He felt as though someone had tied his heart up with rope so tightly that he couldn’t breathe. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t untangle the bindings. His vision was focused on a singular spot on Diana’s back.She and Oliver were standing right next to each other and chatting so merrily, just like a happy couple.His blood roared in his ears, and he itched to pull Diana to himself.He wanted to do it, even if it infuriated Diana.He didn’t want to care about drawing up careful plans and taking it slow anymore. He couldn’t wait another day, or even another second!He wanted to make her stay by his side!He wanted to forbid her to look at other men and deliver umbrellas to another! He pushed Noel away, snarling roughly, “I’ll go by myself.”Noel didn’t dare to follow behind him, neither did he dare to persuade Julian any further.He simply watched on as Julian walked further away.Julian walked quickly, and he didn’t even notice when the rain splashed on his suit and d
Julian’s hands were hot. The past memories of hatred and love between them blurred Diana’s vision, and she almost couldn’t see what was in front of her.All, except for that dark pair of eyes looking at her so intently, filled with powerful emotions.But what if, just as it had been in the past, he was actually looking at another woman through her? What would she do? Diana hesitated.She clearly had expectations, love, and rashness that gave her the courage to take a step forward as long as Julian reached his hand out to her. Yet, overwhelming fear made her pull back the arm that he was holding.The umbrella wavered in the rain along with her movement.Rain landed on her shoulders, awakening her from her dreamlike trance.The man standing right before her was the man who chose Kayla over their babies!He was also the man who chose Kayla over her without any hesitation! How could she let her heart be moved again?How could she…She was a complete failure of a mother!Julia
“Julian!” Diana sat up on the bed, her heart thumping like crazy.She took a few deep breaths, and realized that it was just a dream.An outrageous dream, at that.How could someone like Julian end up being covered in blood and look at her with such hopelessness? It was impossible.A man so favored by destiny would always be above others.Luke was able to have his way last time because of Kayla’s assistance.Even though Kayla was the woman of his dreams, given Julian’s character, he would never allow himself to tumble at the same place a second time.What’s more, Luke was already dead. Dead in the hands of his own father.That thought calmed Diana down, and she chided herself for worrying too much.It was probably because the rain yesterday had disoriented her. She had to be in her best condition at the exhibition today.After washing up, she tried hard to remember the make-up she had her make-up artist design for her after seeing Fanny yesterday. She pondered about it fo
That was when Julian remembered the 15 million dollars that he threw out of the window and the exhibition that Diana cared so much for. “Let’s go.” He was no longer satisfied with mere texting. He wanted to see her.She would definitely be there.He wanted to ask her personally if she was being double-minded and two-timing by giving another man her umbrella, all the while caring for him and texting him at the same time.Yet when Julian arrived at the exhibition, he didn’t see Diana anywhere.Kayla appeared much earlier than Diana did. She kept looking at Julian, and ended up walking toward him when she saw his poker face and concluded that he didn’t detest her.“Julian,” she greeted him with a smile. “What a coincidence. I didn’t expect you to come.”Julian didn’t believe that it was pure coincidence. “I came here to see Diana.”Everyone knew that he invested 15 million dollars in this exhibition. It was impossible for Kayla to not have heard about it.“You’ve become even mor
Julian thought he just heard the greatest joke of the century. “Without you?” Kayla’s threat didn’t stop him. Her face turned an even darker shade of blue, and she was no longer able to talk.Gradually, her feet gradually left the.Julian was…actually going to kill her in front of everyone, just for Diana’s sake!Noel realized the gravity of the situation and immediately stepped forward to stop Julian. “Sir!”Julian’s eyes were bloodshot.He regretted it.He regretted not killing Kayla earlier and leaving such a threat in Diana’s life!His eyes were filled with such viciousness that Noel didn’t dare look up into his eyes. Instead, he simply voiced the words in his mind. “Saving Madam is more important…”That was when Julian loosened his grip. He turned his attention to Noel and barked, “Go! Find out where Diana is!”“Sir…” Noel swallowed past a constricted throat before going on, “I can do that, but we know that Ms. Kayla has always been ruthless.”That was evident from how
Diana’s traces were completely erased the very moment she left the studio. Julian's heart raced as he stared at Kayla, his gaze bearing the smallest hint of patience. James, on the other hand, was utterly terrified by the current situation.Kayla had spoken so confidently before, saying she would defeat Diana and come out on top. Never in James’s wildest dreams did he imagine she would achieve it by preventing Diana from participating and threatening Julian!He never once entertained the notion that threats would work for Julian to marry Kayla.Did she forget just who Julian was?!James wanted to bury his head into the ground and not be discovered by Julian.Yet, he didn't think Kayla would actually call out to him."Daddy," she said cheerfully, as if she hadn’t just narrowly escaped being killed in cold blood by Julian. "Julian promised to marry me!"James dared not say much, much less utter a single word. He tugged on Kayla's sleeve nervously as he stole a quick glance at Ju
Julian had a lot of faith in Noel's abilities to handle things; and yet, the latter claimed that try as he might, he couldn't find a single trace of Diana.Compared to before, Kayla was much more thorough this time."I used to call you stupid all the time, but I’ve really underestimated you," Julian said as he looked steadily at her, his gaze as sharp as a knife.However, Kayla didn't avert her gaze and met his eyes evenly.This time, she was directly threatening him to his face; a clear show that she was determined to make him agree. She undoubtedly wouldn’t let Diana go so easily.However... Julian refused to fulfill her request."The only person I want to marry in my life is Diana," he said firmly, never taking his eyes away from Kayla. "If you insist on marrying me, it won't end well for you."Kayla was prepared for Julian's future retaliation. "I know that, but I still want to marry you."That was her ultimate goal.If she didn't persist until the end, she wouldn't know w
"Grandma!" Diana wanted to touch Madam Fulcher to see what was wrong, but then she realized that she didn't even have the strength to turn her head."S-Sir..." She strained to look at the chauffeur, only to see a sinister look and a sly smile on his face. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, but at this point, no amount of vigilance would help her escape her current situation.She could only grip Madam Fulcher's hand tightly in the last second before losing consciousness. "We can't pry this woman's hand apart!" In her dazed state, Diana could hear someone shouting loudly in her ear. There was also another trying to pry her hand away repeatedly, but she held onto Madam Fulcher without budging an inch.She absolutely couldn't let go!Not only that, but she also needed to muster all her strength and effort to open her eyes as quickly as possible.It wasn't until two hours later that she regained some of her consciousness."Grandma..." The first words Diana uttered upon waking
“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