Ch. 2811..2820
Chapter 2811
Inside Howard Mansion, Dan could not help curling his lips into a smirk when he read the comments about Thomas and Joshua on the internet.
“That Joshua Lynch has always been a pain in the ass. I’ve always wanted to find some way to get rid of him, but I never thought he’d wind up like Thomas.” He lifted his wine glass to his lips and took a sip from it. “If I’d known killing that old geezer would bring us so much help, I would’ve done this sooner.
“Not only did we manage to get rid of Thomas, but we even chased that Joshua Lynch right out of Saigen City too. What a pleasant surprise!”
Tina gazed out the window as she took a sip from her wine glass. “That’s right. I never thought that old geezer’s death would solve all our problems like this. We’ve finally reaped what we sowed. I can’t believe that after all these years, we finally lived to see our hard work pay off!”
Even though it was in the middle of winter and temperatures were subzero, Tina could not help feeling a surge of warmth spread throughout her body, as though the sunlight was warming her right to the core.
Dan grinned even wider upon hearing this. “You’re right, Mother. If Thomas hadn’t brought that wretched woman home yesterday, he wouldn’t have accidentally let that bullet loose, and we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to kill that old man!”
He put down his glass and began scrolling through the news once more.
All of a sudden, a news headline popped up at the top of the page, and his smile froze on his face. “How could this be…”
“What’s wrong?” Tina furrowed her brow when she sensed this. She was just about to ask further questions when her phone rang.
It was the head bodyguard in charge of keeping an eye on Mr. Zink. “Mrs. Howard, we’ve failed -Mr. Zink was kidnapped.”
“What?” Tina was so shocked that her wine glass slipped out of her hand, crumbling into smithereens on the floor. She furrowed her brows and snapped, “When did this happen? Did you send anyone to get him back?”
The bodyguard sighed. “We…we only found out after seeing the news online. We’re already looking through surveillance tapes, trying to find the culprit, but…I don’t think it’s possible to get him back.”
Tina was outraged by this. “What the fuck were you doing all this while? You only found out Mr. Zink was kidnapped through the internet…wait–what do you mean, through the internet? What news?”
The guard was silent for a moment before finally saying, “You should go check it out yourself.
“I With that, he hung up the phone without waiting for Tina’s reply.
“What an asshole!” Tina was irate at the fact that her subordinate had hung up on her. “No worries. Since I’ll take over Howard Group in the future, I can always fire these lazy asses myself!”
Then, she turned to glance at Dan. “Danny, that guard just mentioned some news on the internet. What is he talking about?”
Dan bit his lip, brought up his phone with shaky hands, and pressed play on the video that was trending on the internet.
His voice was trembling as he replied, “Mother… What are we going to do? “I think… I think we’re screwed…”
Chapter 2812
“What the hell are you talking about?” Tina despised hearing things like this, so she immediately flew into a rage when she heard her own son talking this way. “Can you not be such a party pooper? We were celebrating our victory! What could’ve gone wrong?”
She strode over to Dan and snatched the laptop out of his hands. “We’ve won. Unless that old geezer somehow was raised from the dead, there’s no way we could’ve failed. Besides, haven’t we already confirmed his death? How could he possibly be revived?”
Before she could even finish her sentence, she caught sight of the image on the screen.
Senior Howard was dead, alright, but at this moment, she was staring at an image of him before his demise.
In the video, Senior Howard was leaning against his headboard, wearing the familiar hospital gown. His face appeared pale, but his voice was just as boisterous as ever.
“If you’re watching this video, it means that I’m probably dead by now, but there are some things I’d like to clarify to the world.
“If I’m still alive, these secrets might never even see the light, but now that I’m dead, I wish everyone to find out the truth.”
With that, he let out an exhale and brought out a stack of documents. “If it weren’t for Mr. Lynch’s help, I would never have discovered that I had raised a son that wasn’t even my own for over two decades!”
He flipped open the folder, revealing the contents inside.
It was a DNA report comparing two samples: one that belonged to Dan and the other to Senior Howard.
However, a row of words at the bottom of the page read, [Sample A and Sample B displayed no genetic similarities to each other.]
Tina gasped when she saw this.
How could this be?
How could Joshua have easily exposed the secret she had been hiding for so many years?
Many years ago, Senior Howard had investigated Dan’s background after accidentally finding out that Dan’s blood type was not a match to his.
At that time, Tina had emptied her bank account and was even forced to sell all the expensive jewelry Senior Howard had gifted her just to bribe the DNA Diagnostic Centers in Saigen City into concealing her secret.
She had switched out the real DNA report for a fake one to convince Senior Howard into thinking Dan was indeed his son.
How could Joshua have sniffed this out within days of arriving in Saigen City and even conducted a DNA test on Dan and Senior Howard without anyone knowing?
“One report won’t prove anything.” Tina forced herself to stay calm as she glanced at Dan. “Be a man, and don’t let such trivial things scare you. We can always argue that Joshua had bribed
the DNA Diagnostic Centers into producing a fake report.”
Since she had been capable of doing the same thing many years ago, she could always turn it around.
Besides, Senior Howard was already dead, and thus, there was no longer any proof to support Joshua’s claims. He would never dare to dig up Senior Howard’s body to prove his point!
Even if Joshua had the guts to do so, she would never allow him near Senior Howard’s body!
Just as she was in the middle of reassuring herself, Senior Howard’s voice rang out once more, “Perhaps you’ll all be thinking, ‘One DNA report can’t prove anything; Joshua could’ve bribed the DNA Diagnostic Center into producing a fake report,’ but clearly, Mr. Lynch had thought of this beforehand.”
He turned the page.
Then another, and another.
There were more than 10 DNA reports contained within the folder, and as he flipped through them, Senior Howard stared coldly at the camera. “How could one have possibly been able to buy out so many DNA Diagnostic Centers?”
Chapter 2813
Tina’s entire body froze upon hearing this.
She stared dazedly at the man on the screen, her ears ringing so hard that she could not even hear her son calling her name.
Dan was right…
They were screwed.
With Mr. Zink being abducted and Senior Howard’s last words announced on the internet, everyone in Saigen City would know that Dan was not Senior Howard’s biological son and that she had deceived him.
Tina had put in so much effort to plan this and naively thought she had succeeded, but it turned out that Joshua was always one step ahead!
The night before, when she and Dan were still figuring out how to kill Senior Howard without anyone suspecting them, Joshua had already laid out his plan.
Tina closed her eyes, her face as pale as a ghost.
“Everyone,” all of a sudden, Joshua’s voice rang out. “This video was taken when I went to visit Senior Howard yesterday. I promised him that if he pulled through, I’d never reveal this video for the whole world to see, but the fact that all of you are watching this right now means only one thing–Senior Howard passed away last night.
“According to Mrs. Howard and the hospital, Senior Howard died of internal injuries he suffered as a result of Thomas‘ attack, which is why Thomas is being detained at the police station now, awaiting his hearing.
“However, when I went to visit Senior Howard at the hospital yesterday, I managed to take a look at his lab reports and hospitalization notes.
“I’m posting all this information to the public in hopes that all the doctors and medical professionals watching this will be able to answer one question: could Senior Howard have died so suddenly in this condition?”
Joshua’s voice was calm and confident.
Dan bit his lip and turned to stare at his mother in despair. He whimpered, “Mother, why is Joshua so confident? Why does he always seem to know what we’re up to? What’s going to happen now?”
Tina closed her eyes and curled her lips into a bitter smile. “Thomas has won. We… We’re no match for Joshua Lynch at all.”
Joshua had been one step ahead of them all along; he had seen right through their plans and even formulated a defense against them.
With the evidence revealed to the world, they could never deny or explain their way out of this.
However…
Tina had underestimated Joshua’s ability.
i
This was not yet the end.
Senior Howard’s voice rang out from the laptop.
It was a recording that Mr. Zink had provided of Senior Howard writing his will.
After hearing Senior Howard’s designations, Dan immediately cried out in despair, “I can’t believe he left me nothing!”
“Now’s not the time to worry about this.” Tina shot her greedy son with a look of anguish.” We should worry about ourselves now.”
The next moment, an image of Mr. Zink, severely bruised and injured, appeared on the screen. “Second Young Master Howard was the one who did this to me…
“He forced me to tell him everything about Senior Howard’s will…and I’m sorry to say that I didn’t manage to uphold my integrity in the face of physical abuse… I’m the reason Senior Howard ended up like this… If I hadn’t said anything, he’d probably still be alive right now…”
Before he could even finish, the sound of sirens blared from outside as police cars pulled up in front of Howard Mansion.
A few minutes later, the cops barged into the house and appeared before Tina and Dan. “Sir, Madam, you are under arrest for suspected murder.”
Chapter 2814
When Tina and Dan arrived at the police station, they bumped into Yannie and Thomas, who were on their way out.
The four of them crossed paths.
Yannie pursed her lips when she saw them and instinctively grasped Thomas‘ hand.
Just a few minutes ago, she had promised the cops that she would keep a stern eye on Thomas so he would not do anything rash after bailing him out. At this moment, when she caught sight of Tina and Dan, she instinctively tightened her grip on Thomas‘ to prevent him from acting rashly.
Thomas could sense her worry. He furrowed his brow slightly and curled his lips into a smile as he stared at Tina and Dan. “I’m assuming neither of you thought you’d end up here so soon, huh?”
Even though he had not known of Senior Howard’s will and death before he was captured, the cops had enlightened him on the events that happened prior to his release.
Tina paused, clearly slightly surprised by Thomas‘ comment, then sneered. “You’re right; I hadn’t expected this at all. Who would’ve thought a dumbass like you could’ve found someone as smart as Joshua to help you out?”
She shot Thomas a disdainful look and added, “Don’t you dare think that you’ve won–I lost to Joshua, but that doesn’t mean I lost to you.
“If you hadn’t sought out Joshua’s help, this would never have happened. Your father was right; you’re a useless fuck. If it weren’t for Joshua, you’d still be in jail! You have nothing to be victorious about!”
The light in Thomas‘ eyes dimmed.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at Tina with a look so cold it was as though he wanted to murder her right on the spot.
When she saw this, Yannie quickly placed herself between them and stared at Tina, frowning. ” I know you’re just trying to provoke him so that he’d lose his cool and attack you. You’re just doing this to drag him down with you, but I won’t let you do that.”
Thomas furrowed his brow upon hearing this. A glimmer of surprise and joy flashed through his eyes.
His precious Yannie…had grown up.
She was trying to protect him.
Tina furrowed her brow upon hearing this.
She was so close to winning, so close!
If Yannie had not stopped him, Thomas would have held her in a headlock, and if that had happened, he would wind up back in jail alongside her and Dan!
She would do anything to drag Thomas down with her!
At this thought, Tina closed her eyes in despair.
A split second later, she opened her eyes and stared at Thomas coldly. “You’re a lucky man.”
Not only was her plan foiled by Joshua, but Yannie had even seen right through her.
Why was Thomas so lucky to have found people like them to help him?
“There’s one thing I still don’t understand.” She let out an exhale and glanced at Thomas. ” Why is Joshua helping you so much?”
Joshua and Thomas should never have known each other in the first place. Was it because Joshua had taken care of Thomas‘ daughter, Riley, at one point?
However, according to her spies, Joshua and Thomas were enemies in Merchant City, and at one point, Thomas had even transpired to destroy Joshua over Riley, so why did Joshua suddenly have a change of heart? Why did he suddenly decide to hand the child back to Thomas and even fly all the way to Saigen City to help him?
Thomas curled his lips into a smile. “What do you think?”
Chapter 2815
Tina’s entire body stiffened, and she frowned at him. “What…kind of relationship do you have with him?”
She could tell from Thomas‘ attitude that he and Joshua were not just ordinary business.
associates.
“He and I go way back.” Thomas curled his lips into a smirk as though he could sense what. Tina was thinking and disdainfully added, “Aunt Tina, you’re far more naive than I thought. If you had spent the time to actually get to know Joshua, you would’ve discovered just how smart he is.
“Not only does he dominate Banyan City, but he even turned Merchant City into his business. empire within a year of arriving there. You and I can barely even begin to imagine the true extent of his wealth and power.
“The Howard family’s fortune is of no attraction to him at all. If he wanted to, he could’ve established a new business and dominated the entire Saigen City within months, so how could I have bought him out with money?”
Despair crept across Tina’s face.
She always thought that Joshua had begun working for Thomas because of the attractive reward he promised her. Even though she knew that Joshua was an exceptionally wealthy man and probably did not even care for Howard Group, she figured, who would say no to more money?
If Thomas offered something attractive enough, she was sure that Joshua would agree to help him.
Therefore, as soon as she was arrested, she began thinking of ways to utilize all her money, including the savings she had stashed overseas in preparation for Dan’s future, in order to bribe Joshua into dropping charges.
This was why she wanted to know what relationship Thomas and Joshua had.
She was hopeful that she would receive the answer she wanted that Joshua was simply bribed into helping Thomas, but it was clear from Thomas‘ response that this was not the case.
Joshua had not been helping him for the money at all, but if not.
She bit her lip, staring at Thomas, and finally asked, “If he didn’t do this for the money what for?”
Could he have agreed to help Thomas because he had at one point adopted Thomas and Yannie’s daughter?
“That’s because we’re family.” Thomas did not intend to hide anything anymore. He stared intently at Tina and enunciated carefully, “My mother and Joshua’s mother, Rianne, are twin sisters, so what do you think that makes us?”
Tina’s eyes widened in shock.
Joshua…was Thomas‘ biological cousin?
That crazy Rianne…was Joshua’s mother?
How could she have carried such an intelligent man in her womb?
“If I remember correctly, you had at one point bullied my Aunt Rianne just like how you did to my mother, right?”
The color drained from Tina’s face. She bit her lip, and her entire body began to shake like a leaf.
She…had indeed done bad things to Rianne in the past.
Rianne and Eanne were identical twins.
After she first slept with Senior Howard after rendering him drunk, she trotted over to Eanne’s place, intending to taunt her with this.
However, at that time, she did not know that Eanne had a twin sister, so she had mistaken Rianne for Eanne, who was pretending to be a lunatic on purpose and blinded her in one eye by accident.
She suffered nightmares of this event for a long time after that, but gradually, as she committed many more heinous crimes, she forgot about this incident.
As Thomas brought this up, her entire body broke out in cold sweats as she remembered all the blood pouring out of that woman’s eye.
Chapter 2816
“I guess you do remember.” Thomas curled his lips into a smirk when he saw Tina’s face turning pale. “Well, I told Joshua about you blinding my Aunt Rianne, so he was willing to come over to Saigen City and throw you into prison himself, even without the promise of money. However…”
He sighed. “I never thought you’d be so cruel as to kill that old geezer.”
“Why are you so surprised?” Tina sneered at him. “Since Carl had the guts to leave everything to you in his will, why are you so surprised that I had the guts to kill him and take back what’s rightfully mine?”
A glimmer of malice crossed her face as she snarked, “After Eanne died, he was in such a slump that all he did for a long time was drink and drink nonstop. If it weren’t for me,
if I hadn’t dragged Howard Group back from the edge of bankruptcy, he wouldn’t even be where he was!
“He can’t take away my credit for helping him, can he? How dare he dismiss me with just a small bungalow and a branch of the company? Since when have you ever cared about Howard Group when you’ve been living your life as a movie star all this while?
“I thought that since he never seemed to care about you all these years, and you never once came home to visit him, the two of you would’ve drifted apart, but even until his death, he still chose to leave everything to you!
“If I didn’t do anything and instead waited around while the two of you made up, I’d get nothing!”
She grew even more determined as she continued, “Thomas, remember that I was the one. who single–handedly saved Howard Group after your mother died! Even if I get arrested, you can’t deny my sacrifices and take everything yourself! You have to leave something for me it’s what I deserve!”
Thomas could not help chuckling when he heard this.
“You were the one who saved Howard Group single–handedly after my mother died, you say?” he scoffed. “Have you somehow forgotten how she died? You and Carl were the ones who had killed her! If it weren’t for you, Howard Group wouldn’t even have ended up on the brink of bankruptcy in the first place!
“Howard Group was prospering at its peak when my mother reigned; you were the ones who had pitched everything into darkness in the first place! How dare you brag about your sacrifices‘ and demand that I give you your reward? How shameless are you, Tina?”
The color drained from Tina’s face.
“Don’t worry.” Thomas scoffed once more. “After I walk out of here, I’ll help Joshua gather more evidence of your wrongdoing, including how you and Carl murdered my mother, how you blinded my Aunt Rianne, and how you killed your own husband…
“I won’t rest until I gather every piece of evidence to put you in jail!”
With that, he shot Dan, who was cowering behind Tina, a cold look and added, “You, too. I’ll make sure you get the punishment you deserve, like your mother.”
With that, he turned, grabbed hold of Yannie’s hand, and stomped out of the building
After getting into the car, Thomas furrowed his brow as he suddenly recalled something.” Yannie, do you think I seem to have forgotten someone else? Like Denise?”
Chapter 2817
Silence blanketed the atmosphere.
Yannie bit her lip and stared at Thomas, her face pale as she asked tentatively, “What do you mean? Are you talking about…what she did to you with Tina yesterday?
“Well, if you are…I think you should indeed get your revenge on her too.”
Yannie still had no idea how she would go about dealing with this.
She had lost sleep the night before, trying to figure out if she should tell Thomas the truth. Therefore, she did not know that Thomas had already put two and two together, nor did she know that Luna had already told him the truth.
At this thought, she paused for a moment and said, “Actually…”
“You don’t have to continue hiding anything from me; I know everything.” Thomas sighed and gently clasped her hand. “After we were separated yesterday, I called Luna, and she told me the truth.”
He sighed and continued, “I know…I know that Denise and I did unspeakable things during the period of time my memory blanked out. Is that right?”
Yannie bit her lip, staring at Thomas dazedly as tears slid down her cheeks.
She stared at him for a long time, unsure what to say.
She did not know how she was supposed to react to this, nor how she could express her feelings.
“I’m sorry you have to put up with this.” Thomas sighed when he met her gaze. “You knew full well what had happened, and yet, you had to pretend that I had slept with you instead…
“I don’t know how you truly feel, but if I were in your shoes…”
He tightened his grip on her hand. “If I were you, I could never bring myself to do this, and even if I did, I’d be in agony.
“I’m sorry you had to go through this, Yannie, sq…”
He paused for a moment. “If you want to leave me, I won’t stop you, and if you want to take Riley with you, I’ll respect your decision, too.
“All I want is for you to promise me that we’ll still keep in touch, and I’ll still be able to see you and Riley from time to time… That’s all I want.”
This was the only thing he could do to make it up to Yannie.
He was a loyal and devoted person, so he knew just how agonizing this event could be; he did not have the right to ask Yannie to choose him when he had violated the loyalty of their relationship.
If staying by his side was too hard for her, he was willing to grant her and Riley freedom.
Yannie could not stop her tears from falling. It was as though his words had removed the stopper that was blocking her tears from falling all this while.
She slumped in his arms, sobbing. “I don’t want to leave you, but every time I think about what happened, every time I imagine you and Denise…”
She sniffed. “No matter how hard I try, I really cannot convince myself to accept what happened.
“I still love you, Thomas, and of course I love Riley, but I…I can’t force myself to accept something like this… I don’t know what I should do… What do you think I should do?” Thomas narrowed his eyes at this. “I’ll make Denise pay the price for this.”
Chapter 2818
Yannie’s entire body stiffened upon hearing this. She lifted her head to stare at him, intending to say something, but no words came out.
If this happened to her in the past, she would have begged Thomas to show Denise some mercy, but at this moment, she felt that Denise deserved to be punished.
She recalled what happened at Howard Mansion the day before.
At that time, after Tina and Senior Howard left for the hospital, Yannie begged Denise for mercy as her men dragged Thomas into the room. She even got on both knees to beg her. Please don’t do this. When Thomas finds out about this, he won’t stop at anything to get revenge.”
However, Denise merely stared at her triumphantly and said, “Is that so? Do you think you know Thomas better than I do? You’re right; if he finds out I slept with him without his permission, he’ll be irate. Though. ”
She squatted so she would be at eye level with Yannie and lifted her chin, forcing Yannie to stare right into her cold gaze. “It’ll be an entirely different thing altogether when I get pregnant with his child.
“Have you forgotten? The only reason Thomas chose to be with you is because you got pregnant and gave birth to that nasty little baby. Why else would he want to be with someone like you?”
Yannie froze when she recalled this, then turned to stare at Thomas. “Thomas, I have something to ask you.”
“Sure.” Thomas let go of her, pulled himself back, and stared intently into her eyes. “I’m listening.”
A twinge of pain shot through her heart at this. She turned her head away to avoid his dark, penetrating stare.
She already knew the answer.
She knew what he would say just based on the look in his eyes.
Despite this, she let out an exhale and asked the question anyway. “When you said that…you liked me and wanted to be with me…was it because you love me as I am, or because of Riley?”
Thomas‘ entire body froze when he heard this.
A split second later, he reached out to pull Yannie into his arms and gently kissed her forehead. “My love, you’ve already asked me this plenty of times, but no matter how much you do, my answer will never change. The reason I want to be with you is that I love you just the way you are.
“When I first fell for you, I didn’t even know you’re Riley’s mother. At one point, I was even contemplating how I’d approach the situation if I found Riley’s mother one day. Do you…do you have any idea how overjoyed I was when I discovered that you weren’t only the love of my life but the mother of my child?”
Thomas‘ voice vibrated through his entire body and seemed to seep right into Yannie’s chest.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes. “I won’t ask stupid questions like this anymore.”
She knew the answer, but for some reason, whenever she thought about what Denise had said, she could not help doubting herself.
“Let’s go visit Riley.” Thomas let go of her and sighed, staring intently at her. “While I was locked in the holding cell, all I could think of was….whether I could see you and Riley if Joshua’s plan failed.”
He sighed. “That poor old geezer. He had trusted the wrong people, and even until his death, he never managed to meet his granddaughter.”
Chapter 2819
Even though Thomas had at one point hated his father’s guts, he was still his father at the end of the day.
Besides, even though Senior Howard had committed many mistakes in the past, he still
displayed remorse and tried to make up for his mistakes after finding out that Tina and Dan had deceived him for so many years.
The truth was, this was more than enough.
Thomas believed that if Senior Howard had pulled through, he would continue finding ways to patch things up between them.
Sadly, fate had different plans. Senior Howard had passed away before he could do so and before he could even meet his own granddaughter.
At the thought of this, Thomas sighed and took Yannie’s hand in his. “Let’s go. We’ll stop by to see Riley, then give my father a proper goodbye. After everything is settled, let’s pay Joshua a visit to discuss what should happen from here on out.”
Yannie nodded and curled her fingers around his.
According to Tina, Thomas was doing all this just to get his hands on the family fortune, but at this moment, she realized that Tina had been wrong.
The most important thing that mattered to Thomas was her and Riley, then his late father, and finally, the family business.
This was the biggest difference between Thomas and the mother–and–son duo, Tina and Dan. Thomas placed the people in his life above all else, whereas Tina and Dan cared only about money. This was why Tina had been under the impression that Joshua was helping Thomas out of greed.
Thomas started the car and headed toward the hospital.
On the way, Yannie received a call from Luna, who was checking in on them.
“Don’t worry; we’ve already left the police station.” Yannie glanced at Thomas, who had his eyes on the road, and added, “But unfortunately, we still need you and Mr. Lynch to help us out at Howard Group for a little while longer. After what happened, we need to get things in order before returning to Howard Group.”
Luna was reassured to hear this. “Alright. Don’t worry; Joshua and I will take good care of things.”
With that, she hung up the phone.
Behind her, Joshua stood in front of the glass windows, staring down at the streets as he held a cup of coffee in his hand.
Luna paused, then tucked her phone away and joined him.
The scene below them was a little amusing; after the reveal of Senior Howard’s video online, everyone finally saw Tina and Dan’s true colors. Because of this, the people on the streets erupted into chaos.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes. “I won’t ask stupid questions like this anymore.”
She knew the answer, but for some reason, whenever she thought about what Denise had said, she could not help doubting herself.
“Let’s go visit Riley.” Thomas let go of her and sighed, staring intently at her. “While I was locked in the holding cell, all I could think of was….whether I could see you and Riley if Joshua’s plan failed.”
He sighed. “That poor old geezer. He had trusted the wrong people, and even until his death, he never managed to meet his granddaughter.”
Chapter 2820
“That’s because I promised Senior Howard I’d do anything to protect his lawyer.” Joshua sighed and turned to glance at the streets below him with a look of helplessness. “I wasn’t the one who had filmed Senior Howard’s will–it was Mr. Zink.
“After I received the recording, Senior Howard had called me himself to ask me to protect Mr. Zink. This was why I sent Steven and Gwen to rescue him before I posted the video online.”
Luna was surprised by this.
Joshua was right. If he had released the video prior to ensuring Mr. Zink’s safety, Tina and Dan would find a way to exterminate Mr. Zink before they got arrested. Therefore, Joshua had taken great care to ensure Mr. Zink was safe before going after Tina and Dan.
At this thought, Luna sighed and said, “You’re such a detail–oriented person; nothing ever seems to faze you or disturb your plans.”
No matter what happened, Joshua never failed to remain calm somehow and be the most reliable person among them in the face of adversity.
“Do you think so?” Joshua let out a self–deprecating chuckle. “if I’m as good as you claim, our daughter wouldn’t have gone missing for so long.”
Luna’s heart sank at this.
She closed her eyes and sighed.
Even though she never wanted to give up on finding their daughter, the truth was…
Their daughter had been kidnapped three or four months ago, and according to her experience, it was not easy raising a baby.
If the kidnapper wanted to raise the child and eventually use her as a hostage against Luna and Joshua, all was good, but…
If the person just wanted her and Joshua to experience the pain of losing a child, the baby was unlikely to have survived.
Besides, if the kidnapper had wanted to use the child against her and Joshua, he or she would not have disappeared for so long without a trace.
Therefore, Luna was more inclined to believe that… their child was probably already dead.
Because of this, despite still wanting to track down their daughter, Luna deliberately tried to avoid talking about this and actually doing it.
The more time passed, the less hope she had of actually finding the child.
Joshua knew Luna was reluctant to talk about this any further. He sighed and pulled Luna close to him. “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, we’ll get an answer eventually.”
Bonnie and Jim had already sent a sample of Shelly’s DNA to the lab to be cross–matched with his and Luna’s.
No matter what the outcome of the test was, they would get an answer soon enough. “Yes.” Luna could not stop her tears from falling at the thought of her lost child.
Just as Joshua was in the middle of consoling her, however, her phone rang.
It was Yannie.
Yannie’s voice was croaky as she wailed, “Luna, Riley has gone missing!”