In her annoyance, Madam Fulcher was sorely tempted to knock Julian's head.But with Diana right in front of her, she couldn't say too much. So, she sighed and said, "Slow down. There's no hurry."Diana huffed inwardly. She wasn't pregnant with his children anymore, and there was a chance for Julian to separate from her immediately and go to Kayla. The man must be jumping for joy inwardly, so why would he slow down?Diana looked up and gave Julian a cold look."Let's go."Soon, the two were in the car as it made its way steadily to the City Hall.Because of their previous divorce application, they didn't need to complete another waiting period. Diana walked in front of Julian, and the two slowly entered the hall. She noticed that the man's movements were a little slow, and she glanced back at him.Julian was dragging his feet and not hurrying to keep pace with her. It was a while before she joined her on the bench she had sat at.The staff member assisting them was the same as
Those were the names Julian had given their babies.In the future, Diana would never cross paths with Julian's again, and they would only move further from each other. They would never have children together again.So, she would let these two names remain on this headstone.It wasn’t only in memory of their two children, but also of the time when she loved Julian.The store owner looked at it and gently reminded her, "Miss, you still need to carve the words 'grave'..."He was cut off by the sight of the graceful but pale and frail woman, who looked like she could slip away at any moment, and he couldn't continue anymore.Instead, he said, "My sincere condolences."No matter who it was that had gone from the world, those who were alive must live on.Diana understood the logic in it, but after carving the name of her babies, she thought about the divorce certificate in her bag and could no longer control her tears from pouring out.Her heart ached terribly, but there was no one
In fact, from this day on, those who were observant would realize that Julian had become softer compared to the past.No one would know that it was due to a woman.Now that Julian had a weakness, he hoped to have fewer enemies so that Diana would be in less danger.In that way, at least Julian wouldn't worry that something had happened to her when she suddenly went missing.After an hour, Noel reported in and said, "Sir, we've searched all of downtown. We even went to places Ms. Winnington usually frequented, but she wasn't there. We even contacted Ms. Nina, but we still can't find her."Couldn't find her?Julian thought about her mental state, and his heart sank. He had been careless and negligent. He had assumed that Diana had hurriedly left the hall to rush back to Madam Fulcher's side. He hadn't expected her to disappear... Where the hell would she go?Had she run into a bad guy like Luke, or was it that she couldn't get over her desire to be reunited with the babies...T
"You have to remember to be sorry for me and also the babies. You have to..."Diana began to cry as she spoke. "N-No. It's not your fault! I know that. The biggest responsibility for the babies leaving is still mine!"As she said that, she reached out and snatched the bottle of wine fiercely from Julian's hand and took a quick swig.She could no longer taste the pungent taste of the alcohol. She only felt the pain in her heart ebbing away when the liquid rushed down her throat, and she could also forget the torment she had experienced in the past few days.In her hallucination, Julian would stare at her with those extremely affectionate eyes. He would be sad when she was hurt, and happy when she was joyful.But in reality, Julian was not like that.He was a man who defended Kayla even after their babies died, and a man...who Noel would want to continue serving.Had Julian never thought about it? After what Albert and Kayla had done to her, how was Diana supposed to treat Noel li
Julian looked up and felt the ache in his heart deepen. He gazed at the sky, hoping that it would keep his tears from spilling.He placed his hand gently on Diana's back and patted her. "Look up in the sky, Diana. They're watching us from above."Diana refused to move. Her mind was numb.It was as if her mind had split into several people. One was cursing Kayla, another was condemning Albert, another was cursing Julian, and the last was cursing herself."You're an idiot. An idiot!"Diana answered her inner thoughts out loud, "Yes. I'm an idiot. I was the one who failed my babies. I shouldn't have been sad during my pregnancy, and I shouldn't have been so slow to notice that something was wrong with Albert..."After saying that, she suddenly pushed Julian away and pulled out her divorce certificate."Look at this!" Diana said, seemingly to empty air. "I'm divorced, so I won't be sad anymore. I won't be stupid anymore...so will you return my babies to me? If I could turn back ti
"That's not possible."Julian has his reasons for that. One, Kayla's crime didn't warrant her death, and she had already gotten the punishment she deserved. Two, Julian didn't want Diana to dwell too much on the loss of their children, let alone dirty her hands all because of Kayla.So instead, he dealt with the issue on his own as soon as he discovered it.He never expected Diana to think that he had done so because it was a matter of who was favored."I knew it..." Even the man in her drunken hallucination refused to favor her just once. Worse, he wasn't willing to get justice for her and her babies.Diana raised her hand to smack him away angrily.But no matter how much she hit him, this illusion of hers was terribly stubborn and refused to leave her sight.After a while, she got tired of hitting him and needed a break."You're drunk," Julian said, taking the chance to grab her flailing hands and pulling her into his arms again. His eyes were filled with pain as he continu
Noel was horrified at himself after the realization hit him. He was thankful he hadn’t reached out to touch Diana, or he would have... Would his hands still be attached to his body if he had done so?Noel broke out in cold sweat, but he quickly got inside the car and started the engine. "Where to, sir?""The hospital," Julian replied, his brows furrowing deeply. He looked at Diana, who was shifting restlessly in his arms. He rolled down the window, watching as the bright yellow headstone got further and further away as the car moved. "She hasn't recovered from her miscarriage, and Grandma made some appointments for her recovery that’d be better for her to receive in the hospital and not the residence.""Understood."When they arrived at the hospital, Madam Fulcher, who Julian had long since updated, had yet to leave. When she caught sight of them, she was relieved."I'll go home for now," Madam Fulcher said, looking at Diana before shifting her gaze to Julian's sorry state
After saying that, Diana shoved Julian away roughly. "You stink! So smelly! Stay away from me!"Shocked by her drastic mood swing, Julian could only sigh and clean himself up before returning to her side. But this time, he was forceful in his attempts to help her change."You stink too."Once he cleaned her up, he could help her soothe her stomach. Then, he would stay by her side and get some rest.In the state she was in, she wouldn't be able to lie down peacefully.However, Diana was extremely stubborn."I stink? Haha... How could a fake like you say that to me?"As she said that, Diana raised a hand to slap Julian again. Although there wasn't much strength behind her blow, the sound of skin hitting skin echoed out loud in the room.Diana was stunned. "How can an illusion feel so real?"Julian suddenly came closer to her face, then placed a hand over her hand that was on his face to squeeze his face."Do you feel this?"Diana nodded dumbly. "Yes...""I'm real. I'm not a
“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