Shining Bright After Rebirth

Chapter 969 Your Reputation Is. Ruined

“Jenny,” Diana said, her voice low, “I’ll give you the address in ten days. Be careful, okay? I’m hanging up now, but I’ll send you some gifts later.”

“Jenny…” Diana wanted to ask more, but Jenny had already ended the call.

Diana’s mind raced, and a question she hadn’t considered before began to gnaw at her.

Andrew wasn’t Steven’s biological father–so where was Steven’s real dad?

Jenny had sounded in a surprisingly good mood on the phone, so had she always known the truth?

Had she kept quiet because of how easily Steven was manipulated by Queenie back then?

But no, that didn’t make sense.

Diana, having been a mother herself, knew all too well the lengths a mother would go for her child.

Just like in her past life, when Steven found out she was pregnant, he tried to imprison her, threatening to take the child

In’t obey.

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She hadn’t fought back, staying locked in that mansion for three months, all for the sake of giving birth to her child–and ultimately, meeting her death.

She stood up, her thoughts spinning as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

With every new truth she uncovered this past year, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Leopold was hiding something from her

too.

Diana let out a heavy sigh, expelling the tension from her chest.

She gazed out the window at the swirling snow, her long lashes fluttering as she smiled softly. Her perfect eyebrows arched slightly, and she spoke to herself in a whisper, “Steven, who are we really to each other? Am I your pawn, or are you mine?”

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Jenny was the hidden mastermind, the one pulling the strings from the

shadows.

But who had sent her away all those years ago?

Jenny had always been the kind of mother who would do anything

life, Jenny had been committed to a mental institution under the guise of being mentally

stood there for a moment

bed, lost in

she got to the truth, the more

peeling an onion–every layer revealed something new, and none of it

*****

morning, George woke up to find Queenie sitting beside him, her

every time he closed his eyes,

he was beaten mercilessly, blood pouring from his wounds, his entire

it–how had his Christmas

this?

that should have been full of joy had turned into one of the most humiliating experiences of his

relief. Her eyes were red

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Your Reputation Is Ruined George looked at her, his voice soft. “Don’t cry.

explained, “The doctor said you have a mild concussion. They’ll need to keep you under observation for

George replied, his voice

His

in a wheelchair, and he froze for a moment, staring at her.

he let out a breath he hadn’t realized

in a wheelchair?” he asked, his voice tinged with

this to her had at least spared her other

She’s in a wheelchair now, so she wants us to suffer with her,” Queenie said, her

while fireworks echoed outside, she had been stuck in the hospital, her dreams

Your

“Damn Diana, how dare she? How could she send someone after us on Christmas?” Queenie’s frustration was palpable, but there was little she could

was something else nagging at her-she didn’t even know where Diana lived. Even if she wanted to make her

focus on getting better. Don’t think about anything else. After this Christmas is over, we’ve got a lot of things to take care of.” Queenie’s thoughts drifted to the plot of land she had bought. from the Farleys, and an uneasy feeling settled in her chest. Her dreams were fragmented, and

just gonna lie here doing nothing. Diana

playing it low–key, fooling you, fooling Steven, fooling Paula,” he continued. “She’s good, but she’s hiding too much. I never took her

but handed him his

worry was clear. “George, I feel like we’re losing control of this whole

Reputation Is Ruined

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surface. “What Diana’s doing is pure revenge. She’s playing the game so well, that I never saw her for what she is. But now, I have no choice but to treat her like