Tears silently welled up in Tina's eyes as she nodded. "When did you wake up? When did you come back? Are you alright now?""I'm plenty fine!" Madam Barnes clapped her hand assuringly.-Meanwhile, Rory fell asleep after she cried enough in Henry's room on the third floor while Linda stood by, wiping her tears miserably.That is, until a servant knocked on the door. "Sir? Madam Barnes is asking for you and Ms. Cook downstairs."Hearing that, Henry was on his feet right then, delight showing in his eyes. "Grandma is back?"As he put down Rory and started downstairs, Linda remained behind, struck by terrible panic.If anything, she felt like she had sunk into the abyss upon hearing that Madam Barnes had returned, as she kept wondering why that relic managed to make it back.Was she not already comatose?! And now that she was back, would the truth of what happened five years ago not be exposed?!-As Henry arrived at the drawing room downstairs and saw that it really was Madam B
Taking the phone and watching the footage, Madam Barnes' gaze soon darkened.Then, she looked up and snapped, "Kneel!"Irene had been keeping her head down panicking ever since Tina claimed that she had proof, even ready to apologize.Nonetheless, her eyes lit up at Madam Barnes' sudden outburst, straightening herself confidently once more.She knew it—Tina never had proof, and she had almost believed it for a second!When Rory ran toward Tina, she was standing at the opposite side of the pond and saw everything!Irene was the only one there beside them too, so as long as she insisted it was Tina, Tina would never be able to maintain her innocence!Then, seeing that Tina was still standing there, she glowered and snapped, "Tina Smith! You heard Grandma—kneel!"She even grabbed Tina's arm to make her kneel, only for Madam Barnes to bellow at her, "I'm talking about you!""Me?!" Irene exclaimed in shock but promptly dropped to her knees with a thud when she saw Madam Barnes' f
Madam Barnes was clearly taken aback for a moment, but she could not resist an admiring smile as she glanced at Tina.Her girlie was finally complaining instead of suffering injustice in silence!Well done!Still, her smile soon faded as she leveled a cutting glare at Linda.Linda feared Madam Barnes in the first place, and she was left gritting her teeth when Tina deliberately directed Madam Barnes' attention to herself.But there was nothing she could do about it, aside from quietly tugging on Henry's sleeve and calling out softly, "Henry…"She wanted him to bail her out.However, there was only silence.Then, as she sneakily glanced upward, her heart skipped a beat when she saw Henry's icy glare.As she looked down, her mind raced.When she looked up again, tears were welling up in her eyes as she choked with miserable tears. "I'm so sorry, Tina… I was just so worried about Rory that I didn't know what I was saying. I didn't mean it."There was no telling if she was expla
Even if Madam Barnes did not tell Linda to leave, her words could well be a slap to Linda's face, utterly humiliating her.Indeed, all the pride Linda felt after Whitney and Irene fawned over her had vaporized.Even Henry was silent when he turned toward her, and she knew that Madam Barnes was the one family member that Henry cared for the most.And when she turned toward Whitney, the woman was scowling, not even looking at her.Clenching her hand so hard her nails dug into her palm, her smile faded even as she forced herself to stay polite. "I'll be leaving now, Madam Barnes.""I'll take you and Rory home." Henry stood up as well."Stop!" Madam Barnes snapped and suddenly started coughing violently.Henry's face dropped as he turned, hurrying to Madam Barnes with a look of worry. "Grandma!"Tina's face dropped too as she clapped Madam Barnes on the back while turning to Sam. "Get Dr. Sandler!"Even Whitney hurried to her as well. "Mom…"That was when Tina felt Madam Barnes t
"Get out," Madam Barnes snapped coolly.In the end, Irene was still her granddaughter, so she did not continue to punish Irene.Moreover, she had other things to do.With that, Whitney promptly helped Irene to her feet, and they fled the room. Once the door shut from the outside, Madam Barnes suddenly wheeled on Henry and snapped, "Kneel!"Though Henry did so right away, she kept snapping, "You promised me that you'd take care of Tina! Is this how you go about it?!"Not only did he not do so, but he was conspiring with a bitch like Linda to bully Tina.Linda, Irene, and Whitney might be despicable, but Henry was way worse!"Fetch that spiked whip," Madam Barnes told Sam then."Madam Barnes…" Sam was hesitant but stopped with just a look.Glowering, Madam Barnes growled, "No one defends him."Tina knew that Madam Barnes was saying it for her benefit, in case she would start begging as she could not bear to see Henry hurt.However, there was no way that was the case.Still,
Henry's large hand pulled her by the waist so that their bodies were pressing together intimately, and he bit her lip punishingly.His breath scalded as his fingers caressed her hip, rasping as he felt her shuddering in his arms, "You're teasing me on purpose, aren't you?"Tina pressed her hands feebly against his chest as his masculine hormones shrouded her, distancing herself while retorting stubbornly, "No."She struggled to get off her, pulling his hand off, only for him to pull her down again, this time making her straddle him.Tina could even feel her earlobes burning, whether it was his breath or something else…"No?" Henry leveled his dark gaze at her scarlet earlobes—she always was sensitive, and they were also bewitchingly red like a blossoming flower, luring one to pluck it.Gulping, Henry held the back of her head and kissed her, and she could not stop him tearing through her teeth, pressing in invasively.She wanted to get away, but he held her waist and nape, force
Tina did not stop despite Henry's rage, even pressing, "I'm trying to say that if there had been cameras around that swimming pool, it begs the question if things would have turned out as they did today.""Tina!" Henry snapped, agitated as he pressed hard on her back, any warmth between them vaporizing right then."Guh!" Tina could not help grunting from the pain, and he withdrew his hand.Still, he stood up, looking downward at her as he growled coolly, "Even if you didn't push Rory today, it doesn't mean that Sophie didn't that other day."With that, he turned to leave.Tina slowly sat up as she buttoned her blouse, her eyes cool.She had thought that given the identical scenario, Henry would feel doubts even if he did not trust her.As it turned out, she had simply underestimated the place Rory and Linda had in Henry's heart.-At Whitney's house, Irene sat on the couch, having just taken her medicine but still tearing up from the pain.Looking at the knees that were red f
Tina stiffened at the mention of Sophie.Seeing that she was silent, he growled in warning, "Quit your antics already."Tina's gaze darkened—he was telling her not to say that Sophie was dead whenever he mentioned her.However, she never planned to mention Sophie at all, as she was concerned for Madam Barnes.Madam Barnes had doted on Sophie before falling to a coma—could she really take the news of Sophie's death?It was a bet she refused to take.Still, before she could speak, an elderly voice asked from the stairs, "What was that? Bring who to dinner?"Tina panicked but mustered herself and fought back her misery, smiling as she walked up. "No, Grandma. I—"Before she could even change the subject, Henry stared straight at Tina as he said, "Sophie."He refused to let her win—not when she had hidden Sophie for so long.Tina glared at him where Madam Barnes could not see but soon turned to her. "Sophie is—""Who's Sophie?" Madam Barnes asked, cutting her short.She was fro
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