Claudia had wanted to protest, but the moment she heard the name "Dorothy Simms", her expression turned cold. "What does that have to do with you?""Nothing, really? I just wanted to confirm my suspicions. That's all." Summer lowered her head.Then, she smiled. "After all, Dorothy was known for being a 'pure and innocent' actress back then. I've never heard of her having children."Claudia clenched her fists tightly and glared at Summer with pure hatred."I should have killed you earlier!" she said through gritted teeth.Summer chuckled. "Kill me? Do you really think you're capable of that?""You just caught me by chance. Do you really think you're that capable?" Claudia sneered.Summer looked at her with an icy-cold gaze. "Sure. You can think whatever you want. I don't care. Now, you have two choices. You can shut your mouth and stay silent, but I'll make sure Dorothy trends online for a whole month. I'll expose the fact that she has an illegitimate daughter.""You wouldn't da
Claudia froze after hearing that. Then, she started to shout hysterically, "You're lying! Your mother forced her to death! Summer, you're so young, but you're already so cruel-hearted. How could you falsely accuse someone who's already dead just to clear your mother's name?"Summer watched as Claudia broke down. She felt nothing in her heart at all.She picked up the remote control and turned on the TV behind Claudia."You shameless slut! How dare you seduce my husband?" The angry shout of a woman could be heard.Claudia stiffly turned around to watch.It was an old recording from over 20 years ago, so the quality wasn't the best, and the footage was shaky.On the bed were a man and a woman. The two of them were in a panic when those people walked in with the camera. The woman frantically grabbed a blanket to cover herself.Even if the image was blurry, Claudia could tell who the woman was in an instant."Dorothy? Unbelievable! I treated you as my best friend and introduced you
Claudia could feel tears of hopelessness, despair, and rage burst out."Two," Summer counted.Just as she was about to say the final number, Claudia shouted loudly, "I'll choose the second option!"Summer lowered her head. "Very good. Mr. Cohen, I'll leave the rest to you.""Where's Kristen? I want to see her!" Claudia shouted."You're not worthy." Summer motioned to Robin, and Robin immediately stepped forward and gagged Claudia before having his men drag her and Xander away.The living room went quiet. Summer looked toward the bedroom as the door slowly opened. Then, Kristen walked out from within."Why won't you let me see her?" Kristen asked.Summer answered, "There was no need. She wouldn't have believed you no matter what you said.""What a pitiful child." Kristen sighed.Summer didn't respond to that.If it was her in the past, she might have sympathized with Claudia, too. But she would not do that now.So what if Claudia had a pitiful past? She had schemed tireles
Summer didn't know whether to be amused or frustrated.That day, she hadn't contacted Mason much.That was just how the two of them were. When they were together, they were inseparable. But when they were apart, things would cool down.After hanging up on Kyle, Summer started to think about how she should bring up her arm injury to Mason.Thinking about it, she felt like it was just a minor cut. It would be overly dramatic for her to make a big deal out of it, so she decided not to say anything. The wound should have more or less healed when she went back in two days anyway.Because of what happened the previous night, the atmosphere on set was a bit strange.Stana arrived early at the dressing room. The moment she sat down, she heard people gossiping."How was Channing's agent involved with last night's incident?""Who knows? But I saw someone take her away in the middle of the night.""That makeup artist was obviously targeting Kristen. Could Channing have gotten his agent t
"Sorry. You can't come any closer," the bodyguard said."Could you please let Ms. Hartford know I'd like to talk to her?" The voice sounded a bit familiar.Summer closed her laptop and opened the door.Outside was Channing, the artist under Claudia, being blocked by guards."Do you need something?" Summer asked."I just want to talk to you," he replied.Summer glanced at him.Channing hurriedly patted himself down. "I don't have any weapons on me.His clumsy honesty amused Summer. She draped on a jacket and got out of the van, sitting down on a chair outside. "Keep it short. If you're here to pour your heart out, then forget it."Channing sat down next to her. "I heard Claudia sent someone to hurt you?""Did you?" Summer glanced at Channing.In all honesty, Summer had intended for Channing to be kicked out as well. She saw him as another one of Claudia's accomplices.But Kristen said the production couldn't be delayed. If they replaced the male lead now, the entire producti
"That would be best." Summer's expression remained unchanged.Channing thought for a moment. "What are you going to do with her?""She's committed too many despicable crimes with too many lives involved. There's no way the law will let her off," Summer said calmly.Channing let out a long sigh.Summer wasn't sure if his story was entirely true. If Channing had really wandered around since he was young, and if Claudia had really changed his life, then losing Claudia would have been a big blow.But if Claudia truly never turned Channing into a pawn, then it meant that Claudia still had some humanity left in her.That thought crossed Summer's mind until she suddenly remembered the coffee incident from yesterday.Forget it. It wasn't that Claudia didn't turn Channing into a pawn, but it was because Summer didn't give Claudia enough time to.Yesterday was coffee, but what about the future?Basically, Claudia was completely blinded by her hatred.As long as Claudia kept failing, th
The next afternoon, Summer went to see Lily."Does Kristen not want to see me?" Lily almost cried when she saw that it was only Summer there.Summer's expression remained indifferent. "I didn't let her see you."Lily stared at Summer in shock before she hurriedly said, "Ms. Hartford, I really didn't mean to. Don't worry. I won't let anything like this happen again."Summer took out a business card and said, "Lily, I told you before. I only care about my mom. This is the contact information of Morning Star Entertainment's CEO. I pulled some strings and gave them a call on your behalf. You're a well-known agent, so they're willing to give you better pay.""You want me to leave Kristen?" Tears started to fall from Lily's eyes.Summer remained indifferent. "My mom might forgive you, but if I hadn't found out in time, my mom wouldn't even be alive right now. I won't forgive you so easily. The fact that I've done this for you is already taking a lot of kindness."Lily lowered her head
Luke, ever the intellectual, looked shocked. "Dad, when did you believe in all this?""I'd rather be safe than sorry!" Henry then looked at Summer's arm with a heartbroken expression. "You must have been terrified.""I wasn't." Summer spent a long time comforting Henry.It was deep in the night when everyone returned to their rooms.Summer was feeling incredibly inspired after she spent the past few days on set, so she stayed up late working on her script. She only stopped when she started to feel hungry and quietly made her way downstairs.When she reached the kitchen, she found some bread to nibble on."Why are you eating bread here alone? Are you hungry?" Summer looked up to see Luke standing by the door."Yes." She nodded.Luke smiled and walked in. "Go sit in the dining room. I'll make you some chicken noodle soup.""You know how to make that?" Summer looked surprised."Back when your mom was an actress, her meal schedule was all over the place. It ended up causing stoma
"I got it." Summer knew that going head-to-head with the Hunt family this time must have caused Mason to be caught in the middle of some immense pressure and criticism.So, she didn't want him to worry about her too much.Chandler's incident had stirred massive public attention following Summer's live stream. In the next two days, more and more people were speaking out online.The police department responsible for the investigation was finally compelled to issue a statement, promising a lawful and thorough investigation into the case.Paul's family had rested at the Hartford residence for a day before they started to recover a little."We won't hold the funeral here. Our family back home is already handling the arrangements," said Paul's wife, Bailey Oak. Her eyes were still swollen from crying.Kristen nodded. "Alright. Don't worry. Mr. West has worked with our family for over ten years. He was practically one of us, so we'll make sure to take care of your family in the future."
"You know how vicious the Hunt family can be. Back then, I…" Kristen instinctively pressed her hand to her lower abdomen with an expression of grief. "I'm afraid of losing another child."Luke had an expression that was full of heartache. He gently pulled Kristen into his arms. "That won't happen. From now on, we will face everything together. We'll definitely protect Summer."Can I really do that?" Kristen's tears fell uncontrollably.Back then, she thought she could protect the child in her belly, too. But in the end…Luke said firmly, "You can. You definitely can. My wife has always been the strongest person I know!""Yes." Kristen nodded as she leaned against his shoulder.They had never spoken of that pain over the past 20 years. This was the first time. Summer's actions today had been like a key that unlocked this long-suppressed wound in Kristen's heart.Neither of them knew that Summer hadn't gone to sleep, either. She stood at the window in her room and could just see th
"Something like that happened?" Rosanna looked shocked. She had been locked up at the time.Jane sighed deeply. "I just heard about it, too. The kidnappers told her not to go to the police. They said they'd kill the kids if she did. In the end, she didn't report it and ended up paying 70 million dollars in ransom."Jane sighed again. "But she ran into some real monsters. After they got the money, they sent her a location to get the kids. When she got there, all she saw were their decomposing bodies!"Rosanna covered her mouth. "Oh, my God! Did they catch the kidnappers in the end?"Jane shook her head regretfully. "They were professionals, so how could anyone catch them? She lost her money and her children. Mrs. Mills fell seriously ill and is still in the hospital.""Those kidnappers are truly heartless!" Rosanna said."They were only missing for three days. Based on the state of the bodies, the kids were probably killed the moment they were kidnapped," Jane said.As Rosanna lis
Jane always outshone Rosanna in every way, so how could Rosanna possibly like her?Jane said softly, "Rosanna, I know you don't like me, but you're still family. I know you're just a straightforward and blunt person. You've never meant me any harm.Rosanna rolled her eyes internally at that. Jane couldn't be more wrong."I don't want you and Aspen to get divorced." Jane helped Rosanna sit down and crouched to examine her ankle. "It's sprained. I'll call a doctor.""No!" Rosanna was incredibly vulnerable at that moment.A vulnerable person's greatest weakness was someone being gentle to them.Jane frowned. "How could you not see a doctor? Just wait here. I'll go quietly. I'll make sure no one notices and bring the doctor over. No one will find out."After a pause, Jane continued, "I won't tell anyone about the divorce, either."Rosanna's ankle was throbbing with pain. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded. "Don't tell everyone!"Jane smiled gently and went off to find the doc
"As lawyers, we only need to achieve the desired outcome for our client. Nothing else matters," Malcolm said.The assistant fell silent.Aspen slumped down onto the hospital bed, looking defeated, while Rosanna sobbed uncontrollably."Enough crying. Go check on Mom," Aspen said impatiently.Rosanna choked out, "I refuse! Your mother never liked me to begin with. With what happened to Chandler, both of us are responsible as his parents, but your mother will definitely only blame me! You can go if you want!"After that, Rosanna grabbed her purse."Where are you going?" Aspen asked."I'm going to figure out a way to save my son!" Rosanna snapped and started to walk off.Aspen grabbed her arm. "I'm warning you. Don't go after Kristen again! This has nothing to do with her!""Kristen, Kristen! She's all you care about, even now. Her daughter stood there and humiliated you in front of everyone, making you out to be some creepy stalker, and you're still defending her?" Rosanna finally
"Chandler from that certain all-powerful family underwent a psychological evaluation every six months at his school abroad. Just over two months ago, when he had just returned to the country, he had one done. "His mental state is fine. You parents might've been driven crazy by anger, but not him."There was a frenzy online.The original post was quickly deleted, but people had already saved screenshots of all the relevant documents.Inside the Hunt residence, Aspen's hand was wrapped in gauze when he heard what the lawyer had to say. He exploded on the spot. "Who leaked something this private? Check with Chandler's school! I'm suing them! Every last person who leaked it!"The lawyer said gravely, "I've already checked. The school's digital database was hacked. Mr. Hunt, I told you yesterday to maintain a good line of communication with the victim's side. If you did, there might have been a chance for settlement. Why did you hire online trolls to spread lies?"The lawyer added, "N
"Mason, I'm not doing this for the Fridman family. I'm now a part of the Hunt family as your aunt. Even if you don't want Violet, that's fine. Summer really isn't right for you!" Jane still wore that sincere, gentle expression."Have you ever thought about why a girl with such ambition would want to be with you?" Jane asked.Mason looked at Jane. "That's where you're wrong. Summer wasn't the one who came looking for me. I'm the one who chased after her."Jane was speechless.Who in their right mind would believe that?At that moment, the elevator arrived. Mason didn't say another word to her as he got in the elevator and left.Jane stood in place.She never imagined that everything she had so carefully planned would be thrown off by the Hartford Group heiress who appeared out of nowhere."All that effort, Jane, and you were paving the way for someone else." A flamboyantly dressed woman walked over at that moment.She, too, was one of the many daughters-in-law of the Hunt family
"Tell Grandma I was here," Mason said before he turned to leave.These past few days had been unbearable for Aspen, especially with everything Summer exposed that day.All these years, people had assumed that there had been something between him and Kristen. It had always been something he could brag about, but the truth was exposed to the public today. That last shred of connection he had with Kristen had shattered as well.On top of that, Chandler was about to face serious criminal charges. Aspen felt like his heart was being set on fire."Mason!" he shouted after Mason, but Mason ignored him.Aspen clenched his teeth and rushed toward Mason with a sharp fruit knife in hand.Things had come to a point of no return anyway. If he had nothing left to lose, he might as well drag Mason down with him. If he killed Mason, maybe Royal Financial Group would fall back into Victoria's hands.But Aspen had underestimated Mason too much. His blade didn't even graze Mason. Mason merely gra
In the end, Mason still went to the private hospital that the Hunt family owned. As he stepped out of the elevator, all he saw were members of the Hunt family, gathered in full force.Mason knew exactly what was going on.These people hadn't shown up out of affection. They were just afraid that Victoria might actually die, so they were here early to wait for the inheritance."Mason, what the hell did you do to Grandma?"The moment they saw Mason, they pounced like a pack of wild dogs, but not a single one of them actually dared to touch him.If Victoria did die, Mason's threat level would skyrocket a hundredfold."This is a hospital. Why are you all being so loud?" Mason asked coldly.Jane ran over. "Everyone, calm down. This had nothing to do with Mason. She only got a heart attack because of Ms. Hartford's press conference."After that, Jane looked at Mason. "Mason, everyone's just worried, so they're a bit emotional. Don't take it to heart.""Where is Violet?" Mason asked.