A breaking entertainment alert popped up in the notification bar,
#Shocking! Mr. Fordham and Miss Sinclair caught in a passionate embrace in the rain–locked gazes, a love that could move mountains!
Celestine’s hand trembled over her phone.
She didn’t know how to feel.
It seemed that as long as Joanna wanted, no matter what she’d done, a single curl of her finger was enough–Chester would forgive her, no questions asked, no matter the cost.
He’d even come up with excuses on her behalf, shifting the blame onto someone else.
Even when it came to… the third child growing inside Celestine at the time.
She remembered how excited she’d been when she found out she was pregnant again. She’d told Chester the moment she got the news.
That evening, he brought home a bowl of nourishing soup Joanna had made “for her health,” and told the housekeeper to warm it up carefully.
Celestine drank it without a second thought, unaware that it was Joanna’s handiwork.
That night, she lost the baby.
She would never forget that pain.
The truth came out through the housekeeper, and Celestine confronted Ch. er in tears, demanding an explanation.
Chester just stayed silent. The little he did say was, “Joanna didn’t mean it,” and, “She had no reason to do something like that.”
He even tried to convince Celestine not to hate Joanna for what happened.
It wasn’t until she took it to Mr. Fordham Sr. that Chester finally started paying attention.
But then he shifted all the blame to the housekeeper, claiming she’d overheated the soup and destroyed its nutrients, which supposedly caused the miscarriage.
Chester had impatiently tossed a lab report in front of her.
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Chapter 183
“See? I told you, this had nothing to do with Joanna. Enough of this–I’ve already let the housekeeper go. Just focus on being Mrs. Fordham. We’ll have more children.”
His forceful yet tender tone had left Celestine feeling guilty, as if she had wrongly accused Joanna all along.
Looking back, she realized it was all just Chester scrambling to clean up Joanna’s mess, making her believe in a lie.
Joanna had never shown her a shred of kindness.
Hatred swelled in Celestine’s eyes.
She took a screenshot of the news, saved the paparazzi’s video to her phone.
The next day, after a relentless downpour, the skies finally cleared.
Celestine headed to the airport, ready to fly back to Oceanview City.
Just after clearing security, she got a message from her daughter–a rare occurrence these days.
She opened the chat.
To her surprise, it was a voice message.
[Celia]: “Mom, please! Come save me! I’m at Echo Peaks Marine Park–there are bad people here trying to get me. Please, Mom, hurry!”
Celia’s voice was frantic and scared. If something really wasn’t wrong, she would never have sounded so desperate./
Celestine felt a wave of dizziness.
She didn’t stop to wonder why Celia had time to send such a long message, why she hadn’t called the police, or tried Chester instead.
Her only reaction was: her daughter was in trouble.
Her heart leapt into her throat.
Despite everything–despite her children breaking her heart time and again–she couldn’t ignore her daughter’s cry for help.
Celestine hurried to check her luggage, then hailed a cab to Oceana Park, frantically calling Chester as she went.
But he wouldn’t pick up.
Chapter 183
Her hands shook as she typed a reassuring message to Celia.
[Celestine]: Celia, don’t be scared. I’m coming right now. If they haven’t found you yet, call the police–right away.
Just as Celestine was about to call 911 herself, another message from Celia arrived.
[Celia]: “Mom, I already called the police. I’m hiding in a little house on the south side of the park. It’s so dark in here, I’m really scared–please, hurry!”
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