Noel's face turned cold.He came to rescue her, never intending to ask for money. It wasn't because of her identity, but because she was a human being—just a young woman."Even if it wasn't you, I would’ve come rushing over as soon as I sensed something wrong," Noel said before exiting the car.A few seconds later, the sound of the passenger door opening echoed in the car. He had put some distance between them.Throughout the journey, all she could see was the back of his head—pitch black, with thick hair resembling a forest.She stared for a long time, and her eyes finally welled up with tears.Bastard!She clenched her teeth tightly, forbidding herself to cry out loud.Wake up already!She admonished herself. Noel had never liked her. Otherwise, why would he take money from her family and now speak such words when she was so vulnerable?The car remained silent until it was time to disembark. Only then did Noel turn his head, looking at her. "Cecilia."He stared into he
Her vision darkened, and her head felt dizzy.Looking at them like this, they seem to have reconciled. If that was the case, Cecilia would have known that Sue had lied to her!Sue didn't want to have any rift between her and Cecilia, so she was panicked for a moment. After calming down, she walked towards Noel and asked, "Cecilia, what's going on?"There were tears running down Cecilia’s cheeks. In fact, she didn't know why she was crying. She had no urge to cry on the entire way back to her home.She just kept staring at the back of Noel's head, greedily breathing the air in the same space as him. At that moment, she seemed to have forgotten Larry and how he had forcibly taken off her clothes in the bathroom. She had even forgotten how the man had placed his hands on her lap and rubbed it.She had felt nauseous. She had wanted to throw up. There was also a suffocating feeling that made her heart ache terribly.So, she could only cry.Seeing her daughter crying like this, Su
For a moment, Sue couldn't bring herself to speak. But Cecilia was now in her room, having faced yet another unfortunate event. Sue dared not think about how bad the situation had been.All she knew was that her daughter was ruined—truly ruined this time.Sue clenched her fists, looking at Noel. "It's simple. Do you still like Cecilia?"Noel remained silent.From his silence, Sue detected a glimmer of encouragement. "Noel, marry Cecilia. Someone will come over shortly, and I’ll announce your wedding date."Noel's eyes widened, and there was mockery in his eyes. "Mrs. Jarvis, have you forgotten that I took money from your family? Aren't I just a greedy man who was interested in money, and wanted a woman who could care for me?"In reality, he never took that money. Sue had lied about it to encourage Cecilia to break up with him. Facing Noel’s scorn in person, she felt as if someone had slapped her in the face. She was so ashamed, she couldn’t say a word. But for the sake
Sue didn't want a daughter like this!"I’m sadder than any of you about Cecilia's current situation," she said. "But the important thing now is to solve the problem."Noel sneered. "So instead of dealing with that scumbag, the plan now is to get rid of Cecilia from the Jarvis family? Because she's no longer the pampered, obedient, and perfect young lady you used to cherish? Because she’s now a woman who has suffered from madness, one who has just experienced sexual harassment?"Sue couldn't bear it any longer. "Shut up! You don't understand!"He simply didn't understand her love for Cecilia. If Cecilia had called him first when she was in trouble, it proved she still loved him. Since Cecilia loved him, then why not marry him?Sue wasn't stopping them now! The only way to divert attention from the pre-arranged blind date was to announce Cecilia and Noel's engagement, claiming that the couple was deeply in love and perfect for each other.Sue didn't want to waste more time ta
Noel thought about entering the room to check on her, but he didn't know what identity to assume while doing so.Was he a friend? Or fiancé, based on Sue's words?Cecilia lay on the bed, her face pale. Desolation flickered in her eyes. "Do you find me disgusting?"Noel had hesitated, but he hadn't meant for Cecilia to interpret his actions that way. "I'll go call someone for help."He didn't explain further, and turned to leave the room.Soon, a servant came upstairs. Cecilia looked behind the servant but found no sign of Noel. He had left.Even if her mother had agreed to her request and brought up the marriage with Noel, he didn't agree.Sue sat downstairs, still feeling uneasy. As she dressed and applied makeup, she used the time to calm her panicked heart.However, Cecilia's words lingered in her ears. "Mom, I've been violated. If you don't let Noel marry me, I'll kill myself!""Madam," the servant reminded her as she seemed lost in thought. "Mrs. Lambert, whom you're
"You can tell your story to the police at the police station," Noel said to Larry as a final command. After dismissing the bodyguards, he whispered a few words into Larry's ear. When he came out, his complexion had improved significantly.Cecilia's ordeal was much less severe than he had anticipated. Larry had indeed harassed her, but he hadn't committed any substantial offenses. It was fortunate that Noel arrived early.Otherwise, Cecilia...Noel didn't let his thoughts delve any further, because he realized he would have the urge to kill Larry if he continued. The situation in the Fulcher family had been tumultuous recently. Julian was alone in the Jacroaof, and Noel didn't know what the situation over there was like. So, Noel couldn't afford to leave any weakness here in Richburgh.After the bodyguards took Larry to the police station, Noel smoked a cigarette downstairs to calm his nerves. He quickly dialed Julian's number.No one answered.Noel thought for a moment, dec
When Julian turned fierce, he resembled a demon straight from hell.His menacing presence frightened Jim's mother, who was already terrified. Even Jim himself felt the powerful pressure from afar.When Jim saw Julian back in Richburgh, he seemed so gentle when standing beside Diana. He appeared to have no lethality whatsoever. At that time, Jim even thought that the legendary Julian was nothing special.But now, he deeply regretted that thought. Was he still just a romantic rival?However, the experiment had reached this stage. Jim only needed to wait a few more months, and they could extract the child from Diana's belly to see if the drugs she had taken would have any genetic impact. This would validate whether their medicine could become the genetic code to control humans.Now, they couldn't afford to fail! Even his mother couldn't become an obstacle on this path!Taking advantage of Julian's attention on his mother, Jim signaled to the butler and whispered a few words in h
Diana clung on tight to Betty, not letting go, as if afraid that Kate might snatch Betty away from her. The truth was, she simply didn’t know what to do right now.Deep in her heart, she was indignant. Diana had never felt any love from Kate before. Yet now, after Kate lost her memories, she began showing Diana warmth and kindness.But when Diana had been her daughter, never once had she received even an ounce of such gentle kindness.Kate started feeling anxious. “Ms. Winnington, please don’t cry. The professor sent me here to take care of you. If you keep crying, I’ll be reprimanded when I return.”Kate had no choice but to see if Diana would stop crying on her account. “You’re pregnant. It’ll be bad for the babies if you keep crying.”She grabbed a round cushion, and put it behind Diana’s back. Then, she filled a cup with water for Diana to quench her thirst.Diana felt better under Kate’s thoughtful care.Speaking of indignation, the one who really should feel indignant
“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