bChapter /bb25 /b

b“/bI saw her today,” Yosef said. Mentioning Skr made the sting on his cheek re up again he could still feel the p.

Elianna was trying to figure out how to calm him down when she heard that and widened her eyes. “You saw her? Did she say banything /bto you?”

Elianna was sure that Yosef didn’t know the truth of what happened back then. If it came to light, it would definitely affect bher/b.

She anxiously dug her nails into the back of her hand, forcing herself to remain calm.

“She said some strange stuff,” Yosef gritted out.

Elianna’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it would jump out of her throat. Her voice was trembling. “Yosef, you can’t believe what she says. She hates us -she’ll definitely say something weird just to get back at us.”

Yosef looked at her, puzzled. “Are you afraid of what she might say?”

“I’m just afraid she’ll try to ruin what we have and make you hate me,” replied Elianna.

“Elianna, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” Yosef rubbed his temples, looking worn out. “It’s gettingte. You should go home.”

“Can I stay tonight? With the child?” Elianna was panicking. She felt like something bad was about to happen. She really wanted to be with Yosef tonight.

If she could get pregnant with a child of the Campbell family, maybe everything would fall into ce.

Before Yosef could reply, Adam spoke upb, /bclearly unhappy, “Daddy, I don’t want her here.”

Adam had always been weak, and strong emotions could easily trigger an episode. So as long as it wasn’t a big deal, Yosef usually gave bin /bto himb. /bb“/bNo need. He’s grown up now, he doesn’t need anyone with him.”

Elianna cast a dark, venomous look at Adam.

He was getting more and more out of control. If this continued, he’d be a serious threat to her. Once a chess piece starts acting out of bturn/b, there’s no point keeping it on the board.

Adam didn’t go to sleep until he saw Elianna leave the house for good. That night, some people were happy, others were not.

Without the medicinal herb, the new drug couldn’t move into mass production.

Skr had to set it aside for now. Instead, she gave them another form to manufacture in the meantime.

“Ms. Lambert, what’s this new pill for?” her newly hired assistant Sophie asked, looking curiously at the tablet in her hand.

Skr handed one to her. “It’s for weight loss.”

“Really?” Sophie’s eyes lit up. “Does it really work?”

Elianna grinned. “You won’t know until you try it.”

Sophie hesitated. “Are there any side effectsb?/b” She didn’t mind being a testerb, /bbut her life mattered–she had to ask first.

Skr popped one into her mouth without hesitation. “Nothing I make has side effects.”

Seeing her eat it so casually gave Sophie confidence. She followed suit, cing a pill in her mouth.

Her eyes lit up with surprise. “Ms. Lambert, it’s sweet!”

She had braced herself for ba /bbitter taste, but bit /bwas actually sweetb, /bwith ba /bfaint hint of rose.

bSkr /bbsmiled /bbfaintly/bb. /bb“/bbThe /bbtarget /baudience is girls. bMost /bbof /bbthem /bbdon’t /blike bitterness. A little bhoney /bband /bbrose /bbmakes /bbit /bbmuch /bmore bthem /bbto /beptb./bb” /b

bSophie /bwas visibly excited. “Ms. Lambert, if this works, it’s going to sell like crazy!”

All girls wanted bto /bbe slimmerb, /bbut many hated exercising. Most resorted to dieting, which was unhealthy.

Now, if there were a pill that helped you slim down without side effects, of course people would go nuts for it.

Skr put the remaining pills back into the container. “We can’t sell it yet. We need to do clinical trials first. Once we have the results, we’ll hold a press conference and then move into mass production and sales.”

“Understand,” Sophie nodded.

Meanwhile, at Campbell Group, in the president’s office, Yosef was

long time, but still no word from Skr.

“Hudsonb, /bany updates from NatureMed?” asked Yosef.

“Nothing yet.”

frustrated, ncing at his phone on the desk every few minutes. He’d been bwaiting /ba

As soon as Hudson said that, Yosef’s face darkened. Hudson had no idea what was going on.

Yosef tugged irritably at his tie. “Leave me alone for a whileb./bb” /b

After Hudson exited the office, Yosef stood up and looked out the floor–to–ceiling windows.

He had the herb Skr needed. She’d have toe to him eventually.

Somewhere else, Skr sneezed and rubbed her itchy nose. “Someone must be bad–mouthing me.”

She lowered her hand and kept briefing Sophie on her next tasks.

Meanwhile, Elianna made another trip to Chestbee, hoping to intimidate Skr into backing off. She searched the ce, but couldn’t bfind /bher.

Frustrated and about to leave, she ran into someone she knew. It was Nadia.

“It’s really you, Elianna! What are you doing here?” Nadia was surprised to see her and lit up with delight.

Elianna frowned–she hadn’t expected to see Nadia here.

Nadia’s family situation was simr to the Stone family’s. They even attended the same college for a while. But after Nadia’s family business failed, she transferred out, and they lost contact.

The next time Elianna heard her name, it was because she’d be some rich man’s mistress thanks to her decent looks.

Elianna had no interest in reconnecting with someone like that. But she still put on a polite smile. “What brings you here?”

“My health’s been a little offb, /bcame to get some meds.” Nadia was excited. She grabbed Elianna’s hand. “It’s been ages! Want to grab ba /bbcoffee/bb?/b”

They’d been friends in college, but lost touch after/Nadia transferred. She was genuinely happy to brun /binto an old ssmate.

Elianna didn’t want anything to do with her. “Can’t, I’m looking for someone.”

“Who? Maybe I can help. I’ll ask my man to look into it for you.” Nadia really wanted to catch up.

Elianna hesitated, then tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled. “I’m looking for

my

sisterb./b”

Might as well use the freeborb, /bsave her some effort, she thought.

Chapter b25 /b

b“/bbYour /bbsister/bb? /bbYou /bbmean /bSkrb?/b” Nadia’s beyes /bwidened.

b“/bbSpeaking /bof bher/bb, /bbI /bjust remembered something! A few days agob, /bI was at the Lambert family’s reunion banquet, band /bthe Lambert familyco blooked /bbexactly /bblike /bSkr.“.

bElianna’s /bbexpression /bfroze. “You mean that Lambert family? The richest one?”

bNadia /bnodded. “I was shocked, too.”

b“/bbThat’s /bimpossible,” Elianna muttered, brows tightly furrowed. “No way there are two people in the world who look exactly alike, bunless/b.

bShe /brefused to believe it. To her, Skr was nothing more than a parasite. There was no way she could be the Lambert family’s daughter.

1

bAD /b