She’s your sister. I’m sure you know what kind of person she is.”
She cocked her head and looked at Steven; the face that she missed and yearned for.
She composed herself as she replied as plainly as she possibly could, “Long story short, your sister teamed up with her godmother, Tina, to put on a show. They drugged Thomas, and your sister wanted to sleep with Thomas to bear his child. She thought Thomas will treat her like how he treated Yannie and no longer turn her away, thinking she’d become Thomas’ wife, Mrs. Howard.”
Steven’s face contorted upon hearing this. He knew it! Denise never had been up to anything good when she spent time with that old woman from the Howard family! How could she do such a thing?!’
He clenched his fist tightly and hesitated, “Then, did….they succeed?”
Gwen squinted. “If they did, then we’d lock up Denise. She’d be in the police station by now.”
At that moment, Gwen could see Steven felt relieved.
“Regardless.”
Gwen paused for a while and continued, “She didn’t fail entirely. After Thomas got drugged, he accidentally hurt Senior Howard. Your sister took the opportunity when they sent Senior Howard to the hospital, tied Thomas’ girlfriend outside the door, then forced Thomas to sleep with her. Thomas’ girlfriend heard everything.”
As she talked, she monitored Steven’s face.
“Your family has quite a modern and open upbringing.”
Steven had a troubled look on his face after hearing what Gwen said.
“Don’t say that.”
He paused for a moment before he added, his voice hoarse, “My sister…she’s not a bad person. It’s all because of the influence Mrs. Howard had over her that she turned into this person.”
He sighed.
“It’s all my fault. Before I was unconscious, my parents once mentioned they hoped Denise could marry Thomas. They even took the initiative to ask Denise to become Mrs. Howard’s goddaughter. I stopped them at that time because I thought Denise deserved to live her life. She shouldn’t listen to our parents’ arrangement and be with a man she hardly knows.
“After my accident, well… “
After I woke up, that woman had already become Denise’s godmother, and she insisted on her marrying Thomas.
“
He turned his head to the side to look out the window. The view outside was white in color as it was covered with snow.”
Truthfully speaking, I don’t want Denise to bear all this burden.
“My parents kept saying Denise isn’t their biological daughter, that they’re afraid she’ll leave them when she grows up, so they want Denise to marry a good family here and continue to be by their side.
“I know what they truly mean, though. They just want to use Denise in exchange for their own benefits in the city. She won’t live any happier marrying into the Howard family. If they want her to be happy, she should just marry an ordinary family instead.”
He smiled bitterly and massaged his glabella helplessly.
“I talked too much. I shouldn’t have told both of you this.”
For some reason, he just could not help himself whenever he saw Gwen. She gave him a very cordial feeling that he wanted to talk and share his thoughts with her.
This feeling did not appear after he knew his previous connection with Gwen. The first time he saw her post on social media, he was already attracted to her.
When he saw her in real life for the first time, he wanted to be friends with her and talk to her…until he found out that between him and Gwen was another man named Luke.
At that moment, Steven knew Gwen did not care about him. She did not treat him as a friend but as an enemy. That did not stop him from withholding the desire to complain and share his thoughts with her, however. As he lost his senses for a while, he told them many things.
When his senses came back, he paused and looked at Gwen with an embarrassed look. “Well, my main point is that Denise isn’t a bad person, so…can you please not hurt her?”
Even though Steven knew Denise had done something wrong, he still wanted to protect her. He had grown up together with Denise since she was small, and he knew how persistent and hardheaded Denise was.
She kept saying that she loved Thomas and even did such an absurd thing in the name of love. However, she probably did not even know what love was. Just because her parents wanted her to do this and wanted her to do their bidding, she brainwashed herself and followed everything they wanted just so they would be pleased.
Thus, as time went on, she tricked herself and did not even know what kind of life she wanted for herself.
“You’re asking us not to hurt her?”
Gwen snorted and raised her brow.
“What about the damage she did to Yannie and Thomas? Steven Hughes, do you think your sister can get away without being punished after what she has done? Hurting her is just a mild punishment.
“As of now, Thomas is still unaware of what happened. Once he knows everything, do you believe that he won’t harm everyone in your family?”
While Gwen’s words were harsh to the ears, Steven knew she was just honest.
Denise and Tina had teamed up to trick Thomas, a person who was slow to forgive. Even any regular man would be infuriated to the point where he wanted so much to kill the woman who tricked him.
Moreover, the person Denise and Tina tricked was Thomas, a man who fussed over a little thing and sought revenge for the smallest grievance.
Many years ago, Thomas’ father–the same man who caused his mother’s death–betrayed his mother. This time, he brought Brettley back to seek revenge.
At that time, he was too small and weak. He did not have the power to fight with Senior Howard and Tina. That was what made the revenge come so late.
However, Thomas did not need to wait at all if he decided to have his revenge on Denise or even the Hughes family. The moment he recalled everything, he could start the revenge anytime he wanted.
As Steven thought of those, he paused and said, “I know Denise made a mistake; I just think that she had been brainwashed. I must insist, however, that she’s not a villain.”
He sighed. There was not much that he could justify for Denise, even though he was her brother.
After a while, he cocked up his head and looked at Gwen with a serious face. “But, if you decide to not forgive her,
Brettley wouldn’t have asked me to come here. Thus, I want to know what I can do to let you release Denise.
“Also…what should my family do to reimburse and compensate Ms. Yannie and Mr. Howard?”
Finally, they were back to the discussion and negotiation.
Bethan furrowed her brow and looked at the text message Brettley sent.
She said, “It’s easy. First of all, Denise needs to pay the price for what she did today, and that’s…to receive our blows. Then, she has to leave Saigen City forever, never to return.”
She looked at Steven. “It’s our decision to let Denise leave Saigen City, not Thomas’. After all, if Thomas wants to look into this matter, it won’t vent his anger even if he kills her.
“As his relative and friend, we don’t wish to see him kill someone. Thus, getting Denise to leave Saigen City is the best solution. However, after she leaves Saigen City, your family mustn’t help her in any way, including giving her money. She has to survive on her own.”
Steven pursed his lips silently. He believed neither he nor Denise nor his parents could accept this. Denise had always lived together with them, after all. Although she was not their biological daughter, she was their little princess. If she was forced to leave the city and never to return, and if they were disallowed from being able to help her financially and in other ways…it was really a little too much.
Nevertheless, once Steven thought about what Denise did to Thomas, this was the best ending for her.
He gritted his teeth. “Alright, I promise you. I’ll work on my parents.”
Neither Brettley nor Thomas could take the time out to constantly monitor Denise or his family. At least Denise suffered for the first two months. Once Brettley and Thomas loosened a little, they would not find out her status, even if his family sent help to Denise.
“Secondly,”
Bethan continued speaking her terms after Steven agreed with the first one, “your family has to cooperate with Gwen to sue the Miller and the Hughes families.”
“Sue?”
Steven was stunned. He looked at Gwen with disbelief. “Why do you want to sue us?”
Gwen sneered, “Since you now know your body belongs to Luke, you should know your brain had been transplanted, too. Why are you acting so shocked? Don’t you know Luke never agreed to let Kate turn him into you?
“Your family and the Miller family didn’t obtain permission from me nor Luke and made the decision to turn Luke’s body into another person. Why can’t I sue all of you for that?”
Steven’s expression changed when he heard Gwen’s words. After a few seconds, he furrowed his brow and looked at Gwen. “I know my family and the Miller family have done you wrong. We can compensate you…”
“Compensate?”
Gwen looked up and stared at Steven with a cold, hateful gaze. “What compensation can you possibly give me? Can you return Luke to me? Can you do that?”
Steven took a step back when he saw the hatred in Gwen’s eyes, and his heart throbbed painfully. He knew she was devastated and that she had been trying hard to suppress her emotions vehemently. However, her suppression and anger were what made him heartbroken. A woman her age should not have to live the life she did…
“Answer me!”
Gwen was about to lose her emotion when Steven did not reply. Her voice went off–pitch. “Tell me! How are you going to return a normal, healthy Luke to me?”
She missed him so much. It only worsened as she stared at this man who was a spitting image of Luke yet portrayed a look and expression that was unfamiliar to her. Every time she saw him, she thought about how cynical Luke used to be.
Steven furrowed his brow when he saw Gwen losing control. “Calm down, Gwen. Even without me, Luke isn’t going to come back.”
Even as Gwen glared at him furiously, he continued,”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.