"Holy sh*t!" Nina was unable to hold back from cursing. "So James is planning to use that contract so that you’d owe the Winningtons 13.2 million instead?""I think that's his plan," Diana said, exasperated. "He kept going on and on about how he wanted justice for himself and Kayla, but essentially..."James had simply never seen Diana as his daughter.It seemed the Winnington family would do anything to keep Kayla happy."That's strange," Nina said as she pondered over the flawed logic of the story. "No matter how angry James is, he should know that you want the money to pay Julian so that you can divorce him. Isn't that exactly what the Winningtons want? But now that they're not giving you the money, then...""I don't know." Diana shook her head. "Perhaps he thought I was being too outrageous when I said all those things. There’s also Kayla's throat..."Before Diana could finish, she spotted a luxury car stop at the hospital's entrance.It was a sleek, black Rolls Royce; one o
Diana noticed that Nina was even more excited than her, and the feeling rubbed off on her. "I'm fine. I'll come with you to scan the QR code for the appointment."However, as soon as they arrived in front of the machine, they saw Julian and Kayla walking toward the gynecology department.Julian held Kayla's hand carefully and looked at her with great gentleness.Diana suddenly felt an uncontrollable pain in her chest.She clearly told herself not to care.But as she thought about how she was pregnant with their baby, she realized Julian had never once accompanied her to a pregnancy checkup. In fact, it would never happen again in this lifetime. There was an indescribable sense of bitterness in her chest.Diana looked away. She didn't want to see them at all.Even so, she still felt too panicked to move. In fact, she subconsciously covered her stomach with her hands. "Nina, let's go."However, Kayla had already seen them.Kayla had followed Nina here just to try her luck. She d
Kayla’s intrusive question involved the confidentiality of patient records.And so, the doctor said evasively, "I don't remember."She had to see close to a hundred patients each day. How could she possibly remember all their circumstances? The only way to do that was to go through the patient's medical history."In that case, check on it," Kayla pressed. "I'm sure there are records of her previous visits!"Although the doctor was against such behavior, she couldn't convince Kayla otherwise, and she didn't dare to offend Kayla. "Sure. Please wait for a moment," she replied after some thought.Soon, the doctor found the medical record of Diana's previous visit on the computer."She was having early…" The doctor began speaking."Dr. Lorren!" Someone suddenly barged into the consultation room. It was none other than Vans.The first thing he did was switch off the computer. He then shot a furious glare at Dr. Lorren. "What are you doing? Are you actually revealing a patient's priva
Julian only wanted… He only wanted to ask about their divorce.Yes, that's right.He was going to see Diana to ask for an update on their divorce. After all, there was only a week left until their actual divorce proceedings. Previously, they agreed to get divorced after a month.***Back in the Fulcher Manor, Diana could smell an unusual scent from the food prepared for tonight’s dinner."Grandma, why are there so many dishes today? Are you expecting guests?" Diana asked.Diana was becoming a picky eater as her baby grew inside her.She couldn't tolerate oily food and anything with a heavy scent. In fact, she would sometimes throw up after smelling a certain type of food.Fortunately, the dishes Madam Fulcher asked the kitchen staff to prepare recently had been to her liking. Today, however…"It's Julian." Madam Fulcher looked at her carefully. "He said he wanted to have a meal with me."After all, Julian was her grandson. It was only expected for him to want to have a meal w
Julian’s tone disgusted Diana. The repulsion was such that she couldn't bring herself to even hold onto her fork and spoon.She stared coldly at Julian. "Do you need to be this self-obsessed?"She never knew he had such a side to him in the past.The two were about to start arguing again. Suddenly, Julian stood up and moved closer to her.His face was inches away from her, and his facial features became very clear. She wanted to dodge, but he locked her in place by placing his hands on hers. His pupils were as dark as an abyss. "You're getting braver and braver. Do you think Grandma can protect you forever?"Diana never once thought it that way.However, Julian wouldn't change his impression of her. "Why else are you able to act so boldly while you still owe me money? Not long ago, you even swore you'd repay the money no matter what I said."Diana choked on her words and looked down in a defeated manner.Back then… She was still confident about getting money from the Winnington
At the thought of Kayla's ruined voice, Julian couldn't help but sigh. His eyes became cold again. "Make sure you treat Kayla with more respect the next time you see her. You hurt her, and you should at least behave like you're sorry for what you did for the rest of your life! If you can do that, I won't ask you to repay the money."At the end of the day, he still believed Diana was guilty for poisoning Kayla.Diana was enraged by his words. Not only did she feel the urge to bite her own lips until they bled, but her cheek was all puffed up.For some unknown reason, this reminded Julian of a squirrel that would puff its cheeks. In fact, he couldn't resist smiling. This was the first time he had smiled all week long.Noel, who was standing nearby, observed this in stunned silence.Julian had been with Kayla, the love of his life, all week long, but he had never smiled once. Why was he smiling when he saw Diana?!Wasn't this a bit odd…?Julian didn't even notice he was smiling. He
Diana wasn't expecting their divorce to be confirmed in such a way.This time, not even divorce papers were involved. There also weren't any verbal or legal discussions.It seemed the two of them had reached the limit of their tolerance. They no longer wanted to see each other, and they had become a couple who refused to say another word to one another. The only thing on their mind was to get divorced as quickly as they could.Julian… He really wanted to be with Kayla officially, didn't he?He must've been devastated to learn that Kayla's vocal cords were destroyed.Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed Kayla to move into his villa. He also wouldn't have come all this way to Grandma's house, knowing there was a risk of her finding out, to decide on the time of divorce with Diana.Oddly enough, Diana didn't lose sleep tonight. Instead, she had a peaceful sleep with her hands resting on her stomach.In fact, she even dreamed about playing with her grown-up child in places she had ne
There were pictures of her sleeping, eating, crying, and behaving in a spoiled manner. There were also pictures of her pacing back and forth in a room with messy tangled hair.Although Diana and Kayla looked alike, Diana could still recognize herself.But why?Why was Julian looking at her photos in front of Kayla?Did he want to have the best of both worlds?Or perhaps… Unlike the way he presented himself to Diana, he actually had feelings for her.In fact, he might've actually been conflicted about getting a divorce.But this wasn't right. Grandma once said that Julian started developing feelings for Kayla at a very young age.The thought of this suddenly made Diana feel a little curious about everything that had happened to Julian during his childhood. According to what Grandma said, Julian's feelings toward Kayla had a close semblance to how someone suddenly discovered a ray of light in a deep, dark pit and was unwilling to let go.What about her feelings for Julian?It w
“Life is all about reconciliation.” Decades passed in the blink of an eye. Diana’s children had all grown up.Kate and Isaac had both passed away. Even Diana’s old friends, Fanny and Oliver, had left the world too.Fanny was never able to get pregnant again after that rainy night. She had gradually let go of her desire to get pregnant under Oliver’s persuasion.They stayed relentlessly by each other’s side, albeit childless. Over the years, having experienced all that life had to offer and being each other’s best friend, Oliver died on a peaceful night, never awaking again.Fanny held his hand while sending him off, and closed her eyes forever as well.Diana had seen too many people off in her lifetime.She had grown old herself, too. She could see her life slowly ebbing away.“Julian, I’m so happy to have lived my life with you.” She had transformed from a disgraced young woman to Mrs. Fulcher, respected by all in Richburgh. Julian even took care of her in person when she
He blurted those words instinctively.He had been waiting so long for a pair of daughters, yet when the doctor came over, he saw a pair of sons instead.Diana thought the hospital must have made a mistake and kicked up a fuss, insisting that she had a pair of daughters. She insisted for them to check the footage from the surveillance camera to see if there was a mix-up. The culprit, Julian, could only stand guiltily at a corner and mumble, “Actually…sons are fine too.”As long as it was their children, it didn’t matter whether they were girls or boys. Either way, Diana was the only woman he loved his entire life. Even his love for his only daughter Betty didn’t match up to that.After witnessing Diana giving birth, Julian’s love for Diana went up a notch, to the point of paranoia.For the rest of their lives, he made sure to never let her worry or touch cold water.He took great care of her.Kate finally appeared two years after Diana gave birth.When the mother and daughter
Nina mentioned the Jenningses. “The Jennings family is gone overnight, just like that.”Diana wasn’t shocked.She guessed that Julian had wanted to do that for a while. Not just for her and to seek justice for the Lemmington family, but also for Simon.Although Julian never allowed Simon to call him his brother, he had wanted to annihilate everything that was involved with the Hughes family since Simon’s death.Him making his move on the Jenningses indicated that the time had come.“Congratulations,” Diana said to Nina. “Has Vans come back to you?”“No,” Nina said with a shake of her head. “Lina Jennings isn’t the only thing standing in between us. We have problems of our own to overcome.”Diana sighed. “I think Marcus is pretty good.”She felt relaxed and comfortable around him.Even if Vans came round and worked with Julian to bring down the Jenningses, and had no feelings whatsoever for Lina, Diana wasn’t exactly eager to be with him.As if they had telepathy with each oth
“He doesn’t need to be jailed,” Fanny said, confused. “One word from him, and his lawyers will be able to exonerate him. I just don’t understand why he’d rather go to jail.”“He wants to pay for his father’s sins,” Diana said with a sigh.Fanny didn’t know what to think of that. Was Oliver innocent, or not? He even went to such great lengths to stop her.Yet, the moment she declared that she would never compromise and would rather be under the protection of Diana than to be involved with Oliver, he clearly looked like he was in a daze.Diana noticed that Fanny hardly smiled over the past few days, and rubbed her hand comfortingly. “He just wants a clean start with you.”Fanny’s heart shook. She couldn’t sleep the entire night.The next morning, she told Diana, “Today’s the day of his trial and sentencing. I want to see him.”Diana asked Julian to send a few bodyguards with Fanny on her trip there.When she returned, she looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoul
Fanny bet that he wouldn’t dare.That was equivalent to eliminating all chances he stood with Diana.Julian witnessed the scene unfolding before him. Instead of getting frustrated, he stood quietly there, ready to protect Diana, as he watched Fanny and Oliver fight it out with each other.Oliver was confused. “Why not?”He glanced at Diana, and went on, “I did like Diana in the past, but I have since given up on those feelings for her. Fanny Smith, is your heart made of stone? Can’t you tell who the woman I like is after all this time?”Fanny was stunned, feeling suffocated as if something was stuck in her throat. “Don’t tell me it’s me.”Oliver was dumbfounded. Who else could he be talking about? The stars in the sky?Fanny felt indignant under his glare. “If you like me, why did you say that I’m just a child-bearing tool for you?”“If I didn’t say that, would I be able to keep you confined in the villa? Would I be able to dash all your hopes and make you feel hopeless?”
Oliver would never let her go. “Fanny Smith, don’t even think about leaving me in this life!”That was when Diana and Julian hurriedly made their way.Sean located Oliver very accurately. Diana saw the scene unfolding before her, and couldn’t help but recall everything that happened in Jacroaof. She hurriedly told Noel to take Sean outside and wait. She couldn’t afford to gamble on Sean’s safety. She didn’t want Sean exposed to any form of danger right under her nose.Her actions made Oliver tense. “Diana, do you think I’ve gone mad?” He grabbed Fanny’s hand, as if he was holding onto the most precious treasure in the world.Diana didn’t answer him, but she threw her bag that Julian was helping her carry toward Fanny.She was exerting so much force for a pregnant lady, looking as if she wanted to fight with Fanny.Even Julian didn’t know what Diana was trying to do, not to mention Fanny herself.By the time he snapped back to attention and wanted to stop Diana from doing s
However, Fanny must let go of her hatred and past grudges first.The mention of children made Fanny waver. The hatred in her eyes grew even more intense. “Oliver Channing! The cheek of you to mention children!” What gave him the right to say that?!“We agreed,” Oliver said. He didn’t find anything wrong with that. “Fanny, if you want to leave that villa and be free once more, you must give birth to a child of ours.”“What about the child I lost just a few days ago?” Fanny demanded. She found him unreasonable. “Over the past few days, have you ever thought of him, or felt like you let him down? We haven’t even resolved the issues between us, and you want me to get pregnant again. Are you really ready to be a father?!”“I want you to get pregnant again?” Oliver said as he drew closer to her. His eyes were dark, looking as if he wanted to crush Fanny and put her in his pocket. “Weren’t you the one who tried to seduce me by wearing a revealing dress in my house? Fanny Smith, do
Julian stopped talking to the butler, but he was already making plans in his heart.He returned to the study, and told Diana, “Fanny and Oliver have been fighting for a long time, and it might be over something that might potentially destroy their relationship.”In fact… “Fanny might no longer love Oliver right now.”However, the fact that Oliver faked her death and confined her was enough to show that he still cared for her.If he realized that Fanny no longer loved him, he might do something even crazier.“Let’s hurry up and save her, then!” Diana said.“Wait,” Julian said calmly, “I’m not done with my prediction.”“What?”“Oliver really doesn’t like you now.” Julian’s mood lifted as he arrived at his final conclusion. “We can step in to help Fanny.”Diana was dumbfounded.She had thought that Julian went to such great lengths to analyze the situation for the sake of saving another. To think that his possessiveness took over, and he prioritized figuring out Oliver’s feeli
The three of them entered the study.None of them expected to see a portrait of Diana right in the middle of the study.The portrait was most likely drawn by copying a photo. In the portrait, Diana was eating something with a smile. It looked like the day when Diana encountered a pervert on the train and Oliver stepped in to help her and treated her to a meal.Did she smile so tenderly at him at that time?“You couldn’t have smiled so happily at that time when we were fighting over Kayla.”It was a portrait, not a photo. It was likely that the owner of this portrait added his own interpretation and features when he commissioned this portrait.“He still has feelings for you,” Julian said coldly.He no longer wanted to interfere with the affairs of the Channings.However, Diana disagreed. “If he really had feelings for me, he wouldn’t hang my portrait up so boldly right here.”The fact that Oliver could display the portrait for all to see proved that his feelings for Diana were