Angela stood there stunned, as did Serena. She had been with James long enough and had seen him look frail before. She had realized he would pass away one day but to see him so frail was heartbreaking.They had just been in the hospital arguing about Mary. Now, James was suddenly lying weak in bed. He was dressed in a hospital gown, and there were tubes attached to his body."James, how did you suddenly get so sick?" Angela asked. Tears filled her eyes as she sat in the chair next to the bed. She wanted to hold James' hand, but it was connected to some monitoring equipment and the other hand had an IV.Mary stepped forward and asked, "Dad, how did you get like this in only two days? Were you feeling unwell before, but you didn't say anything about it?" She couldn't bring herself to cry, so she kept a frown on her face and pretended to be worried.She was trying to imply that James hadn't been living well in Fairport, which had led to his health problems. She implied that it was bec
James' actions left Mary in disbelief. The ward was quiet and only James' voice could be heard. Even if his words sounded weak, they hit Mary hard like a slap in the face. She couldn't understand why telling the truth would result in James kicking her out of the ward."Mae, can you step outside for a moment? I'll call you back in when your dad has calmed down," Angela said.James seemed particularly uncomfortable, and the readings on the nearby monitors suddenly began to fluctuate. Angela had to send Mary away to tend to his emotions. She knew James valued the Johnsons, and of course, he didn't want to hear Mary badmouthing them.Though angry, Mary could tell something wasn't right with James. Something bad could happen if she persisted. Fearing that James might pass on all his money to Rebecca, Mary decided to follow James' instructions and leave."Okay, Mom, I'll step out for a while. Call me if you need anything. Doctor, please take good care of my dad. He's old and stubborn. Pl
James' emotions were slowly on the wane. When he heard the sound of crying, he couldn't help but look over at Angela and Serena and say, "Why are you crying? I'm not dead."Angela shed no tears, though her eyes glistened with tears. Next to her was Serena, who was crying buckets. She covered her face but couldn't stop sobbing.Serena sniffled and choked out, "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I just couldn't help myself."James' health had been deteriorating for six months but she had no idea. Mary had even urged her to get in touch with James more often for fear that he might give away all his possessions to the Johnsons. Serena hadn't had a chance to take care of James back then.With a sigh, James said quietly, "Serena, come here."Serena wiped away her tears and slowly approached the bedside. Her voice cracked as she said, "Grandpa." James lifted his finger. Serena quickly caught his hint and pushed the button next to the bed to raise the bed slightly.James cleared his throat and looked
"Don't rush to refuse yet." James smiled at Serena. He felt a whirlwind of emotions building up within him.In James' day, it would have been surprising for someone Serena's age not to be married. Fortunately for Serena, she lived in a time when people were more accepting and valued accomplishments over marital status. So, it wouldn't be considered unusual if she never got married.Furthermore, the reason Serena hadn't been able to marry until now was a result of Mary and her own actions, as opposed to Rebecca's situation. So, she had no one to blame but herself and Mary. Even if Serena got married, she could face challenges similar to Mary's if she ended up with the wrong person.James resented Mary, but his feelings for Serena had softened over time. He took on the role of teaching Serena how to cook in his later years. It stirred a sense of compassion in him when he saw her crying. Even though Serena seemed to be in a state of hopelessness, James couldn't bear to see her succum
As Mary watched Serena remain silent with tears in her eyes, she couldn't help but be annoyed. "Why are you being so stubborn? Can't you just listen? You've always listened to me."Serena felt heartbroken. She wished she had seen the truth earlier. For years, she had trusted Mary's judgment and thought she had her best interests at heart. Only when she saw the person she cared for lying in a hospital bed did she realize how absurd her actions had been.As Mary prepared to speak with seriousness, Serena sniffed and nonchalantly replied, "I have no idea what Grandpa's will was but we should respect his wishes; whatever they were.""You stubborn fool, do you really mean that?" Mary was frustrated. She looked at Serena as if she were a complete idiot. "Respect? So, you're fine with your unjust grandpa giving all of his money to that Johnson bitch? Seriously, think about it. Does Rebecca really need your grandpa's money?"She's already set for life and beyond with the Johnsons' fortune.
Serena came up with an absurd idea out of the blue. She felt like calling Rebecca to talk about her problems and apologize to her. She understood that she was wrong when she thought about what she did. She needed to apologize to Oliver as well.She scrolled awkwardly across her phone's screen until she realized she didn't even have Rebecca's contact information. A couple of years ago, when she had spent Christmas with Mary and James in Fairport, they had set up a new family group chat.Then, Rebecca lost her phone and had to get a new number. That was when the group chat fell silent. Perhaps they had started a new group chat without Serena and Mary being part of it.Suddenly, Serena found herself pathetic. She had many relatives who were all successful people. Even if she couldn't be successful, her life wouldn't be so miserable if she had a close relationship with the Johnson family. No matter how bad things got, she wouldn't end up without someone she could talk to.Serena couldn
"Please don't say that," Angela cut James off. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Although she knew that James didn't have much time left, it was still hard to hear it directly from him.She felt a pang of remorse. If she could go back three days, she wouldn't have argued with Zelda or even brought Mary along to argue with James in the hospital. Maybe James wouldn't even be in the hospital bed, then.Angela choked back tears and said, "Don't be negative. Miracles do happen. Do you remember when you were very sick before? The doctors said we should prepare for the worst but you got through it, didn't you? Life's unpredictable."She held onto hope and believed that there were still a lot of good days ahead of them."All right, I won't mention those things," James agreed softly.Seeing that James was exhausted, Angela lowered his hospital bed and said, "Get some rest for now. We'll talk later when you're up. Don't fixate on the negative. Just follow the doctor's instructions. There'
Realizing she was being too harsh, Mary softened her tone and said, "Let's save discussions about the future for later. Whether it's about starting a business or investing, we can talk about those things when we get back to Rookfort."You've seen how ill your grandfather is. We don't even know how much time he has left to live. How will we manage in the future if you don't try to make him happy now? Can we count on your restaurant? You've been running it for years. Haven't you suffered enough?"Mary's gaze landed on Serena's intertwined fingers. Over time, Mary had focused solely on caring for herself. She hadn't noticed how rough Serena's hands had become.She couldn't resist chiding Serena, "Now, look at you. What's the difference between you and those wage earners with those hands and that look on your face? You don't even look like someone who comes from a decent family."Have a look at Rebecca. She's dressing so beautifully that it's a pleasure just to look at her. Your grandp
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