Jill paced back and forth in her room. Several times, she called her messenger just to make sure. Unfortunately, her calls went unanswered.
In the living room, Jill continued to fidget. Her teeth wouldn't stop biting the tip of her thumbnail, which was still trembling. She looked at the elegant-looking digital clock on the wall. It had been an hour. But she hadn't heard anything yet.
Jill's phone rang loudly, breaking the silence of the night in the grand Reynolds residence. Quickly, Jill picked up the toast. Unfortunately, it wasn't the call she had been waiting for.
"What's up, Mrs Reynolds? Sorry I was in my room earlier," Arthur greeted from the other end.
Jill let out a long breath. She closed her eyes, then pressed her temples slowly. "Forget it, Arthur. I'm waiting for a call from someone else. So don't bother me again after this."
Jill had almost disconnected the call whe
Arthur was also shocked. He turned to Jill, who looked so shocked that she fell to the floor. Quickly, he helped Jill to sit back on the bench slowly.Pete turned around and looked at every inch of Tom's fine body. The old man was almost frustrated as he went back to make sure every inch of Tom's body was still in good condition."You're okay? How could you be? Your car looks completely wrecked!"Jill swallowed hard as Shannon sat down by her side and hugged her tightly."You have to be patient, mum. I hope nothing bad happens to Camellia."Hearing Camellia's name mentioned again, Jill fainted on the spot. She lost consciousness. This caused even more commotion as they had to take Jill to the ER for the quickest treatment."Lemme take care of her, Shannon."Shannon immediately nodded slowly to Arthur, who remained seated by Jill's side wh
Jill and Arthur turned their heads when they heard someone approaching. Both of them clamped their mouths shut with their hearts pounding."Mum, are you awake? Why are you two looking so awkward?"Arthur shook his head and stood up from his chair. "No-nothing. How was the operation? Did it go well?"Jill sat up slowly. She tried again to remove the IV from her wrist. "Tell me, Shannon. What's wrong?"Shannon shook her head slowly, then pulled Jill's hand away to force the IV from the vein. "You can carry the IV pole, mum. Both you and Camellia need extra care. You're exhausted, shocked, and have high blood pressure. So please, don't push yourself."Jill gave Shannon's hand a quick squeeze as she lost patience. She grabbed the IV pole and glanced at Shannon sharply. "You satisfied? Now tell me, how about Camellia's condition?""The operation went well, mum." S
Tom was looking at each furniture component that had been withdrawn in the past three days. He thought of a way to regain a wide range of markets to generate more demand.Slowly but surely, he made sure that each piece of furniture was repaired until there were no small parts left to become bad things in the future. He also tried out each of the drawer rails that had been upgraded to double track rails with a slow motion effect when closed tightly."This is good."Lark Brown, the factory manager standing in front of Tom, nodded in approval. "How are we going to deal with the costs involved if all the goods are withdrawn from circulation, Mr Cobb?""Gimme all the purchasing data for the past five years. I'll take care of it. And you don't have to think about the costs. Because that's not part of your job, is it?"Lark nodded obediently as Tom stood up and walked past him. "Will we
Tom had just arrived home to find all his clothes thrown out. He grabbed some shirts his dad had given him as a gift when he returned with Pete the week before Arthur and Shannon's thwarted engagement. He draped them over his broad shoulders.Quietly, Tom walked into the Fischer's palatial mansion. In fact, a guard with an all-black look detained him there."Tell me, do you have an appointment with Mr Fischer?"Tom shook his head, then looked at them quizzically before finally seeing Pete come out with two large suitcases. "Shouldn't we have equal rights in this house?"Unfortunately, Arthur heard Tom's ridiculous question. He laughed, then descended the stairs quickly. "My bad. But this is my right. Isn't this house already mine?"Pete turned to Tom and handed him an empty suitcase to put all of Tom's clothes that Arthur had thrown out. "Pack your things, Tom."
"Can you forgive my mum's behaviour, Aland?"Shannon and Tom were sitting on the bonnet of the car enjoying the stars when suddenly Shannon remembered Jill's behaviour to Tom at the hospital.Instead of answering, Tom put his hands together behind his head as he lay down. He looked up at the stars, trying to ignore Shannon's earlier request."Are you angry about that, Aland? I no longer know who to tell. But mum's attitude is just so arrogant. I mean, I don't mean to worsen her image in front of you. But she really can't control herself when she's angry. Especially when Camellia gets hurt.""Does she get that angry when she sees you hurt, too?"Tom's question certainly made Shannon divert her attention. Her vision blurred, especially when she looked back at Tom, who was lying on his arm."No one else will worry about someone else's child as much as a mum worr
"There are five new requests, Mr Cobb!"Lark Brown approached hurriedly. He showed him some emails that had arrived on the laptop he had just opened in his room.Tom was intrigued, taking his eyes off his own laptop. "Have you read them? Please make a list, then send it to the design department to get the right price.”Lark frowned as he found Tom refocusing on the demand graph of the past five years. "Isn't this too complicated, Mr Cobb? We only have one interior designer. Shouldn't we get someone else for the same job?"Tom thought for a moment, then replied firmly. "Five design requests can still be handled by one designer, Mr Brown. He can work on them according to the queue. Didn't we also write the rules correctly as agreed in the meeting yesterday?""No, you can't, Mr Cobb. Making customers wait longer will make them feel ignored. This is a good start, isn't it? Ther
Jill paced in front of the cage where Camellia lay helpless. She had been working from the hospital for almost two days just to look after Camellia.While continuing to encourage Camellia to talk to wake up soon, Jill continued to monitor the progress of many parties. Especially about JF Properties, which in fact made significant sales.Jill was furious. Her head was suddenly filled with endless swearing at only Tom and Shannon, who had survived the death she had created. "What the holy shit! How am I going to remain silent while my daughter struggles to die and that piece of rubbish keeps making more sales again?"Jill's hands clenched into tight fists. Almost all of her plans had fallen apart. Even hurting those closest to her.Quietly, Jill reached for her phone. She called the person she had trusted to monitor the progress of the subsidiary. Tom was now running under his new system.
Arthur widened his eyes when he heard Shannon's voice from the door of the room. Swallowing hard, he looked at Shannon, who came with Tom with a parcel. "You overheard what you shouldn't have?"Tom laughed. He walked in with an arm around Shannon's shoulders to approach the cage. "We just came and opened the door, Arthur. Why would we come here to listen to your sadness life story?"This, of course, inflamed Arthur. He gritted his teeth, holding back the anger that he was so eager to unleash. Not because it was called pathetic, but because he saw Tom's touch on Shannon's shoulder that was not distant."You shouldn't be here. Even Camellia would never accept you. Aren't you the cause of Camellia's current state?"Shannon sat beside the bed on the other side of the cage after placing the fruit parcel on the table. "We never expected this accident to happen either, Arthur. But if it wasn't for her request to use Tom'
"I do," Arthur said as he took out a red velvet box from beneath his luxurious clothes. He placed a simple ring with a single jewel on Dwyane's finger, which looked beautiful in his eyes.After that, the priest began to lead the prayers. It didn't take long for the two to sign the marriage contract.Although Arthur's second wedding ceremony was only held at the nearest church in the neighbourhood of the hospital, the happiness was evident on his pale face. He had been a wheelchair user for more than two hours, enduring the pain in his solar plexus after his surgery five days ago.There were only seven people in the church to witness Arthur's far from simple wedding. No party, no food. Only Shannon, Aland, Pete, Will Smith, John Benedict, Phil Allen, and Edward Frey, the officer who uncovered Arthur's many hidden cases.The first-born was given to Arthur, even though he was in a wheelchair. Seeing Arthur's weakening condition, the priest rushed the blessing and lighti
"I'm going to file for a marriage annulment. So, will you be my lover, Dwyane?"Arthur's request just after Camellia disconnected the call made Dwyane melt. She burst into tears as he approached Arthur, who was still lying in the cage."Why just lovers? You can get married after cancelling your previous marriage," Aland said from the sofa.Aland immediately got up and approached with both hands in each of his trouser pockets. He grabbed his laptop before moving on, as he did not even get a response from his brother.Arthur was silent. Not only him, even Dwyane didn't know what to say when he was in the middle of such an awkward situation.As he put his work laptop in his bag, Aland spoke up again to help."I'll talk to Mr Smith right away. He will help you to file for a marriage cancellation as soon as possible. Only then, you guys can get married before you actually return to prison in six days. If you have anything to say, just call Pete--"Aland hadn't
"Are you sure you're okay?"Camellia asked from a distance. The look of concern was visible, but it was not savoured by Arthur as he had savoured the anxiety on Dwyane's face earlier.The two were now connected through a call Aland had made to Mr Cavill, who was visiting his daughter. Using a phone and a laptop, the two were now face to face, even though it was only through a call connection.Arthur nodded in response to his wife's question at the end of the call. Unfortunately, he could not take his attention away from Dwyane, who was busy writing in the corner of the room."I'm fine, Lia. What about you? Did mum cause trouble again? Did she hurt you?"Although she sounded more concerned than before, Lia knew very well that it was just a pep talk from her husband. She shook her head slowly as she wiped away tears with her sleeve."Listen to me, Arthur. I asked dad to contact Aland so I could connect with you like this for some reason. Although I just found o
Arthur blinked softly. His eyes squinted as the glare of the lights greeted him as he woke up after being in a state of emergency because of heavy blood loss.Instead of finding Dwyane or Lia, he saw Aland sitting with his head bowed on the edge of the bed. Her eyes closed again to make sure before finally looking back at who was beside him.It was the same man he hated to death before. Aland.Arthur's hand moved towards Aland's closed head, hiding his face, when he suddenly saw movement from the sofa. Quickly, Arthur pretended to close his eyes again, as if he hadn't woken up from a long sleep.Dwyane was shocked to death when he looked at the clock. It was almost night and Arthur had not woken up. This was contrary to the information received from the doctor earlier.Slowly, Dwyane woke up Aland, who had fallen asleep by accident. "Mr Fischer. It's already dark. Shouldn't you be going home?"The surprised Aland got up hurriedly. He looked over to where Arth
"What else this time, Dwyane?"Arthur's question made Dwyane shake her head slowly. She plugged the flash disc into the laptop she had brought with her. She positioned it so that the screen was facing the direction where Arthur was."I haven't seen it myself, Arthur. You can see for yourself. This was given to me by Aland. He said it was a precious gift for you."Hearing Aland's name, Arthur rose lazily. He shook his head, refusing to see what he really wanted to show."No, Dwyane. That's enough. The other day you brought me the news you secretly heard from him. And it really kept me up all night long. Now what? Are they planning to frustrate me here?"Dwyane shook her head slowly. She was just trying to keep Arthur's attention back on what Aland was about to show him."No, Arthur. The other day, the possibility that I was wrong was quite high. Aland said that sometimes there is some information that is missed and contributes greatly to misunderstandings. Tha
"Go away, Cobb! Get out of here or I'll kill you right now!"Aland sniggered and moved off, leaving Jill filled with intense guilt."You're just bragging! Arthur is my nephew! He is everything to me! And you can't touch him! He's mine! Don't ever come back or I'll kill you right here!"The clock had already struck three in the afternoon when Aland and Shannon sat across from Dwyane Hills. He knew very well that Dwyane continued to visit Arthur, no matter what. Every day. For more than nine days."I'm sorry if I've upset you, Mr Fischer," Dwyane greeted, having just spoken after ten minutes of apparent silence.Aland cleared his throat, then took a sip of his coffee while shaking his head slowly."What do you have to apologise for? There's nothing wrong with you going there, Ms Hills. I just don't like that you went there with information you shouldn't have given."Suddenly, Dwyane's eyes widened. Her hands immediately folded on the table, and tried to rea
"Since when did you become so talkative, Cobb?"Jill's counterattack made Aland pause. He looked at Jill, who grabbed a plastic chair to sit across from him."How can I help you with coming all the way out here?"Aland glanced at Shannon for a moment, trying to make sure that his wife was fully prepared. He looked again at his mother-in-law, whose new identity had been stripped away, leaving nothing of her once admired name."There's something I want to do about the key you gave me. Liliana's death."Jill did not seem surprised at how quickly Aland had learnt the truth with just one keyword."You found it?"Aland showed her an old photo of Sophie and Liliana that he had copied from an old file at the orphanage. Even though it wasn't clear, Jill could still recognise who was in the picture."This is you and Liliana. You two are sisters, aren't you?"Seeing that Aland was not surprised by what she had found, Jill got up and approached. Her eyes squi
"What did you say? Sorry, but can you say it again?"Shannon's request was not without reason. For the first time, she sat in Will Smith's room with Pete and her husband to explain everything.Aland closed his eyes and smiled faintly. His hands were intertwined with each other in a position in the middle of her legs."I'm not misspeaking, Shannon. This is the truth. Until a few moments ago, only Pete and I knew about this."Will Smith didn't understand. He, who had been staring out the window while listening to Aland's explanation, could only turn around and shake his head slowly."If Arthur is not James's son, why does James insist on claiming him?""Because he just lost his son, Mr Smith. Don't you remember that his scandal broke just as he was about to celebrate JF Groups' anniversary? James couldn't just ignore Arthur's arrival with Liliana. He didn't want to act rashly, either. He asked me to keep the fact that Arthur was abandoned by Eugene a secret bec
"Sophie? You're trying to defame our orphanage just because of Sophie's case? Do you also want to examine all the children in this orphanage so that you can be satisfied with your judgement, Mr Fischer?"Aland turned to Shannon briefly before leaning forward, trying to calm him down. "Listen to me, Mr Flitch. This is not what you think it is. We're not here to make a statement or to judge your orphanage as bad, no. I'm just here because there's something wrong. I'm only here because there's something I wanna to know. About Sophie. That's all. We will never tell anyone that Sophie is from here. After all, the whole of the UK knows that Sophie's dangerous behaviour is not the result of someone's upbringing, but her disposition, which may never change even twenty years later. We're just looking into her bloodline. That's all."Dom Flitch squinted with an angry gaze. His previously cupped hands immediately came closer, watching Aland and Shannon's movements that seemed so d