Suzy pretended to call her assistant, asking them to find a tow truck.
After some back and forth, three hours passed, and the mechanic still hadn't arrived. Suzy ended up fixing the car herself.
Samantha looked at her expressionlessly, highly suspicious that she was just playing her.
Once the car was fixed, Suzy drove Samantha back to the company.
To avoid running into acquaintances, she deliberately chose a less crowded area of the company where few people walked around.
After getting out of the car, Samantha couldn't help but say, "Don't contact me in the future, especially for such boring things like today. My time is precious."
In short, she felt her time had been wasted.
Suzy didn't get angry at her words. Instead, she smiled brightly. "Don't worry, I believe we won't see each other again in the future!"
After saying this, she couldn't help adding in her mind.
Even if we do meet, it'll be a fight to the death between us.
Samantha glanced at her coldly and walked away without looking back.
Watching her disappearing figure, Suzy couldn't help but feel a sense of triumph.
‘Samantha, this time, I'll let you off.’
...
At the Emperor Group, CEO's office.
Ethan, who was focused on work, suddenly received a call.
"Boss, we found Karen! She's being held captive by Justin in his newly purchased villa. There are two bodyguards guarding the door. We also learned from a doctor that Justin plans to wait until Karen's pregnancy reaches 40 days before taking her for an abortion."
A hint of scorn flashed in Ethan's eyes.
Abortion?
It seems Justin is even more ruthless than he imagined. He doesn't even want his own son.
"Is Samantha going to Fletcher's house tonight?"
"Yes! Justin is taking Charlotte to Fletcher's house tonight for dinner, probably to discuss marriage."
Ethan made a quick decision. "After Samantha goes to Fletcher's house, rescue Karen and personally escort her to Fletcher's doorstep..."
He had originally planned to use Karen's pregnancy to separate Samantha and Justin.
Now that Justin wants to abort Karen's baby, he has to advance his plan.
Tonight is the perfect opportunity.
...
In the evening.
Samantha arrived at the kindergarten on time to pick up Charlotte.
As soon as she arrived at the gate, she saw Justin already holding Charlotte's hand, standing by the roadside, smiling at her.
The atmosphere was warm and beautiful. They looked like a genuine father and daughter.
Samantha felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. However, she couldn't shake off the uneasiness brought by Mrs. Fletcher's words.
She wanted Charlotte to have the love of a father, but she had also promised Mrs. Fletcher to leave Justin.
Tonight, Justin said he wanted to take her and Charlotte to meet his parents. She couldn't resist and nodded in agreement.
She doesn’t know what she and Charlotte would face later, but it was too late to regret now.
Especially seeing Justin's eager and happy face, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
With Charlotte in his arms, Justin walked up to Samantha affectionately and held her hand. "My parents are waiting for us. Let's go."
Samantha nodded.
Charlotte, resting on Justin's shoulder, waved goodbye to Elliot and their kindergarten teacher, who was holding hands with another child. Reluctantly, she waved her tiny hand.
Elliot, who was usually quiet and reserved, smiled and waved back.
Pouting, Charlotte turned to Samantha and said, "Mommy, I told Elli that if his daddy doesn't come home tonight, we'll bring him home. Okay?"
Samantha caressed her daughter's head and agreed, "Sure! We'll call him after we leave Uncle's house."
Hearing this, Charlotte's eyes lit up with excitement, and she nodded eagerly.
Justin led them to the car, holding Charlotte's hand, and asked curiously while driving, "Who is Elli? I've only been away for one night, and there's already someone I don't know?"
Charlotte chirped like a little bird, starting to chat away happily.
Time flies when you're having fun.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the Fletcher residence.
This time, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher weren't as cold and hostile as they were last time.
Seeing Charlotte, they warmly welcomed her and offered her some desserts.
"So you're Charlotte! You're so beautiful. Come, I heard from your Uncle that you love sweets, so we prepared some fruits and desserts for you. Feel free to eat whatever you like."
Mrs. Fletcher knew that the child was innocent. A child who grew up without a father was also a pitiful child. So she didn't let her dissatisfaction with Samantha transfer to the child. She fulfilled her duty as an elder.
Charlotte looked up and saw the table full of fruits and desserts.
All of them were her favorites.
Her heart was immediately won over by Mrs. Fletcher's kindness. "Thank you, Grandma, you're so nice..."
Sitting down at the table, she didn't hesitate to start eating.
Samantha felt she was being too impolite and wanted to stop her, but Justin held her back. "Charlotte is still young. It's a child's nature. Don't suppress her."
Samantha sighed helplessly. "Spoiling her like this will spoil her."
Justin shrugged it off. "Girls should be spoiled and pampered."
Samantha was momentarily at a loss for words.
Although she felt that Charlotte shouldn't be spoiled like this, seeing Justin genuinely treating Charlotte well, she couldn't help but feel happy deep down.
Charlotte, while enjoying her food, also thought of others. She politely offered Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher a piece of apple.
"Grandpa, Grandma, this apple is really sweet. You should try some..."
Mr. Fletcher looked at the little girl in front of him and couldn't help but sigh. If his son hadn't gone abroad and had married Samantha as planned, this little girl would have been his granddaughter by now.
He even imagined himself holding his grandson.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
Although Charlotte wasn't his biological granddaughter, he couldn't help but feel extremely fond of her as he looked at her round, big eyes and cute appearance. He accepted the fruit she offered and ate it with a smile. "Hmm! It's indeed delicious. Thank you!"
"No need to thank me!" Charlotte smiled with crescent-shaped eyes, adorable and sweet.
Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher's hearts melted as they couldn't help but adore her.
Seeing that Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher treated Charlotte so warmly and kindly without showing any displeasure towards her, Samantha's heart finally relaxed.
She could endure her own grievances. But she couldn't bear to see Charlotte suffer with her.
Seeing his parents genuinely accepting Charlotte, Justin was also comforted.
While Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher were playing with Charlotte, Mrs. Fletcher gestured to Samantha. Her heart sank instantly.
Although she knew what she was about to face, she still stood up and followed Mrs. Fletcher to the garden pavilion.
Mrs. Fletcher didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "You promised me last time to leave Justin, but it's been many days already. Why haven't you fulfilled your promise?"
Samantha lowered her head in shame, not knowing how to respond. She could only force out, "I'm sorry..."
Mrs. Fletcher became furious upon hearing these words.
"What do you mean? You're not planning to leave Justin?"
Samantha hurriedly explained, "Auntie, that's not what I meant. I... I'm planning to break up with Justin, but... seeing him so happy these days, I just can't bring myself to say it..."
Mrs. Fletcher choked up for a moment. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she sighed and said nothing.
Indeed!
Since Samantha disappeared four years ago, Justin had never been genuinely happy again. She knew that Justin had been thinking about Samantha all these years.
Since their engagement, she could feel that her son was genuinely happy when he was with Samantha.
Especially when he was with Charlotte, he treated her as if she were his own daughter.
If Samantha left him, he would surely return to his previous state.
Was this the outcome she wanted to see?
After a brief hesitation, Mrs. Fletcher accepted this reality and said helplessly, "Since Justin likes you and can't live without you, then... then forget what I said before. You two should live a good life together and give him a child of his own as soon as possible."
These words undoubtedly confirmed Samantha's identity. Samantha's joy was immediate.
"Auntie, do you accept me?"
Mrs. Fletcher sighed, "Justin likes you, what can I do? As long as he's happy, I'm satisfied. As parents, our only wish is to see our children happy, isn't it? Everything else is not important."
What is family honor? Compared to the happiness of our children, it's already not important.
Samantha's eyes filled with grateful tears.
She promised Mrs. Fletcher that she would live well with Justin.
After chatting for a while, the two walked back to the hall.
Seeing Samantha's eyes reddened, Justin thought his mother had mistreated Samantha and was about to speak up to defend her, but Samantha stopped him, "Auntie is very kind to me, she didn't mistreat me! I'm just too happy."
Justin looked between his mother and Samantha.
Indeed, he didn't sense anything unusual, so he didn't say anything more.
The family had a warm dinner together.
As they were about to leave, the steward suddenly rushed in and gasped, "Sir, Madam, someone asked me to give this to you..."
With that, he handed the pregnancy test report to Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher.
***