Engrossed in reading the contents of the document, Olivia was startled by Ethan's sudden appearance. She dropped the files, which scattered all over the floor.Why had he come back so early? Ethan usually only returned home late at night. Although they were married, she was a little ashamed, especially since she knew that Ethan hated it when people schemed behind his back.Olivia swallowed nervously. Her expression was stiff as she said, "Y-You're back."Ethan was clad in a suit and tie, which outlined his tall and slender figure. When his icy gaze fell upon her, Olivia felt like she was trapped in a frozen cellar.He stalked toward her, taking wide strides with his long legs as he leisurely took off his blazer. Having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he carried himself with an air of nobility.Although he was merely removing his clothes, Olivia was so frightened that she nearly lost her composure. She wanted to escape, but her legs seemed to be paralyzed.Before she w
Olivia was dumbfounded. His words struck a chord within her. Ethan was the best example of it. He used to dote on her endlessly, but now he was extremely cruel to her. She couldn't say he had changed. Instead, he was just showing her a different side of him.Since Ethan was like that, Jeff could be too.Olivia countered weakly, "Well, no matter what happened, he wouldn't ... kill someone."Ethan's finger gently brushed Olivia's cheek. He spoke gently as if he was still her lover, but his eyes were devoid of any tenderness."Liv, you're so naïve. Did you also think that I would never leave you?"His words cut Olivia’s heart like a knife. It was true that she had thought that he would never change until she saw him holding Marina at the airport. That was when reality slapped her in the face.Ethan continued, "You've always wanted to know the truth. Today is your lucky day. Jeff didn't want to keep that child, and he didn't want to give Leia a home. The first three months are the
To Olivia, her father was a kind, benevolent man. Besides sponsoring students, he also frequently donated money to charity funds. In all the reports, her father was righteous and humble. He was the perfect man. As Olivia knelt on the ground picking up the scattered documents, her face fell as she flipped through the pages.Clearly, Ethan had done thorough research. Even if those women had only been in a relationship with Jeff for a few days, the evidence was clear. In the span of a decade, Jeff had ruined the lives of multiple women, all of whom were innocent, beautiful, young women.It was not difficult to understand. Jeff was a handsome man. Despite being middle-aged, his regular workouts kept him fit. He was a refined, wealthy, and attractive fatherly figure, which seemed to be a trending archetype. Hence, it was normal that many young girls were attracted to him.However, he seemed to have a thing for those from the countryside or from poor backgrounds. Perhaps it was because
Leia was as important to Ethan as Jeff was to Olivia."I’m not denying that he is a good father, but he is definitely not a good person. Underneath that hypocritical facade lies the heart of a devil. Liv, I won't hide anything from you anymore at this point," Ethan said, down on one knee as he held Olivia's face in his hands. With a maniacal smile, he continued, "You were once everything to me. I loved you to the point of obsession. However, because you are Jeff's only daughter, the more I loved you, the more I hate you now."Although he was smiling, Olivia felt a chill run down her spine. “On the day I fell into the water with Marina, did you intentionally save her first? Did you want our child to pay for the life of your sister's child?"Yes, an eye for an eye."Olivia grabbed his collar with both hands, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Are you crazy? Our child hadn't even had a chance to see the world yet. What did it do wrong? It was innocent!"Tilting his head, he smil
Tears streamed down Olivia's cheeks. She knew that she and Ethan could never go back to how things were before. He had betrayed her and destroyed the Fordhams, and the Fordhams owed him his sister's life.Those debts could never be settled. Trying to resolve them would only serve to tighten the knots of their relationship, suffocating them and leading to an inevitable end.Ethan held her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his cheeks. "Liv, don't love me. Hate me instead. I betrayed you, I killed our child, and I can never turn back."She sensed his inner turmoil, but amidst that, she could feel the tenderness he still had for her like a calm oasis in a turbulent desert sandstorm. However, she knew that the oasis would soon be destroyed by the raging winds.Ethan left the room, leaving Olivia behind. Olivia knew that this was their final farewell.When Olivia headed out of the study, Madam Burgess was nowhere to be seen. The kind-hearted Madam Burgess had always believ
Olivia and Ethan couldn't avoid reality forever. Hence, Ethan had decided to completely give up on her.However, Olivia had also made her own decision. Olivia smiled gently at Brent and said, "I'm sorry, please tell Mr. Miller that I regret it."Brent couldn't understand them. At first, Ethan was determined to divorce, then it was Olivia. Now that Ethan agreed, Olivia changed her mind again.What game were they playing?If it were Kelvin, he would have started complaining long ago, but Brent's expression remained unchanged. With business-like composure, he answered, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Miller. I can't make the final decision. I hope that you will come with me.""I won't make things difficult for you. Let's go," Olivia answered. She had already anticipated that. Hence, she wrapped herself tightly in a scarf before following Brent out the door.Whenever they were about to get divorced, unexpected incidents would occur. This time, however, things went surprisingly smoothly. Even the
The gravity of her smile almost sucked Ethan in, but his rationale quickly pulled him back to reality.He furrowed his brows. He had an unpleasant look on his face as he said, “What trick are you trying to pull, Olivia?”Olivia said seriously, “I’m not trying to pull anything. I’m telling you that I’m giving you three months. After that, you can marry Marina and have a million babies with her for all I care.”When that happened, her life would be at its end. She would find somewhere remote and live the rest of her life in peaceful solitude. Ethan saw the determination in her eyes. He felt like didn’t understand Olivia anymore. He thought she was going to hate him, even after they talked it out. He did not expect her to be like this.Ethan coldly glared at her. “What if I say no?”“Then, I’ll never sign the divorce papers. I can wait. Your girl and baby can’t,” Olivia said as she quirked an eyebrow. She had the usual taunting look on her face. “I’m giving you three months. We’ll
After counting the days she had left, Olivia figured it might be a good idea to have a companion to celebrate the coming year. Olivia, as she always did, extended her pinky finger and said, “Deal.”Ethan was stunned. Marina brattily rubbed herself against him and whined, “Ethan.”Ethan didn’t look at her. He slowly extended his finger, hooked it with Olivia’s, and said, “No take-backs.” They had finally come to an agreement.This was the only method Olivia could devise. He would stay with her for a month, then she would return his freedom to him.Marina groaned, “Ethan, I’m not rushing you to get a divorce or anything, but think about our baby…”Olivia’s stomach churned as she looked at how childish Marina was being. “I’m going to the bathroom.”Ethan was great at everything, except choosing people he wanted to keep in his life.Although Marina was his neighbor, he didn’t need to be with someone like her to torture himself. She lost respect for him for even standing next to
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