In the face of James's question, Kayla could only give a fake smile and reply, "There's no such thing! Have you forgotten the main reason Julian married Diana in the first place?"Of course it was because of Kayla! James knew that.The Fulchers had their eyes on Kayla since she was a child. They had shown favor and kindness toward her, and James had been elated about it. When Kayla went missing abroad later on, he saw how frantic Julian became while he searched for her."Of course not," James said with a wide smile, the suspicion in his words gradually fading. "I suppose Diana pestered Julian and refused to let go. She was definitely lying to me just now. She really is an unruly child who grew up outside our family. She's so uneducated!"Kayla pouted. "Daddy, don't talk about my sister like that!" "Ah! You're such a kind-hearted child, Kayla." James chuckled, a fond look on his face. Kate leaned closer to him, trying to hear Kayla's voice through the phone.The Winnington coup
As expected, Diana didn't refute Julian once he said those words.In the end, she still hoped that her babies would receive more love. Even if Julian's fatherly love for them wouldn’t be felt after they were born, she would at least have something to tell them about their father when they grew up.The room was silent. Only their breathing could be heard, and Diana slowly dozed off. She didn't know how long Julian kept up the massage, but when she next woke, she could feel that his movements had slowed.She guessed that giving someone a massage could also be quite tiring."Why don't you take a rest?" Diana said, glancing up at him. She was a little ashamed that she had fallen into such a deep sleep. "I'm not that tired."Julian didn't cease his movements but said, "Have you thought about what I suggested yesterday? Do you want to know the solution?"Was he talking about a solution that could satisfy everyone?The soothing motions of Julian's hands softened subconsciously softened
"You still love me, don't you?" This didn't sound like something Julian would say. Even if he made Diana's heart ache or hurt her countless times, she knew she couldn't bring herself to hate him completely.But now, hearing these words from his mouth only made her sick."Why do you say that?""If you didn't love me, you wouldn't keep our children."The anger in Diana's eyes burned brighter, and she spat defensively, "I'll repeat it once again... The babies are mine. They have nothing to do with you."Julian reached out to try to calm her, intending to massage her again to get her to relax. However, she flinched violently and ducked to the side to avoid his touch.He was exasperated at her reaction, but said firmly, "It's our children."Sure enough, Julian planned to take her babies from her even before they were born! That was why he changed the way he treated her so much after finding out she was pregnant. So much so, he even suggested not getting a divorce!Diana's chest he
Diana's heart clenched so tightly that she could barely breathe. By some miracle, she called out to Julian before he stepped out of her room, "Did...you mean what you said? Truly?"Julian's heart skipped a beat, and the depressing air around him evaporated as he turned around in surprise; his deep, dark eyes meeting Diana's clear, bright ones.For a moment, it was hard to tell whose heart was beating faster at the tension of the situation."It's true. I really don't want to divorce you. I want to be together with you." He had clearly abandoned her once and had pushed her away without hesitation. And yet, after hearing those words from him... Diana still felt a tiny spark of hope in her chest. It was impossible to say the harsh words she used to when facing him now, but it was also impossible to forget and pretend that the hurtful things had not happened between them. Her mind was in a mess, and so she muttered, "I'll think about it."Julian said nothing and left the room, closing
Just thinking about his words made Diana feel warm inside. A family of four was indeed something to look forward to.There was a sweet feeling in Diana's heart; it felt like all the bitter hardships of her past had been washed away by it, and a bright future was awaiting her.After all, she never imagined she would have the chance to give her two babies a complete family, let alone that Julian would allow her to give birth at all.However, Diana had doubts about Julian's statement that he would no longer associate with Kayla. Regardless, the only thing she could do now was to move forward.Being able to give her children a complete family was too attractive of an offer to give up right now.She believed that Julian would be a hundred times better father than James. Her children wouldn’t suffer as she did; if she could make it happen, she was willing to forget about all her past grievances with Julian.Inwardly, she still held out hope that Julian would be able to do as he said an
At the same time, Kayla frantically tore her clothes apart with her two hands."Julian! I've waited for you for so many years! Why do you think I'm not as good as Diana?!"She was already showing a lot of skin, intending to guilt and hold onto him this way.However, Julian was unmoved. He picked up a blanket nearby and covered her. "Kayla."Even his voice had turned ice-cold.For a moment, Kayla didn't dare to move. The stern tone of his voice made her shiver, but she wasn't willing to give in so easily.She had done so much for him. How could he abandon her like this?!"Stop talking!" Kayla shouted once more. Her voice was hoarse, and she wailed in grief, as if it was someone else's fault that she was in the state she was in. "I don't want to hear it!""Kayla," Julian repeated. "Perhaps you already know that the person I love is Diana."Before he met Diana, Julian had thought that what he felt toward Kayla was love; she was a constant presence by his side that needed his prot
As children, Julian and Diana didn’t know each other. At that moment, Julian's mind was simply wandering too far off track. However, the one thing he was certain of now was that Diana was definitely not Kayla's substitute.Or rather, Julian had never really seen Diana as a substitute from the very beginning.He thought he had seen her as one because he used to think his feelings for Kayla were love and that any woman he fell in love with would never compare to her.It never occurred to him that he had never loved Kayla in the first place.Seeing how Julian was lost in his thoughts, Kayla's tears flowed down her cheeks even faster. Her voice, with her mangled throat, sounded like nails on a chalkboard as she wailed pitifully, "Julian, if I did something wrong, why don't you just tell me? I can't live without you! You were the only reason I managed to overcome my illness while I was abroad! You filled my mind. All I could think of was returning to the country to stand before you wh
What right did Julian have not to love and cherish her, Kayla?It looked like the only straw she could grasp in this situation was the lie that she had saved his life when they were children.Kayla took another deep breath and said, "Let's not talk about the past anymore. When I was a child, I didn't know how I had the courage to save you in that cold weather. Your face was so red back then, and you wouldn't wake up no matter how much I called for you. I really thought you were going to die..."After saying that, she quickly waved her hand in front of her face as if trying to chase away the bitter heartache that accompanied that memory. "Oh, look at me! I just said not to talk about the past, yet here I am going on about it."As soon as she said that, she acted like she couldn't take it anymore and buried herself underneath the covers. The wound on her leg ripped open from her action, but she pretended not to notice and cried sadly. "Julian... I really love you. I really, really
“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