Had Henry considered the possibility that things would go bad, and that something worse might happen?Or perhaps he really did not care at all?With her mind riddled by drugs, she could not hold back her thoughts right then, shouting so hard her voice broke, "You were watching as he drugged me, just because I refused to listen and went on this blind date?! So that he can do what he wants with me?! Is that how you want me to learn?!"Henry stayed silent.Taking it as an admission, Tina felt a coldness creep up from her toes to the rest of her body and pushed Henry off with all her strength.Still, she had to lean against the wall with both hands, but just as Henry was going to pull her away with him, the elevators opened again.Then, a lofty, handsome figure strode down the hallway.It was John Levine, who reached Tina with just a few strides of his long legs. "Are you alright, Ms. Smith?"They had never met ever since she came clean to John at the hospital, and it was not easy
Linda opened her eyes, staring at the door that was tightly shut.Henry had really left her to chase after Tina!-By the time Henry got downstairs, John had already carried Tina into his car and sped off as Henry watched.Henry hurried into his own, and Andy floored the gas pedal to give chase.As Irene rushed to the restaurant, she just happened to see John carrying a drugged Tina into his car.Her eyes turned red in jealousy—that bitch!After all, she was eavesdropping on Madam Barnes and knew that Madam Barnes had arranged a blind date for Tina.But it had to be John Levine, the man she had loved for years!She really wanted to rush at Madam Barnes right then to scream that a slut like Tina did not deserve John! After five years and after Henry had fucked her so many times, even having that bastard with him, how could such a slut deserve John?!However, Irene's mother stopped her, as Madam Barnes was amnesiac.If she told Madam Barnes and caused a stroke, her uncle and H
Moreover, Irene would hate Tina even more after this anyway.-Meanwhile, the Rolls-Royce Ghost started chasing down John's Maybach as soon as a red light turned green.In the backseat, Henry's rage had shot well over the limit, and he ordered icily, "Cut him off."He had lowered his window, and the rage in his eyes could burn all things as he watched Tina in the backseat of the other car.After all, Tina knew she could not control herself, but she followed John anyway!He had locked her up, but they called it even after he let her lock Linda up for several hours, but that was still not enough to satisfy her.Now, she was even using that blind date to annoy him!She had ignored his warning this morning and now ended up drugged. But instead of reflecting, she left with John to piss him off!Was she not worried that he would really dump her for good?!"Yes, Mr. Barnes."At Henry's order, Andy floored the gas pedal to overtake John.John scowled but handily steered off.It
John's eyes widened in clear shock, and Andy seized the moment to pull his hand off Henry.Tina's eyes widened too. It took all her self-control to stop herself from closing her eyes as Henry kissed her.Instead, she turned aside and away from those awfully tempting lips, growling through her teeth, "Get… off me!"Half of Tina's body was still in John's car.Fuelled by rage, she pressed his hand against Henry's muscular chest despite being enfeebled while leaning her body backward to put some distance between them.However, her palm just happened to be on his chest, and she suddenly felt something.Ba-dump, ba-dump…Strong, rhythmic heartbeats pulsed against her palm and sent her nerves in disarray.Every beat was an invitation, but she clenched her knuckle right then, stopping her hands from losing control, even if restraining herself was killing her.However, Henry never budged. In fact, he leaned in again, his cool lips by her ears as he whispered just loud enough for both
Moreover, Tina wanted to annoy Henry.Knowing that his possessiveness was gnawing and he would never abide with another man touching her, she struck him, her spite burgeoning.However, he caught her as she was enfeebled, but she did not care and swung her other hand. He caught her other wrist too, and holding both her hands with a single hand, he pinned her against the door and took off his necktie.Then, tying a dead knot around her hands effortlessly, he finally stopped her.But Tina was not about to let up—even if it was pointless, she was like a porcupine that raised her spikes in clear resistance.Even as Henry's chest heaved, the rage in his eyes flared even clearer, and his hand tightened around her waist, ready to snap her in two.Tina cringed in pain and gritted her teeth as she struggled even harder, shrieking hysterically, "You're a piece of shit!"A raging storm brewed in Henry's eyes, but it calmed considerably as he saw Tina's bipolar reaction.She was doing her
Once Tina found Henry's lips, she immediately kissed him as if finding a spring of comfort, refusing to pull away.Henry's expression darkened and gulped—no matter how bewitching she was, he could not do anything to her.Turning to Andy up front, he growled, "Hospital."With that, he pulled her over to him again and made her sit on his lap, holding her chin as he kissed her viciously.Even if he could not do anything to her, he did not let her go, kissing her until she was losing breath each time before letting go, and kissing her again before she really caught her breath, rinse and repeat.It was only when the Ghost arrived at the hospital that Henry really pulled away, leaving her lips swollen.Though Andy stopped the car, it was only with Henry's gesture that he finally opened the door for them, keeping his head down throughout to stop his eyes from wandering.In fact, he would stuff his ears if he could too, as he knew how possessive Henry was.Given Tina's state, he woul
The viciousness in his eyes barely withheld, Henry growled, "Bring me Martin Levine."How dare that man drug Tina!-Back in the hotel room, a drug-fueled Martin did not even wait to drag Irene to bed and pin her on the floor.Rip—"No!!!"Irene's clothes were torn to shreds as she screamed. She had been proud and pampered since a child, convinced that only John deserved her, and she certainly could not bear Martin's touch!"Let go of me!" she screamed as she struggled violently, slapping him across the face!Caught off guard, the slap struck Martin squarely across the face, while Irene started clawing his cheeks as well.This time, he caught her.His eyes were red like a beast that had lost all sanity.Moreover, he got more violent as Irene struggled too.Smack! Smack! Smack!He slapped Irene without holding back at all, leaving her stunned and collapsing on the floor, unable to fight back anymore.Hence, for one full hour, Martin had her as much as he wanted on the fl
Later, the hotel staff rushed Martin to the hospital when they found him bleeding all over.After he tormented Irene for so long, she struck him with all her strength but only broke his skin and knocked him out.And once he had it bandaged, he was cursing and vowing to find that bitch who had hit him as he left the clinic.He had just stepped out when someone restrained him and clasped a hand over his mouth, dragging him to a corner of the hospital, where a towering figure stood.The air around him was cold, and there was a tiny spark amid the darkness.As Martin was thrown to the man's feet, the man looked down darkly and murderously at him.Even though Martin had been cursing and ranting, he was immediately silent as he noticed the danger from the projected bloodlust.As he looked up and met Henry's icy glare, he felt a chill down his spine as he muttered, "M-Mr. Barnes…"This was the one man he should not mess with!Bone-chilling terror seized Martin even as he started push
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