The Fordhams were stunned. How could this be? Douglas favored David so much!"Why didn't Grandpa leave anything for you? How could you agree to this? This has to be fake!"David explained indifferently, "He wanted to, but I rejected. I've been amassing money myself for the past few years. I've never thought of getting anything from the family."He remembered something and took over a signed check. "Oh right, here's one billion dollars. Take it as Dad's shares. Although it's not tantamount to the market share price right now, it's a few times the fold of the 200 thousand dollars he first invested. "Take it as a token of appreciation for looking after my family."The check served as a reality check to Henley.Emery and Sawyer quickly rejected it."David, we can't take this money. We know that you've been the one supporting the family. If Dad were still alive, he wouldn't want it.""He's right. You're Mom's son, which means you also have the right to inherit part of the assets.
"To be exact, it's one of the Fordham family's secret business."That statement alone was enough for Graham to understand everything.He thought his smooth sailing career in showbiz was owed to his capability, thinking that his encounter with an excellent manager wasn't just pure luck.The first drama he starred in was of top quality as well.How could there be so many coincidences? Someone was there to help behind the scenes."It was you." Graham didn't expect that his father wasn't the one protecting him this entire time. Instead, it was the uncle he looked down on.Graham shut his eyes. "So you're the actual owner of Star Records Entertainment. I didn't know that.""As a veteran, you know the rules in showbiz. So, you're the most dependable person I can entrust Star Records Entertainment to. Your grandfather and I talked about it too."Graham tightly clenched the hem of his shirt as his emotions churned in him. He didn't know how to express his feelings at the moment. Simi
"David, no matter what happens, you'll always be our brother. Nothing can change this.""I know our sister-in-law is in trouble. If you need anything, just tell us."David waved his hand. "I appreciate it. You may take your leave first. I have something personal to take care of."Emery and Sawyer glimpsed at Linus before leaving.Henley's family didn't budge at all. Shock riveted them at the spot."You guys should leave too."Henley had mixed feelings about this. He seemed to have lost the battle as he couldn't gain ownership of David's company.But he became the head of the family instead!Even though he won, he didn't feel happy in the slightest.Things shouldn't have turned out this way.He didn't want any of this to happen!Driving David's family out of the family had always been his wish. He spent his whole life trying to achieve it. In the end, his attacks turned out to be nothing. "David, don't expect me to be grateful for you! I…"He didn't intend to say that, b
Jacqueline was slightly surprised as she thought that she had hidden the truth well.But Olivia had long known of the truth, including Jacqueline's face.Olivia tossed a stack of documents about Jacqueline's plastic surgery records. "You're a dedicated one, aren't you? You underwent so many plastic surgeries since you were young until your face finally looks like mine. "But the fake can never be real. No matter how many times you fix your face, you can never be the real me. The same goes for your identity. Regardless of how hard you work for it, it's fake.""Since when did you find out?""I don't mind telling you this. If it weren't for the chaos in the Fordham family and the revelation that Dad's not Mr. Douglas' biological son, I would never have known. You almost deceived me."Jacqueline, have you never regretted the things you did to them?" Olivia slowly marched toward Jacqueline, getting closer and closer. "You tried to kill me again and again. And you killed my closest peo
Jacqueline thought that she had enough reasons to justify her decisions. She was even crying. "I'm not like you. I wasn't born to be a loved princess. Women from rural areas like me have to work our asses off unless we want to live in hell."Many of them were sold off to single old men by their parents before they turned adults. They became a tool to give birth to babies. Deborah gave me a new life, and I followed her orders. That was the only way for me to survive! "On the other hand, you guys were born to be the winners in life. You don't have to lift a finger to own everything. But me? What can I do?"Olivia growled, "You're still making excuses to clean your name. So calculative and pretentious despite your young age. How ridiculous. The family you're born into shouldn't be the reason to justify your actions. You can't gloss over all the things you did to me in the past!"Two years ago, Olivia found out why she was at the last stage of cancer at such a young age. Cancer cell
The Fordhams surrounded Jacqueline like menacing tigers. The briddling resentment in them was screaming to kill her.David took a deep breath, suppressing the murderous intent in him. "Jacqueline, I want you to tell us Toxic Hive's hiding spot and what Deborah has done all these years. I want you to lure her out too."That was the only reason they let her live.Jacqueline sneered. "You tried so hard to take away all my savings. I have nothing now, so what's the point of telling you that? It's just a matter of time before I die."She was trying to guess what they plotting. "I do have all the documents and data from Toxic Hive. I'd rather kill myself than give everything up to you… unless you agree to let me off the hook."A clever person would always fight for a way to survive during hardships.Like a tree on a cliff, she was determined to grow higher and higher no matter how bad the environment was.It was unfortunate that she stooped so low just for her benefit. She forsook m
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; a ruthless person should be handled by another ruthless person.Jacqueline couldn't believe her ears when Leia requested to have her handed over.Even if the Fordhams resented her to the bones, they upheld morality. But Leia was different. She was the most cruel person among the researchers in Toxic Hive.To make things worse, Jacqueline had a record of harming Avery and lying to her. Leia would never let Jacqueline off the hook that easily.On top of that, Leia wouldn't show mercy when it came to the interrogation. Jacqueline was dead meat."No, Dad! Guys, don't hand me over to her for old times' sake. She's a monster!"The Fordhams, who were hesitant at first, made up their mind when they noticed how much Leia feared Jacqueline.Wearing a lifeless expression, Leia slowly walked up to Jacqueline.Jacqueline attempted to escape, but Linus was quick enough to yank her back. The murderous intent loomed over her.His towering stature and
Olivia's sole wish was to reunite with her real family, nothing more. She didn't expect David to prepare such a huge gift!She had come so close to death several times in life until this day came, the day she found her real family. Money and assets didn't appear to be that important compared to family. Avery stroked her head. "Don't see it as a burden. We weren't by your side during your hardest time. We weren't part of your life journey."Sean hugged her too. "It won't be that way anymore. You have us now, your family."That was the word she wanted to hear the most—family.Olivia hugged them back and couldn't fight back her tears anymore.She had grown stronger, but she couldn't seem to control her emotions these days.Things were not as bad as they seemed.Quietly, Linus watched the family reunion. He was genuinely happy for Olivia.Although she had reunited with the Heath family back in Aldenvine, Linus could tell that she held a regret that couldn't seem to go away.No
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