda could think about was what Henry was doing there when she saw him there with Jimmy.When did he get there, and how much of her conversation with Tina did he hear?Linda was simply unsure, so she did not speak recklessly, instead quickly adjusted her emotions.As she looked up, she made sure Henry had a clear line of sight of her cheeks—flushed and swollen from Tina's violent slaps.At the same time, tears were quickly welling up in her eyes to evoke Henry's sympathy, while she called out miserably, "Henry…"Her tears rolled out at the same time, a perfect picture of a victim that evoked sympathy.She was used to doing this and knew that it would never fail to dupe Henry.He believed he owed her and could not bear to see her sad.And to no surprise, as soon as Henry saw her shedding tears, he strode up to her.Despite being delighted, Linda made herself look even more aggrieved, as she knew that Tina still could not budge her place in Henry's heart.She just had to c
As Tina kept ranting, she kept slapping Linda like she had lost her mind.And Linda had seen Tina behave like that two years ago, when she had used Sophie's ashes to drive Tina to suicide!Did this mean that Tina's crippling depression had relapsed?Perhaps the slap had left Linda stunned and less sharp-minded, as she could not help feeling thrilled at the thought.She had heard that depression was incurable, and strong trauma would cause a relapse.And once it did, it would be worse than before.Tina had been suicidal two years ago, and even if she did not kill herself with this relapse, she might just go crazy.And if Tina was crazy, Henry would never be with her even if he fell for her.Linda forgot her pain right then and leveled a smug, venomous look at Tina as she gloated sinisterly. "So what if it was me?! What can you do?! Do you have proof?!"You're really angry, aren't you?! Because Jimmy Jones is crippled and in a lot of pain?!"He's always wanted gold, but lost a
"No," the officer replied. "It was an inmate named Zach Foster. The culprit was Foster's acquaintance, and Foster talked him into it."Foster confessed to it when we interrogated him, and he said he wanted revenge because he hated Mr. Jones for not donating his kidney to his daughter. He wanted to hurt Mr. Jones so that he couldn't take part in the tournament and suffer."The motive made sense, and there was a confession, so the case was closed right then.However, just hearing Zach's name mentioned gave Tina an answer—Linda had planned everything.Remembering the things Linda had spat at her back at the hospital, it was clear that Linda wanted Jimmy's kidney no matter what it took because it would make her suffer.As Tina looked at Jimmy's wounded hand after the call ended, she felt her heart tighten, her nails digging into her palm as her knuckles clenched. After calming herself for a while, she said, "Get some rest. I'll visit Mom.""Travel safe," Jimmy told her.Tina nodde
All of Linda's plans had just gone to ruin!A cool voice spoke behind her just then. "Disappointed that it wasn't me?"Hearing that it was Jimmy, Linda almost blurted, "Yes! Very much so!"Fortunately, she bit her lip and stopped herself just in time, subtly taking a deep breath to stop herself from speaking her mind.As she composed herself and adjusted her expression, she noticed that Henry was watching her.And she could not arouse his suspicion, or he might realize that she was behind Jimmy's accident.Instead, she forced a smile as she turned toward Jimmy, exclaiming in a sickly sweet voice, "No way!"I'm really just relieved, and this is naturally the best outcome. Rory's going to be fine, while you and Tina won't feel bad about this…"She then leveled a pointed look at Tina and continued, "After all, I've done Tina wrong regarding Sophie. I can understand why she hates me and doesn't want Rory to grow up healthy…"Jimmy snapped, "Shut up already, two-faced bitch!"He t
Tina looked up, unable to hide her shock.Henry looked downward at her in turn, his tone earnest, "It's true. I won't lie to you—as soon as I was told there's another viable donor, I promptly changed donors."I don't know what you and Jimmy take exception to, but I wouldn't have asked him if I had a choice. It was never my intention to coerce him."His gaze was penetrating, as if to peer through Tina's eyes and into her mind, attempting to understand her behavior.He never wanted Jimmy's kidney from the start—if he did, he would not have told them and afforded them a choice.He continued to search for another viable donor after that and had to coerce Jimmy because circumstances compelled him to."What I said in Jimmy's room wasn't all true." He sighed as he continued, "I'd never hurt you knowingly, let alone Jimmy, who's your good friend."He had said what he said because he knew Jimmy cared about Tina, and that was his only choice if he wanted to make Jimmy sign the organ donat
Grinning smugly, Linda continued, "I murdered your daughter, and not only could you not do anything about that, but even your best friend has to give up his kidney for my daughter! Hurts to think about it, no? But what can you do about it? The more it hurts you, the more it pleases me!"Tina's chest was heaving, but she did not waste her breath—she kicked Linda to the floor and walked over Linda as she lay sprawled on the floor.But just as she went over, the lights turned off—the surgery was over.As the doctor stepped out, Tina grabbed his arm and demanded worriedly, "Where's the donor? Is he alright?""Don't worry—the surgery was a success. Both the donor and patient are fine."Tina sighed in relief, hearing that Jimmy was fine.That was when Henry stepped out, having heard her.Seeing that it really was her, Henry said, "Don't worry, Jimmy is—""Shut up!"However, Tina's hatred flared even though she heard that Jimmy was fine, and she did not even give Henry a chance to fi
Tina mentioned Sophie on purpose to invoke what little humanity Henry had, just to catch him off guard so she could grab the organ donation form and tear it into pieces.However, Henry caught her hand before she could reach it and said quietly, "Sorry, Tina."Before she could pull with her other hand, Henry struck her nape with the side of his palm.Tina's eyes widened in disbelief at Henry, and her vision turned dark as she fell limply in Henry's arms."Henry Barnes!!!" Jimmy bellowed, not expecting Henry to attack Tina."She's fine! Waste more time and Rory dies, and everyone will suffer!" Henry snapped at him as he put Tina on the couch before pulling off Jimmy's blanket and placing it over her.His touch was gentle, but his words sent a chill down the spine, as if his patience toward Tina was built entirely on the basis that Linda and Rory were fine.Otherwise, he would go crazy for their sake.As such, Jimmy followed him out of his hospital room, and Henry sent him to the
Henry appeared troubled as he looked at Tina, and he spoke softly as he assured her, "Calm down—don't worry, I've arranged everything, and the procedure will be safe. Jimmy's going to be fine."Once it's done, I'll compensate him with everything… He can have money and a job, anything. He won't have donated his kidney for nothing."Tina's chest heaved from rage, glaring hatefully at Henry as she pointed at the door and snapped, "Get out! Don't give me that bullshit! Jimmy would never say yes no matter what you tell him!"He did not move, so she pushed him and kicked him. "I told you to leave! Can't you hear?!""Just calm down, Tina," Henry sighed, anxious as another moment's delay meant Rory was in more danger. "We're talking about human life here—can't you just set aside past grudges for now? Rory's really going to die, and she needs Jimmy's kidney. This really can't wait!""What does that have to do with us?!" Tina bellowed and started throwing things at Henry since she was una