"You … H-he's your older brother?" Wendy was frozen in place as her brain stopped working. She didn't react for a long while.So … she had misunderstood Albert? Was Rebecca really just Albert's sister?Looking at Rebecca in her purple dress, Wendy was even more speechless. Seeing the way Wendy was reacting, Rebecca could guess what she was thinking. She couldn't help but smile. But she didn't go overboard and expose Wendy for her thoughts. She only spoke gently to pull Wendy back to earth."Wendy, you should go wash up first. Breakfast has been prepared downstairs. Once you're done, we can all have breakfast. Can we go shopping later? I just got back to Rookfort and Albert's always so busy. He said he gave you some time off, so you can go with me."Bringing Wendy home last night, Rebecca had gotten some information from Albert as they traveled. Although she still didn't understand why Wendy insisted on quitting, she was sure that her clueless brother couldn't see Wendy's feelin
It was lucky that Wendy had worked with Albert for so many years and met some famous people herself. Though there was a storm in her heart, her feelings didn't show on her face.Wendy smiled warmly and said good morning to the three men at the table. Then, she took a seat before the plate of pancakes that Rebecca had indicated.There was another man at the table that Wendy didn't recognize, but she was sure that he must be someone impressive too. Looking at his resemblance with Ethan, she guessed that he was another relative of the Johnson family.Wendy didn't ask about it. She picked up a fork and knife and started eating. Honestly, she didn't have the time to ask about it either.When she took her first bite of the pancakes, its delicious taste filled her mouth. The pancakes had been cooked just right, and the different toppings made the eating experience that much more enjoyable. She added more maple syrup and kept eating.Enjoying her pancakes, Wendy felt like her body was f
Her face turned pale at once. The rosy hue that had graced her cheeks after a night's rest and a hot bowl of soup in the morning had vanished completely.She didn't want to answer Nelson's call.Taking a deep breath, Wendy gritted her teeth and decisively hung up."Wendy, what's wrong?" Rebecca, who was in the driver's seat, noticed Wendy's sudden change in demeanor. She couldn't help but voice her concern.Wendy shook her head and fastened her seatbelt. She tried to maintain a calm appearance. "It's nothing. Let's get going. It's not good to keep the little one waiting.""Alright."Rebecca didn't press further.Everyone had their hidden secrets, even she did. Wendy wasn't obligated to reveal anything, especially to someone she had only met briefly. They were practically strangers."Wendy, if there's anything on your mind, you can tell me. I might not be able to solve it myself, but I can talk to Albert. We'll find a solution together. Keeping problems bottled up inside o
No matter how many times he tried to call Rebecca or send her text messages, it was as if they all fell on deaf ears. Clearly, she had no intention of responding to him.The joy that had welled up from that answered call was slowly fading. All that was left behind was a sense of bitterness and helplessness.Ryan couldn't be bothered with Daniel. He rolled his eyes at him."Is it my fault that Becca hasn't blocked me? It's your problem. You insist on treating Jessica like a treasure. Who else can you blame?" Daniel remained silent. He looked down and fiddled with the plane ticket. Soon, his phone rang and disrupted his thoughts. He glanced at it and declined the call.Ryan caught sight of the contact name on the screen and couldn't help but sneer."You're not going to answer? Your precious Jessica is lying in the hospital in critical condition. This time, it's different from the suicide attempt at the police station. The pictures of the car accident are pretty gruesome. If
Karen sounded like a criminal on trial. Her words struck Daniel's heart.It turned out that accidentally discovering he was deceived wasn't as devastating as hearing the person who deceived him admit their mistakes.It was so absurd.Looking back, he felt like his life was a joke.He had been nothing more than Rachel’s puppet since he was born until he had the ability to resist. She made him do whatever she wanted, and her word was law.Then, he became a fool manipulated by a woman.Not wanting to hear another word from Karen, Daniel hung up the phone."Ryan."After a moment of silence, Daniel finally spoke again."Do you think Rebecca will forgive me?"He had been so terrible to her. He ignored her and left her alone abroad for three years.Besides, his grandfather treated her with indifference during his rebellious years.No wonder she didn't want anything to do with him and had been planning to divorce him for a long time.Ryan looked at his friend and pursed his lips
Knowing that this young lady was the girl her son liked, Zelda already regarded Wendy as a prospective daughter-in-law in her heart. She couldn't help wanting to get to know her better. So she stepped closer to Wendy.However, Wendy felt uneasy under her direct yet kind gaze."Madam Zelda, I'm afraid it would be inappropriate for me to stay for lunch. Besides, Ms. Johnson mentioned that we were going out together. And has to pick up a friend from the airport in the afternoon. It might not leave us with enough time.""Oh my! Where are you going on such a hot day?"Zelda complained, "It's scorching outside, and you girls have delicate skin. What if you get sunburned? Let's go to the mall. Aren't shopping malls the same everywhere in the country? Even abroad, they're pretty much alike. It's not like she's never been shopping before."Why don't you stay here and pick some fruits in my garden instead? You two can keep me and this little one company.”She gestured at the small bag in O
"No, Wendy and Oliver get along very well. She hasn't mentioned anything else."Rebecca turned to look at them and silenced her suspicions."Besides, why would she ask about Ollie when she hasn't even agreed to marry you yet? I was just curious. Assuming you succeed in pursuing her, what will you do if Ollie's biological mother shows up? It's just a casual question."Albert chuckled. "What's there to worry about? That woman gave birth to Ollie but didn't raise him. Do you think I'll hand Ollie over to her if she shows up? Don't overthink it."In fact, Rebecca wanted to ask, "What if Wendy is Oliver's biological mother?"But she decided to keep that thought to herself. Her speculations might not be accurate.Voicing them could only lead to mutual suspicion between Albert and Wendy. It wouldn't be helpful.She decided to keep all her confusion to herself. With a forced smile, she said, "Alright, Albert. You can continue working. I'll go pick fruits with Ollie and the rest. I h
"No, I want to leave now!"Nelson realized something was wrong. His throat felt dry, and he rushed to the door.The CEO's office door was made of special materials. It was made of one-way glass that allowed one to look outside. It looked fragile, but the average person would have a hard time smashing through it with a hammer, let alone someone as weak as Nelson.Albert casually glanced at him and looked down at his phone.Rebecca sent him a few photos of Zelda, Wendy, and Oliver picking fruit in the orchard. All three of them were smiling brightly. The sunlight streaming through the trees made the scenery and subjects look exceptionally beautiful.Albert swiped his phone, and a warm smile appeared on his handsome face.He didn't look like he had just threatened someone.Rebecca even sent him two videos and a text message."Albert, when will you be done with work? If you finish early, maybe you can spend some bonding time with your child and future wife.""This girl ..."Seein
Penny didn't have much free time over the past three years.As she had envisioned, during the first year, she honed her acting skills amidst criticism while also working as a translator.Later on, she felt that acting didn't hold much appeal anymore. Moreover, realizing that there weren't any roles left for her, she gradually gave up and moved toward working behind the scenes.She had some work during this period.It seemed that a daring reality show, not caring about potential risks, decided to capitalize on her controversial popularity and invited her to participate in one of their programs.The reason Penny agreed to participate was because the show's first season had a good reputation, and the payment offered was reasonable.Continuously doing translations could be quite tiring. After discussing with Cecilia and weighing the pros and cons, she eventually signed up for this TV show.Unfortunately, she had underestimated the darker side of human nature.The show's production
"Really?" Zane blurted out, staring incredulously at Sam, who nodded calmly. His unruly and carefree demeanor was restrained, and his composed attitude showed that he wasn't joking.Zane fell silent again, furrowing his brow as he intently observed Sam.It was as if he thought everything through in an instant, giving up without hesitation. He didn't even remind Zane of the request from years ago to take care of Penny. Instead, he said this would be the last time he would help out.Logically speaking, this should be a satisfactory outcome for Zane. After all, from any perspective, the Lowe family's scion would only be a burden to Sam.Looking again at Sam's attitude, it seemed he didn't want Penny to know he was the one quietly spending money to handle things behind the scenes.Since there was no plan to meet her, he didn't need to worry about anything after that. If that was the case, it would be better to just end it early.That way, if Sam saw Penny falling in love, getting mar
All those old scoundrels from the Lowe family undoubtedly ranked the highest. Then there was Jessica, the entertainment industry's national goddess, who also played a significant role.Besides them, there were a few minor celebrities who didn't really make the cut.However, as Sam's partner and someone who watched him grow up, Zane privately hoped Sam could find a better girl.So, he advised, "There are plenty of socialites in Riverwood, and Amdale has no shortage of beautiful young ladies, either, and Rookfort isn't much different."You and the Lowe family's daughter haven't even officially met…""Who said I haven't met her?" Sam interrupted him without a second thought.He had even seen her twice. How could Zane say they hadn't even met yet?The first time, she gave him all the money she had. The second time, he spoke up to help her get that role.After these interactions, they could be considered acquaintances.Zane choked up and couldn't find the words to refute.He was s
Because Penny declined his offer, Zane didn't insist. After a bit of small talk, he ended the call.He politely mentioned that if she needed any help, she could call this number again. If he could assist in any way, he certainly would.However, Zanw knew very well that, given Penny's temperament, she would rather give up what she had than actively seek help from a stranger.Yes, to Penny, Zane was just a stranger. He was a person she had met once but didn't really know.This time, Penny didn't respond as coldly as she did when she was 18. Instead, she exchanged a couple of polite pleasantries, mentioned that she would reach out if needed, and then hung up the phone.After that, she let out a long sigh of relief and lay on the lounge chair on the balcony, gazing at the view outside the window.There were fluffy white clouds in the azure sky and the greenery visible in the neighborhood. Sparrows were chirping persistently as they darted through the forest, and the cicadas loudly bu
Although the other person said only one word, Penny could still tell he didn't have any ill intentions.Because of that faint sense of familiarity, Penny didn't hang up the phone immediately. "Hello? May I ask what this is about?"The unfamiliar and distant tone probably made the man on the other end of the phone pause for a moment. It was only after a brief silence that he responded."Young lady, don't you remember me? It's Zane Moran."His voice carried a laugh, with a hint of teasing.Only then did Penny remember who he was, but she wasn't happy at all.Zane meant no harm when that incident happened back then. But despite that, over the years that had passed, he became one of the people and things Penny would rather not recall.Whether it was the exam she missed, the incident where Spencer took her to the hotel against her will, or Zane, who gave her 30 dollars for a taxi ride.She just wanted to hide all of them deep in her memories.The recent events had particularly made
"I'm fine. You all don't have to look so worried. You're making it seem as if something bad is going to happen to me."Penny looked at the two people at the door who were showing a range of expressions, feeling speechless.Cecilia was provoked by her words, and her eyes turned red."We're worried about you. You have no idea what you look like right now. You're almost like one of those disheartened protagonists in novels who hated the world."Penny clicked her tongue twice and said, "Aren't you exaggerating?"She didn't believe it. She was just worried about money. It wasn't like she had become disillusioned with life.Besides, she didn't dislike this world at all. On the contrary, she really liked it.Whenever Penny came across posts online suggesting that all humans should just die, she always felt like rolling her eyes. If they wanted to die, they shouldn't drag others with them.When searching for her own role in movies, TV dramas, and novels, Penny particularly preferred re
Penny's way of clarifying things was to simply tell the truth.Sometimes, trying to cover things up would just lead to needing 100 more lies to continue the cover-up. That would often end up making things worse and more ridiculous.It was better to tell the truth about the situation.To answer the question of why she lashed out at the Lowe family, she briefly explained her experiences over the years.Why didn't she attend the final paper of the college entrance examinations? She personally reopened that old wound.As for that man in the hotel, Penny didn't have much of an impression of him anymore. She only remembered not taking his business card and accepting 30 dollars from him.Why did she show up at that man's hotel room? She wrote it down truthfully—it was her father who personally took her and left her at the hotel, wanting to trade her like a commodity.Every single word was carefully considered and written by Penny.She didn't share much of these things with Cecilia. Th
Once the official statements were released, Penny's career being ruined became a certainty.The only surprising thing was probably that after the film crew issued their statement, the largest investor also requested to withdraw.The film crew was completely shocked, but there was nothing they could do. The scion was willing to lose money just to withdraw his investment, so what could they do?The amount of money in the compensation was nothing compared to the amount that the scion planned to invest. The production team would incur a significant loss.With one less investor, the project's status was essentially downgraded. They had much less room to manipulate their gains now, too.One would understand why the scion was doing this if they used their brain a little.However, the protests from the audience couldn't be ignored, and compared to the investors, it was clearly more important to keep the show going.After all, they could always attract more sponsors, even if the amount o
In addition to the widespread backlash caused by the phone recording, Penny's academic credentials were also scrutinized and exposed.Before the college entrance exam, she had always been the top student in her school and had never ranked anything else.However, in the college entrance exam, she barely passed the minimum mark for key institutions, far below her usual performance.Some people speculated that she had been cheating during regular exams and that her actual abilities were much worse.However, the exam results could be checked online, and the fact that Penny scored zero on the last exam was surprising.It was even more shocking that she was admitted to a top-tier university despite missing an exam. It was truly exceptional.But few people paid attention to this information.After all, the achievements attained through hard work couldn't be faked. Even if the results weren't as expected, it was undeniable that she was stronger than many others.Regarding this topic, t