“Hear me clearly. Even if you die, Luke is never going to come back. You’re going to be in debt to Luke for the rest of your life!”
Tears streamed down her face as she roared her frustrations.
As the ambiance between Steven and Gwen was at a standstill again, Bethan sighed. She quickly stood between them and kept them apart from each other to calm down.
Finally, she looked at Steven helplessly. “You see it too. Every time you mention Luke, Gwen will lose control of her emotions, and you know very well why. You’re using Luke’s body, but you keep on mentioning him in front of her…
“Even if you really hate Gwen that much, you don’t have to attack her at her weakest so brazenly.”
Bethan took a deep breath. “Mr. Hughes, if you’re not willing to help Gwen sue your family and the Miller family, it’s alright. Don’t think about bringing Denise back today. We’ll settle with her on our own terms.”
Right after that, she turned to hold Gwen and brought her to sit on the sofa. Then, she took out her phone and dialed a number. “Come in. Please bring Mr. Hughes back now.”
The door swung open at the same time Bethan put down her phone.
A few bodyguards entered the room, and the leader shot Bethan a respectful glance.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Then, he glanced coldly at Steven and said, “Let’s go, Mr.Hughes.”
Steven furrowed his brow upon hearing this.
“Is there no room for further discussion, Mrs.Morrison?”
He knew how mutch his parents adored Denise.If he were to go home without her, they would grow concerned and would not cease to find her.
This was why he had rushed over as soon as he received Brettley’s call without a single regard for his injury.
Despite this, he knew he could not simply agree to help Bethan and Gwen plot against the Hughes and Miller families.He did not want to choose any of the options Bethan gave him.He did not want to leave without Denise, but neither was he willing to betray his family.
“No,”иσν???вσσк.￠σмBethan said curtly as she handed Gwen a glass of water.
“You’ve used up all your chances.”
She glanced at the guards and ordered, “Send Mr.Hughes out!”
Seeing how adamant Bethan was, the guards had no choice but to approach Steven once more.
“Mr.Hughes, please don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be.”
Steven stared at Bethan, frowning.
Finally, he sighed and stood up from his seat.
As he did so, he glanced meaningfully at Bethan, then at Gwen.
Finally, he bowed at Gwen and said, “Ms.Larson, I’ve never known you or Luke personally before this, so I had no idea that bringing up Luke would be so emotionally traumatizing for you.I’m so sorry if I caused you any pain.
“I will do my best to make things up to you, but at the same time…if you intend to sue the Hughes and Miller families for this, I will not cease to stop you.”
Then, he turned and strode out of the room.
Gwen lifted her head to stare at his retreating figure.
Even though this man was not Luke, the way he walked and the way he swung his arms were identical to Luke.
A twinge of pain shot through her heart once more.
Gwen bit her lip as she tried to suppress the urge to hug him.
Finally, after Steven’s silhouette disappeared from view, she finally slumped against Bethan’s shoulder and sobbed, “Bethan…I can’t face him.I thought I could, but I had overestimated myself.
“Sometimes, I long for him to admit that he is Luke pretending to be someone else…but at other times, I know full well that this man isn’t Luke, and I have the urge to kill him for taking everything away from
Luke.
“However, I know that I can’t do either of those.This body belongs to Steven now, and I have no right to take someone’s life away, but I’m just so, so heartbroken…”
When she heard Gwen’s hoarse, sobbing voice and felt the tears dripping onto her shoulder, Bethan suddenly did not know how to comfort her best friend.
Instead, she gently patted Gwen’s back for comfort.
After a long time, Bethan’s phone rang.It was Neil.
“Mommy, have you tried using the listening device that Nigel prepared for you? We’ve begun to receive some signals and voices from our end now.
Do you need Nigel to connect you to this frequency?
“I overheard some…strange conversations between that man and his parents, but neither Nigel, Nellie, nor I could figure out what was going on.”
Bethan paused for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright.Send me an email with the audio recordings, and I’ll listen to them right now.”
She then hung up the phone.
As she did this, Bethan glanced out the window and realized that the sun had already set.She and Gwen had been sitting there for more than five hours.
“Did they find out anything through the recording device?”
Gwen asked, frowning.
Bethan nodded.
“When did you even place it on Steven, anyway?”
Gwen sniffed, picked up a tissue from the table, and wiped her tear- stained face.
“I planted it there when I was hugging him.”
Even though Gwen had temporarily lost all her rationality that moment, she still remembered her task, so she slipped the recording device into Steven’s back pocket while embracing him.
Even though she was unsure of Steven’s habits, she still remembered that Luke never used to check his back pockets.
Therefore, she gambled her chances and assumed that Steven was the same.It seemed that she had guessed correctly.
“I’ve asked Nigel and Neil to send the audio clips over.”
Bethan stood up.
“Do you want to listen to them together?”
Gwen nodded.
She wanted to stand up as well, but because she had remained seated for too long, her legs had fallen asleep, and she could not even move.
“Look at you.”
Bethan sighed and reached out to help Gwen up, and the two of them shuffled into Bethan’s bedroom.
When they entered the door, however, they both froze in surprise when they caught sight of the restrained woman on the bed.
Bethan and Gwen exchanged a glance, then smiled wryly in unison.
They forgot about Denise.
At this moment, Denise’s hands and feet were tied, and her mouth was gagged, but her eyes were closed…as though she were asleep.
Gwen strode over and gently placed her finger under Denise’s nostrils.
“She’s still breathing.She probably just fell asleep.”
Bethan froze for a moment, initially intending to summon the guards to take Denise away.
On second thought, she decided it was better to keep Denise here.
Steven would never have given up on Denise so easily, and so he was probably already plotting to break her out.
What if he was already waiting outside the doors, ready to ambush them?иσν???вσσк.￠σм If she allowed the guards to take Denise out of the room, would it not be the perfect chance for Steven to rescue her? At the thought of this, Bethan put down her phone and glanced at the sleeping woman on the bed.
Gwen knew what Bethan was thinking about and did not pursue it any further.
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.