For a moment, Diana stared deep into Julian's eyes.A second later, she rallied and continued to confront him. At this point, Julian was exhausted. He just wanted to throw the evidence in her face and be done with it. "I'll have someone send the DNA test report." Julian glanced at Diana and then averted his gaze. "After you've seen the results, we can discuss all this nonsense." "DNA test?" Diana's mouth dropped open. Finally, she understood why Julian took the two little ones away a few days ago. He actually... Had them undergo a paternity test in secret! He took it upon himself to do such an illegal thing, without her consent as their mother! But... In Richburgh, he was the law. He was the authority. She didn't know why, but the thought suddenly popped into her mind. Diana was instantly defeated, and her voice gradually faded away. Powerlessness washed over her upon the realization that she couldn’t protect her own children. Perhaps coming to Richburgh was a mist
In the end, it wasn't Noel who arrived. Vans did. His expression was somewhat grave as he stood at the doorway. Without even stepping into the room to see the children, he said to Julian, “Come out with me for a bit."There was a hint of indescribable disgust as his gaze swept over Diana. She felt her heart skip a beat under his piercing stare. This man wasn't Noel. She was about to ask Julian who he was, but Julian had already stood up and was walking swiftly towards the exit. "Wait for me. I'll be right back."It seemed this stranger was delivering the DNA test results. Perhaps she had misunderstood his previous expression. After all, why would someone whose duty was to deliver test results harbor such animosity toward her?Diana breathed a sigh of relief, and even her grip on Betty's hand loosened. Sensing the opportunity, Betty wriggled free from Diana's embrace and ran to the doorway, waiting eagerly. With hopeful eyes, she asked Diana, "Mommy, what's a D...?" She forgot
Betty wanted to seek comfort from Sean, but he had already gone into his room. Only she and Diana were left in the living room. She could only hold onto her mother's clothes and ask cautiously, "Mommy, Uncle Julian... Can't I ride a horsie anymore?"Upon hearing her daughter's sweet voice, Diana snapped back to reality. Just a moment ago, Julian left and said there was nothing between them anymore. A large part of her felt indescribably devastated, though she didn't understand why. It left her feeling hollow and numb."No, you can't," she replied, her voice slightly shaky. She picked up the DNA test results and carefully read through them. It stated that there was no biological relationship between the tested individuals, confirming that Betty and Sean had no blood ties with Julian. This was what Diana had expected, and it was an anticipated fact. Julian was the one who went mad and refused to admit it, insisting that he was their father. This was a logical and expected res
It seemed Diana couldn't marry Simon anymore.Julian, who had been eager to be the father of the two children, had also left. Diana looked down at the DNA test report. She should feel calm, but her emotions were turbulent. Her mind was a mess. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could only see Julian pacing in the room. The unfinished sandwiches on the table emitted a faint aroma. Diana opened her eyes and sighed. She tidied up the items and put them away in the kitchen. She thought about the unfinished food she hadn't eaten, and the two children who needed care. Soon, the inexplicable gloom in her heart dissipated.Love or fondness, it didn't matter. Perhaps it was even simply an illusion.These were things that only the rich and idle could ponder, and they were things far removed from her reality. For now, she needed to focus on her current life. The biggest challenge right now was not the DNA test report, nor Julian's cold and decisive attitude upon seeing the report.
Vans couldn't understand. In the business world, Julian was as decisive as he could be. Yet when it came to Diana, he was reduced to this state.Vans also lit a cigarette, preparing himself for a long chat with Julian in the car. "Who told you that?" Vans knew Julian needed someone to talk to now. Julian's gaze fell on the former, and one word fell through his lips. “Diana.”Vans almost cursed out loud. "Julian!" he yelled, clearly frustrated, "When did she tell you this?"Julian thought for a moment. "This morning..."Vans rolled his eyes. "She did it on purpose. Can't you tell? You’re the most sought-after man in all of Richburgh. Even after your divorce, there’s a ton of women from prestigious families who want to marry you. Why do you think you're not attractive to Diana anymore? Don't you see that she's saying stuff like this to confuse you?""Confuse me?" Julian was already in a mess. Why would Diana need to confuse him further? Even without doing anything, she could a
"There is beauty everywhere in the world," Vans said. He felt uneasy seeing his good friend's feelings ignored and toyed with repeatedly.Especially when Diana was doing it.Vans had once considered her a friend. In fact... After hearing of Diana's return to Richburgh, he had been happy for Julian. Like Julians, Vans hoped Diana had a reason for leaving with Simon back then. It was why he found the paternity test to be very important, and personally took charge of the whole process. Unfortunately, she turned out to be so disappointing. Vans sighed. "You're right not to be obsessed with Diana." He took out his phone and showed Julian a few pictures. "These are all the daughters of prominent families in Richburgh. Take a look and see if any catch your eye. If there's someone you're interested in, I can make arrangements for you anytime." This time, Julian didn't refuse. He didn't rebuke Vans for being meddlesome, as he often did before. Instead, he took the phone and care
Nina had come to see the children, not to see Diana. Diana almost stumbled from the forceful push. Confused, she was about to ask who this strange visitor was, but the visitor said gruffly, "Hurry up and take these inside!” She looked around casually and headed for the bedroom, asking, "Where are my godson and goddaughter?" Diana became furious. "Hey!" She quickly grabbed Nina's hand to stop the latter from opening the bedroom door. "Who are you? How can you just barge into someone's house? Don't you have any manners?!" Hearing this, Nina burst into laughter. Even as she laughed, she couldn't conceal her anger. "Diana!" There was no affection in her tone, unlike how she used to call Diana’s name. She poked her finger on Diana's forehead and continued, "You pretended to be dead, and now that you've finally returned to Richburgh, you pretend that your brain’s fried?" Diana had a vague sense that something wasn’t right. She felt her limbs go numb, and she trembled slightly
Nina noticed that Diana's expression didn't seem fake, and she lost interest in seeing the children. She quickly grabbed Diana's hand and told Diana about her past with Julian. Diana's expression became even more bewildered and incredulous. Was Nina actually saying she had been involved with the wealthy magnate, even with her below average looks and figure? It was something impossible even in fairy tales.Nina didn't notice Diana's skeptical look and asked eagerly, "What happened? How did you get amnesia?" "I don't know," Diana shook her head repeatedly. "I have a headache right now." She pushed Nina towards the door and said, "Can you leave for now? I need some time alone." Nina looked hurt. She was both anxious and worried. "Diana, I won't leave. I have to figure out what's going on. How can you suddenly have amnesia? Someone must have done this to you! It's Simon! It must be Simon!" He was the one who took Diana away three years ago. According to what Diana told her
“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