However, Zach bellowed at Mrs. Long, "How much did Tina pay you to slander Linda? What did Linda do to deserve this?"Linda had mentioned that Mrs. Long was paid very well, but she would backstab Linda when she was given such treatment?Mrs. Long was left stumped in turn.Tina did pay her off, but she was also telling the truth."I have proof," Mrs. Long said, taking out her phone and showing Zach a video.Zach trusted Linda unwaveringly, but he also loved Rory very much.As those thoughts clashed, he could not help reaching out to take Mrs. Long's phone.It was a video lasting over a dozen seconds, showing Rory standing outside the house in the middle of winter, her hands and feet bare and wearing nothing but a thin sleeping gown.Her skin was turning red and purple from the cold. "Ms. Cook sent me to fetch groceries from a grocery store very far away, but I made it back early and saw this," Mrs. Long then said.She disliked Linda and had taken that video to share with her
To no surprise, Linda found Rory's door ajar.Zach did not just visit Rory first—he was even staying in Rory's room for a long while, and it upset Linda that she was not his top priority.She scowled as she steered her wheelchair inside, snapping, "Zach!"Every time Zach came to visit, Linda would spike Rory's milk, sedating her until morning came.That was why Rory would not wake up, let alone be aware of their indulgences, as Linda would never let Rory know about her and Zach.And after Linda snapped, she waited by the door for Zach to come over and fawn all over her.But to her shock, Zach ignored her, all his attention focused on Rory.Linda's expression turned cold—Rory would not exist without her! And Rory was just leverage she held against Zach—how could she let said leverage supplant her?!Linda promptly steered her wheelchair, zipping toward Rory's bed, and snapped, "I'm talking to you, Zach! Don't you hear me?! Don't you care about me?"Zach suddenly wheeled on her
Zach had always believed that Linda loved Rory and spoiled her to bits.However, Linda's eyes were immediately red as she promptly denied it. "What are you talking about? Why would I hurt Rory? She's our daughter! I absolutely love her!"After all, she avoided prying eyes whenever she abused Rory—definitely no one knew.At the next instant, as she turned toward Rory, she threw herself by Rory's bed and gasped, "Rory! How could this be?! Why is she covered in so many wounds?! Oh, Rory… My baby!"Her tears were gushing, and her gaze appeared pained even as she looked at Rory, while her hands were hovering above Rory as if she did not know where to put them.At the same time, she continued, "It must have been her teacher… I'll ask Rory when she wakes up tomorrow! I'll definitely have someone answer for this! Whoever it is, I'll kill them once I find them!"Linda was so good at pretending that she immediately had Zach convinced, as her heartache did not look fake to him.Could it be
The rim of Linda's eyes reddened as Zach kept pressuring her. "What do you want me to say? You're already pinning the blame on me already, aren't you?"As she finished, tears rolled down her cheeks.Even though she was not arguing her case, she was leveling Zach a look of grief, leaving him heartbroken right then.His sentiment kicked in quicker than his rationality, and he reached out to wipe away her tears.And when he did, Lidna threw herself in his arms, holding his waist and hiding her face against his abs, nuzzling her lips ever so gently."Zach."Linda's voice was very sweet—she knew how much Zach loved her.Sensing his body stiffening, her eyes flashed in glee. But when she looked up at him, her eyes were filled with a crystalline tenderness. "I don't want to drug Rory, but she's very clingy and comes to my room every night."Every time you come, we end up going at it until the morning."I have to keep her asleep until morning, not because I'm worried she'd see… bu
Zach's kiss left Linda's insides churning, as she could feel how threatening it was.If she did not do as he said, he would definitely go to Henry and run his mouth.Nonetheless, Zach turned to tuck Rory under her blanket, stroking her cheek before leaning in to kiss her forehead.Then, he took a long look at Linda before leaving.Linda listened to his footsteps fade, her fingers clenched over her wheelchair.That man who used to listen to her every whim was now coercing her for Rory?!Furious, she pinched Rory's waist repeatedly.-Tina sat in John's car, watching as a despondent Zach left Rose Garden.They traded glances—they had no idea what Linda and Zach said to each other, but judging from Zach's reaction, it was definitely not pleasant."My people will follow him," John told Tina.Tina nodded—she was just hoping that Zach would push Linda enough to hurt him in turn.She had no evidence to prove Linda was behind Sophie and Madam Barnes' death.But now that Henry's pe
Before John's lips touched Tina's, someone struck the car window audibly.Startled, John paused and looked up to see Henry scowling at him.Tina was woken up too and opened her eyes to see what it was.Seeing Henry's furious glare from behind the window, her sleepiness faded right away."You should head home soon, John," she said, calmly returning John's suit.She meant that John did not have to stay nor bother about her being with HenryWith those words, she alighted and smiled at John, beckoning for him to leave.Once she closed the door, she strode in without even looking at Henry."What were you doing?" Henry pulled up alongside her, casting a searching glance on her face.Tina did not want to entertain him—she was tired and only wanted a bath and rest.But Henry was not about to spare her and pinned her against the door as soon as they were inside, holding her chin and suddenly leaning in for a kiss.Tina turned her head aside, and his lips only brushed past hers, landi
Henry sighed. "You've already given in. Why torment yourself? Just follow your heart, and we can start over. What's wrong with that?"She used to like it—relish in it.As long as she was willing, he would do anything he could to make amends too, for what he owed her and Sophie."Heh."Tina snorted coldly. Start over? Henry was really hilarious—so Sophie's life was that insignificant to him?-Linda could not sleep the whole night in Rose Garden.When evening arrived the next day, she called Zach, "Come over. I'm waiting."It was the first time Zach would be going to Linda's house during the day, but he put on a disguise out of habit, putting on a maintenance worker uniform before heading into Linda's house.After Mrs. Long had gotten paid after ratting Linda out for abusing Rory, she never returned to Rose Garden.Her absence basically told Linda who had ratted her out to Zach.Still, Seeing Zach enter, she called out sweetly, "Zach!"He was not wagging his tail like a
At the same time, Linda cried out shrilly in despair, "Stop! No! Don't touch me! Let go of me!"However, Zach was just getting started and never heard the door open, let alone sensed that Henry came in.He never questioned Linda's sudden resistance and screaming, only presuming that she was getting into character.So he played along, pinning her down like an aggressor, faking violence while laughing viciously, "Scream! Scream louder, it'll just excite me more! Let's see who's going to help you now that I have you!"He was getting so into character that he never noticed Linda's smug smile. She suddenly cried, "Help me, Henry!"Zach paused, thinking that he had misheard right then.However, at the very next moment, he felt a force seizing him by the neck and pulling him.The man was so strong that he lifted Zach despite his six-foot frame, and even before Zach could react, he was kicked viciously in the chest.The kick left him stumbling backward, losing his balance and collapsin
However, Linda was not all that confident even as she spoke, as she knew that Henry absolutely hated her now.Even so, she had to harass Tina—just seeing Tina upset made her happy.After Henry stormed out of Rose Garden last night, a security guard had to carry a wounded Rory home.And when Linda tried to call Henry, she realized that her number had been blocked and understood that Henry was really upset after last night.But he loved Rory, so he definitely would just be upset for a moment.Once he calmed down, Rory just had to play the victim card again and sweet talk him to earn his forgiveness.Linda had no doubt about that.Ever since Henry found out that Tina was the real Orange but still pampered Rory, it was clear he really loved Rory.And Sophie was dead—how was she ever going to win against Rory?As such, Rory was now Linda's pride.With Rory, she could continue to lead a life of privilege and swipe credit cards without a spending limit, as well as stay in their pres
But what if Sophie was alive?John really wanted to ask the question but calmed down before he breathed those words, stopping himself just in time.He was still looking.He must never give Tina false hopes before he found anything definitive, because she loved Sophie very much and it would leave her devastated again.On the other hand, seeing that John suddenly trailed off, Tina asked, "What…?""Nothing. Why don't you rest on the couch and let me handle breakfast?"John smiled, ultimately saying nothing about Sophie while putting a hand on her shoulder, gently nudging her to get some rest."No, I'll help." Tina shook her head and worked with him to cook breakfast.Soon, they were done and finished breakfast together.While John headed to work, Tina went to the mall.Mrs. Smith was recovering better than expected, thanks to Yancy helping her with a special recovery plan.As such, Tina had time to buy her new clothes and a birthday present for Helen Moore, as the latter's birt
John did not hide his selfish nature when he was around Tina.In the end, he was really not that confident in himself—not after Tina had been in love with Henry for so many years, and John himself knew all too well how difficult it was to get over a person after loving them for so long.Still, Tina knew what John was getting at. "I'll never forgive Henry Barnes for the rest of my life, nor return to his side."There is no question that Linda was the one who murdered Sophie. But without Henry's involvement, she would never have had the chance."What she did was horrible, but he's just as unforgivable."That was why she loathed Linda as much as Henry.And the way she saw it, Sophie's death would always stand between her and Henry—there was no chance for her to turn back to him in this life.Seeing the determined expression on her face, John understood that the chief reason that Tina hated Henry so much was because of Sophie's death, and she refused to forgive him.But what if Sop
As Henry turned toward Tina, he could imagine how much despair she would have suffered that night, having to wipe blood off Sophie's gravestone.And she had loved Sophie so much that she bought that specific plot of land for Sophie's final resting place, just so that Sophie could be reborn into a better family in her next life!"Tina, can you check on the stew?" John came up with an excuse for Tina to leave, as there were more things that he did not want Tina to remember.Tina nodded quietly and entered the apartment without another look at Henry, while John shut the door as he watched.Then, turning toward Henry again, John asked, "Now, let's talk about Linda's legs. Did you know why Tina pushed her?"Henry could not even answer at that point.Just the two things mentioned earlier was more than what he could take—his heart was almost in pieces and bleeding for Sophie, and for Tina even more so.And yet, John continued, "It was all Linda. She found that Tina was severely depress
Henry's eyes widened—that was the day… Sophie was buried?!What the hell was he doing?!He felt a chill creeping up from his toes and wobbled backward until his back hit the wall.He never thought about that, because he did not know Linda had every intention to murder Sophie.And now that John laid bare the truth before him, he remembered what he did.Rory had won third place in some jogging event at her kindergarten, and she harmonized perfectly with Linda at Rose Garden.While Rory was coaxing Henry sweetly to celebrate it for her with a grand party, Linda appeared disapproving that he was spoiling Rory, but then offhandedly mentioned they should do it on the weekend.And on the day of the party, Linda had deliberately called Tina to invite her to the party, even asking Tina to bring Sophie along since Henry had not seen Sophie for a while.At the time, Henry was completely skeptical of Sophie's death and missed Sophie since it had really been a while since he saw her.He wa
As Henry dropped to his knees, his blood freezing up, he realized had really been harboring Sophie's murderer all along.Remorse and regret struck him everywhere all at once.He looked up at Tina, wanting very much to tell her that he did not know.If he had known that Linda had taken the kidney meant for Sophie maliciously, he would not have protected Linda even if he was still under the impression that Linda was Orange.But he also realized that it was not as if he did not have the chance to find out.It was all because of his suspicion toward Tina that he denied her any chance to speak up.Or perhaps she had already given up on him at that point.Tears were welling up in Tina's eyes as she realized what Henry meant to say.Time seemed to turn back to the day when Sophie died, and she was once again mourning Sophie.It had been over two years, but she could never get a good night's sleep at the notion that Sophie was not avenged and therefore could not rest in peace."I've
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—