"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
"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
"Summer, look at me!" Rose Sanderson grabbed Summer Hartford by the hair, yanking the latter up from the ground. She forced Summer to stare at her.Summer was as thin as a stick, her cheeks gaunt. In the deep of the winter, all she had on her was a thin layer of filthy mental institution patient robe. Like a zombie, she was unresponsive to Rose's actions.Clearly, Rose was unhappy at Summer's lack of response. After six years of meticulous planning, she had finally crushed Summer. She would not be happy until she witnessed Summer in despair."You're dying. Don't you want to meet with Grandpa?" She flashed a malicious smile.The mention of her grandfather finally elicited some response from Summer.Rose clutched Summer's hair with a look of excitement and glee. She hauled Summer to the front of a curtain like she was dealing with the carcass of an animal. Then, she drew back the curtains.Behind the curtain lay an emaciated old man with multiple tubes attached to his body. He seem
"No!"Summer jolted awake from the excruciating pain of being burned alive."What's wrong, Summer?"A familiar face loomed before her. Rose?Summer's eyes wavered. Something wasn't quite right. It had been years since she saw Rose looking barefaced and innocent.She scanned her surroundings quickly and froze. It seemed she had returned to the day before her 18th birthday—six years ago. On that day, Rose took her to a bar to celebrate her birthday.She stared down at her hands, expecting to see them wrinkled and wounded, only to find them looking fair and smooth.It dawned on her that she had traveled back to the start of her tragic life."I've gotten you a glass of lemonade from the bar. Take some lemonade. You'll feel better." Looking concerned, Rose handed Summer a drink.Summer stared at the drink as chills traveled down her spine. In her past life, she recalled blacking out after taking that drink.When she pieced together fragments of her memories, she recounted being
Summer hadn't expected to run into Mason right after she was reborn. The thought of Mason running into the fire to hug her at the final moments of her life made her chest tighten. Pain crashed through her body.Wait a minute. Did Mason walk past the bar street on that fateful night in her past life?She assumed he had heard about the incident because her nudes caused quite a stir back then. If Mason had already fallen in love with her at that time…A wave of pain rolled through her. She stopped herself from thinking further. The footsteps outside slowly receded.Letting out a relieved sigh, Mason loosened his grip on Summer's mouth. Gazing down with a frown, he removed her cap. "Ms. Hartford?"This was the second time Summer heard his voice. He had first addressed her in the fire, saying to her, "I will never leave you alone again."His voice was low and melodious, like an instrument.Staring up at Mason, all she could think of was Rose's cruel remarks during her final moments
Mason had put on a totally different demeanor by now. He looked intimidating and unapproachable. Anyone would freeze in his presence.Without taking a look at Summer, Mason barked a cold command at the man, "Send her home." Then, he entered a Maybach at the forefront of the motorcade.The inconsistency of his behavior confused Summer. Before this, he was cheerful and seductive around her. Why did he act like they were strangers now? Did he suffer from some sort of dissociative identity disorder?"Miss, mind sharing your home address?" the burly man respectfully inquired Summer.She politely turned him down. "It's fine. I'll get a cab home.""That won't do. Please have mercy on me and don't put me in a tight spot. I need to obey Mr. Hunt's orders. If I don't see you home safely, I might as well be damned!" The man put on a serious look.Feeling speechless, Summer deliberated for a bit before entering the car. Firstly, Mason would not harm her. Secondly, it was unsafe for a woman t
Rose received a call from Anthony when she was in the shower.Anthony's family was in the hardware supply business. Although he wasn't considered one of the wealthiest guys, he was at least good-looking and ambitious. Rose was quite fond of him and picked him to carry out her plan of taking over Hartford Group.His call sent her into panic mode. She knew him too well. He'd definitely turn up his nose at her if he found out she had been gang-raped!Rose decided to keep it a secret from Anthony. She quickly regained her composure and answered his call in a coquettish manner, "Anthony, have you found Summer?""She's back at the Hartford residence," he replied grimly. "I lost touch with that hooligan I hired."Of course, he couldn't get in touch with that hooligan because that guy had snapped his SIM card in half in front of Summer."How did that happen?" Rose's eyes were filled with shock. She thought she had spiked Summer's drink with a strong dosage. Summer couldn't have possibly
Kristen was an award-winning actress before she married Luke. People had described her looks in this way—heart-stopping and breathtakingly beautiful.Many lamented her decision to retire when she was at the peak of her career. She might be near her 50s, but she looked like she was in her late 20s."Mom, are you free today? I can't get in touch with Rose. Can you go with me to shop for a dress for my birthday party instead? I know you have great taste, and you'll definitely pick the best dress for me," Summer asked Kristen sweetly. She did not want to miss out on the chance to repair her relationship with Kristen.Kristen shot her a shocked expression. It had been a few years since Summer called her "Mom".Henry and Luke appeared stunned as well. Their eyes darted between the mother and daughter. Despite feeling awkward, Kristen agreed to the invitation with a grunt.In the past, Summer would have flown into a rage at Kristen's nonchalant attitude. However, she was excited to g
"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.
"Mr. Hunt, is Ms. Hartford seriously that fierce?" Kyle was stunned after watching the live stream."She is." Mason nodded."But won't her attitude cause you a lot of trouble?" Kyle asked.Mason seemed completely composed. "It's a good thing. This gives me the perfect excuse to tear off that fake peaceful facade in the Hunt residence. I won't have to go back there anymore.""Where did Ms. Hartford even get all the evidence from?" Kyle wondered.Kristen and the others were wondering that at home as well."Summer, getting the footage from the school is one thing, but where did you get the other stuff?" Henry asked, pointing to the case files and mediation records Summer had shown during the press conference."Yeah, I don't even have those myself," Kristen said emotionally.She had never imagined that this matter could ever be cleared up. In fact, one of the reasons she'd refrained from making a comeback for so many years was because of that."Mr. Cohen!" Summer looked at Robin.
Summer paused in disgust. "I don't know how Mr. Aspen Hunt defines courtship these days. At the very least, I was taught that if someone dislikes you to the level of reporting it to the police, they want you out of their lives."Summer said, "Continuing on, Mr. Aspen Hunt, in a mediation from September 26 years ago, promised that he would no longer stalk or harass Ms. Kristen Woods."Summer put down the documents in her hand and faced the camera. "That's about it for now. I'll upload everything online later, including the surveillance footage I showed earlier. Anyone interested can go take a look."With how calm she seemed to be, those who didn't know she was trying to set the record straight might have thought she was giving a lecture."My mother has never been a fighter. She's gentle by nature. Because of Mr. Aspen's background, she didn't want to cause Hartford Group trouble and has endured silently all these years. But as her daughter, I couldn't keep letting filth like this spr
Summer played two segments of surveillance footage. She said calmly, "This is only a part of it, but it's enough to prove that I never knew Chandler before. He was the one persistently harassing me. With that, the rumors should collapse on their own."Everyone had assumed that the purpose of her conference was just to clarify the relationship between her and Chandler. But everyone was wrong."Let's set that part aside for now. I'm sure you all saw the trending news this morning. Chandler deliberately ran over and killed my family's driver," Summer uttered.Violet and the others sitting in front of the television were on the verge of losing it.The live stream had drawn over ten million viewers, and the number was still steadily climbing."I also know who's behind these disgusting rumors. After all, this isn't the first time they've resorted to these tactics. I don't like being in front of the media, and I didn't hold this press conference today for the sake of clearing my own nam
Jane hung up the phone.Victoria immediately asked eagerly, "What's going on? What's Summer doing now?""She's invited the media for a live stream," Jane replied.Victoria frowned. "Live stream? Is she planning on airing out all the dirty laundry and blowing things up even more?"Violet smiled faintly. "Logically, this isn't the time for her to speak up. The more she says, the messier it will get. In the end, it will only backfire on her. It looks like we won't need to worry too much. Ms. Hartford might just ruin herself on her own."Jane then chimed in, "When I met her this morning, I could already tell that she's impulsive. I just didn't expect her family to indulge her this much."Jane and Violet were both professionals in Victoria's eyes. They were much more reliable than Rosanna.So, after hearing what the two of them said, she relaxed a little.Not long after that, Summer's live stream began.Over at the Hunt residence, Victoria had someone put it up on the screen for eve
"That's how it should be," Kristen said softly.Summer sat with her for a while before urging her to go and rest.After Kristen went back to her room, Summer went on her computer.Because the video had spread widely, there was no way to suppress the incident. Major mainstream media outlets were now heavily broadcasting the case. Even the police issued an official response immediately.Basically, the first step had been a victory. Since it was exposed publicly, then no matter what the Hunt family did, Chandler would have to suffer for it.However, by around dusk, a wave of accounts suddenly popped up online, attempting to steer public opinion.They started talking about the real reason behind Chandler ramming into that car, stating that it was because Summer had emotionally deceived him.Just like what they'd done to smear Kristen in the past, they fabricated a whole series of stories that seemed logical.Basically, Summer was portrayed as a flirt who toyed with multiple guys at
Mason felt a bit helpless. He really regretted it now. Why did he decide to acquire Hartford Group back then?After that, Summer left with Robin."Mr. Cohen, do you think someone who's willing to give up their life for you is worth trusting your future with?" Summer asked."Of course, but Mason is as cunning as a fox. You can't trust what he says!" Robin immediately shut down any notion that Mason would do such a thing.Summer looked ahead and said slowly, "Mason never said anything like that. He actually did it.""What do you mean? Ms. Hartford, was your life ever in danger?" Robin was alarmed.Summer nodded. "Yes. I don't want to talk about it in detail, but just know that he treats me like that. And I'm still young, so it's not like I'm planning on taking things that far with him anytime soon. "That's why I won't tell Grandpa yet. Not unless we're certain we want to spend the rest of our lives together."Robin frowned."Relax. The most important thing is not to tell Grandpa