"If not four, I want at least two kids," Coco swooned, imagining two toddlers surrounding her, calling her ‘Mommy’."You have to keep trying after this one, then," Serenity teased."By the way, did something happen to Jackie?" Coco asked, noticing that Jacqueline was acting really strange. Jacqueline was the most outgoing among the kids, constantly chattering. Her usual smile was gone, and she was exceptionally silent, merely interacting with her youngest sister and watching cartoons on the TV."She's had some problems with her friend. She's been sulking for some time," Serenity sighed."Is she mad at her friend? But she's not the kind who holds grudges. Did they get into a fight?" Coco wondered, thinking about how serious a conflict between children could be. "It's a little different this time. Adults are involved too," Serenity lowered her voice, telling Coco about Morris and his family.Coco listened, bewildered at the story. Humans would always be greedy, especially when l
"Is that so?" Jackson said with a playful smile. "I’d like to see how you handle it if Coco gives birth to a girl this time.""In any case, if it's a daughter, I'll protect her well, making sure she never faces any hardship. For her future boyfriend, I'll make sure he never dares to betray her," Lucas replied."And if it's a son?" Jackson asked."If it's a son, he'll need to be toughened up. I won’t spoil him too much," Lucas said.It was clear that he had double standards for his children."What if your son resembles Coco? Would you still not spoil him?" Jackson asked with a teasing smile.Lucas was at a loss for words. If his son looked like Coco... Well, he might need to reconsider his stance.-Morris absentmindedly watched his parents frantically pack their belongings, stuffing everything they could into suitcases."Daddy, Mommy, are we leaving?" he asked in a small voice.Everyone was happily celebrating the New Year, but a new wave of debt collectors kept showing up
Marissa resented the Valor family deeply. If they had been willing to help pay off her debts from the beginning and hadn't distanced themselves from her family, she wouldn't have been forced to borrow from loan sharks."I'll beg Jacqueline for help! She... she’ll help me!" Morris said urgently."The Valor family has clearly cut ties with us. Stop dreaming!" Marissa shouted. "Now, everyone knows the Valor family has kicked us to the curb. I told you to please Jacqueline, but what happened? You didn’t do enough to please her, and she’s upset with us because she overheard a few things!"Marissa had always blamed everyone else but never considered her own mistakes.Morris lowered his head, clutching the hem of his shirt tightly. That day, he had wanted to stop Jacqueline when she left heartbroken, but in the end, he was too scared to do so.It had been so many days, and Jacqueline still hadn’t visited him. Although his piano teacher told him he could continue his piano lessons, it wou
At this point, Marissa and Fernando could no longer sit still. They were beginning to realize what was happening. Marissa even tried to jump out of the car, but the car was locked."Stop the car! Stop the car right now!" Marissa and Fernando shouted.The driver finally responded, leisurely saying, "It’s only right to pay back what you owe. Running away like this isn't playing by the rules."Marissa and Fernando panicked since they fully understood the situation.Morris was horrified as he clutched the wooden toy house in his arms.The car came to a stop in a dark alley, and the driver turned to them. "Alright, get out."The three of them trembled as they got out of the car, only to be confronted by a group of thugs. Morris could only watch as his parents groveled before them, hoping for a chance to be spared. However, the men remained cold and indifferent.The leader of the group spoke coldly, "The only thing I care about is whether you can pay back the money. I'll let you go
Just then, Morris noticed the children's watch on his wrist. It was a gift from Frederick, worth forty thousand. Marissa had mentioned that the watch was waterproof and could even withstand atmospheric pressure.Then, he pressed a button on the watch which had a built-in phone feature with Jacqueline's number stored in it. He thought that maybe she could save his family if he asked her for help. He was hopeful that his parents were only injured and could still be saved. Marissa had said that the Valor family was the most powerful family in Solaria, and there was nothing they couldn’t do.So, Morris dialed Jacqueline's number. However, his eyes were gradually filled with despair when no one answered on the other end. When the boat docked and the people on board were waiting for the police to take Morris to the police station, he unexpectedly bolted off the boat. The dock was in a busy part of the city center, and as soon as he ran into the crowd, he disappeared.At this moment,
Morris had a hunch about his parents’ tragic end, but it wasn’t until now that he finally had the courage to ask. However, the police officers who had brought him to the hospital exchanged a glance and didn’t immediately answer him.Morris asked with an ashen face, “Are they... dead?” At his age, he already understood what death meant.The two police officers looked at him with sympathy. One of them patted his head and said, “Alright, you’re about to go into surgery. We’ll talk after you’ve recovered.”Morris was then wheeled into the cold, sterile operating room, but he already knew that he would never see his parents again. Even though he understood that his parents had many flaws—especially his mother, who was always in debt and often got cursed by her debtors—he still wanted to see his mother one more time.At that moment, tears finally welled up in Morris’s eyes and began to stream down his face.-The next day, Serenity learned from the news that Morris’s parents had be
And so, the Valor family began deploying people to search for Morris. However, it was as if Morris had vanished into thin air. Neither the Valor family nor the police could find any trace of him.Thanks to the Valor family’s involvement, the loan shark organization and the culprits who had killed Morris's parents were brought to light.However, Serenity lost hope as days went by. It seemed that Morris was unlikely to be found alive. A month later, the police issued a statement officially arresting the suspects. In the announcement, the police blurred out the victim’s full names. However, anyone familiar with the Yale family could easily figure out who they were.Soon, Jacqueline found out about everything.Serenity sighed inwardly when Jacqueline went to her with teary eyes.With the way information spreads nowadays, she knew it was unrealistic to think they could keep this from their daughter forever. She had hoped to tell Jacqueline after they found Morris, but they never did.
"Is Jackie asleep?""Yes, only just. I think I’ll stay in her room tonight. I’m worried that she might start crying again if she wakes up in the middle of the night," Serenity said."Alright," Jackson agreed. "You should try to get some sleep too and don’t worry too much." Then, he kissed Serenity on her forehead before heading back to the master bedroom. "Wait," Serenity called out to Jackson. "Jack, if we still can’t find Morris after some time, how should we explain it to Jackie?"She was afraid that it would be even harder for Jacqueline to cope if it came to that."There are some things she’ll have to understand and learn to accept in life," Jackson replied. "Like losing someone important and death…""But—""Serenity, Jackie is our daughter. She needs to grow up and become stronger. Otherwise, how will she handle the challenges she’ll face in the future?" Jackson said, his gaze resting on their sleeping daughter. "As her father, of course, I hope that she will be happy a