It was too hard for a child like Alicia to understand the complicated emotions of an adult. Her eyes were filled with confusion.Ethan was still very emotional. "Dear child, you must have endured a lot of hardships, right?" he asked.Hardship? Alicia didn't know what that was. All she knew was that she was happy as long as she was with her brother and father. "Are you hungry?" Ethan asked as he quickly ordered some people to bring over some food. Alicia's eyes lit up as she looked at the food before her. However, her eyes dimmed as she was about to eat. "Zack," she said.Ethan patted her head. "Don't worry. I've sent people to look for your brother. You'll be able to see him soon. For now, eat. Your brother will also get his share when we find him."Ethan could tell Alicia was starving, but she didn't eat in a hurry. It was like she was born to be elegant. Alicia may have looked like him, but her actions carried her mother's elegance. The more Ethan looked at Alicia, th
Olivia instantly became anxious. She grabbed Ethan's sleeve and asked, "What did you say? He was taken? Where was he taken to?""Calm down, Ms. Fordham. I'll tell you what happened." Ethan then took out the surveillance footage and showed it to her. "Look here. This was the man who took Zack. But from the looks of it, he willingly went with the man. I think he knows the man."Olivia calmed down after she heard that. She looked at the video repeatedly. The video might be fuzzy, but it did show that Zack willingly went with the man. The man who took him was none other than Jack. Olivia relaxed a little when she realized that Jack was the one who took Zack. After all, the situation on the ship had been very chaotic. Jack didn't even know she was on board. If he had jumped into the sea to save Alicia, she would have lost both of her children. Olivia was also sure Jack saw someone jump into the ocean to save Alicia. He had snuck onto the ship to begin with. Things would be
Blood ties were inseverable. Even if Alicia had never seen Olivia before, she recognized her mother immediately. In the pictures Jack showed her, Olivia had a warm smile, and she had hair. Olivia was also slim and frail at the moment, but Alicia could tell she was her mother. Olivia's reaction was similar to Ethan's. She hugged Alicia tightly and couldn't stop crying tears of joy from the reunion. With Alicia in her arms, Olivia recalled all the struggles she had gone through on the day she was born. She thought she would never see her children again.But her baby had grown into a fine young lady. How could she not be moved to tears? Alicia was puzzled. The handsome man had just hugged her and cried a few days ago. Why was her mother crying too? She didn't understand. Alicia wiped Olivia's tears away gently and even blew on her eyes. "Don't cry, she said.In the past, Jack would blow on her wounds whenever she was hurt. Then she'd stop crying. Olivia raised her hands to
Olivia tightened her arms around Alicia when she thought about how she brought misfortune to the people around her. Now that she had finally found her child, she swore to protect her no matter the cost. Olivia was relieved to know that both her children were still alive. The next thing she needed to do was nurse herself back to health. Then, she would try to uncover the truth in secret. As long as the people after her weren't found, she had to live her life on the run. If she ever got discovered, her children would be in danger too. She wasn't the one in the wrong. Why was she the one forced into hiding?She was an innocent woman. Why should she hide her children away their whole lives? Why were they forced to live like sewer rats? The mastermind behind it all was to blame. They caused her marriage to fall apart, destroyed her family, and separated her from her children. They were the reason Olivia lost everything. Olivia would never forget witnessing Mona's death befo
Olivia frowned. She was still worried about Zack. Although Jack was with him, they had left in a rush. Not to mention, it had been raining. Were they okay?But Olivia knew that worrying didn't help. As things were, she couldn't contact Jack in the foreseeable future even if she went back to Arlandia. "Alright. I'll wait for a little longer then." She agreed.Alicia was with her, so Jack would definitely reach out to her. But the most important thing she needed to do now was to nurse herself back to health. Alicia was a very well-behaved child. She never complained and wasn't a picky eater. She had no bad habits that were typically seen in children her age. Olivia was happy every day she was with Alicia, but she also felt sad for her. The reason why a child would be so well-behaved was because she had been through a lot of hardships. Why else would a child be so obedient? Children who have been through a lot are usually the obedient ones. Olivia wasn't blaming Jack. She
Olivia's thoughts drifted far away. Her mother left her at a young age and she grew up in a single-parent family. Her father had been nothing but good to her. He gave her the best life and education he could. He taught her how to be generous, kind, and cheerful.But there were a lot of things that Jeff couldn't make up for, like the family sports days at school. There were a lot of activities that required both parents to complete together. Ever since Olivia was young, she has been envious of other people who had their mothers to hold their hands, cook them meals, and pick out their clothes. She always envied other people who had their mothers, no matter how outstanding she already was. Olivia swore she would take good care of her children when she had them. She would give them all the love she could and never let them grow up in a single-parent family. Then, she fell in love with Ethan at first sight. Initially, the feeling was mutual. Olivia felt like he was a man she
They ended up staying on the island for over a month. Life there was simple yet fulfilling. Olivia's health visibly improved too. Although the tumor in her body was still there, she was more hopeful for the future. Her relationship with Ethan also improved greatly after spending so much time together. She didn't have much energy, so Alicia would play with Ethan most of the time. It was unavoidable for the three of them to have some close contact. Like when Alicia wanted to play at the water park, Olivia couldn't refuse, so she agreed. Olivia had sat by the pool and did not intend to enter the water. Alicia could only look at Ethan. "Come play with me, Uncle Logan," she said.Ethan had been staying away from the water when he was disguised as Logan. He had applied a unique sap on his body that could temporarily change his skin tone without damaging his skin. But the only side effect was that the sap couldn't come into contact with too much water. Otherwise, the color woul
Olivia thought they were done for. It was a private pool, after all. There were no trainers or lifeguards. No one was there to save them in the case of an accident. Ethan had suddenly come from nowhere. He lifted Alicia up with one hand and grabbed Olivia's waist with the other. He then placed Alicia by the pool and turned to look at Olivia. "Are you okay, Ms. Fordham?""Leg, my leg cramped. Let me catch my breath.""Okay. You can hold on to me."Olivia didn't have the luxury to care about being too close to a man. She wrapped her arms around Ethan's neck and waited for the cramp to pass. Ethan wasn't in a rush either. After he made sure Alicia was fine, he stood by quietly and waited. After around ten seconds, Olivia's leg stopped cramping. She sighed in relief and came back to her senses. Then, she realized that her body was pressed against Ethan. She had subconsciously got closer to him while her leg was cramping. The worse thing was that they were facing each other
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