On the chopping board, Marina couldn't defend herself. Still, she was stubborn and insisted on surviving this. "Olivia Fordham, don't you forget that Ethan still owes me. If you hurt me, he's never gonna let you get away with it."Olivia let out a low chuckle. "If so, do you think he would've led you all the way here himself?"Marina was stunned. Ethan and Kurt grew up together. Could Ethan actually stay unbothered by Kurt's death?"Bet you're thinking about that man whom Ethan owes his life to. Yes, he is indebted to that person, but what does that have to do with you? You were merely that person's crush. You weren't even a couple."Let's say Ethan did give his word to look after you, did he not uphold his word well enough by sacrificing his marriage and family?"If I were you, I wouldn't have poured everything into a relationship for a man. It's stupid. In the end, you gained nothing from it and his patience thinned. He resents you more than I do. "Why would he possibly protec
Olivia started the surgery. The heartache overwhelmed Marina more than the physical pain did.Being both mentally and physically in pain, she thought that this was the end of her life.Olivia wasn't going to let her off that easily. "You know how many years I've been waiting for today? My beloved mother left me when I was young. She treated you so well and yet you didn't hesitate to hurt her and my father."Do you even know what I did just to save him? In the end, you took his life with a lift of a finger. Do you know how painful life was to me?"The more she talked about it, the more strength she exerted in her moves.Marina yelled so much that her voice turned hoarse. "Olivia, it was an accident. He's my father too. I didn't know!""You're calling him your father? How dare you! Why aren't you the one who died, Marina Carlton? Dad was so excited to welcome my baby to the world. He made them toys, showing signs of being willing to live on! It's all because of you. You!""Calm do
That was the last straw for Marina. Her eyes lost focus."It seems like he's going to keep you for himself forever." Olivia clicked her tongue. "The high-and-mighty Marina is going to be someone's toy forever, huh?"Those words hit home hard for Marina."But you have nothing to worry about when I'm in the operating room holding a scalpel. Even though you're my enemy, I uphold the oaths I took as a doctor."Marina couldn't really tell what Olivia really wanted. It was a long surgery. No one knew how many times Marina lost her consciousness due to the excruciating pain. Her sweat dripped into her eyes. Every time she regained consciousness, she could hear noises.Olivia was busy the entire time. Sometimes, she would be holding a hammer; other times, she would be using a chainsaw.For the first time in forever, Marina realized how scary surgery could be and how it sounded when a machine was amputating a limb.In the end, she managed to slog through the six hours of surgery. S
Olivia found out about Fabian's acquaintance with Yale a while ago. When the culprit behind Mason's assassination was yet to be known, there was a default risk regardless. Fabian's stance didn't matter.Fortunately, Fabian had feelings for Marina.After this surgery, not only could Marina kiss the wheelchair goodbye, but Marina and Fabian would also be bound to each other forever.When Fabian later wished to set up the Heath family, Olivia had the leverage over him to bargain. Marina couldn't continue her antics even after her legs recovered too.The awful deeds Marina did could make a super long list.She almost killed Olivia and Olivia's children, ruined Olivia's marriage, and chose not to save Chloe.Marina's and Chloe's bone marrow were a match, but Marina let Chloe die for selfish reasons. Not to mention, Marina also used drugs to deteriorate Chloe's condition. Jeff also died in Marina's hands, although indirectly.For the past few years, Olivia had thought of many wa
Marina screamed and woke up from her dream—no—nightmare. She found herself back at the Carlton residence, not on that operating table."You're finally awake, Marina." Otto's gaze on her was soft."I'm alive?" She glanced at her perfectly intact limbs. Those few hours were basically hell. She didn't know what Olivia had done to her."Silly you. Of course, you are. Why don't you try walking around?"Her head felt dizzy from the confusion.Did Olivia treat her legs? Would Olivia be so kind as to do so?Lifting the blanket, Marina noticed the machinery legs replacing her shins.She drew a sharp breath in and slowly got out of bed. The solid touch, which had been absent for years, brought her to tears."How do you feel? Good?" asked Otto. "These are artificial legs, but I heard that they are more advanced than anything you can find in the market. You can walk and jump and run as you like!"They function better than those of average people. If you're bothered by the appearance
"Erina? What about her?" Marina didn't know what happened while she was unconscious.Brent sent Erina back to the Carlton residence. She was still in low spirits. As soon as they arrived home, she locked herself up in her room."I'm sure Liv has told you about Connor's true identity, that she is his mother. In the past, I made a foolish yet grave mistake. "Kurt entrusted you to me, so I listened to you every time and was lenient to you. And I hurt her in the end. I don't want to upset her anymore."Marina's countenance turned cold. "What do you mean?""You gave Erina her name. At that time, I thought I would marry you to give her a perfect childhood. "Now, we have nothing to do with each other. I've explained everything that happened in the past as well. You can give her a new surname, Carlton or Fordham."Her heart throbbed at his words. In a trembling voice, she asked, "What about me? Do you not love me? Not even once?""We have known each other since we were young. It'
Marina's body was working fine bar one—she couldn't control her legs. "What did you do to me?""Try walking backward."They could move when she was retreating, but they stopped whenever she was heading for the gates."I've set your mobility strictly within the Carlton residence. Ms. Fordham is a genius indeed. She resolved a big problem of mine."Although Marina had known that Olivia would never let her go that easily, she hadn't expected Olivia to take it this far.Olivia gave Marina freedom yet caged her in the house at the same time.It was late at night by the time Olivia arrived at the Heath residence. She was tired from performing such a surgery—which needed a few hands—all alone.Not only did it take a toll on her body, but also on her mentality.In fact, attaching a prosthetic leg wasn't her forte, so it was more tiring than usual surgeries.She fell into a deep sleep as soon as she flopped in bed. Since there were people taking care of Molly, there shouldn't be an
Olivia ran at full speed. By the time she reached the room, everyone was there except Molly and Yale.A pungent smell filled the room. The warm temperature made it so bad that Olivia felt sick to the stomach.Suppressing the nausea, she entered the room. Mason was standing by the window, frowning.Linus guarded the door to the toilet, where a crouching Krystal was throwing up as Tatiana patted her back.Despite the deep-seated resentment, Krystal was still the daughter she raised with devotion and love."What happened to you?" Olivia walked into the toilet.Krystal grasped Olivia by the sleeve immediately. "Olivia, save me! I don't want a miscarriage!""What happened?""My stomach hurt, and I kept throwing up. I know. It's Yale. "I bet he wants me in prison. He added something to the food! He's trying to kill my baby to avenge Molly!"Olivia didn't jump to conclusions because, to her, Yale didn't appear to be rash enough to do anything in the Heath residence.Furthermore, h
Warren's pale face showed a hint of pleading. "Olivia, we've gotten to know each other better in the past two years. Have you ever loved me?"Hatred was evident in Olivia's cold eyes. "Never. I pray for your death every single second of my life.""I knew it." He smiled at that embittering answer. Karma had always been there. Another sound of a gunshot surprised the birds. A pool of blood splashed over the flowers. Warren stared at the picture on the gravestone. "Mona, I've returned everything that I owe you…"Olivia's gaze alternated between the two bodies. Her heart ached as she began crying. "It's finally over, Mona. Please rest in peace."She had been waiting for this day to come for too long. When the revenge was finally over, she felt hollow on the inside. …Yarrows reached their peak of beauty during the season, dancing along the wind. Willow was chasing after Zack, her bells ringing briskly. He teased, "You can't catch me!"After weaving a garland, Alicia bec
Warren was so blinded by love that he didn't realize that Olivia had spent the last two years setting this up.The moment he saw Olivia nestling in Ethan's arms, he knew that his identity had been exposed since the beginning.It was time to end all of this.Although the Fordham family had won the fight, they sustained heavy casualties. Brandon and Deborah, together with Jacqueline, had hurt and killed countless people. Quinn became a sacrifice, never waking up again despite her young age. Olivia placed a bouquet before Quinn's gravestone. "Rest in peace, Quinn. I'll take good care of the family. Don't worry."The breeze carried a leave before it landed on Olivia's shoulder, as though trying to respond to Olivia.Douglas reunited with the family, and Natalie was finally buried in peace. It was a private funeral, but Mason paid a visit. Mason and Douglas looked at each other. They were both important to Natalie, and they finally met each other after her death. With reddene
"Avery, what happened?" Olivia inquired.She had no clue what was happening and didn't dare to go anywhere close to Louis. The only person who she got close to was Avery."Stay away, Olivia! It's too dangerous!" Avery yelled worriedly. Louis shifted his gaze to Olivia. "My experiment is going to be successful soon. That's Natalie's descendant. She has Natalie's genes in her…"Olivia's eyes widened as she finally realized why Louis had been taking special care of her. Back then, she simply assumed that it was due to her health and talent, but it turned out that he had known her identity all along!The purpose of the human modification project was to resurrect Natalie! The thought of it gave her goosebumps.To think that he had made so many preparations just to resurrect Natalie…Even Olivia was deceived. She took the human modification project at face value; she didn't think much about it! "Let Natalie go, Louis. She's been gone for years. She could be watching us from up
Olivia arrived on the island. She noticed the change in the atmosphere this time around.It was the same old scenery, but the robots that once filled the island to the brim were gone. She expected to encounter some inspection robots upon arrival, but there weren't any.Ships were docking in lines by the seashore, and most of them belonged to private foreigner organizations and mercenaries. People were coming to the island!What happened?Was Louis in danger?Although Louis wished to transform her into a cyborg, she hoped he could live regardless. No matter what field it was, no one would come before an outstanding scientist like him. It would be a huge loss to lose him.Olivia grew worried. "Calm down, Liv. A lot of people came to the island, but I don't think it's a big issue for now," Ethan reminded her.He bet that the ships were loaded with ammunition. Still, the buildings on the island were intact, and nothing seemed to be destroyed. She disagreed, "No, there should
Mason and David had a long discussion by themselves. No one knew what they talked about.But it didn't matter because it was just an extra member joining the Fordham family anyway. That was it.On the other hand, Tatiana was a little worried. If the whole Fordham family were to be added to the family registry, would her children inherit less from the Heath family?Humans were born selfish. When the event actually came to pass, everyone would be thinking about their own benefit. However, the result of the discussion between David and Mason surprised everyone.Even though David wasn't acknowledged as one of the Fordhams, he wasn't planning to change his surname to Heath.He saw himself as a Fordham because his mother married Douglas.Nevertheless, he didn't mind his family being relatives with the Fordham family.Mason was a little disappointed, but he still respected David's decision because he knew how well Douglas treated David's family.Mason asked the Fordham family to sta
Olivia and the others returned to the Fordham family. Everything was going back on track under Avery's management. Sean's leg was recovering well. He could walk like a normal person, and he didn't have to pretend to be a cripple anymore. Troy would need more time to heal, but he was making progress.David clearly seemed better than he was before Olivia left. Everyone could still hardly believe that Jacqueline almost killed everyone in the family all by herself. When Olivia returned, David asked with concern, "Olivia, Avery said that you were cursed. How are you feeling right now?""Don't worry, Dad. I'm all better now. But we think that Jacqueline's dead in the sea," she assured.He hugged her. "It's alright. Your safety is all I hope for."It broke her heart to see how time had chipped away at his physique. It hadn't actually been that long since the family was in trouble. "Any news about Mom's whereabouts?" asked Olivia. "Avery found something, but he's still trying to
Alan brushed it over, but it was enough to leave Wendell in shock. Wendell imagined what kind of life Wayne had led before this. Growing up in a slum where all kinds of people lived… People like them had never really owned anything anyway, so they wouldn't feel the pain of loss…Ever since his wife passed away, Wendell didn't really care much about Alexander's upbringing. Wendell was merely generous when it came to spending money on Alexander. But once he reunited with his son, he realized how much it could hurt to be a parent. If that marriage arrangement was Wayne's wish, Wendell was hell-bent on making it happen.…Olivia was watching the sunset painting colors to the horizon by the seashore. Although Jacqueline was dead, Olivia didn't feel happy, not even one bit. So what if the mastermind was dead? The Fordham family was still in disarray, and no one knew where Shana was.Olivia sighed softly. "You're too young to be sighing like that." Wayne suddenly appeared next
Wendell felt helpless. He was seriously down on luck.Instead of his son, he thought that he had found himself a bossy superior. It was a heartfelt reunion after 30 years of separation, and yet the first thing Wayne talked about was an announcement about his marriage rather than expressing words of concern for his family. If it were any ordinary woman, Wendell wouldn't have minded it. But the person he insisted on marrying was none other than Olivia! She was a divorced woman with four kids!On top of that, Olivia's ex-husband was Wendell's nephew! The divorced couple was somewhat entangled with each other too.Ethan and Wayne were both dear to him. What should he do? Wendell was at his wit's end. Ignoring Wendell's dilemma, Wayne handed him a cigarette. But Wendell refused, "I quit it."Wayne lit a cigarette and squatted on the ground. Instead of a ruler of a land, he appeared more like a construction worker. Wendell massaged his forehead at that. How had his son grown
Wendell had been frail all his life. He never imagined that his biological son would have been missing for so many years. What surprised him more was that Wayne had grown up well despite hardships. Still, there seemed to be something off about this son of his.They were father and son who had been separated for years. Now that the truth was revealed, shouldn't they be hugging each other in tears of joy? Why did Wayne show no joy in reuniting with his father but seemed interested in his identity as the son of the Procter family—or more precisely, the marriage arrangement between the Procter family and the Fordham family?""Son, things are a bit complicated right now. We need to take our time to discuss this thoroughly—""Am I not your son?" Wayne's restless temperament was exactly the same as his mother's. There was no chance of dissuading him. There was only one thing in his head. He felt fortunate that he had run a background check on the ties between both families. Otherwise