To think Clifford dared attack her so openly!Diana immediately suspected that he probably held one of Julian's weaknesses. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the guts to treat her like this.With that thought in mind, she decided not to resist.When she was by Julian's side, she was a petite woman who needed to be pampered and comforted. Once he wasn't around, she was a strong and independent woman.Diana furrowed her brows slightly, her gaze appearing particularly sharp. She made an effort to calm herself down. "Sure."If she agreed to Clifford's demands, Julian wouldn't be threatened no matter what cards Clifford held. All she had to do was wait for Julian to come back. He had promised to return before the new year, and now, there were only two days left until New Year's Eve.She could endure for two more days. Julian would surely take her away from here.As the night fell, however, Diana became less composed. When Clifford mentioned accompanying Luke, he meant accompanying his me
Judging by the height and build of the figure, it wasn't Clifford. Instead, the figure seemed somewhat familiar. Thinking that, Diana wasn't as afraid anymore and shouted loudly, "Is that you, Simon?"Against the light, she couldn't see anything except the tall silhouette. However, the figure clearly stiffened for a moment. She thought it was because she had guessed correctly, and continued, "I knew you’d come back for me!"After hearing her words, the figure still remained unmoved. The surroundings were still dark, and Luke's white memorial portrait seemed to flicker in front of her, as if it had a light source. However, the figure in front of her remained still.Was it not Simon? Was it instead the person she least wanted to see right now, Clifford?The marriage arranged between Diana and the old man of the Pabian family, which Kate and James had mentioned once, resurfaced in Diana’s mind at that very instant. If the person who had come really was Clifford, could she su
Diana continued to stare at Julian. She refused to believe he would undergo such a drastic change from such a short business trip. His gaze quickly shifted to Diana, who stood frozen in place. Seeing how she was not moving, he snapped, "Hurry up and come out! Even if you're just a substitute, you're now known as Mrs. Fulcher to everyone in Richburgh. Stop messing around with other men, and don't disgrace the Fulcher family!""Julian!" Diana hissed warningly.He seemed oblivious to the anger in her tone. He raised his eyebrows, his face still cold and indifferent as he said, "Are you upset? Isn't staying up with a memorial portrait of a man in the middle of the night enough to prove a point?"After waiting for him for so long, all she received was blame! Diana's hands hung down weakly as she looked at him incredulously. She felt very much wronged. "It was Mr. Clifford who made me...""Then you could’ve mentioned my name to intimidate him. You could’ve done everything you cou
Diana couldn't accept that everything that had happened recently was merely an act on Julian’s part. She couldn't bear his absurd words. No matter how good her upbringing was, she couldn't hold back any longer. She could only flee and rush out of the gate. This time, Clifford didn't stop her.Julian's car was already waiting at the entrance of the Pabian family's residence. When Diana emerged, Noel immediately stepped forward to greet her."Madam.""Don't call me that!" Diana's face was pale, filled with anger and frustration. Instantly after, she realized it wasn't right to vent her anger at Noel just because of Julian. Her expression gradually softened. "I'm sorry..." She held her forehead and leaned against the car, her posture showing deep exhaustion. "I lost control for a moment."Noel had been startled by her outburst, but he waved his hands repeatedly and said, "No, it's fine!"No matter what he said, Diana knew she had made a mistake. She was never someone who took
Even if Julian desperately wanted to reach out and hold Diana, to embrace her tightly and greedily breathe in every bit of her presence…he couldn't. It wasn't because he feared the Pabian family, or anyone else. It was because... He had to protect her in a way that seemed at odds with her, a way that appeared to belittle her.Julian refused to believe that Clifford had the audacity to invite Diana as a guest to his home.Despite the Channing family's involvement, this scheme to test Diana's worth in his heart didn't seem like something Simon or Kenneth would come up with. Moreover, they seemed to differ from the script of the one responsible for orchestrating this act from behind the scenes.As for whether Oliver was the mastermind behind it all, Julian couldn't rely solely on speculation.He needed further confirmation. If it really was Oliver, and the man had become so deranged as to target Diana... Julian's eyes narrowed slightly as a dangerous aura poured out around him
Just by looking at the invitation card, anyone could tell that the host of the banquet was either rich or powerful. Diana stared intently at Nina with her beautiful eyes.Sure enough, Nina quickly succumbed to Diana's gaze. "Forget it. This banquet is organized by that woman who got engaged to Vans." She bit her lip and lowered her head. Her voice grew smaller as she said, "I just want to see what she looks like..."She didn't dare to go alone, so she wanted to drag Diana along. Before they even set off, Diana had already seen through the ulterior motives behind this banquet."I wonder... Who was it who just told me to tell everyone to buzz off?" Diana teased Nina with raised eyebrows. "And here you are, still thinking about Vans?" Diana snorted. "It’s okay for you to think about your lover, but I'm not allowed to think about my ex-husband? That's unfair to me."Her appearance was too charming. Her eyes seemed to speak, every movement she made created ripples. She exuded a
However, Noel dared not pry the specific details as to what had changed from last night and led to Julian’s blissful mood. He simply waited quietly until Julian had everything prepared, and silently brought the car out.Seeing that Julian's joyful expression remained, Noel took the opportunity to bring it up. "Sir…?""Hmm?""Yesterday, the madam said-"Julian corrected him stubbornly, "My beloved."Noel seemed taken aback, and couldn't figure out a proper reply.Julian, amused, glanced at him. "And? What did she say?""Nothing." As soon as this topic came up, a wide smile spread across Noel's face. "She just mentioned that you should give me a day of paid leave."He had been working as Julian's assistant for so many years, and had never really taken a break. When Diana brought up this matter, he was quite tempted."You mean to say that even when she’s angry with me after leaving the Pabian family's residence last night, she still thought about asking for a paid day off for y
The venue for the banquet was a five-star hotel in the city center.As soon as Diana and Nina arrived, they began to observe their surroundings.The banquet hall was glorious; the whole floor was covered in thick woolen carpets.What made it more extravagant was the fact that these carpets were said to have been specially procured for this event.It was evident that the organizer of this banquet had considerable financial resources.Nina was overwhelmed as soon as she arrived. While she was Vans's official girlfriend, in the face of such grandeur, she couldn't help but think that she was nothing compared to Vans's fiancee...Diana noticed her insecurity, and gently guided her to adopt a positive mindset. "You've been to so many grand occasions while photographing celebrities. You didn't have any problems with that. Why are you so nervous now?"Nina couldn't help but correct Diana, saying, "Those weren't grand occasions for me. Those were paparazzi shots."As a paparazzo, even 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