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“Where is Angela? Why isn’t she coming out? That vicious woman has the nerve to kill, but not the guts to face it. She runs to the office and hides like a coward.”Britney idolized Angela more than anyone. The moment she heard someone slander her, her temper flared.“What nonsense are you spouting? The police are here to investigate, not to pass judgment. Stop throwing baseless accusations.”“Baseless? That bitch knows exactly what she did. She was jealous that Nina was pregnant with twins.”“Nina? Oh, right—I remember now. The mistress who framed our Miss Bailey with a pair of high heels. She lost the babies? “Then maybe she went to Sanctum Hall to repent without sincerity and got her karma instead.”The male officer’s head throbbed from the shouting. He barked, “Enough. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”But no one listened.Yuna wanted Angela not only humiliated but completely ruined.Her granddaughter was ill. Her son had cut ties with her. Her husband lay in a vegetative state. N

The underground parking garage at Crestwood Heights.Warm-toned lights cast a soft, welcoming glow, flaring into a dreamlike brilliance whenever a car entered.Sunny looked up at the starry ceiling of the garage. There was starlight in her eyes, but no spark.She said to Leon, “Daddy, let’s move somewhere else. I don’t want to live at Crestwood Heights anymore.”Leon glanced at Sunny through the rearview mirror and didn’t ask why because he already knew.Sunny was used to living with anticipation.Every time Angela appeared in front of her, the quiet excitement she kept tucked away would burst into bloom.That feeling was addictive.Leon turned the wheel and steered the car toward his parking spot.Both father and daughter froze at the same time.In the space beside them, empty for so long, sat a red car.Their spirits lifted instantly.“Daddy, it’s Mommy’s car! She’s back!”Before Leon had even finished parking, Sunny flung the door open in excitement.Leon slammed on the brakes, star

Donald was soaked through, carrying Dolly—just as drenched—straight to the tenth floor of Gracewell International Hospital.The staff on duty told him that Finley was on leave.After being hired by Gracewell, Finley never worked night shifts.It was only because Martin had specifically asked him to keep a close watch on Dolly that Finley had stayed at the hospital with her.Once Dolly’s second round of chemotherapy ended, Finley went on leave as well.Orthopedic staff rushed the feverish Dolly to the emergency department.The ER doctor, who had little patience for negligent parents, snapped, “How do you take care of a child? Even in a wheelchair, you let her fall into the rain?”Donald swept his dripping hair back and didn’t argue.“Just bring my daughter’s fever down first.”The ER doctor gave Dolly antipyretics, while an aide wiped her down.The bandages on her leg were rewrapped.She was changed into a hospital gown, and blood tests were ordered.The word “blood draw” made Donald im

Rachel wrapped her arms around Angela’s trembling shoulders, crying just as hard, her sobs tearing out of her chest.A staff member from the lab rushed over with the blood test results.Finley took the report, his voice sharp and commanding. “Notify the blood bank. Prepare one to two units of type B blood and send them to Operating Room Three now!”Hearing that Dolly was still in critical condition, Angela went eerily calm.Her gaze fixed on the words “In Surgery,” as if all emotion had been sealed beneath a thick layer of ice, no longer reflecting even a trace of light.Rachel anxiously rubbed Angela’s ice-cold hands, trying to give her warmth, any warmth at all. Even the smallest bit would do.She felt so useless, completely at a loss for how to comfort Angela properly.Rachel’s tears never stopped. She watched Angela with deep worry, as though Angela had become an empty shell, her soul buried alongside news of her daughter in some dark pit.The operating-room lights went out. Finle

Even though Rachel had never done anything like this, she still knew exactly what Nelson and that woman were doing.At their first gathering with friends after the wedding, someone had asked Nelson what their wedding night had been like.Nelson hadn’t even tried to spare her. He had called her a block of wood and said she didn’t know how to please a man, and he wasn’t interested.Back then, she and Angela weren’t that close yet.Seeing how uncomfortable she was, Angela had asked Annie to hand her a USB drive. Angela had told her:[If you’ve got time, take a look. Not to please a man, but so you can understand how to satisfy yourself.]Rachel had been a blank page when it came to sex.From that USB, she saw a naked man for the first time.She heard the wet sound of kisses, the exchange of saliva, the noises that slipped from their throats, and she had panicked, yanking the drive out, like she’d done something shameful. Her face burned and heart raced, and a strange sensation rose insid