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
Tina Smith was the only person present for her daughter's cremation, and her loose black dress barely hid the weight she had lost.Her wistful eyes were red and puffy from tears too, and she took out a pair of hair pins, arching her back as she gently slid them into her daughter's hair.It was a birthday present for her daughter, which she had designed herself."Happy birthday, baby. Mommy will always love you."As Tina leaned down to gently kiss her daughter's forehead, the icy touch to her lips left tears welling up in her eyes again.It was soon time nonetheless."My condolences."A crematory assistant approached Tina, reminding her politely, "When is the father coming?"There was a father noted on the papers, after all.Still, there was a brief flicker of coldness in Tina's eyes. "He isn't coming!""But are you really not going to wait?"The crematory assistant was a father himself, so he understood that he would be burdened with a lifetime of regret if he did not see hi
Henry's glower faded, replaced by a tender smile as he answered without hesitation, "Okay!"With that, he turned and hurried out of the villa, choosing the daughter he had with Linda—abandoning Tina and Sophie once again.Tina stood where she was, her heart breaking as her arms tightened around the urn containing Sophie's ashes.She then gently patted it, like a quiet gesture to comfort her daughter.Ever since Linda returned from abroad with her daughter, Henry had given them his absolute undivided attention.It did not matter what time it was or what he was doing—he would be there with just a phone call.And while Tina had no issue with abandonment, her heart ached for Sophie.She was so sweet and kind, only for her father to hurt her time and time again!Fortunately, this would be the last.It would never happen again!-In the VIP ward of Jadelight Hospital, Linda was coaxing her daughter Rory.Then, watching as Henry entered, she exclaimed in surprise, "What are you do
When Henry came to his senses, he growled at Tina with an icy tone that cut to the bone, "Have you lost your mind?!"Reaching out, Henry caught Tina's wrist before she could continue, glaring viciously at her.The sight of the man—who was always so haughty—changing completely for his beloved woman left Tina's eyes red.Bitterness welled up in her heart.And she had loved him for ten years!"Yes, I have. And I should've lost it a long time ago," she snapped and suddenly slapped Henry across the face!"It's over between us, Henry."She had wanted to say that since the moment her daughter died.And now, they would simply go their separate ways!She withdrew her hand, finding her palm numb as she had put her back into it.Henry's left cheek reddened visibly in return—it was the first time in his life that he had been slapped by a woman.Glaring at Tina with viciousness that was beyond description, he chuckled coolly. "Heh."Tina did not bother arguing and turned to leave—she kn
As Henry hung up and left without hesitation, he snorted coolly at Tina. "Go on, do your best to stop Sophie from ever calling me again."However, he had just stepped out of the doorway when he heard an audible thud behind him.He turned in reflex and saw that Tina had collapsed to the floor."I warned you," he growled. "Don't you dare behave like a drama queen around me."Tina lay on the cold hard floor, not fully unconscious.Henry's words only sent chills down her gut, stinging her very bones.He obviously thought she was faking it just to get him to stay, as he only saw her as a vile woman who did not care who she hurt to get what she wanted.He still believed that Tina had deliberately drugged him on their anniversary to separate him from Linda. With that, she ousted Linda so that Linda went adrift abroad, giving birth prematurely to Rory and suffering all the pains of the world.And now, five years later, when Linda returned to the country with Rory, she told Sophie to fe
As the air in the room heated up, Henry felt a fire converging in his groin as he moved up, pinning Tina beneath him.That was when she groaned, waking up from her nightmare.After she opened her eyes, she stared blankly at the ceiling of her bedroom for a while—the pain in her nightmare was so overwhelming that she failed to recognize reality for a second.Nonetheless, all her senses returned to her when she felt the breeziness over her chest. It was only then that she realized that she was laying on her bed, and Henry was undressing her!Glowering as her blood boiled, she did not hesitate to push him off, snapping, "Let go of me!"However, Henry was just getting started.If anything, he craved more instead of stopping.He might not love Tina, but even he had to admit that he desired her body. Once he touched her, he would never be able to stop.The look on Tina's face darkened further.For five years and whenever he felt like tormenting her, Henry would pin her down in bed
Linda's words were as suggestive as the man's clothes in the shopping bag, especially since the boxers were placed deliberately on top of the rest.She was clearly bragging to Tina that Henry had spent the night at her place.Moreover, as Tina turned away from the boxers, she saw Linda brushing her hair behind her neck, seemingly not realizing that she revealed the hickeys on it.So, she had done the deed with Henry last night. Unable to vent his libido with Tina, he ran straight to the other woman.They were quite vigorous, from the looks of it as well.While Tina felt slightly pricked that Linda was trying to hurt her, her gaze turned cool as she remembered her daughter.She slowly stood up, looking down loftily at Linda as she scoffed. "It's Henry's clothes, so return it to him yourself. I'm not a garbage truck."Linda was stumped—she did not expect this.Before she could react, she felt a chill emanating from behind.She turned to see that Henry was already standing there,
Tina had loved Henry for ten years and knew his taste all too well.As she immediately recognized his kiss, her panic faded, giving way to coldness.She turned away, clearly resistant and avoiding his forceful kisses.That in turn left him furious, and he grabbed her jaw with his large hand, firmly turning her back to kiss her.It only repulsed Tina further—was he just trying to vent his rage for giving Linda grief?However, he was holding her down very firmly, and she could not escape. All she could do was clench her jaw, keeping his advances at bay and stop him from going any further.She flailed around more as well, even shoving at him, but the difference in strength between the sexes remained.She could not make him budge even as she pushed with all her strength, and he caught both her hands with just one of his, all while they moved even closer.So close, she could sense Henry's burning desire.Tina's body stiffened. She arched her back, trying to avoid him again, but the
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