LOGINCora left and headed straight to the Traditional Medicine Center to see Jonas. He was still confined to his hospital bed, his eyes glued to his phone screen, anxiety written all over his face. With every ticking second that Shirley remained missing, his panic spiked. The longer she was gone, the higher the chances she would fall victim to a horrific fate. "Cora, you're just in time. Have you found Shirley?""We're still looking for her. It happened so fast, and we have next to no information to go on. We haven't found a trace of her yet.""It has to be Joseph! Go confront him. Only he would know where Shirley is!""I was just with him before I came here," Cora countered, defending her husband. "He's still completely shattered over Grace's death. He hasn't even turned his phone on for the past two days, let alone left the Crest District. He isn't capable of pulling off an abduction right now, and he doesn't even have a reason to.""Grace is dead?""Yes. She was driving drunk an
Joseph shoved Cora's hand away. "I am divorcing you, and yes, I'll find someone else. I'm going to marry a younger woman! I'll mock you for the rest of your life for having three kids with your lover, Cora!"He let out a harsh, self-deprecating laugh. "I even laugh at myself for being kept in the dark for so long! I'm an idiot. No, I'm worse than an idiot!""You… How could you say that? No one knows what tomorrow will bring. You can't pin Grace's death on me. And a younger woman? In your dreams! You're mine. You're my husband, and I'll never let you be with anyone else!"Cora assumed Joseph was just taking his grief and resentment over Grace out on her, turning her into his personal scapegoat. Refusing to put up with it, she wanted to snap him back to reality. "We're getting divorced anyway, so what do you care? I'm becoming more convinced by the day that Natalie, Selena, and Kimberly's biological father is a member of the Zahn family. You can deny it all you want right now, but o
"Oh, well. People come and go. None of us live forever."Joseph thought he had come to terms with life and death after spending so many days immersed in philosophy. But when news of Grace's death reached him, he couldn't help but grieve. Back when he worked in the ICU, he had watched countless critically ill patients slip away despite every medical effort to resuscitate them. Through it all, he had remained detached.It wasn't because he was cold or heartless; it was simply because he shared no personal connection with them. In a hospital, every life was precious, but professional distance was a matter of survival. Ultimately, Joseph stayed away from Croma. Just as Mavis had said, he had no justification for showing up. If he appeared at the funeral, he would only tarnish her memory with scandal. By staying away, their secret remained safe, and she could rest in peace as Mavis' legitimate, virtuous daughter-in-law. All Joseph could do was quietly track the arrangements from afa
"Yasmin, what brings you here? Weren't you supposed to go with the old hag to pay your respects?" Zachary felt a little uneasy. The last thing he wanted was to be caught red-handed with his mistress. "Grace's body has already been cremated. We came back before collecting her ashes. Tomorrow, we'll go—" Yasmin cut herself off, hit by the pungent scent in the room. She sneezed twice. "Why did you spray so much air freshener?" Zachary quickly pulled her out of the room. As he did, Yasmin caught sight of a hickey on his neck and froze. Had he been cheating on her?Men were all the same! They were trash!She didn't even bother listening to whatever excuse Zachary stammered out to cover up the lingering perfume. "You stink of air freshener. Don't come near me."Feeling another sneeze coming on, she waved him away to keep his distance. Her mind raced, wondering which vixen had managed to seduce her husband. In truth, it wasn't just the hickey; other clues suddenly clicked into pl
Joseph didn't expect much in return from the Snow family. After returning home, he went over the foundation's files again, hoping to find evidence of its illegal operations and use it to bring the entire Zahn family down.In the end, he had either overestimated himself or underestimated his opponents. Anyone capable of running the foundation and helping line the Zahns' pockets was clearly no ordinary person. Cora herself was a formidable woman, so the man she had set her sights on couldn't be average either. After all, she was willing to have his children. No matter who the man was, Joseph was going to make him pay.Whenever he dwelled on it, he was consumed by hatred. Since things were quiet at the clinic, he decided to stay back and study medical texts in his office instead. Before dawn, Joseph awoke from a nightmare and sat bolt upright, shaking. All he could remember was a gruesome, bloody scene—like a vision of hell—but the details remained a blur. After that, he was t
Joseph did not offer any opinion on Yelena's investment proposal since it wasn't his forte. Instead, he focused on treating Marie. Once he was done, he left without staying for dinner. As Yelena walked Joseph to the door, she received a message from Peyton. Surprised by the contents, she showed them to Joseph. Joseph was just as surprised, but he also felt that was exactly the sort of thing Cora would do.Cora had met with Peyton and Belinda, and the three women had reached an agreement. On behalf of their respective families, she and Belinda refused to donate, while Peyton promised to keep them protected from any retaliation by the Zahn family.Once everything was over, Cora and Belinda would also help Peyton establish herself in Jenton and give her a share of the profits. Yelena said, "My grandma told me that the Roth family may seem rough around the edges, but they're actually incredibly sharp and never afraid to act. Peyton's the perfect example of that."Joseph replied, "
Joseph met Bernard's scrutinizing gaze and said, "It's genuine. I didn't believe this was the truth, either, so I did a few more paternity tests with different labs. But the results… they didn't change."Bernard didn't speak right away. He just stared at Joseph, his eyes sharp and probing.A bitte
Joseph was prepared for this and met Cora's gaze head-on. "Cora, you're now the richest person in Jenton. Your net worth is what, 80 billion dollars? And that's even a conservative guess. I'm not going to make some ridiculous demand to split everything equally. That money isn't mine, and I didn't ea
Joseph walked into the bar and found the owner, Anne Wells. One look at her long, dark curls made him start to doubt that what the hotel front desk had told him was fake.Sure enough, when he said he wanted to repay the room fee and deposit, Anne immediately refused. She denied ever driving him to
Joseph rejected Cora's unreasonable demands without hesitation. "No way. I meant every word. The paternity test result is real, which means your cheating is real. You've already been unfaithful, so there's no point in keeping this marriage going. We have to di—""Joseph, is this the sort of attitud







