Everly's first reaction upon seeing Ethan was to cower. She might have been bold and outspoken at the event, but she was only bolstered by the effect of alcohol and Olivia's presence. She bore witness to Ethan's deep love for Olivia, and she knew that he could be deeply cruel toward outsiders. Two years ago, she brought Olivia to a bar. When Ethan picked up Olivia, he shot Everly an icy look when Olivia wasn't looking and warned, "This is the last time."She was drenched in cold sweat when Ethan left, and she was haunted by the look in his eyes for a few nights in her dreams.Back to the present, Ethan shut the lighter and casually glanced at her, but it was enough to make her tense up. She gulped and said in a hushed voice, "Um, Mr. Miller, I'm looking for Liv. I'll excuse myself now."He shook off the cigarette ashes and gave her a look from the corner of his eye. "Let's chat."She knew it wasn't going to be a casual chat, and as a result, she was reluctant to engage with h
Ethan finally took Everly's word for it. She wouldn't dare to lie to him. "Was she sick before this?""Yeah, I was going through a breakup with a bastard, so I didn't pay her much attention. Thank god Keith was there to cook for her." She had wanted to tell Ethan the truth about Olivia. But she wouldn't know the consequences of doing so, given that Olivia couldn't even put a name to her relationship with Ethan at the moment. She decided to respect Olivia's wish. Ethan thought of Olivia's pale face and asked, "Why was she sick?"Her heart skipped a beat as she fought to maintain a neutral expression under his keen gaze. "It was just the flu.""Just the flu?""What else could it have been? Liv has always been healthy.""That's true," Ethan concurred and concluded that Olivia might have sought pity through her show of weakness to avoid the divorce. After he received the answers from Everly, he dropped a remark before leaving. "If you're interested, you may report to the Mille
Staring at the door that seemed shut forever, she lost hope. No matter how many times she got trapped, the ending was the same. Last time, she lost her baby. Would it be her turn this time to die?She remembered that Ethan had arrived half an hour late to her room from Marina's room. Hopeless, she demanded to know, "Why did you choose to save her?""Because you know how to swim."The tears that had welled up in her eyes finally rolled down her cheek when she heard his answer. She was a pregnant woman, not an immortal. When she fell into the water, her legs were tangled in a web of fishing nets as well.He always thought she was indestructible. That was why he must have believed she could withstand the cold shower. She'd at most fall sick from the flu. He had no idea that an insignificant flu might be deadly for a cancer patient post-chemo. Thinking he was in control of everything in this world, he shall pay for his hubris this time. She was no longer concerned about a thi
Ethan thought he was familiar with every nook and cranny of Olivia's body, but it was his first time seeing the scar on her lower abdomen. He was aware that she went under the knife without anesthesia due to her allergy. Waiting outside the operating theater, Ethan heard her screams of pain from within. He knew of the layers of her skin that were sutured and the amount of stitches she received on that day.Apart from the wound on the abdomen, Olivia suffered a new injury on her inner left arm. He suddenly recalled that she once visited the hospital on the day Marina made a scene. He thought Olivia merely suffered from some minor abrasions from that day, but he was shocked to discover the long scar. For someone who had a fear of pain, how did she manage to suffer in silence and brush it off later?Pursing his lips, he remembered Olivia's words before she blacked out. Her words felt like a stab to his heart. He changed her into pajamas and ramped up the heating in the room as h
To Ethan, Olivia was the symbol of vitality. Hence, he was flustered when Brent mentioned the potentially fatal condition that she was in. Brent went up to him and showed him the photos of the blood test results on the phone. Apart from the blood cell count, Olivia had a lower-than-average count for the other lymphatic cells.Ethan tried to grasp the consequences of his actions in full. He remembered her desperate screaming when he left her alone in the bathroom. Feeling disoriented, he replied, "Well, she's running a fever now.""That's bad. We need to get her to the hospital.""Get the car." Ethan recalled how Olivia had always shown up wrapped in a thick down jacket. That was rather unusual because she had only worn thin wool coats during the past winters to look good. It finally dawned on him. She wasn't faking her illness all this time.He clumsily wrapped her up in layers of clothing, seemingly worried that the cold air might seep in. She looked both pitiful and lovab
Ethan let go of Chris' collar and stumbled backward as Olivia's words echoed in his mind."Ethan, I was wrong … Meeting you in this life was a mistake."She must have hated herself to the extent of giving up on her life. For the first time, Chris picked up a hint of fear on Ethan's face. After a long silence, Ethan finally questioned, "I went through her blood test results. Why are the indices lower than average?""In situations like these, she's likely having …" Chris stopped himself from telling the truth. After a round of chemo, the patient's blood cell indices would fall under the average. Although he had not performed health checks for Olivia in the past two years, he highly doubted that she had cancer because she was healthy and young. Statistically, cancer patients were mostly middle-aged or older. Since the situation was tense, he didn't want to scare Ethan before there was a conclusive result."Likely having what?""Nothing. Did you notice anything off with Mrs. Mil
The scenery in Olivia's dream changed from the ocean to a lovely sunflower field. A kid was running and giggling in the field. "Mama! Come get me!""Oh, sweetie! My sweet child." When she caught up with the kid, she pulled him into a hug. "I finally found you, my baby! I'm sorry. I will protect you well now."She turned the kid around and was astonished to see Connor's meaty face. It suddenly started pouring, and she had to run to a shelter with the kid. She was drenched by the rain.At that moment, she woke up from the dream, and the first thing she saw was the kid with a meaty face drooling from his lips. The drool almost fell onto her face, but Ethan was fast enough to wipe it away. When they exchanged glances, the air became a little awkward. After all, Ethan had sported an image of a haughty company president. Nobody had ever caught him in such an unbefitting act.Olivia chuckled after she noticed the unfamiliar environment. "Is this a dream? Am I dead? Why would I dream of
Ethan reached out to touch her forehead, but she dodged his move. "Mr. Miller, please don't cross the line.""I just wanted to know if you're still running a fever," he explained. To that, she flashed a caustic smile. "Don't you think you're quite ridiculous? You were the one who tied me up under the cold shower. You're not a three-year-old—you knew the consequences, so why did you act like you cared after I caught a fever?""I didn't know you were weak. And I didn't know you'd be in critical condition after getting a fever."Her smile widened. "Does that matter? Plus, we are divorced, but you keep acting like you are in love with me. That's sickening."She had no idea why Connor was in her room, but she knew that it wouldn't be wise to have him stay around her. Now that she was back to herself, she gently pulled Connor away from her. She then tossed the blanket aside and took out the IV drip needle from the back of her hand.Droplets of blood trickled down the tiny wound, but
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