Jacqueline heard the commotion and rushed to the room. "Sean, what's going on?"Olivia kept a safe distance from Sean. "Ms. Jacqueline, stay away from him. He's not mentally stable. He might hurt you.""Why is he acting this way?""Ms. Jacqueline, I received news of Mr. Fordham Senior a while ago. I can't contact Mr. Avery because he's on the plane, and Mr. Troy has just finished his surgery. Mr. Sean is the only person who can make the final call in the family, s-so I told him.""Did something happen to Grandpa?" Jacqueline was shocked."He found out what's going on within the family and had a heart attack… He passed away on the spot.""Nonsense! He's fine! I'm going to rip off that mouth of yours!" Sean grabbed a slipper nearby and hurled it at Morgan. Alarmed, Morgan pulled Jacqueline away. "This is bad! Mr. Sean has lost his mind!""Leave us for a moment. I'll look after him. This bombshell is too much of a shock for him. Let him calm down.""No, this is too dangerous, Dr
Jacqueline threw herself to the edge of the bed, her features distorted in sorrow. "Grandpa, why didn't you hold on a while longer? I could've been able to see you for the one last time.""Don't be sad, Ms. Jacqueline. No one had foreseen this to happen. Everything happened so suddenly. He was so angry and had a heart attack…"Sean fought back his tears. "Terry, we made sure no word got out. How did he find out about it? Who called him?""I looked into the contact number. It's a fake number from another country. Forget about the dialer's identity—we couldn't even track down his IP address. The other party came fully prepared."Terry's hands were tightly clenched into fists. The murderous intent in his eyes was glaring sharp. "Once I find out who the dialer is, I'll show him what hell feels like!"His temperament had grown mild after years, completely different from 40 years ago when his way of doing things was infamously scary.He lived by the streets as a beggar when he was a ki
Olivia didn't see what she was getting herself into when she came to treat Sean's legs at first.The Fordham family was in turmoil for real this time.Someone pinched her fingertips. She looked down to see Willow squeezing her fingertips to comfort her."Don't worry, I'm fine."David was an influential figure in Zelotria, so his funeral was packed with people.It had been almost a day and the visitors coming to offer their condolences hadn't stopped.Olivia followed by Sean's side. Due to her average looks, people simply thought that she was his maid.Many big shots attended the funeral too, but she didn't expect to see Ethan and Janice here.He was dressed in a black suit, and his tie was black too. Standing next to him was Janice, who wore a cocktail hat with beads.Their appearance drew all attention. "Isn't that the incompetent daughter of the Procter family? I heard that she insisted on marrying Mr. Miller instead of her childhood friend. In the end, her husband didn't
Ethan placed a flower and remained quiet next to Janice.The Procters noticed her and were, in fact, more surprised than Olivia to see her here.Enna, Janice's mother, had mixed feelings seeing her daughter here.Enna walked over, her body shaking. "What are you doing here, you ungrateful one?"Janice raised her head and took in Enna's haggard face. Her chest tightened.She didn't spend her time right all these years. Now, she finally realized how foolish she was for not being a filial daughter."Mom," she called."Don't call me that. As I said that year, I'll pretend that I don't have a daughter like you.""Enough, Mom. Now that she's here, I bet she knows that she was at fault. It's been years. Are you still angry at her?" Derrick Procter tried to calm Enna down.Ryder Procter attempted to shift the topic. "This must be Ethan. I never had the chance to meet you since you're mostly working in Arlandia. I'm your uncle."Derrick and Ryder were Janice's brothers.The funeral b
A moment ago, Olivia felt that Derrick and Ryder looked familiar for some reason.When Wendell finally showed up, she knew why.Wayne resembled Wendell a lot. He looked somehow similar to Derrick and Ryder too."What's the matter?""How many children does Mr. Wendell have?""One. That's Alexander, who's engaged with Jacqueline. You saw him yesterday.""I see…"Many people looked similar, just like Olivia and Jacqueline, even though they weren't blood-related.Olivia overthought it because Wayne was consigned to a slum in Carathia when he was young. He didn't know who his parents were."I just think that Mr. Alexander doesn't look like Mr. Wendell. He takes after his mother more.""Maybe. I can't remember her face because she has passed on for many years. Mr. Wendell is a devoted man. He didn't marry anyone else all these years."Olivia nodded and kept quiet, observing the scene.She understood Ethan more than anyone else. He should be very happy to be able to meet the Proct
Ethan was taller than Alexander, who had a more feminine build. The contrast between the two of them was quite strong when they stood next to each other. Ethan was manly and domineering, while Alexander had a softer and more elegant appearance. They were two extremes.Ethan glanced at Alexander calmly and nodded as a greeting."Ethan, this is my fiancée, Jacqueline Fordham," Alexander introduced. "Hi." Ethan looked at Jacqueline's face and noticed some similarities with Olivia.A hint of nervousness flashed in Jacqueline's eyes. She replied quickly, "Your reputation precedes you.""Really? You know about me?" Ethan's seemingly casual words carried the judgemental tone of a man in power.Especially since he was much taller than Jacqueline, his gaze coming from above was incredibly intimidating. Jacqueline composed herself and replied, "Mr. Miller, your reputation in the business world has spread far and wide. I've heard of you even though I'm in Zelotria. "I've been hoping
Troy turned around and saw his cousin, Graham Fordham.He hadn't seen him for a few years, and Graham had grown from a young kid to a superstar in the entertainment industry.The two of them had some bad blood between them. Back in the day, Troy spent one whole year making a wood carving of the Mona Lisa. It was a great project that took great effort for him to accomplish.Graham, who was ten years younger than him, destroyed a part of it when the housekeepers weren't watching out of mischief. His actions caused Troy's work to be incomplete. Troy had planned to take that piece for a competition, so he reprimanded Graham harshly. They were family, but everyone had always felt that David doted on his eldest son the most. The others were less loved. David was angry when he found out about that. He caned Graham and locked him in the private chapel for three whole days.That incident sowed the seed of hatred in Graham. Even though Troy later apologized to him, Graham never accepte
Olivia handed Troy a glass of water to try and calm him down."I don't really understand what's going on. Can you tell me about the traitors you mentioned?""That guy who just walked away is Graham Fordham. He's working in the entertainment industry. He's Uncle Henley's youngest son. Garrett, who died a while back, is his brother."Avery had never suspected anyone in the family for the longest time because he thought we were all bound by blood. "He thought it was only natural for all of us to work toward building the family up. Who in their right mind would bring ruin to their own family? I never expected them to harbor such malice toward us."Olivia was confused. "Why would Mr. David treat his children unfairly?""It's just how it is with the older generation. They just dote on the first son. Dad was Grandpa's first child. That was why he loved Dad to the point of spoiling him."His love even extended to Dad's children. Every time our cousins tried to compete for things with u
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