Chapter 6
“Let him lie there. I’m selling this villa,” Ember said, looking at the screen as her parents anxiously watched her.
“Ember, do you really have the heart to let Lucas suffer with Joseph?” her parents questioned.
Lucas was just like his father–good at pretending and winning over her parents. They had originally planned to transfer all their assets to their only grandson when they retired.
“Mom, Lucas is old enough to distinguish right from wrong. I treated him with all my heart, raised him all these years, and he still joined his dad to drug me and falsely accuse me of having an affair.”
“If he can do something like that, he’s no longer my son,” Ember said firmly.
Her parents didn’t respond further.
A few days later, the housekeeper called to inform Ember that someone wanted to buy the villa.
It was a young man, requesting to meet her in person to sign the contract.
“This price is already the lowest I’ll go. If you want to bargain, go somewhere else,” Ember stated flatly.
She wasn’t worried about selling the villa. She had plenty of houses.
The young man had a pleasant voice. “No need to negotiate.”
To show his sincerity, he flew out to the seaside village where Ember was vacationing to sign the contract in person.
The buyer was a young man named Alexander Oliver. He was handsome, wearing a suit, and appeared to be very wealthy at first glance.
“Sis, I’m buying your villa. I wonder if I can add you on WhatsApp?” he asked with clear interest.
His intentions seemed so obvious that Ember suspected he had only bought the villa to get her WhatsApp.
She later heard that when Alexander moved in, he saw Joseph lying at the door and beat him up, thinking Joseph was some beggar.
Joseph returned home covered in bruises. The house was dark and empty. He looked around, but no one was there.
In the past, no matter how late Joseph came home, Ember would leave a small nightlight on for him and
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Chapter 6
make him a cup of warm milk. But now, Jennifer had taken his money and was never home.
He hadn’t eaten a proper meal in ages.
It was only at this point that Joseph truly began to miss the things Ember used to do for him.
He remembered how she would nag him about taking care of himself, having regular meals, keeping his clothes clean, and folding them with care. They always smelled like sunshine.
But now, the house was a mess–clothes scattered everywhere, and the rotten smell of leftover food filled the air.
Unable to hold back his pain, Joseph collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
Lucas crawled out from his room. His dark circles were deep, and after playing video games for several days without eating, he was so hungry he trembled, like a ghost crawling on the ground.
“Dad, I’m so hungry. It hurts.‘
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Joseph frantically called an ambulance. On the way, he managed to get Ember’s phone number through her parents.
“Ember, Lucas suddenly got acute gastroenteritis and fainted. Can you come back and take a look at him?” he pleaded.
Hearing his anxious voice, Ember coldly responded, “If he’s sick, go see a doctor. I don’t have superpowers. Does seeing me help him recover?”
She had to change her number again.
Her parents were meddling too much, so she sent them overseas.
Even if Joseph wanted to find them, he wouldn’t be able to.
Ember was still traveling. When she passed through a poor mountainous area, she saw beautiful landscapes, but the living conditions were backward and primitive.
She decided to stop and spent a year turning the impoverished mountain village into a tourist resort.
The tourism business picked up, and the villagers‘ lives improved.
People who had left for work came back, and families sat together, enjoying meals.
Whenever Ember saw their smiling faces, her empty heart was finally filled.
One ordinary day, while feeding chickens early in the morning, Ember saw two familiar figures outside
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Aft
her door.
It had been a year since they had last met, and Joseph and Lucas were so thin they looked like bones.
Their eyes were dark and sunken, and it was clear they had endured several sleepless nights.
They had crossed mountains and rivers to find her.
Their clothes were wrinkled, probably never changed.
When Lucas saw her, he immediately cried and knelt on the ground. “Mom, I was wrong. Please don’t leave me.”
“Joseph, why are you so heartless? You’d rather use money to help strangers than help your own son and me. What can they do for you? Lucas is your real son!” Ember said coldly.
Joseph had been living like a dog for the past year. He had been searching for her everywhere, but couldn’t find her.
All the money at home had been wasted by Jennifer. She even looked down on Joseph for not making money and being unable to keep up with the younger, stronger men.
To support Jennifer, he had sold their only home.
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