Everyone knew the awful mistreatment Diana was forced to suffer.They all ran in the same circle; it was inevitable that this matter would be brought up when they chatted. Even though information about Julian and Diana's divorce was kept under a tight lid, it didn't prevent the people from speculating and being pessimistic about it.Yet now, Noel was saying that the one who had caused this drastic change in Julian was Diana, and that she was his only woman.Then... What the hell was Kayla?In just a few seconds, many thoughts ran through the minds of these old foxes. They soon made a decision: they would stay away from that idiot James as much as possible to save themselves from being tainted at the end of the day.After that, many of the invitations that had been sent to James were recalled.James was furious, and called Kayla to check on her and Julian's progress as he tried to regain some confidence. When Kayla heard his complaints, she already had her suspicions. After aski
Julian hadn't rushed straight to Esteem Creations after exiting the office. He still vividly recalled the conversation from last night, when Diana said he should respect her choice and career.To not disturb her, he chose an inconspicuous space in the parking lot to wait for her.When Diana came out from her office for lunch, he sent her a text.[Come over here.]Diana stared at her phone in bewilderment.This was the first reply she had gotten from him after she sent him the text about missing him. The long interval between the messages had snuffed out her longing for him. After she had calmed down, she found that her actions had been rash and impulsive. She shouldn't have said that, especially since Julian didn’t reply to her.The message Julian had sent didn't have a head or tails, giving her a bad feeling. Without thinking, she muttered, "Is he crazy?"Ignoring the message, she followed her colleague to the restaurant. Since Kayla hadn’t been around recently, Diana's desig
Julian stood behind Diana, seething in anger, watching as she only had eyes for the menu before her.It was Jayden who saw him immediately after placing his order. "M-Mr. Ful-"Julian scowled before smoothening his expression to its usual indifferent one and placing a finger to his lips. "Shh."He was waiting right behind Diana to see when this woman would turn around.When would she acknowledge him?!"Prawns!" Diana exclaimed as a plate of freshly cooked prawns was placed in one of the containers, which happened to be what she was craving for today. She immediately called out to the waiter and said, "This one! I want a big plate!" She hadn't been able to keep meat down since she fell pregnant, but somehow, she craved prawns like she never did before. It felt like she could eat the entire serving on her own!After she had gotten her food, she went looking for Jayden. "Come on, let's find a seat."The restaurant was crowded, so it was a little difficult to find a seat. Jayden
Diana's heart skipped a beat when she heard the affection in his voice. She felt like melting as Julian's smooth voice caressed her ears.Leaning her head on his shoulder, she smiled and said softly, "I thought you meant to look back on this next time. Besides, there were prawns in front of me! They looked delicious...""It seems prawns are more attractive than me, huh?" Julian said with a pout, and his brows furrowed. Diana felt deeply guilty at the frown on his face."Have you eaten?" she asked from where she was still in his arms, not intending to let go any time soon.After their bonding session last night, the two had unknowingly returned to how they treated each other in the past; in fact, they were even closer than before.Diana didn't think too much about her troubled past anymore. At this moment, she simply wanted to enjoy this relationship.She wanted to enjoy being loved.It didn't matter how much Julian cared about her or the children. It didn't erase the fact that
"Light Food..." Julian repeated as he finished the soup. "That's a good name.""I'll bring you here again next time if you like it," Diana said."No," Julian said, looking up at her. "I want to drink the one you make."Just as Diana was about to agree, Julian continued, "But not now. Wait till you give birth and after your confinement period. You just need to focus on your health first."He wouldn't be willing to let her tough those pots and pans before that. Even if it was just soup and there were servants to help her, he didn't want Diana to be unnecessarily tired."I didn't know I was that delicate," Diana teased, but the warmth bubbled in her heart. "I used to be a maid, remember?"Julian froze at the reminder."Diana..."Seeing how he was giving her a pitiful puppy look again, Diana couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, let's not talk about your dark past anymore, Mr. Fulcher."But Kayla... Was she really an existence that could be ignored if she wasn't brought up?Her heart c
Julian was frozen on the spot.He had never been teased by a woman like this in his whole life!Damn it!If she wasn't pregnant...she would be in danger right now!The signs in his eyes were obvious, and Diana flushed like a tomato before she hurriedly opened the door to let the air in and said, "I've got to go back to work."Waving at him, she said, "Bye!"Julian hadn't spent enough time with her yet, but when he saw how she ran away like a bunny running from a predator without a word, he called out, "Woman, I'll wait for you tonight!"Instantly, the eyes of the surrounding people were directed at him.Diana was about to die of embarrassment, but the smile in her eyes continued to sparkle brightly. When she arrived back at the office, Jayden could practically feel the joyful air around her, and his heart gradually fell. Diana must’ve gone to see Julian, who was her sister's man.Then... What was Diana? She seemed to be just a loose woman.The appreciation for beauty in his
All ten sets were matching couple sets."We'll have plenty of matching sets with our children in the future too," Julian said as he gently guided Diana upstairs since she was rooted to the spot."Come on, hurry up. You should start getting used to it from now on."Diana felt it was weird to wear pajamas and have dinner, but she couldn't deny him and changed into the set he handed her. The two walked down the stairs in matching light blue pajamas, which Albert praised, "You two really look like a match made in heaven."His words were sincere, but he only referred to their appearance. In his honest opinion, Diana had stolen Kayla's face. At the end of the day, Kayla was the one who suited Julian and not Diana.Thinking about Kayla's promise that she would return as mistress of the household here soon, he brought out the dishes for dinner and asked, "Will you be eating now, Sir, Madam?""Yes," Julian replied. "But why have we been using the same dining sets lately?"Albert's hand
Early on September fourteenth, Diana woke up with an extremely stuffy feeling in her chest. She looked out the window, and sure enough, the sky was dark and gloomy."It's typical autumn weather," Diana said as she reminded Julian to wear a thicker coat. "It feels like it's going to be a heavy rain today."The clouds were gray and thick in the sky, and there were layers and layers of it, looking as if they were going to fall right down on the people below."Yeah," Julian agreed and brought her a thicker coat. "I have a meeting today, so I can't send you this morning. I'll get the driver to send you, but I'll still see you this afternoon. If you're not dressed warmly, I'll beat you, okay?"Diana knew exactly where he implied he would beat her and suddenly felt a phantom pain on her behind as she said obediently, "Okay."After saying that, she seemed to realize something and added, "We'll be parents soon enough, and you can't always do that anymore."Julian raised an eyebrow. "Alway
“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