Semua Bab The Secrets in Their Hearts: Bab 1 - Bab 9

Our mother was still trying to talk my sister, Joan Wood, out of her choice. "Gilbert's rich too. I know he doesn't take any money from his family, but he's their heir, so sooner or later…"Joan cut her off impatiently, "Enough. I spent four years on him, but he wouldn't even give me a moment of his time. What makes you think marrying him would be a happy ending for me? Just relax, Mom. I mean, I'm hot. Jonathan's going to be head over heels for me."I watched Joan's overflowing self-confidence with amusement. In our previous lives, I was engaged to Jonathan Pearson. Our first meeting happened in a nightclub. He gave me a call and told me to bring him a box of rubbers.When I walked into his parlor, he was accompanied by five alluring women with bodies that could redefine impossible body standards.With a grin on his face, Jonathan tossed 100 dollars at my face. "First lesson of being my wife. You have to be smart."Jonathan had seen more than his fair share of beauty. Beauty was

I gave Joan a smug look and rested my head against Gilbert's chest.…Once we left the club, he let me go unceremoniously, and I fell to the ground. That hurt my butt. The pain was swimming up my spine."Don't try anything like that again. Cheap tricks are just going to lower my opinion about you, and I already dislike you."He then moved into his car and left me in the dust.There was a reason I did not fight back. I was gambling on something, and I won that gamble.Every time Joan and I went to our mom's place in our past lives, she wouldn't stop complaining about Gilbert. She called him a lot of names, even called him evil.I got into contact with him multiple times, but he was nothing like the man Joan said he was. He just didn't want to waste his time on people he didn't like.I got my wounds bandaged at a hospital and went back to my place beside the workshop.…My mom called the next day. The first thing she greeted me with was a roar. "You attacked your sister and her

I was going to say something, but he continued, "That bridesmaid was my doing too. I told her to drive a wedge between Joan and Jonathan. How do you like that? Oh, and I was serious about giving you the millions."That was a surprise. A cold, aloof man doing that much for me? Then, I looked at him. Something sparked in me. Hope. Perhaps I really could achieve my dream of having a place I could call home.And then the next thing that came out of his mouth killed my dream. "Don't take this the wrong way. I just want to find out what happened to Gillian. I don't mind you dangling the carrot, but don't take it too far."I could smell the warning in that. It was then my phone rang. Unknown number, but I picked it up anyway. The voice that came belonged to a middle-aged woman. "Katherine Wood? I'm Gilbert's mother. Take him back to my place for dinner. We should meet."A simple request, but I hesitated to say yes. In my previous life, I heard Gilbert blamed the disappearance of Gillian

I listened to Diana talk about Gilbert's childhood. As I scanned the awards and accolades, I found one that caught my attention. It was a runner-up trophy for a mechanical design competition. First place belonged to me."Oh, that one? The men I sent to keep an eye on him fished it out of the trash. Though he never talked to me after he got into college, I couldn't just ignore him. I'm still his mother, so I made sure someone would keep an eye on him at all times. That's the only second place he got in his life, and he tossed it into the bin right away."They told me he went to the riverside and drank enough to make a mountain of bottles."My heart skipped a beat, and my breathing turned heavy. I was there that night as well. It was right after I won first place, and the young, happy me wanted to share the news with my mother.The first thing I saw when I got home was Joan crying in my mother's arms. My mother slapped me. "So what if you got first prize? It's nothing!"Like a hurt

"I found out what you did. You turned me against my mother for years. You think you can just waltz in and we'd accept you with open arms and sing Kumbaya in the house like nothing's happened?""No, Gilbert, listen to me! I didn't mean to send that! I was just confused because I was so angry. I was going to disappear for a couple of days and then show up. But I got kidnapped and taken to some other country!""Is that so?" Gilbert clapped his hand, and a child's voice came in."Mom!"The thug came in with their three-year-old child.Panicked, Gillian explained, "No, listen to me! He raped me! He's the guy who kidnapped me! You have to get him arrested! Arrested!"The thug was tearing up. He looked like a doll covered in cracks and could break at any moment. "What? But you said you loved me. You told me you'd go anywhere with me. Please, come back. We'll be a family, just the three of us. Please."Like a possessed woman, she ran down with superhuman speed and grabbed a bottle of wi