Chapter 1| Drastic change

Olivia’s POV:

I was stunned. No, shocked to the core when an expensive looking man waited for me in the private visitor’s lounge in Bedford Women’s Correctional.

“Hello, Olivia.” His teeth were pearly white I swear they could’ve blinded me.

“Hi…I think you have the wrong Olivia…”

He chuckled. “No, I have the right Olivia. You’re Olivia Charleston, right?”

Damn, even his laughter sounded costly. Who is this man? I felt like a lump was blocking my throat so I nodded like a sea lion. With my orange outfit, I might pass as one. He motioned me to take the seat adjacent to his and sat down.

“My name is Harvey Brown. I’m Meredith’s lawyer and executioner.” He extended his hand and I took it but very gingerly. “I heard you’re a free woman tomorrow.”

“Meredith? She’s alive?” I realize that it was an inappropriate question and ignored everything he just said. “I am so sorry…it’s just that…the last time I saw her…she was being wheeled to an ambulance. They said it’s heart attack. I…I haven’t heard from her since…is she okay?”

Meredith is a lovely woman in her 70’s. In my five years inside the correctional, she became my closest friend. We became so close and I treated her like my mother---Meredith was already there way ahead of me. She wouldn’t disclose her case and wouldn’t talk about her family. And I did not press on.

“Unfortunately, no. She lived two months in the hospital and she made sure that this day would come, Olivia.”

“Excuse me?”

“Meredith is dead. It was a peaceful death, she knew it was coming.”

I gasped for breath, “no…”

“You’re a very lucky woman, Liv. She didn’t have anyone. Every time I visit her here, she would always joke that she had to be incarcerated to find a daughter. Did you know that Meredith named you her beneficiary? Though she had one nephew.”

“What?!”

That was how I became 200 million dollars richer plus assets before I left Bedford Women’s correctional. Harvey said I'm a billionaire now. Whoa. Before I went in----I was a nobody. I was my brother’s fallback guy. I took a fall for a crime he and his girlfriend committed. Paul and Miles came from a concert afterparty and hit a pedestrian who was on his way home from work. The family pressed charges because the victim died.

I shouldn’t concern myself with their troubles, but the problem is, Paul was using my car and when the police came, he told me it was me driving the car. Bam! Fifteen years in prison for Olivia Charleston. My sentence was lightened because I was a good inmate. Now that I come to think of it, I think Meredith had something to do with it.

My jaw almost dropped because Meredith would never pass as someone who owns a lot of properties and 200 million in cold cash. She didn’t even own anything luxurious inside and never complained of the hard bed or the unseasoned food.

After my release, the first thing I did was to call my father, eager to surprise him. But as soon as he heard my voice, he hung up. I thought something terrible had happened at home and rushed back.

Just as I reached the door, I overheard my now brother's wife, Miles, complaining, “Of all days, Olivia had to get out today, making me skip my prenatal check-up! Just to rush the transfer of property to Paul. She’s really annoying.”

My mother replied, “It's for everybody’s good. With her prison record, finding a job will be tough for Olivia. And getting married will be even tougher. She might just end up staying here and fighting you for the house.”

Miles snorted, “No. That can’t be. Let her rent a place. I'm not living with an ex-con!”

Listening to their conversation felt like a punch to the gut. My heart ached. My mother used to call me her little sweetheart and Miles----she always said she sees me as her own sister. How did things change just like that?

The door before me was the one I'd dreamed about for five long years. But now, standing in front of it felt like standing on the edge of a cliff. After taking a moment to compose myself, I finally knocked. It’s too late to back down now.

My mother, Naomi Charleston, opened the door, looking surprised. “L-liv, you're back? I was just about to send your dad to pick you up! My…you've lost weight. It must have been tough inside.”

If only I hadn't overheard their conversation, if only her concern had been genuine, how wonderful that would be. I managed a bittersweet smile, “No worries. There’s uber now.”

With that, I stepped inside.

Miles immediately rushed over and sprayed me with alcohol until the bottle was empty. Only then did she look at me. “Please, Liv…don’t take it the wrong way. I’m pregnant and who knows what virus you are carrying from prison?”

She told me not to overthink, but her disdain was written all over her face. It was obvious now that Miles despised me for being an ex-convict, but she must have forgotten why I was there for five years. I went to prison for her and my brother.

Without saying a word, I walked straight to my room. When I opened the door, I found it filled with clutter, and none of my belongings were in sight. “Mom, what happened here?”

She hesitated, looking uncomfortable. “Liv, you've been gone for so long, and the house is small with lots of stuff, and we don’t have storage…so we stored everything in your room.”

“What about my things?” I pressed.

My mother looked down. Her guilt was evident. “They're all gone.”

My heart sank again. “Mom, I was in prison, not dead. You know I'll come back. Was it necessary to clear out all my things?”

When my father, Peter Charleston, heard this from the sofa, he casually said, “Come on, Liv, Miles is pregnant and needs space for baby stuff. The house is cramped. Your things weren't needed anymore, so we got rid of them.”

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. All of a sudden, I felt alienated in my own home.