Chapter 2

Sometimes dense can be cute, but Liana had the lethal combination of being dense and stubborn. Because of this, trouble tended to haunt the woman and the people around her. In fact, you could say that their marriage was ruined by his stubbornness and density. However, he did not expect her to be dumb enough to be unable to take care of herself, even with the large amount of alimony he had given her.

Simply put, his encounter with Liana that day left a great impact on him. Edward was lost in thought, so he didn't answer Betina's questions. Before long, the car arrived at the restaurant.

The two families were already there. Since the dinner was to discuss the nuptials, the attendees included his parents and their son, Dylan White. He had him with Liana.

The little boy was a baby when they divorced, so he was four now.

“Why don't we choose November 2 as the wedding date? It's an auspicious date and the national day of our country”.  Edward's mother, old Mrs. White, said, smiling.

Betina's mother nodded happily, adding: “That's certainly because I would suggest that day too. Edward, Betina, are you two okay with the date?”

“Of course. Arrangements like these were always left in the capable hands of the parents," Betina said shyly.

“I'm fine with any date," Edward shrugged.

“So the date is set. We can concentrate fully on preparing for the wedding now. Betina, God is still good to me because you will finally be my daughter"in"law.” Said Mrs. White cheerfully as her hands clasped Betina's, and both of them smiled happily.

Betina practically grew up in front of her. She really liked Betina's personality, character and ability .

She had been haranguing Edward to bring Betina into the White Family, and finally her wish was about to come true. There was another woman at the table whose wish was about to come true and that was Betina.

Finally, Edward was within her grasp. The man would finally be hers.

At that moment, the glass of juice Dylan White was holding in his hands fell and broke. He also somehow managed to splash juice on his shirt.

“Dylan, you need to be more careful.” Mrs. White scolded lightly.

"Dylan, are you hurt?" Betina moved with a handkerchief to wipe the juice on his shirt, but he quickly ran into Edward's arms, avoiding her completely. Betina's hands dangled awkwardly in the air.

"I'm going to clean him up", Edward said as he carried his son into the bathroom.

In the bathroom, Edward placed his son on the sink counter. Dylan White stared intently at his wobbling legs, his brain churning. Suddenly, he slapped Edward's hands that were wiping the juice from his shirt.

"What's wrong?" Edward said softly as he looked at his son: "You've been acting bad since the beginning of dinner, something is bothering you?" Dylan White bowed his head wordlessly.

When Edward lifted his son's face, he saw a pair of determined eyes looking at him. Edward frowned and asked: "Dylan White, tell me what's wrong.”

"I don't like Aunt Betina. " Answered his son directly, and then, he understood what was happening to Dylan.

The boy was silent, so Edward took that as a yes. “Why don't you like her?" Edward continued his line of questioning. "She's been extremely nice to you, hasn't she?”

One of the reasons Edward agreed to the marriage was because he saw how well Betina treated Dylan White. He didn't care who he married, but if he had to marry one, he might as well find one who could be a good stepmother to Dylan White.

Betina was the best candidate because her whole family approved and she was kind to Dylan. So it was a surprise to him that his son revealed that he didn't like his fiancée.

"She is nice to me because I am her son. I'm just a tool for her to get to you." Edward's face fell.

"That's not a nice thing to say.

"The truth is never good for the ears," Dylan White said with wisdom beyond his years. “You never asked my opinion about who you should marry. I'm just the extra baggage." Dylan White jumped off the counter and stormed out in a fit of rage.

"Dylan White, who taught you to talk like that to your own father? Where are your manners?" Dylan was already upset, being reprimanded only made him more taciturn.

He turned stubbornly, his eyes filled with sadness and dissatisfaction.

"Nobody taught me, I don't have a mother to teach me, don't I?" Edward was stunned... When he woke up, Dylan White was already gone.

Edward ran out to chase his son. He caught up with him at the entrance to the restaurant. He turned Dylan White around and was surprised to see tears rolling down his son's eyes.

Dylan White had always been a quiet child. He could spend an entire afternoon in silence in the company of a good book.

He was in every sense of the word, an exemplary child. He was not given to fits and childish outbursts.

His behavior today was definitely out of the ordinary. This was also the first time Edward had seen his son so upset.

When he divorced Liana, Dylan was only one year old. His mother had not been a part of the boy's life for three years.

Edward thought that this meant that Dylan had gotten used to being raised in Liana's absence, but he didn't realize that his son was just hiding his emotions deep inside.

Looking at his son, Edward no longer had an appetite to continue dinner.

After a brief phone call to his mother, he brought Dylan home. In the car, Dylan kept his eyes on the scenery outside the window. His small figure spoke of loneliness and helplessness. Edward sat beside him in silence. As they passed the hospital, his thoughts went to Liana.

He wondered if she had woken up. Edward couldn't help but remember his current situation. He was sure that Dylan could not bear to see his mother like this. Edward decided not to let the two of them meet temporarily to spare Dylan the sadness...When they arrived at Purple Jade Villa, their home, Dylan was already asleep.

Edward was carrying his son into the living room when his cell phone rang.

 "Mister, please let me carry the little one upstairs! " Said their maid, Mrs. Yu. After carefully passing Dylan to her, Edward picked up his phone. It was an unknown number.

"Hello," he began, and soon realized that it was from the hospital.

"Is this Mr. Edward? This is the First Hospital.

"Yes, Edward speaking. How can I help you?" Edward asked, although he was sure it had everything to do with Liana.

"Mr. White, I regret to inform you, but the patient you sent today has suddenly disappeared. We believe she left the hospital on her own! However, her body is still recovering, so she should not have left. Can you please contact her and take her back to the hospital?" Edward was sure that it had to do with Liana, but even he couldn't predict that the woman would be crazy enough to leave the hospital against her doctor's advice!

Liana had been involved in a car accident. Her injury was not that serious, but the doctor said it was necessary for her to stay in the hospital for observation for at least a few days.

Who would have thought she would escape after regaining consciousness... The nurse also found $3,000 on Liana's bedside table after she left. When she woke up, the nurse handed her the money, saying it was Edward's. When she escaped, she left it behind, an obvious rejection of his kindness. This meant that she had no money and her body was still in a state of convalescence. Edward could not understand why she would leave like that.

Doesn't she care about her own health? Edward was a little inflamed by her density, but he still jumped in his car to find her.

Not that he was worried about her, but at the end of the day, she was still Dylan's mother, and he couldn't just leave her on her own for the sake of his son. While Edward was in town looking for her, Liana went straight to the police station to file a report.

With her head bandaged, face bruised, skin pale and body frail, the police thought she was there to report a physical assault.

However, she wanted to report a car accident that happened six years ago.

"Mrs. Legrand, let me get this straight. You mean that the car accident that happened to you six years ago was a premeditated attempted murder?”

Liana nodded, her eyes steady, adding: "That's right! Six years ago, I rushed back from abroad because my father had fallen seriously ill. Someone made an attempt on my life and pretended it was a vehicular accident. Fortunately, I did not die, I just lost my memory. Today I had another accident and everything came back to me.”

"How can you be so sure that it was premeditated?”

"I remember noticing that the car had been following me since I landed at the airport. It was waiting for me!”

The police became serious and asked: "Can you remember anything else?”

"I remember that the last two digits of the car's license plates were 53 and it was a black SUV.

The police replied with a hint of disbelief: "But Mrs. Legrand, this was 6 years ago and you said yourself that you suffered from temporary amnesia, so how can you be sure that the things you remember are in fact correct?”

Liana replied softly: "As the man wanted to kill me, how can anyone confuse the details of his killer? Besides, even during my amnesia, my retentive memory was perfectly fine.”

The police were quick to believe her.

That's because he pulled Liana's records and realized that she was a top student at Academy S, one of the top ten universities in the world.

"Miss Legrand, do you have any suspects in mind or have you harmed anyone in the past?”

"The only suspects are my stepmother and her daughter. After my father passed away, they quickly cut me out of his will. Everything fell to the mother daughter pair, even though I am my father's only biological heir!", Animosity colored Liana's eyes as she spat out those words. Liana's parents had also divorced when she was young. She grew up abroad with her mother.

After her father remarried, Liana would spend some time in the country with her father annually. She got along well with her stepmother and her sister. They were always kind and nice to her.

Liana treated them like her extended family, but who knew that the pair had an ulterior motive all along.

When her father was on his deathbed, they feared that Liana claimed most of his property, so her cruel nature finally showed its ugly head.