Ch. 2871..2880

Chapter 2871

“You can’t stop me,” Steven interjected as soon as she finished her sentence. “I don’t care what any of you think; I want to be with Gwen. This is between the two of us, and is none of your business.”

All of a sudden, he recalled the reason he had called his mother in the first place, so he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. “Mother, you’ve misunderstood all this. Gwen and I truly love each other, and if you don’t believe me, feel free to come to visit us, and bring Father along, too. Gwen and I will show you how genuine we are.”

Mrs. Hughes could not help snickering when she heard this. “You’re going to show me how genuine your are? How naive of you to think you truly love each other! You’re just a gullible man being strung along by a calculating witch!”

She sneered and added, “My dear son, please open your eyes and see that woman for what she truly is! All she wants from you is your life!”

Steven curled his lips into a smirk. “Mother, I’ve already told you; if you and Father come visit us, you’ll see for yourselves just how in love we are, but if you don’t…”

He paused for a moment before saying, “I’ll do what Denise did and leave Saigen City with Gwen, and we’ll spend the rest of our lives in Sea City.

“We’ll be waiting for you at The Orient tonight. The ball is in your court.”

With that, he let out an exhale and hung up.

A glimmer of malice flashed through Mrs. Hughes’ eyes as she gripped the phone tightly, listening to the

dial tone.

Finally, she slammed the phone onto the ground and shrieked, “That bitch!”

It was one thing for Denise to run away and elope, but another thing entirely when her only son threatened to do the same. Not to mention he was tricked into doing this by that calculating bitch!

“Don’t lose your temper.” Mr. Hughes, who had been sitting next to her all this while, had overheard the entire conversation. He sighed and took his wife’s hand in reassurance. “I’m sure that Steven is just temporarily swayed. Besides, didn’t he invite us to dinner with him and that woman? Why don’t we take him up on his offer and see just what other tricks that bitch has up her sleeve?

“We’re his parents. As long as we show that we care, I’m sure he’ll eventually return to our side!”

Mrs. Hughes finally began to relax at this.

“Mr. Hughes is right.” Mr. Hoffman, who had been eyeing Denise lustfully all this while, quickly piped up, No child would bear to hurt their parents like this, do they?

“I’m sure the only reason Young Master Hughes is acting this way is that he’s being seduced by that woman. As long as you talk things out, he’ll eventually realize his mistake!”

With that, he shot Denise a lewd glance and pulled her into his arms. “Well, since we’ve signed the contract, you guys should go ahead to meet Young Master Hughes, and leave Ms. Hughes here with me.

“He’s your biological son, after all, so naturally he matters more. As for this adopted daughter of yours…”

He reached out to grab Denise’s chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’ll help take care of her.”

Mr. and Mrs. Hughes exchanged a glance.

A split second later, they stood up and said, “Alright then. Thank you for helping us take care of Denise,

Mr. Hoffman. Please excuse us.”

With that, the two of them turned and left.

The door slammed shut behind them, and within minutes, the only people left inside the room were lascivious Mr. Hoffman and his poor victim Denise.

Chapter 2872

The Orient.

When Mr. and Mrs. Hughes arrived at the restaurant, Gwen was entwined in Steven’s arms, being fed pieces of fruit.

The door was half–shut, and even from a distance, Mrs. Hughes could hear Gwen’s gentle voice saying, ” Steven, I want you to feed me.

“Yes, I want some oranges, please. I want you to peel it and feed it to me piece by piece. That’s how Luke used to do it.”

Steven’s heart lurched in his chest as he stared at the soft, babyish woman sitting in his lap.

He knew better than anyone that Gwen was just acting, yet he still could not help feeling his heart race.

He knew that he would never be Luke, but this tiny sliver of tenderness he received from Gwen was more than enough.

He curled his lips into a smile as he peeled the orange and gently pried it into tiny pieces, then proceeded to pop each piece into Gwen’s mouth.

Peeking through the sliver in the door frame, Mrs. Hughes immediately caught sight of the content smile on Steven’s face, and this sent her boiling with rage.

Steven could pick any woman he fancied, so why did he have to fall for this bitch?

It was clear Gwen did not like Steven for who he truly was!

If she did, she would never bring up Luke in front of him!

At the thought of this, Mrs. Hughes burst into the room and demanded, “What the hell are you doing?”

The truth was, Gwen and Steven already knew they were approaching.

At this moment, they were both wearing tiny earphones with Nigel and Neil on the other end.

Even though they were thousands of miles away, Nigel’s exceptional hacking allowed him to break into the hallway’s surveillance camera system and Neil was able to give Gwen real–time instructions.

Therefore, Gwen already knew that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were heading their way.

However, despite having everything under control, she still feigned shock when Mrs. Hughes stormed into the room.

She leaped out of Steven’s lap in a scuffle and shot her an awkward smile. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hughes.”

“Don’t address me that way!” Mrs. Hughes‘ eyes almost bulged out of her face. “You bitch! You’ve already killed Luke; are you trying to kill Steven too? Let me tell you this: We’ll never accept you into our family, and we’ll never allow Steven to date, much less marry you!

“If you’re smart enough, you’ll break up with Steven right this instant, or else—”

“Or else what?” Gwen interrupted her curtly.

She grinned at Mrs. Hughes. “Are you going to lock Steven and me up like how you did to Denise and Sean? And send Steven a few ‘better options‘ of women?”

Even though her voice was soft and gentle, there was no denying the disdain in her eyes when she said this.

Mrs. Hughes‘ eyes widened in shock. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, stop pretending like you have no idea.” Gwen raised her head innocently and slumped into Steven’s arms. “Are you denying the truth? How can you possibly expect to do something without anyone finding out, Mrs. Hughes?”

Chapter 2873

The color drained from Mrs. Hughes’ face as she replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Alright then.” Gwen curled her lips into a small smile but did not intend to pursue this topic any further.” Well, just because you don’t admit it doesn’t mean we can ignore all the things you did.”

With that, she turned to shoot Steven a tender glance and added, “Are you afraid, my dear? Please don’t cry if your mother sets up an arranged marriage with other people for you! After all, not even Denise cried when she had to go through that.”

Steven furrowed his brow when he heard this. A split second later, he reached out to clasp Gwen’s hand and said calmly, “Don’t worry, I won’t, but more importantly-”

He lifted his head to stare in Mr. and Mrs. Hughes’ direction. “I’m sure Mother and Father wouldn’t do this

to me.”

“Why wouldn’t they?” Gwen said, smiling. “After all, they had promised the Millers to allow you and Kate to become a couple should they successfully revive you. At that time, they had signed the contract regarding you and Kate’s marriage while you were still in a coma… How are you so confident that they wouldn’t do the same to you as they did to Denise and sell you off to Kate?”

The expression on Steven’s face turned sour, and both Mr. and Mrs. Hughes balked at this.

Mrs. Hughes narrowed her eyes and stared coldly at Gwen. “How do you know all this?”

The contract between the Hughes and Miller families was a secret, not known to anyone outside of the family.

Not only that, but besides the few people who were physically there during the contract signing, not a single person had access to those documents-not even their personal assistants or butlers!

How did Gwen learn all of this?

“The best way to hide a misdeed is not to commit it.” Gwen smiled mischievously at Mrs. Hughes. “I have more information up my sleeve. Do you want to hear it?”

With that, she took out her phone and pretended as though she was about to recite something off her

screen.

Mrs. Hughes furrowed her brow in displeasure.

“That’s enough.” Mr. Hughes, who had been silent all this while, finally interjected. “Alright, alright. It’s established that you possess a lot of evidence against us at this point, but since you know so much…”

He lifted his head to glance coldly at Gwen. “You should understand that you’re not going to fit into our family, and neither will we welcome you.

“You have plenty of admirers to choose from, and based on your looks and background, you can easily find someone else, so why are you insisting on dating our son?”

Gwen could not help smiling at this. “You’re right, Sir. I can easily find someone else, and truth be told, I know that myself, but you guys should know full well why I insist on dating Steven, don’t you?

“You tricked Luke into giving his body up and stole him from me. Am I not allowed to find a replacement after this injustice?”

Mrs. Hughes was outraged by this. “Is Steven nothing but a replacement for you?”

1/1

Chapter 2874

Gwen raised her eyebrows. “That’s right.”

She turned to glance at Steven, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around her. “My dear, you, too, know that you’re just a replacement for Luke, don’t you?”

Steven lowered his head to meet her sparkling gaze, then gulped. “Of course I do.”

With that, he lifted his head to stare at his parents. “I know I’m just a replacement, and I know that Gwen doesn’t truly love me at all-she just wants me for my body, but…”

His grip around her tightened as though he wanted to inhale every single particle of her body into his. “I’m willing to do that.

“On second thought, I have both of you to thank for this, Father, and Mother. If it weren’t for you, I would never have regained my consciousness, and would never have discovered that I had a twin brother.

“Most importantly, I would never have met this beautiful girl.”

He chuckled as he added, “The reason I brought Gwen here to meet you is to let you see what a miracle you guys created. If it weren’t for you, I would never have met Gwen, and I wouldn’t have the blessing to become her replacement lover.”

The color drained from Mrs. Hughes’ face.

When she first initiated the deal with the Miller family a year ago, she never thought things would end up this way. All she wanted was for her beloved son to wake up from his coma, and she was willing to pay any price for that!

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that after Steven’s awakening, they would inadvertently cross Thomas and Joshua, and even wound up with that annoying Gwen!

Not only did they lose their precious pawn, Denise, overnight, but even led to their son being put under another woman’s spell…

At the thought of this, Mrs. Hughes narrowed her eyes and shot Gwen a murderous look. “You bitch!”

Gwen chuckled at this. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Hughes widened her eyes in shock.

She had thought her insult would ruffle Gwen’s feathers, but to her surprise, Gwen had thanked her instead.

What was going on?

“Calling another woman a bitch is the highest form of praise you can give,” Gwen explained, smiling, as she could sense the confusion in Mrs. Hughes’ eyes. “You calling me a bitch is indirectly complimenting my charm and seductiveness as a woman.”

With that, she got up from the chair, picked up the pot on the table, and proceeded to pour two cups of tea. “Would you two like some tea?”

Mrs. Hughes clenched her fists. “Never! I wouldn’t want to get poisoned by you!”

“Suit yourself.” Gwen smiled as she handed the cup to Steven. “Are you worried about getting poisoned, my dear?”

Steven shook his head, took the cup from her, and emptied it in one sip.

Then, he placed the cup back on the table and glanced at his mother. “Mother, if you don’t feel like drinking anything, shall we order some food? We should have a nice meal as a proper family.”

“A proper family?” Mrs. Hughes frowned and slammed the table in indignation. “Steven, no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to convince me into blessing your relationship! You’d better break up with her as soon as possible!”

With that, she stood up in preparation to leave.

“She can’t leave yet,” Nigel’s voice rang out in Gwen’s earpiece. “My Daddy hasn’t managed to find Uncle Sean yet. If they leave now, they’ll probably return home, and we’ll lose the trail!”

Gwen furrowed her brow, leaped up, and blocked Mrs. Hughes’ way with her arms extended. “Now, now, let’s not leave so soon.”

Chapter 2875

Mrs. Hughes glowered at the woman standing before her. “What the hell do you want now?”

She had already said what she wanted to, so this woman must have been out of her mind to think she would sit with them and have a meal together!

“Mrs. Hughes.” Gwen smiled at her. “Steven and I have already ordered, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to leave just like that, would it? And besides…”

She curled her lips into a smirk and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You claim that you’d never approve of our relationship and seem as though you care a lot about Steven’s wellbeing…but you don’t seem to be concerned about him at all.

“Don’t you think it’s a little absurd to want him to obey your commands, considering neither of you showed him any warmth or concern at all? If you truly wanted him to give up on me, surely you’d try to win him over by being good and caring parents?”

Both Mr. and Mrs. Hughes furrowed their brows upon hearing this.

Mr. Hughes paused for a moment, then reached out to tug on his wife’s sleeve. “She…she’s right.”

They had been so preoccupied with their personal lives that they neglected Steven, which led to this woman having the opportunity to pounce on him.

If they had placed all their attention on Steven, he would not have acted out in this way at all.

“What do you mean, she’s right?” Mrs. Hughes scowled at this. “Didn’t you notice that she seems to be desperate to stall us?”

If this woman truly wanted to be with Steven, she would be overjoyed at their mistreatment toward him, which would push him right into her arms.

Instead, she was blocking their way and demanding that they did not care about Steven and insisted they start showing their concern towards him more.

It was clear she was trying to buy time!

Mrs. Hughes frowned at this thought.

What would she be trying to buy time for?

She stared at Gwen for a long time before finally being hit with realization.

Gwen had admitted that she knew of Denise and Sean’s whereabouts!

Not only was she aware that Denise had been sold to Mr. Hoffman, but she even knew that Sean was being imprisoned somewhere.

She was trying to keep them here…

Mrs. Hughes picked up her phone and dialed the butler’s number. “Go to the jail cell at the furthermost corner of the dungeon and see if that Sean fellow is still there!”

As she said this, she grabbed hold of her husband’s hand and stormed past Gwen.

She had just taken two steps when she froze and turned to glance at Gwen, who had turned pale with fear. “You were trying to provoke me so that I’d stay here to argue with you, and your friends would have time to rescue them, weren’t you? Well, you’re a smart woman, but sadly, your plan isn’t foolproof!”

With that, she shot Gwen a disdainful look and added, “You’re far too young to be competing with me,

ChangeCHS  honey.”

With that, she turned and stormed out of the room, dragging Mr. Hughes behind her, and headed back to the hotel where they had left Denise and Mr. Hoffman.

She wanted to make sure whether Denise had been taken.

Sean did not matter as much. Denise was the most important pawn at this moment, and they could not

lose her!

Chapter 2876

Steven was beginning to get desperate when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Hughes leaving. He stood up and sprinted in their direction, intending to catch them before they left. “There’s no need.” Gwen reached out to stop him. “There’s no need to stop them.” With that, she whispered into her earpiece, “Have your father’s men arrived yet?”

“They have,” said Nigel, letting out a sigh of relief. “Previously, none of us could seem to find Uncle Sean’s exact location.

“The Hughes family had a magnetic interruption device installed in their dungeon, and none of the people we’ve sent, including Uncle Lucas, could navigate their way-the compasses didn’t work.

“However, the moment that woman called, the butler immediately ran into the dungeon to check, and by following him, we managed to find the place they kept Uncle Sean before this. I’m sure that we’ll easily be able to find him by scouring around-they can’t have gone far.”

Nigel could not help adding, “You’re far smarter than I thought, Aunt Gwen!

“I thought that you had blurted out the truth when you tried to stop Mrs. Hughes, but I never knew you’d have done it on purpose to raise her suspicions and make her give away Uncle Sean’s location herself! “I seem to have underestimated you! You’re far smarter than I initially thought!”

Gwen could not help chuckling when she heard this. “Neither Luna nor Joshua are very good with their words, so how could they possibly have given birth to such a sweet-talker like you?”

She could not help sighing as she added, “Your father was the one who taught me this trick.”

Joshua had reminded her before coming that Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were naturally very suspicious people. Since they had committed plenty of crimes during their time, it would be easy to turn their doubts on themselves and make them give away their own plans.

Therefore, he advised her to feed them some information that would easily manipulate them into giving themselves away.

Initially, Gwen did not believe this would work. How could someone be so suspicious to this extent? However, when she finally came face-to-face with Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, she could not help feeling even more respectful of Joshua’s quick wit and intelligence.

It was no wonder this man could work through all the misunderstandings between him and Luna and get back together with her.

This man was far more intelligent and thoughtful than anyone she had ever met.

“You have to give yourself credit, Aunt Gwen.” Nigel smiled. “There’s no need to credit my Daddy for everything-he’s already smug enough!”

After that, he continued to update Gwen on the search mission’s progress.

When she heard that the men had successfully tracked down Sean’s location, she finally let out a sigh of

relief as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulder, but…

Just as she was about to share the good news with Steven, his phone rang.

It was Denise.

He could hear the sound of the cold, harsh wind interspersed with a man’s screams from the other end of the line.

“Steven.” Denise’s voice was scratchy and hoarse as though she had been crying. “I’m so lucky to have been your sister and to have met Sean in the last few moments of my miserable life.

“If

you ever come across Sean again, please tell him to live his life the way he deserves to. Goodbye.”

Chapter 2877

“What do you mean?” Steven widened his eyes in shock at this.

His voice began to tremble as he tightened his grip on his phone. “What are you talking about, Denise? Did something bad happen?”

An expression of fear, one that rarely made an appearance, crossed Steven’s face as he repeated, “What happened, Denise?”

Denise began to chuckle, and the sound of her laughter felt eerily loud against the background.

“Steven, I’ll never get out of this alive.” There was a hint of despair in her scratchy voice. “Father and Mother left me here for dead. They handed me over to that pervert Mr. Hoffman, and he’s the sickest person I’ve ever met.”

Standing on the icy ledge, Denise lifted her head to glance at the man in the distance, who at this moment was screaming profanities and brandishing his whip at her. She let out a bitter smile. “I know you were trying to stall Father and Mother so that someone would be able to rescue me. I know you never once gave up on me, but…”

She continued in a choked voice, “I’m sorry, Steven, but I won’t be able to repay your kindness anymore. I’m sorry.”

She turned to gaze at the sprawling sky above her.

At this moment, she was standing on the ledge of a five-story building, and the cold, icy ground at the bottom seemed to be leering at her.

She knew that if she jumped off the building at this moment, she would not be able to survive.

“Denise!” Steven’s voice began to shake as he held his phone with both hands in desperation. “Please don’t do anything stupid! We can always talk this out!”

He bit his lip and tried to listen for any clues on the other end of the line. “That Mr. Hoffman is still with you, isn’t he? Don’t worry; put me on speaker, and I’ll speak to him myself!

“I have plenty of money to offer, and as long as I make a deal with him, I’m sure he’ll let you go. Denise, you still have so much to look forward to. You can’t give up!

“You had just decided to start your new life with Sean afresh, hadn’t you? Did you forget all about this? You

“Steven,” said Denise, stopping him. “It’s precisely because of Sean that I came to this decision.

“If I hadn’t once gotten to see the light, I would never have understood just how pitiful my life is, but because I met Sean, I finally realized how meaningless my entire life turned out to be-I finally realized that I have nothing to look forward to at all.”

Finally, she sighed. “Goodbye, Steven.”

With that, she tossed the phone aside, turned around, and leaped off the ledge.

A loud thud echoed through the phone, followed by blood-curdling screams.

“Someone jumped!”

Steven almost dropped his phone.

“What’s happening?” Gwen furrowed her brow when she noticed how pale Steven’s face had become, and strode over to gently clasp his hand. “What happened to Denise?”

*She.” He lifted his head to stare at her, his eyes etched with despair. “She…jumped off the building.”

He tried to stifle his tears as he continued, “Joshua and the rest have been so good at their jobs-they must know where she is, don’t they? Can they tell me? I…I want to go find her. What if…”

What if there was still a fighting chance?

Even if the likelihood was one in a million, he was still willing to cling onto hope.

Chapter 2878

Gwen did not dare to let her guard down when she heard how solemn Steven was. She said to Nigel, Hey, I need your brother’s help with something!”

“Talk to me.” Even though Nigel was only seven years old, he had mastered the skill of determining other people’s emotions and moods solely based on their tone.

As soon as he heard the change in Gwen’s voice, he immediately knew that something was amiss. “He’s right next to me. You can tell us, and we’ll try to help as much as we can.”

A surge of warmth spread into Gwen’s heart upon hearing this.

She took a deep breath and described everything about Denise to Nigel and Neil. “Can you guys help us find the hotel she’s at as soon as possible?”

“Done,” Neil’s response rang out before she even finished her sentence. “They’re not too far from you; I’ll give you the address right now.”

Gwen was surprised at the efficacy of this, but she quickly gathered herself and thanked them. “Please tell me.”

“They’re right; she’s not far from us at all.” Steven furrowed his brow when he heard the address given by Neil. He stood up, grabbed his coat off the rack, and strode out before he could even finish his sentence. It’s only a five-minute cab ride from here.”

Gwen quickly chased after him, but not before thanking Neil again on the phone.

The hotel Denise was at was not far from their location at all.

When Steven and Gwen arrived, the hotel was already surrounded by cops and ambulances.

Steven sprinted toward the scene like a madman, having caught sight of Denise’s silhouette on the stretcher from far away. “How is she now?”

“We’re not too sure either.” The paramedic shook his head. “She’s still breathing, but just barely. To fall from five stories in this weather…”

He sighed before adding, “Don’t worry-we’ll do our best to save her.”

With that, the paramedics brought Denise onto the ambulance.

Steven furrowed his brow and wanted to follow suit, but as he turned his head, he immediately caught sight of Mr. and Mrs. Hughes standing in the distance, alongside a half-dressed Mr. Hoffman in his pajamas.

Anger coursed through his body at this sight.

וויוי

go with her.” Gwen sighed when she saw the look in Steven’s eyes and immediately got into the ambulance. “Please keep your cool.”

Steven shot her a glance of gratitude, then nodded. “Please call me if anything happens.”

Gwen nodded in return, then closed the door behind her.

Steven watched as the ambulance grew further and further away, then finally rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

Finally, he lifted his head to glance coldly at Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, then strode in their direction. “When did you arrive?”

712

At this moment, Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were in the midst of apologizing to Mr. Hoffman. “We never expected that something like this would happen….

“We’ve already abided by the contract to hand her over to you, but what happens after that has nothing to do with us at all…”

This was the first thing Steven heard when he got near, and a glimmer of malice immediately shot through his eyes.

Denise had just fallen from a five-storey building and was barely alive, yet neither of their parents seemed to care about that, and instead were busy trying to patch up their business relationship with Mr. Hoffman!

Chapter 2879

“I don’t care!” Mr. Hoffman did not notice Steven approaching from behind and instead waved his hand dismissively at Mr. and Mrs. Hughes. “You were the ones who promised me I’d be able to have fun with that woman. Now, not only am I left unsatisfied, but she even jumped off a building right in front of me!

“Because of you, I’m now being investigated by the police. I literally just came out from being interrogated, and my wife has found out about my cheating on her. All of you should be responsible for this!”

He scoffed and added, “This is all your fault-none of you could control her well enough! I will rebuke our previous contract, and you have to pay me back the money I gave you!

“Not only that, but you need to give me extra compensation! If you don’t, I’ll spread the news about your wrongdoing all over town, and you’ll pay the price for deceiving me!”

With that, he turned around and was just about to leave when he came face-to-face with Steven.

“What the hell?” he shot Steven a murderous glare. “You Hughes are weirdos! Who sneaks up on people like that? Fucking.idiots!”

With that, he strode away.

Mr. Hughes watched him leave, then instinctively turned to glance at his wife with a fearful look. “I told you-we shouldn’t try to engage with people like him. He can always spread the news about our transaction with him around town and it won’t affect him much, but that won’t be the same for us.

“If everyone finds out that we used our adopted daughter as a bargaining tool…we won’t be able to live peacefully in this city ever again!”

Mrs. Hughes could not help raising her brows at this. “Well, if you really think it was such a bad idea, why didn’t you try to stop me back then? Now that we’re in trouble, you push all the blame onto me-you call yourself a man?”

– The color drained from Mr. Hughes’ face. “Well, you never told me Mr. Hoffman would turn out to be such

a bad egg-I never thought he’d put Denise on drugs!”

Mrs. Hughes rolled her eyes at him. “Well, that’s because I had no idea either!”

Steven overheard every last word of their exchange.

He strode over to their side, frowning. “Did you say that Mr. Hoffman put Denise on drugs? What drug did he give her?”

The two of them finally realized Steven had been standing behind them all along.

Mrs. Hughes furrowed her eyebrows. “Why aren’t you with that bitch? What made you come here all of a

sudden?”

Steven took no notice of her questions at all. “Tell me-what did that Mr. Hoffman do to Denise? What drugs did he put her on?”

The color drained from Mrs. Hughes’ face.

A split second later, Mr. Hughes finally replied, “Well…I think he placed her on hallucinogens.”

Steven let out an audible gasp.

Hallucinogens?

It was no wonder that Denise would make that call to him and say such strange things!

Chapter 2880

At the thought of this, Steven could not help recalling the despair in Denise’s voice when she uttered those words to him.

His heart clenched at the thought of this.

He lifted his head to stare at the couple standing before him.

At this moment, the two of them were exchanging accusatory glances at each other, as though they were still blaming each other for the falling through of their business transaction with Mr. Hoffman.

Steven let out another gasp as he clenched his fists in fury.

He had no idea that his own parents were such despicable people!

Denise had lived with them for more than 20 years. Even though she was not biologically related to them, even though they treated her merely as a bargaining tool…she was still human!

She was a living, breathing person who spent her entire life with them!

People regularly grew attached to pets, yet both his parents seemed to care for Denise less than any ordinary folk cared for their pet dog!

She was nothing but a tool to them!

At the thought of this, Steven bit his lip and narrowed his eyes at them. “Father, Mother, this will be the last time I refer to you as much.”

Whether Denise made it out alive or not, he would never treat the two people in front of him as his parents again.

They were not worthy of being parents!

“Steven.” Mrs. Hughes frowned when she heard this. “Does that bitch Gwen matter to you that much? Your father and I brought you into this world! I know you still disapprove of what we did to Luke when he was a baby, but don’t you know who we went to these great lengths for? We did this all for you!

“If it weren’t for the fact that you were constantly sick as a child and needed treatment, leading to our family becoming poorer, we would never have chosen to abandon Luke!

“The person who benefited from Luke’s abandonment is you, and neither of us mistreated you even a single bit! How can you cut ties with us all because of a woman-one that is only using you for Luke, no less?”

Mr. Hughes sighed and nodded in agreement. “Your mother is right, Steven.”

He strode over and gently patted Steven’s shoulder. “We did all this for you-you shouldn’t be ungrateful. And besides, that woman is using you. She’s still in love with Luke; she has no feelings for you at all. You…”

Steven closed his eyes and let out a bitter chuckle.

Were these the only things they cared about?

Denise was en route to the hospital. She was injected with hallucinogens that led to her attempted suicide by jumping off a building, but he could not identify a single ounce of concern in Mr. and Mrs. Hughes’ eyes.

When he told them he wanted to cut ties, all they could think of was that he was doing this because of Gwen.

They did not understand the bond between him and Denise, and they did not care for Denise at all!

At the thought of this, Steven let out a sigh and lifted his head to stare at Mr. and Mrs. Hughes. “I know Gwen doesn’t love me, and that she’s only using me because of Luke, but I don’t care; I still want to be with her. You insist that she has ulterior motives for approaching me…”

He let out another chuckle. “But what about you? Do you even care about me-your son? No, you care only about yourselves.”