"Doctor, how is he?" Olivia's heart was pounding violently as she gripped her sleeve tightly. She was terrified of hearing the worst. "Fortunately, the nurses noticed his condition very quickly, and we were able to save him in time. Olivia, I won't keep it from you. "Your father is in a very dangerous state, and we need the best brain specialist, Leo, to perform brain surgery for him. "Otherwise … We might not be able to save him next time."Olivia's heart sank. She wanted to find Leo more than anyone else. Alas, she didn't have a wide social circle. Keith had helped her look for Leo before, but to no avail. When Jeff was wheeled out, she saw how weak he looked with his eyes tightly shut. She called out, "Dad." However, it was like throwing a pebble down a well because she received no answer.One of Jeff's hands, which wasn't covered by the blanket, looked thin and wrinkled with age. He seemed to have aged a lot over the last two short years. Except for the indwelling nee
Ethan's impression was still the same as the last time, when she'd thrown a pot of porridge at him a few days ago. She'd been furious and crazy, and she'd looked just like an angry cat.Now, she was the exact opposite of that. Standing with her head bowed, she anxiously shifted from one foot to the other. Olivia tried to overcome the discomfort and awkwardness she felt under his gaze. Softly, she said, "I want to ask you for a favor." A laugh escaped his mouth as he sat with his legs crossed, plucking out a cigarette from a box. She knew he was mocking her. "What do you want now?" He asked. Jason Yates, a rich youngster, stood not far away from them. Somehow, he was able to discern the slight difference in the way Ethan treated herAs he approached them, he said, "There's no one in this world who wouldn't want to ask Mr. Miller for help. Young lady, is this the attitude you should have when you're asking someone for help? Hurry and light Mr. Miller's cigarette for him." Jaso
Someone handed her a warm glass of milk. "If you can't drink, then don't. Alcohol is bad for your health anyway. Here, have a glass of milk instead. You'll feel better after having it." Bryan's voice was soft and gentle, similar to how a brother would speak to his younger sibling. He knew who she was and was really kind to her. Olivia smiled at him gratefully, but before she could thank him, Ethan cut in, reminding her, "You have two glasses left." His voice was as cold as his gaze. Bryan furrowed his brows at Ethan. He knew how much Olivia meant to Ethan, and if the latter took things too far, not only would his actions hurt Olivia, but he would make himself miserable too. "Fine." Olivia didn't hesitate as she reached for the second glass of whiskey. The look on her face said that there was no turning back, and she finished the drink in one go. Her stomach felt like it had been punctured by thousands of blades. Having drunk too much alcohol too quickly, Olivia couldn't
Ethan's words were harsh, but Olivia was left with no other choice. She removed her hands from his chest, and his hands moved to her clothes. However, when he took her jacket off, he realized that she was wearing a sweater and another layer of thermal clothing under it. Ethan furrowed his brows in confusion. "Are you an old lady? Why are you wearing so many layers of clothes?" Blushing, Olivia bit her lip and replied, "I'm afraid of the cold."Suddenly, Ethan realized that she must be extremely thin to look fit even under so many layers of clothes. As his palm rested on the small of her back, he could feel her spine.It was as if there was no flesh to separate her skin from her bones, and he wondered how she became so thin. The lustful thoughts he'd had just seconds ago vanished, replaced by a sheen of guilt. Suddenly, Olivia glared at him, as though she'd only just realized what was happening. In a tone that made it abundantly clear that she wasn't happy, she questioned, "
Ethan took a furtive glance around the apartment. It wasn't big, but he could feel Olivia's presence in every corner. When he noticed the baby crib in her room, he remembered that it was the only thing she'd taken with her when she'd left him. As the realization washed over him, his heart turned into a jumbled mess. After seeing her jump off the building that day, he'd come to realize one thing. He'd followed after her without hesitation, which made him understand that he couldn't stop loving her no matter how much he hated her.His love and hate were intertwined. They fused into a prickly bramble full of thorns, coiling tightly around the two of them. It was as though the more he pushed her off into the dark, the closer he got to the edge of a cliff himself. Ethan picked up a soft toy on the bed. Olivia had always hugged it to make herself sleep for countless nights in the past two years. If only that incident hadn't happened, he would have been a good husband to Olivia and
Ethan had been expecting Brent to send some clothes over for him, so he walked straight out of the bathroom. He turned to look at the open door, only to find Keith standing there. Raising an eyebrow in question, he said to Olivia, "It seems like we have company."Olivia was still in her pajamas, whereas Ethan was wrapped in only a towel. No matter how one looked at it, they looked just like a couple who'd been married for years. Keith was neither blind nor stupid; he set the goods down and left, dispirited. Olivia didn't care to explain, which only convinced Keith that he'd guessed her situation correctly. Nevertheless, this was for the best. Ethan tossed a glance at the goods on the ground. "Am I not generous enough to you?" Ten billion dollars for their divorce was considered sky-high already. Olivia answered, "I'll give these to the old guy who collects the trash in our area."Ethan grunted. "Does he come here often?" "He visited once when I had a fever." "There wo
Stunned, Olivia stopped what she was doing and said sternly, "Madam, you've crossed the line. I want to talk to my father alone. Please leave." "Alright." The nurse closed the door gently and left. As usual, Olivia patiently wiped Jeff's body and trimmed his hair and nails. Had it not been for the electrocardiogram displaying his even heartbeat, she would have thought that he'd left her for good. Compared to the snowstorm before, the weather was great today, so she pushed the curtain away to let the sun's warm rays shine into the room. "Dad, I won't be able to stay with you for long. If you don't wake up soon, you might never see me again. Oh right—Ethan and I are divorced now." Olivia's voice was gentle as she spoke to her father, updating him on her life. Sunlight fell on her face as she smiled. "He wasn't very kind to me these two years, but he's been quite generous since our divorce. He's given me what he should, including a house, a car, and some shares. I'm filthy ric
It was the night of the charity dinner, which had been fully organized and managed by the Crosby family. The Crosbys had announced that 10% of the money from the auction would be sent to charity. However, everyone knew the truth—the Crosbys were facing some financial difficulties and were trying to earn some cash by selling off some of their items. Those in Mr. Crosby Senior's circle knew that he had an eye for invaluable collectibles, yet they kept quiet about it. He'd liked hoarding valuables since he'd been young, so there were bound to be lots of treasures hidden in his house. It wasn't every day that one got to see him selling his prized possessions, and those who knew him had decided to attend the dinner as soon as they'd received the invitation. Even those without much money came over to watch the show. The word on the street was that the Fordham residence was going to be auctioned too. Olivia and Everly arrived just in time. The latter poked her head out of the ca
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