Colin didn't look like he noticed the disappointment in Olivia's eyes. He reached out to her. "I was passing by when I spotted you, Olivia. Did you get lost, or did you sprain your ankle?"Declining his offer to help, Olivia got up on her own. Then, she smiled helplessly. "I was just thinking about something. I stopped here without realizing it.""My house is nearby. If you don't mind, Olivia, you can go visit Snowball. Snowball misses you."Because of this reason, Olivia couldn't bring herself to decline.The warm interior of the car formed a stark contrast to the cold outside. Colin passed to Olivia an untouched cup of coffee."I was thinking of drinking it when I got home. Here, it'll warm you up."Olivia looked down. It was spiced coffee."Thank you.""No need for thanks." Smiling, Colin turned the steering wheel with one hand.Olivia felt that something was off. She had the feeling that the spiced coffee was bought specially for her, and he didn't run into her by accident
Olivia felt that human hearts were quite simple. Colin's cooking managed to heal the hurt she received from Ethan and Chloe.The more she needed love, the easier she was touched by small acts of kindness.In the end, Colin still noticed her sorrow. He asked, "Olivia, is there something you're upset about?""I need to undergo surgery, but when I look back in my life, I realize that I have no one to sign the risk acknowledgment letter for me. Am I a failure?"Olivia spoke nonchalantly, but a pained look flashed across Colin's eyes."Olivia, everyone has a different definition of failure. To me, you're an outstanding woman, so you're not a failure. An unhappy marriage can only be a mistake at most."But we have long lives. No one can predict the future and avoid making mistakes."Olivia frowned a little. "You know about what happened to me?""Back on the cruise, I knew that Mr. Miller was holding you. I was among the crowd at the hospital that day, so I overheard your fight. Sorry
Ethan stared quietly at Olivia. She hadn't done anything out of the ordinary in the past few days.The most she did was spend long hours at the hospital a few days ago. Jeff was getting weaker by the day. It was only reasonable for Olivia to want to spend as much time with him as possible.For the past few days, she didn't go anywhere outside of the residential area. Everly didn't come over either.She was wearing a beige lace dress. The breeze caressed her face as flower petals danced around her. She was exceedingly beautiful.Ethan realized how gentle Olivia could be when she kept her distance from him.Olivia looked him in the eye from a distance away. She nodded in place of a greeting. Then, she left without even turning back.Ethan felt upset. He had made a decision and given her a promise, but he kept breaking his own rules for Olivia's sake.Seeing that she was about to leave, he stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.Olivia looked at him calmly, then sounded a warning.
The person standing at the door was none other than Chloe. She was once the person Olivia longed the most for, but now, even a glance at her hurt Olivia's heart.Ethan was simply getting engaged. But because of that, Olivia managed to meet all the people she didn't want to see in one go."Liv, just give me five minutes.""You're not getting even five seconds." Olivia's expression was cold.Coincidentally, a neighbor was leaving their house. Olivia didn't want to be criticized, so she had no choice but to open the door and let Chloe in.This was Chloe's first time coming to Olivia's house after returning to the country.If it were before, Olivia would've welcomed her with open arms. But today, she didn't do that. She changed her shoes calmly, then got a glass of water for herself. Her throat was dry."Go ahead."Chloe looked around her. The apartment wasn't too big. She could see the whole place in just a glance."Liv, I heard from Marina that she bought the Fordham residence f
Olivia didn't know how Chris managed to charm Chloe. She thought, "She's already so old, so how can she still be so naive?"She replied, "Why should I bless them? Marina is the reason I ended up like this today. I haven't even made her pay for what she's done to me, but I'm supposed to give her my blessing now? What's the logic behind this?"Chloe said, "I also heard about what happened between you two. Liv, what happened to your child was an accident."Marina also fell into the sea, and she almost ended up like you. But she was fortunate enough to have given birth to the child. You can't blame her."Olivia knew that Marina had been spinning tales in front of Chloe again.No matter what Marina said, Chloe would believe her and reprimand Olivia instead."Mrs. Carlton, your generosity knows no bounds. Have you considered doing charity work?"Chloe said in exasperation, "Liv, I'm sincerely inviting you to attend their engagement ceremony. What's with your attitude? Why are you stil
Olivia had also thought about talking to Ryan these days. She could continue the investigation through his case.But she feared that it might alert the mastermind, so she never took action.She didn't expect Ryan to reach out to her first.Olivia pressed the button to answer the call. "Hello, Ryan.""Ms. Fordham, where are you right now? You asked me to investigate Jodie, remember? I found something!"Ryan's voice sounded anxious, and there was no trace of him faking it.Olivia probed, "What is it?""Jodie's phone! But it's already broken. I remember you being interested, so I'm calling to ask if you want it.""I heard that her original home has been rented to someone else. Her body was found in the ocean. Where did the phone come from? If it's already broken, how can you be sure that it's Jodie's?"Olivia was smart, and she soon found the key point.Ryan thought that she would latch onto the clue without hesitation. He didn't expect her to figure out the flaw so soon.While
They weren't talking in person. But Olivia felt like the atmosphere between them was extremely awkward.Ethan's voice was filled with dissatisfaction. "Is that all you wanted to say?"She had already spoken, so it was too late to take back her words. Calming herself, Olivia said, "Yes. We're not strangers, after all. I feel like I should congratulate you on a day like this."Ethan gritted his teeth. "Thanks."With that, he hung up. Listening to the beeps coming from her phone, Olivia sighed helplessly.He was the one who was getting engaged, but he behaved as if she was forcing him to be engaged. He sounded so reluctant.She wouldn't tell Ethan about this, or it would ruin his engagement ceremony. Not just Marina, but even Chloe would annoy her to no end.Just then, Colin happened to call her. Olivia felt like she had seen the light."Colin.""Good morning, Olivia.""Can you come over and pick me up?" Olivia carefully asked for help."Of course. I'm already on my way. I'll b
Olivia woke up, regaining consciousness. She had a splitting headache. In the elevator, someone had covered her nose and mouth with a drugged handkerchief.The effects of the drug still lingered. Olivia felt weak and sore all over her body.Her eyes were covered with a thick piece of black cloth. She couldn't see any light at all.Her wrists and ankles were tightly bound as well. Tied up firmly, she couldn't move.She was trapped in a narrow space, and she could smell something rotting.She tried to feel around. She soon realized that she was squeezed tightly, and there wasn't much space for her to move around.Soon, she figured out where she was. She was in the trunk of a car.For some reason, she suddenly thought about how Jodie died.Jodie was strangled to death before getting tossed into the ocean. She was only discovered when her body was distorted from all the swelling."Is it my turn now?" Olivia wondered.She must have provoked the mastermind by working at Miller Grou
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