Diana sneezed several times in a row. She felt inexplicably uneasy and even went to the washroom to check if there was any spotting on her underwear.She only came out of the toilet after confirming that everything was fine. “You’ve waited a long time.”Oliver handed her some tissues. “Not at all. I’m almost done eating too.”He was always so gentle and considerate in their interactions. He never made her feel uncomfortable. Diana smiled in reply and wiped her hands dry. She took out her phone and turned it on. She was just about to tell Oliver that she was going to pay the bill, but a commotion from the yard grabbed her attention before she could turn around.For some reason, the yard was suddenly full of bodyguards!Moreover, these bodyguards also looked somewhat familiar…Diana fell into a daze, but then a familiar voice sounded. “Diana!”The man who called her name was clenching his teeth with resentment.She turned her head in shock. “Julian?”He was causing such a big
She reprimanded him for the sake of another man?How brazen of her! However, Diana couldn’t care less about that. Instead, she simply walked to the cashier, saying, “I’ll be paying the bill.”The receptionist glanced at Oliver and only started calculating the bill after seeing him nod.Julian stepped forward at this moment. “I’ll never let a woman pay the bill. Use my card.”The implication was obvious: Oliver was stingy. His actions ended up displeasing Diana. She was buying Oliver this meal to express her gratitude for him, so of course she had to foot the bill personally. “No need.” She took Julian’s card and put it back in his wallet. “I’ll pay the bill myself.”With that, the machine on the cashier showed that the payment had been made successfully. A thousand dollars. Julian glanced at Diana in disbelief when he saw the numbers. She had always been frugal and would always be distressed whenever they spent a lot of money on meals. Yet today, she actually spent a thous
After such a long time, not only did Julian not say a word of concern for Diana, but he kept misunderstanding her. The more he spoke, the worse things became.For the first time in her life, she finally knew how despicable she was in his heart. Diana’s face gradually turned cold. She went along with his words and said, “Who cares about his status? I only care about how he’s a better man than you.”“What?!” Julian clenched his teeth tightly. “You're shameless!”“I’m shameless?!” Diana didn’t give in at all. She had had enough.She had had enough of her own expectations for Julian popping up every now and then.She was tired of his hot and cold treatment toward her.She had had enough of his ridiculous favoritism.She was even more fed up with his inability to distinguish right from wrong.She looked at him stubbornly and spat, “Who the hell is that woman? Will I have the opportunity to see her again in the future since I missed this chance to meet her this time?”“Meet her?!”
Diana looked at his red eyes, then covered her mouth, and laughed. At the same time, she hid the tears in her eyes. It wasn’t until she felt some of the pent-up grievances in her heart dissipate that she continued, “Either you continue to rebuke me, calling me shameless and wicked, or you can bring out the divorce agreement I’ve already signed and we can go our separate ways.”She was determined.Her eyes no longer carried any traces of heartache.Panic flashed across Julian’s eyes. He felt as if there was suddenly a thick wall between him and Diana. The woman who used to always be within his reach was suddenly untouchable.In a moment of impulse, he grabbed her hand and blurted out, “Are you trying to provoke me so you can stay with Oliver since everything is completely exposed?”In her dreams!Julian was seething. Everything was in disarray, and he could only shout angrily.In fact, he understood that it would be best for them to divorce amicably now.This way, Kayla would be
Julian looked Diana up and down with a look of displeasure on his face. “Did you change your clothes?”“Yes, I’ve had dinner too.” Diana would not treat herself and the baby poorly.The current Diana was as stubborn as the Diana who had gone to Winnington Mansion alone to reconnect with her family three years ago. Unlike that time, she had learned to admit defeat with grace.This was because she had a baby that she wanted to protect.On the contrary, Julian was still overwhelmed by her changes. Facing a Diana he wasn’t used to, he was at a loss. She was different from before, and he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what had changed. This uncertainty made him feel unusually restless. When Diana saw that he was silent for a long time, she asked, “Where’s the divorce agreement?”Since they could no longer find any excitement and beauty in their marriage, as it had been in the beginning, she wouldn’t continue seeking such things anymore.Otherwise, she and Julian would certainly be no
If Diana asked Oliver for help, raising fifteen million within a month would be a very simple task.Before she could properly feel dismayed by the thought, Julian added on a new condition. “You can’t return fifteen million all at once. I get to decide how the repayment is done,” Julian said firmly.Since Diana was the one who used the money, she had no choice but to cooperate as best she could. “How do you want it to be repaid?”“You can only transfer six hundred dollars in each transaction. You can do this an infinite number of times as long as you repay the full amount within one month,” he replied.Diana shivered at the thought of the number of transactions she needed to make. That meant she had even less time to raise the money. Suddenly, it became an even more urgent matter.Diana couldn’t take it anymore. “Julian!” she screamed.“If you can’t do it, then there won’t be a divorce,” Julian said. It was Diana’s own choice to be with Oliver, the man Julian felt most annoyed wit
Diana only realized it had rained last night after leaving the bedroom and that the weather had clearly become colder.She felt a little chilly after arriving downstairs. Just as she was about to head back into the room to put on an extra layer of clothing, Julian handed her a cardigan. “You need to look after yourself even if you have a debt to pay. Don’t catch a cold.”Diana thought that Julian was a strange man. They had been arguing intensely just the night before, and yet here he was, offering her a cardigan.Despite his act of kindness, his words annoyed her.“I wouldn’t dare trouble my creditor.” Diana didn’t reach for the cardigan. Instead, she replied in a nonchalant tone, “I hate black-and-white stripes.”This color reminded her of the dress that the other woman had bought before she could and how Julian liked that woman more than he did her.Diana didn’t want to make herself sad.Julian quickly saw through her. “You’re still holding a grudge?! It was only a dress.”O
Diana was still trapped in her disappointment toward Julian, so she never expected that he would actually sit down to accompany her.The two of them remained unusually quiet throughout the meal.Diana didn’t have much of an appetite. All she ate was bread and butter. She left everything else practically untouched.Julian asked a maid to take all the food away before finally speaking. “Didn’t you use to like Yorkshire pudding?”The Fulcher family didn’t have a habit of eating carbohydrates for breakfast. Back when Diana suddenly wanted to eat these foods, Julian personally drove for an hour to buy them from a stall outside.Julian couldn’t remember clearly, but he recalled she might have kissed him for it back then. And after that, he only realized there was pudding crumbs on his face after arriving at the office. For a long time after that, people who came over for business talks would bring him the best pastries in town.Julian couldn’t resist looking at Diana after recalling th
“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