Ch. 2661..2670

Chapter 2661 Yannie paused for a moment before taking out her phone and dialing Thomas‘ number. “Can you do me a favor? I need your help forging a metal plate,” she said in a low voice. Luna furrowed her brow when she heard this.

It turned out she had misunderstood Yannie. Yannie...had wanted Thomas to help her forge a new metal plate.

Luna had to admit that this was a good idea.

All of a sudden, Luna‘s phone rang. It was a call from Joshua.

At this moment, Joshua and Thomas were together, and when he caught sight of the photo of the metal plate which Yannie had sent to Thomas‘ phone, he immediately put two and two together.

This was why he had called Luna immediately.

“Something happened to Gwen.” Luna exhaled and continued in a low voice that was barely a whisper, “Gwen accidentally lost her pendant, and even though we managed to find it in the end, the metal plate attached to it had gone missing. “You know that Luke was the one who gave it to her, so... “Anyway, she‘s suspecting that the metal plate must‘ve ended up in the rubbish dump.” With that, Luna raised her hand to take a photo of Gwen scuffling among the rubbish and sent it to Joshua. “Yannie and I can‘t bear to see her like this, but we don‘t have any other choice. We can‘t allow her to continue rummaging in piles of rubbish forever... That‘s why Yannie wanted Thomas‘ help in forging a new one.”

“That‘ll never work,” Joshua said curtly, frowning.

Luna paused. “Why do you say that?”

Surely it would not be too difficult to forge a new pendant for Gwen?

“This pendant was a gift from Luke; Gwen must‘ve cherished it like no other. Perhaps there had been some scratches or minor defects on the pendant that would otherwise go unnoticed by the rest of us, but Gwen would surely know it was there.

“Instead of forging a new one for her that‘ll give her a false sense of comfort, I think it‘d be better to help her search for the original one.” Joshua let out a sigh and added, “I‘ll send Lucas and some of my men over to help. “Be prepared for the worst. If giving Gwen the fake one that Thomas helped make doesn‘t work, be prepared to help her search for it until God knows when. “Oh, by the way, you told me before that someone had found the pendant when you guys were at The Spring Resort. Give me some information about the person who found it, including their room number, so I can send some men over to investigate.”

Luna could not help furrowing her brow at the mention of the person who found Gwen‘s pendant. She said in a whisper, “Actually...you know the person.”

Joshua frowned when he heard this as he followed Thomas out of the building. “I know this person?”

Considering the fact he had just arrived in Saigen City not too long ago, he did not know many people in this area.

“Is it someone who has ties to Thomas‘ family?” Luna shook her head. “It isn‘t. The person that found Gwen‘s pendant...”

She let out a sigh. “It was Kate.”

Kate.

Joshua‘s hand, which was in the middle of fastening his seatbelt, paused when he heard this familiar name.

“She was at The Spring Resort too?” “Yes.” Luna nodded. “Apparently, she was there with her boyfriend, Steven.”

Chapter 2662 Joshua‘s hand stiffened at the mention of Steven. He was silent for a moment before finally asking, “Gwen... Have you all met Kate‘s boyfriend yet?”

“No, not yet. Why?”

“Nothing.” Joshua rubbed his glabella in frustration. “I couldn‘t help noticing that Kate‘s new boyfriend looks a lot like Luke, so I don‘t think you should let Gwen see him.”

Luna nodded, “You‘re right. Don‘t worry; I‘ll try my best to protect Gwen.”

Even though she had yet to meet Kate‘s new boyfriend in real life, she had seen photos of him and Kate together on the internet. Therefore, even before Joshua brought it up, she already knew that this man looked eerily similar to Luke.

At this point, Gwen would go insane at any mention of Luke at all, so if Kate‘s boyfriend were indeed so similar to Luke, she would have to stop Gwen from seeing him in person at any cost.

“We’ll talk about this more when we meet,” Joshua said before frowning and hanging up.

“What‘s wrong?” Thomas asked, seeing how troubled Joshua looked. “We have to split up.” Joshua glanced at him before adding, “You go retrieve the new pendant while Lucas will bring some of the men over to the dump station.” “What about you?”

Joshua paused for a moment. “I‘ll go talk to Kate.”

Thomas was a little puzzled by this. “Does this have something to do with Kate?” “I sincerely hope not.” Joshua lifted his head to stare coldly in the direction in front of him.” Otherwise, I‘ll never let her off the hook that easily again.”

He was doing this not only for Gwen but also for Luke.

Thomas could sense the hostility in Joshua‘s demeanor. He pursed his lips slightly, seemingly wanting to say something, but in the end chose to keep his silence.

By the time Thomas arrived at the dump station with the newly minted pendant, Lucas and his men had already cleared out two gigantic piles of garbage.

Gwen sat in a corner, her skin flushed red due to the cold. Despite that, she was huddled in a parka, her gaze fixated on the garbage pile like a hawk.

It was as though, in her mind, staring intently at the garbage pile would prevent her from missing out on the pendant should it appear. Luna and Yannie stood by her side, clutching her dirty hands in comfort. Thomas could feel his chest tighten at this sight. What was so good about Luke that made a woman like Gwen go crazy for hirn?

“Mr. Howard.” Yannie was the first to notice Thomas climbing out of the car. She trotted toward him and, under the pretense of striking up a conversation with him, secretly reached

out her hand toward him. Thomas quickly dropped the metal plate into her open palm and asked, frowning, “Do you honestly think this‘ll work?”

Joshua was right. If Gwen truly treasured this metal plate more than anything, she would be more than familiar with every single scratch and defect on it. She would immediately notice that this one was a fake.

“It‘s worth a try.” Yannie bit her lip and instinctively glanced in Gwen‘s direction.

Gwen was still staring intently at the garbage pile. When Lucas and his men arrived, Luna and Yannie had to pry Gwen away from the garbage pile in order to make her give up on her quest. Since Thomas had successfully forged a new one, she had to try. What if it turned out that the pendant Gwen had lost was nothing but an ordinary metal plate without any scratches or marks? At the thought of this, Yannie grinned at Thomas and said, “Well, for what it‘s worth, thank you for helping!”

Chapter 2663 With that, Yannie turned and sprinted in Lucas‘ direction.

Since Yannie‘s mother, Mrs. Flores, used to work as a nanny for Luna and Joshua, Yannie was naturally familiar with Lucas.

Thomas remained motionless, his lips curving into a small smile as he watched Yannie sprint nimbly towards Lucas.

That was his girl; kind, soft, and adorable.

However, the next second

Thomas watched as Yannie arrived at Lucas‘ side and, while talking to him, reached out to wipe the sweat from Lucas‘ forehead.

His smile immediately froze on his face.

Yannie never treated him that kindly before!

Why was she helping Lucas wipe his sweat? Could he not do it on his own? Did he not have hands that were capable of accomplishing this task? Lucas instinctively glanced in Thomas‘ direction when he felt a cold, steely gaze on him. His heart leaped into his throat when he met Thomas‘ gaze. Lucas immediately took a small step back and glanced sheepishly at Yannie. “Sir ordered me to pretend as though I had found this metal plate by accident.” With that, he reached out to Yannie and said, “Give it to me, then.”

Thomas was still watching him, so he did not dare to continue chatting with Yannie at all.

Yannie furrowed her brow, puzzled as to why Lucas seemed so unwilling to talk to her.

She wanted to continue the conversation, not because she had anything to share with Lucas, but because if her interaction with Lucas was too short and abrupt, it would arouse Gwen‘s suspicion.

However, this was not what Lucas thought. Instead, he did not want to spend any minute longer than necessary with Yannie, considering the fact that Thomas was watching him like a hawk

Therefore, Yannie had no choice but to return to Gwen and Luna‘s side after surreptitiously handing the metal plate to Lucas. “How did it go?” Luna asked, frowning. Yannie paused for a moment before replying, “Lucas said he‘d bring some more men over to help. As of now, he hasn‘t found anything yet, but don‘t worry. Mr. Lynch has so many people to help that eventually, they‘ll find it, even if it means turning the whole place inside out.” Laying against Luna‘s shoulder, guilt seeped into Gwen‘s heart as she watched the men rummaging around the garbage for her.

These people were Joshua‘s bodyguards and some of his other employees.

All of them possessed their own tasks and responsibilities, but because of her, they were forced to come here and rummage through garbage for her. Gwen truly cherished Luke‘s gift for her, but the last thing she wanted was to trouble so many people.

Truth be told, she knew deep down that since she had lost it, there was no way anyone could find the metal plate again...

“Why not...” Gwen bit her lip, glanced at the men in the distance, and said softly, “Luna, why don‘t we let these men—” Before she could even finish, a cry of victory erupted somewhere in the distance. Lucas approached them, followed by an earnest–looking man. “We‘ve found it! Ma‘am, Ms. Larson, Yannie, we‘ve found it! We finally found it!”

Gwen‘s entire face lit up when she heard this.

She immediately sprinted over to their side in excitement. “Where is it?” The man handed her a small metal plate, grinning. “Here it is!”

Gwen took the metal plate from him, but as soon as it was in her hand, her smile froze on her face. This...was not hers at all!

Chapter 2664 “What‘s wrong? Isn‘t this the one you lost?” Luna caught sight of the look in Gwen‘s eyes and quickly grabbed hold of her hand. “It’s okay if it‘s not yours; we can always continue searching.

Gwen bit her lip and glanced first at the people standing before her, then at the dark sky that looked like it was about to hail soon. Finally, she nodded and said, “That‘s right. This is the one I lost.”

She sniffed, carefully tucked the dirty metal plate into her pocket, and then forced a smile for everyone watching. “Thank you all for helping me find my lost item.” Finally, she glanced at Lucas, biting her lip nervously. “Are these all Joshua‘s men?” Lucas nodded. “I have a little over ten thousand dollars in here,” Gwen said, smiling, as she took out a card from her bag and handed it to Lucas. “Please use it to pay for a nice dinner for everyone who helped out. If there‘s any money left over, feel free to divide it among yourselves as a reward for all your hard work.” Lucas took the card from her and shot Luna a somewhat helpless glance. Luna knew that Gwen was feeling guilty over having troubled everyone, so she smiled and said, “Don‘t worry about it. You should take it.”

Having received Luna‘s assurance, Lucas finally tucked away the card and left with the rest of the workers, leaving only Luna, Gwen, Yannie, and Thomas in the dump station.

Thomas let out a small sigh of relief at this.

Thank God.

For once, Joshua was wrong; that metal plate of Gwen‘s did not have any scratches or marks that could help her differentiate the real one from a false one at all.

Otherwise, Lucas and the rest of the men would have to flip the entire place inside out, searching for the real one. “My ladies.” Thomas strode towards them, smiling. “Are you still going to The Spring Resort? Why don‘t I send you there?”

“There‘s no need for that.” Gwen curled her lips into a smile. “I‘ll go myself. You should take Luna and Yannie home. The two of them have been helping me the whole day; they must be exhausted.

“I feel like going to the hot springs by myself for some alone time.” Luna could not help frowning when she heard this. “I‘ll go with you, Gwen.” She was worried about Gwen. Even though Gwen was acting fine, she could not help feeling that something was not right. “I‘ll be fine.” Gwen turned to smile at Luna. “After all, I have to learn to be by myself, and you can‘t possibly be with me forever, can you?

“How is it possible that you‘re perfectly fine with leaving your three children alone in Merchant City but not me?”

Luna froze for a moment, not knowing how to argue with this.

Finally, she had no choice but to relent. She gently patted Gwen‘s shoulder in reassurance and said, “Please take care of yourself. If anything happens, you can call Joshua or me.”

“Don‘t worry.” Gwen waved at Luna before finally turning around and walking towards the main road. “You‘re an even bigger nagger than Luke was.”

With that, she hailed a taxi and got into it. Luna remained motionless, watching as the taxi disappeared from view.

After a long time, she suddenly recalled something and turned to glance at Thomas. “By the way, why are you the only one here? Where‘s Joshua?” Thomas paused for a moment, then finally told Luna the truth about Joshua having gone to seek out Kate.

Chapter 2665 “Does Joshua think that Kate lied to us?”

After all, Kate had claimed that the metal plate was already missing when she found Gwen‘s

pendant.

“That‘s right.” Thomas nodded. “Kate...is an exceptional crook.”

The Miller family mansion. Kate‘s father, Mr. Miller, stared at Joshua with a look of displeasure. “Mr. Lynch, I‘ve already told you many times that Kate isn‘t home at the moment, so why is it that you‘re so insistent on meeting her?”

Joshua took a sip from his cup elegantly, lowered his head to glance at the Miller family‘s stocks, and chuckled. “Mr. Miller, have you not heard a single word that I just said?

“I‘ve already told you that for every ten minutes that Kate doesn‘t show up, I‘ll make Miller Group‘s stock price go one point lower. Now, it‘s already dropped by three points.” As he said this, Joshua gracefully put down his cup and added, “Let me calculate just how much longer it‘ll take before Miller Group goes bankrupt.

“Well, according to my calculations, exactly an hour.”

Mr. Miller furrowed his brow as he stared at the dwindling stock prices. “What are you trying to do, Joshua Lynch?”

“I want to see Kate.” Joshua lifted his head to stare haughtily at Mr. Miller. “Also, I need you to explain who Steven Hughes is and how he is related to Luke Jones.”

The color drained from Mr. Miller‘s face upon hearing this.

He turned to glare at the nearest servant. “Get Ms. Miller home as soon as possible!”

With that, he shot Joshua a cold glance. “Mr. Lynch, I‘ve already sent someone to search for Kate, but if you want me to clarify the relationship between Steven Hughes and Luke Jones...

“The only information I can offer you is that they have nothing in common at all, apart from their resemblance in looks.”

“Is that so?” Joshua curled his lips into a sneer and swept his steely gaze over Mr. Miller‘s face. “That‘s not what I found, though.

“According to the birth records of Saigen City Central Hospital, Mrs. Hughes had given birth to a pair of twin boys more than twenty years ago.”

Mr. Miller‘s face turned a paler shade of white when he heard this. He furrowed his brow and said, “Since you‘ve already investigated this, Mr. Lynch, you should know that one of Mrs. Hughes‘ twins died soon after birth!”

“Is that so?” Joshua sneered as he took out some photos of Steven from five years back.

He pointed at Steven‘s brow bone, which in this photo was spotless. “This is the last photo of Steven before he got into his accident, and as you can see, there is no scar present at all.

“However, now, Steven possesses the same scar as Luke did, in the same place. “Are you trying to tell me, Mr. Miller, that during Steven‘s past five years of being in a coma, someone had hurt him and left behind this scar?”

Joshua‘s tone was sharp and malicious.

The domineering aura surrounding Joshua‘s entire being was so suffocating that Mr. Miller could not help wiping the sweat from his forehead. “As for this, shouldn‘t you be asking the Hughes family instead of me?” “Is that what you think?” Joshua narrowed his eyes and glanced at his phone once more. “I guess letting your stocks drop one point every ten minutes isn‘t enough for you, Mr. Miller. Is that so?”

With that, Joshua took his phone out of his pocket and poised his finger over the keypad, ready to dial the number.

“No, no!” Mr. Miller stormed forward to stop him. “Please don‘t do this, Mr. Lynch! You want to know the truth about Luke and Steven, don‘t you? I‘ll tell you everything!”

Chapter 2666 Joshua finally tucked his phone away as he turned to glance coldly at Mr. Miller. “Continue.

“If whatever you tell me doesn‘t match up with my investigation...” Joshua curled his lips into a smirk. “I can‘t guarantee that Miller Group will even still be standing tomorrow.”

Joshua never tried to target the Miller family all because of Luke.

Even though Kate had almost killed Bonnie, and Jim therefore developed a hatred toward her, Joshua never chose to get revenge on the Miller family, but it was not because he did not possess the power to do so.

Truth be told, even though the Miller family was one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Saigen City, they were still no match for Joshua at all. The only reason he let them off the hook was that the Miller family had given Luke hope during his loneliest days.

If the Miller family had not told Luke about the potential cure for Gwen‘s disease, Luke would have taken his life to be with Gwen.

Therefore, before they arrived in Saigen City, both Joshua and Jim refrained from laying a finger on the Millers during the past month that Luke had left. However, after knowing that Luke was possibly Steven‘s long–lost twin brother, Joshua could not help thinking that time had run out.

He had shown the Miller family enough grace.

“Don‘t worry, Mr. Lynch.” When faced with the look of malice in Joshua‘s eyes, Mr. Miller shrunk backward and whimpered, “The truth is, Steven and Luke...

“They‘re indeed...twin brothers.”

He sighed and continued, “Mrs. Hughes had indeed given birth to a set of twins, but... unfortunately, a fortune teller had foretold the future and claimed that the Hughes family was only allowed to have one heir. However, Mrs. Hughes had given birth to two sons.

“According to the fortune teller, the Hughes family were only allowed to keep one son and abandon the other. If they ignored the prophecy, both the children wouldn‘t live... “Initially, no one believed the prophecy, but not long after the birth, both the sons ended up falling gravely ill...”

Mr. Miller sighed. “After desperately trying to cure the two little boys to no avail, the Hughes family finally believed the fortune teller‘s word...and abandoned the sicker one of the two children.”

Mr. Miller lifted his head to glance at Joshua. “Since you‘ve already looked into this, Mr. Lynch, you should know by now that the boy that the Hughes family abandoned is none other than Luke.”

Joshua narrowed his eyes. “Go on.” Truth be told, Joshua had guessed that much. However, as the father of four children, he was unwilling to believe that someone could have abandoned their child just because of a prophecy.

Not only that, but the abandoned child was his best friend, Luke. Joshua‘s chest tightened whenever he thought of how Luke talked about his difficult upbringing. If Luke had not been abandoned by his family as a baby, he would not have ended up becoming a gangster that had to fight for his survival.

Joshua knew just how hard it had been for Luke to claw his way to the top. Never in Joshua‘s wildest dreams had he imagined that Luke Jones, the man who literally had to fight his way to the top, was actually the heir to the Hughes fortune, the wealthiest family in Saigen City.

Fate was playing a trick on Luke. However, the people who did this to him were Steven‘s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes!

Chapter 2667 It was their superstitious beliefs that led them to abandon Luke as a baby!

“Five years ago, Steven Hughes got involved in an accident and wound up in a coma, and because of this, the Hughes family requested our help tracking down their lost child,” Mr. Miller continued. “Of course, Mr. Lynch, you know that Miller Group has substantial resources in the medical field, but not only that, both our families had a marriage agreement since a long time ago as well. “Therefore, the Hughes family agreed that if we helped Steven wake up from his coma, they‘d let their son marry our precious Kate.” Joshua narrowed his eyes and tapped his slender fingers lightly against the coffee table. “So this was how you found Luke?”

Mr. Miller nodded. “That‘s right. About a year ago, Luke came to seek our help, and just the first glance at him shocked us all to our cores. He and Steven were like carbon copies of each other!

“We‘ve been searching for him for five years, and we never thought that he‘d appear on our doorstep!”

Joshua furrowed his eyebrows. “What happened next?” Mr. Miller sighed and could not help feeling a little guilty when he thought of this. “Well, you know full well that Luke had come to us because of his girlfriend, Gwen. “After our medical experts conducted a thorough workup on her, they found that even though Gwen was in ill health, she would, fortunately, be cured if she received a heart transplant from Luke...”

He sighed and continued, “Initially, we had planned to give Luke‘s to Gwen, whereas the rest of his organs would go to Steven. That way, Steven stood a chance of waking up from his coma, but this came with risks and complications, of course.”

Mr. Miller rubbed his glabella in frustration. “Therefore, we came up with another plan.

“Since Luke and Steven were identical twins, Steven‘s heart would also be able to save Gwen.

ourse of action was to transplant Steven‘s heart into Gwen‘s body, which would save Gwen and also allow Luke to return to his family and become the rightful heir to the Hughes fortune.

“However, the Hughes family would never agree to this. After all, they had raised Steven since birth, but not only that, they‘d never allow a gangster to take over the family fortune.” A glimmer of malice flashed through Joshua‘s eyes. If Luke was still alive, he would not have wanted to reclaim his family after knowing what kind of people they were. He was such an arrogant and prideful man; he would never have imagined that his family would look down on him like this.

“We dabbled on this for a long time and finally came to a compromise.”

Mr. Miller turned his head away so as not to meet Joshua‘s gaze. “In the end, we used Steven‘s heart to save Gwen as a tribute to Luke.

“The body you guys buried was, in fact, Steven‘s, and as for the real Luke...” Mr. Miller sniffed. “We wiped all of Luke‘s memories away and instilled his mind with Steven‘s instead. To put it in simpler terms, the man you now know as Steven is actually Steven‘s mind contained within Luke‘s body.”

Joshua narrowed his eyes. “Does this mean that Luke has lost all his memories?”

“Well, not just his memories.” Mr. Miller shook his head. “All the information in his brain. including his memories, higher thinking, and logical reasoning, are all Steven‘s. “We simply borrowed Luke‘s body as a vessel, but its core still belongs to Steven.

“This was the only way to bring Steven back to life.

“The Hughes family were unwilling to accept a gangster as their son, and we, the Miller family, are unwilling to let our daughter marry a man whose heart belongs to someone else. “Now, Steven is the perfect being, the one who strikes the perfect balance for both families.”

Chapter 2668 Clang! Joshua squeezed the glass in his hand so harshly that it burst into smithereens. He lifted his head to stare coldly at Mr. Miller. “Do you honestly think that Steven is perfect now?”

Joshua had previously thought that ‘Steven‘ was just Luke, whose memories had been wiped. He never thought the Miller and Hughes families would do something like this!

They had used Steven‘s heart to save Gwen, then wiped Luke’s memories from his mind and instilled Steven‘s consciousness into Luke‘s body, rendering him an entirely different person altogether!

However, Luke was also a member of the Hughes family; the unwanted son they had abandoned as a child! The only reason they had tracked him down so many years later was because Steven had ended up in a coma. Now that they had extracted Luke‘s consciousness, all that remained was an empty husk of a human being, a vessel for their beloved Steven.

They loved Steven and even went so far as to change Luke into Steven! A chill spread through Joshua‘s entire body at the thought of this. He was outraged by this. Luke‘s life had turned out to be such a tragedy. He had been looked down on and used even until the last moments of his death.

Even though, in the end, he had crawled to the top of the food chain and become a well–feared and well–respected gangster, he failed to protect the woman he loved just because of his past.

In the end, even after Gwen fell ill, he could not protect her at all, and the only solution he could think of was to sacrifice his own life and literally give her his heart.

Little did Luke know, this would not be the death he expected. 1

The Miller family did not let him die at all and instead wiped all his memories, thus separating his physical form from his consciousness and turning him into someone else. He had become someone that, in their opinion, was of clean background and whose heart did not belong to another woman.

Both the Miller and Hughes family never treated Luke like a human or showed him a single ounce of respect. The only thing they wanted was Luke‘s body, one that was identical to Steven‘s!

At the thought of this, Joshua narrowed his eyes, and the entire room seemed to drop a few degrees colder abruptly. “You‘re saying that Luke has now become another person entirely, right?”

Not only had he lost his memories, but everything–his thoughts and cognition–that made Luke the man he was.

“That‘s right.” Mr. Miller did not dare to say more when he sensed Joshua‘s anger. “You can‘t call this a simple amnesia...

“Well, all I can say is that now, everything about Steven belongs to Steven, apart from his body”

Joshua tightened his grip around the glass,

Despite the broken glass cutting into his skin and blood seeping out, he could not feel a single ounce of pain

The pain in his heart seemed to surpass anything he could feel physically, This was Luke, his best friend. Even if he had not sought out the Miller and Hughes family, Luke would have given his life for Gwen anyway. If that had happened, Joshua would have grieved and missed his best friend However, after finding out the truth, Joshua was overcome with pain and pity toward Luke The Hughes family could have thought of another solution Steven Hughes should have died five years ago. However, God had spared his life, perhaps so that Steven could live until the Hughes family tracked down Luke,

Chapter 2669 The Hughes and Miller families could have allowed Luke to return to his family after donating Steven‘s organs to Gwen. As Luke‘s friend, Joshua knew that apart from being a skilled fighter, Luke was also a smart man that could easily pick up running a business. Even if the Miller and Hughes families did not want to choose this option, they could have helped Luke find alternative solutions to cure Gwen so that they would not need to sacrifice Steven at all!

However, they chose not to.

They had planned to take Luke‘s life and render him a container for Steven‘s mind since the start.

This was why they had sent Kate to Merchant City to keep an eye on Luke. This was why Kate‘s feelings toward Luke had always appeared fleeting and ambiguous.

Sometimes, she would appear to be head over heels for Luke, but other times, Joshua could not help thinking that she was cold and indifferent toward him.

This was because Kate had never loved Luke at all; the only thing she loved about him was his face.

The face that was identical to Steven‘s.

At the thought of this, Joshua narrowed his eyes and turned to stare at Mr. Miller. “What if I want to turn Steven back into Luke?”

Mr. Miller lowered his head. “That‘s not possible, Mr. Lynch. I know you miss your friend and long for him to return, but...”

He sighed. “There‘s no way we can do that, just as there‘s no way to retrieve something that has been washed away by the ocean.

“We’ve already replaced everything that belonged to Luke with Steven‘s, and it‘s as though his entire brain has become Steven‘s brain, now.

“Even if we removed all of Steven‘s memories and cognition from his mind, it‘ll only render him an empty husk of a human being, but never become Luke again.” With that, Mr. Miller lifted his head to glance sheepishly at Joshua. “Besides the fact that his body is still very much alive, everything about Luke is already dead now. “Luke had planned to donate his heart to Gwen so she can live, and we’ve done the same, just with Steven‘s heart instead.

“Since we‘ve fulfilled Luke‘s dying wish, you should all treat this as though Luke has truly died instead of trying to trouble us even further, isn‘t it?”

Joshua‘s expression turned dark upon hearing this. He stomped over to Mr. Miller and lifted him by his collar. “Since you‘re capable of replacing Luke‘s mind with Steven‘s thoughts, you‘ll surely be able to do the opposite.

“I‘m going to give you two weeks‘ time, and by the end of two weeks, I want to see Luke return. If you fail...”

He narrowed his eyes. “I‘ll make it my mission to bankrupt both the Hughes and Miller families. Not only that, but I will expose all your wrongdoings and sue you in court. “I want everyone to find out what a horrible crime you‘ve committed!”

With that, he let go of Mr. Miller, wiped the blood on his white shirt, and stormed toward the door.

However, the moment he reached the entrance, the door creaked open from outside.

Kate strode into the house, clinging onto Steven with one hand while holding some shopping bags in the other.

Both of them froze in shock when they came face–to–face with Joshua. Kate furrowed her brow as a bad feeling sunk into her heart. “What‘re you doing here, Joshua?

“What do you think?” Joshua glanced first at Steven, then at Kate. “I have to admit that I underestimated you, Ms. Miller.”

Chapter 2670

The color drained from Kate‘s face.

From the moment she caught sight of Joshua in her house, she knew that he was here because of Luke and Steven. When she saw how pale her father looked, as well as Joshua‘s declaration, she instinctively knew that Joshua must have found out about everything.

She curled her lips into a forced smile and said with a hint of helplessness. “I never thought Mr. Lynch would be so swift.”

Joshua had only met Steven once that morning, and because of this, Kate thought she would at least have one or two days to be in the clear.

To her surprise, Joshua had managed to piece everything together within 12 hours and even showed up at her door to confront her.

She had always heard rumors about Joshua being a brilliant man, but she had never once witnessed the extent of his intelligence and quick thinking.

This was the first time.

ev

el

Joshua could not help smirking when he heard this. “I should‘ve known. However...” He glanced coldly at Steven and sneered. “It‘s not too late yet.” With that, he reached his hand out toward Steven. “We meet again, Mr. Hughes.”

Steven had no idea what Joshua and Kate were talking about, but when he saw Joshua extending his hand toward him, he shook it nonetheless. “Nice to meet you again.”

After all, Joshua was Thomas‘ advisor, and as Thomas‘ business partner, Steven knew better than to get on Joshua‘s bad side.

Joshua froze momentarily when he met Steven‘s clear gaze.

A split second later, he let go of Steven‘s hand and strode away.

“What was Mr. Lynch doing at your house?” Steven turned to shoot Kate a puzzled look as soon as Joshua disappeared.

Kate had claimed that she did not know Joshua very well, but judging from their conversation, the two of them seemed quite familiar with each other.

“Perhaps he just came for a catch–up.” Kate chuckled and snaked her arm around Steven‘s.

For some reason, she could not help feeling that she would lose him very soon. Therefore, she had to cling to him as though her life depended on it.

“Father.” Kate strode toward her father, smiling as she held onto Steven‘s arm. “What did Mr. Lynch talk to you about just now?” Mr. Miller was silent for a long time before finally breaking into a sheepish smile. “Nothing. Mr. Lynch was so kind as to help me analyze the financial data regarding Miller Group and helped me predict the financial challenges that would come our way....”

Even though he was trying to be tactsul, Kate quickly caught on.

Joshua had used Miller Group‘s future to threaten her father.

Steven, however, was oblivious to all this. “That‘s extremely kind of Mr. Lynch, isn‘t it?”

He had grown up in a well–protected family, and on top of that, he had been in a coma for five years. Therefore, even though he looked close to thirty, his mind was still that of a young man in his early twenties.

Mr. Miller glanced first at Steven, then at Kate, and finally smiled. “That‘s right. Mr. Lynch...is a very nice man.”

This was the vengeance between Luke and the Hughes family.

Not only that, but Luke had already ceased to exist, yet Joshua was still willing to threaten them over this.

Mr. Miller knew full well that Joshua possessed the capability of bankrupting them all, but Miller Group was a robust and well–endorsed company. Even if Joshua wanted to bankrupt them, it would cost him a significant financial burden to do so.

However, he had not hesitated at all.

It was as though Joshua did not care about the price he had to pay to avenge Luke‘s death.

Mr. Miller could not help wondering–just how close had Joshua and Luke been before his death?

Gwen spent the entire afternoon relaxing in The Spring Resort.