As dusk settled over the household, Jason stepped out of Estre’s room to find Brycezily sprawled
on the floor, constructing a tower of Legos with little Isaac. With a poker face, he asked, “Not nning
on packing up and heading back?”
Bryce nced up at Jason, his tone nonchnt. “Head back where? The world’s too big, yet there’s no
room left for me in it.” He paused, then dered, “I’ve made up my mind. From now on, I’m crashing at
Waterfall Acres. I’m gonna bunk with E.”
As he spoke, Bryce turned towards Estre and yfully pleaded, “E, you’ll take care of me, right?”
He quickly added, “I can help you with your son, you know.”
Since Jason and Keith had teamed up against him, then he would let Jason’s wife take care of him. In
any case, there’s a countermeasure for every policy.
Before Estre could respond, Jason kicked Bryce’s arm with a swift move of his leg. Bryce, still sitting
cross-legged on the floor, quickly shielded Isaac, fearing he might get hurt in themotion.
Jason bent down and scooped Isaac into his own arms.
Isaac beamed and called out, “Daddy.”
Isaac’s sweetness brought a smile to Jason’s face. He turned to Estre and remarked, “Sweet talker,
just like you.”
Though he hadn’t got the answer he was fishing for, Jason couldn’t help but notice Isaac starting to
resemble him, especially around the eyes and nose.
Estre chuckled at Jason’s observation but didn’t tell him that Isaac’s reticence was also
a trait inherited from him.
On the floor, Bryce watched the happy family scene unfold before him, and with a flick of his wrist, he
tossed a Lego block aside in frustration. “So it’s just you three now, huh? I’m
the odd one out.”
Estre nudged him lightly. “Get up, you.”
When Bryce nonchntly got up from the ground, his phone in his pocket started ringing – a call from
his assistant. “Mr. Bryson, thepany’s audit isplete, and everything’s clear,” announced the
assistant excitedly.
A glimmer of hope shed in Bryce’s eyes, and then his phone buzzed with several new messages. His
bank ounts had been unfrozen.
Bryce looked up at Jason and said with a hint of mockery, “Jason, keep the freeze on, will you? Why
are you in such a rush to let me off the hook?”
He knew that neither his father nor grandfather could have acted so swiftly. It had to be
09:01
Jason’s doing.
Bryce’s smugness was met with a cold stare from Jason, but Estre yfully pped his arm,
reprimanding, “Why are you meddling in this? If he gets frozen out again, you’ll be the one who’s going
to support him.”
Bryce put an arm around her shoulder with a grin. “Hear that, Mr. Jason? Stir the pot again, and you’ll
be the one taking care of me.”
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Before Jason could react, Isaac was already in an uproar, his shrill cry filled with indignation as he
tugged at Bryce’s arm, protesting his casual touch on Estre’s shoulder. At Isaac’s outburst, Bryce
quickly retracted his hand, while Jason couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene. It seemed he wouldn’t
have to bother with Bryce himself in the
future.
As the four of them tangled in the living room, Jesse arrived. With Bryce’s ounts unfrozen, Jesse
drove him back to his ce, while Jason and Estre took Isaac back to the Dorvold estate.
Autumn observed the three of them moving in sync, turning a blind eye as if oblivious to the
undercurrents. After Landon had a talk with Cole, Cole’s opposition wasn’t as pronounced, yet he still
harbored some difort and did not support their remarriage.
Estre and Jason had regained a sense of normalcy and were jointly investigating the fire that
urred seven years ago. Holly, on the other hand, grew increasingly anxious with each report of the
couple’s togetherness, struggling to maintain herposure.
Each time she recalled Jason’s harsh words-that if she were gone, no third party would know the truth-
and each time she remembered being spurned by him, it felt as though a knife twisted in her heart,
causing her endless distress.
He had known Estre for more than twenty years, but in a way, he had known Holly for just as long.
In the hospital, since the previous visit to the neurology specialist yielded no results, the two of them
made an appointment with a renowned psychologist. They were determined to uncover the reason
behind Estre’s loss of those memories from that fire.
The psychologist’s series of questions and discussions triggered Estre’s memories of seven years
prior, and she underwent hypnotherapy to retrieve that elusive segment of her past.
However, instead of recalling the fire, Estre’s mind drifted back to the time when Jason and Holly’s
scandal hit the headlines. The most vivid memory from seven years ago was the argument with Jason,
and the p he delivered that echoed through time.
During the hypnosis, Estre’s emotions plummeted. After uttering a few words, she curled up into a
ball, withdrawing into herself, unwilling tomunicate with anyone
around her.
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09:01
Jason, witnessing Estre’s vulnerability, found it difficult to breathe, his gaze never straying from her.
He had never realized how deeply that fight had affected her, how a single misunderstanding could
cause so much pain, and how that p nearly shattered their future.
She had seemed so indifferent back then, hurling harsh words at him. The less she seemed to care on
the surface, the more it mattered to her heart.
His Estre wasn’t as resilient as he had thought. She had cared so deeply for him, and loved him so
much.
Motionless, Jason watched Estre as shey there, coiled in distress. The psychologist gently
informed him, “That heartbreak from seven years ago left a deep impression on Ms. Estre, which is
why this memory surfaced during the hypnosis.”
ncing at the withdrawn Estre, the middle-aged doctor added, “It’s clear she loved deeply, and she
is an emotional person. She’s not the best at expressing her emotions and tends to be very
amodating.”
Taking the doctor’s words to heart, Jason edged closer to the recliner and softly took Estre’s hand in
his. The psychologist quickly cautioned, “Don’t wake her. Let here
around on her own.”
Jason gently held her hand, staying by her side in the quiet of the room.
It wasn’t long before Estre’s emotions began to settle, and she slowly emerged from the trance of
hypnosis.
Opening her
eyes and spotting Jason sitting beside her with a serious expression, Estre immediately sat up.
Jason caressed her cheek and asked, “Awake now?”
After she acknowledged him with a nod, Estre rubbed her eyes, revealing dampsh and a
moistness on her face. The next second, as she touched her own cheeks, she w suddenly struck by
embarrassment.
What had she remembered after being hypnotized? What had she said?
She had told him to leave, but Jason, stubborn as ever, chose to stay. Could she have carelessly
revealed Isaac’s identity?
Trying to act nonchnt while wiping her face, Estre turned to the doctor and asked, “Dr. Abigail, did
I recall that missing part of my memory?”