Olivia's povI poured myself a bottle of champagne and drowned it in a go. Everything was falling apart. Everything I thought I would hold back. Ryder might not have told me what happened in detail but I know Ophelia was gone from our lives.I saw the divorce papers on his desk. Ophelia's name and signature were already on it, which only remains Ryder's own.At least one of my plans worked even though it didn't take me so much effort. Ophelia had such a soft heart. She has always been and she is still a pleaser. She was always looking out for people and forgetting herself in the process. I thought she would have changed a little but she didn't surprise me.I knew I wouldn't need much work to do but only Ryder proved difficult. Always following Ophelia like a lost puppy.I eavesdropped on him while he was talking to Ryan who was sleeping. He keeps calling Ophelia Ryan's mum, he even still cares for her after she left. He keeps referring to her as his wife but I was his wife in the fir
Olivia's pov The room was wrecked with the smell of alcohol and cigarettes. The house was in complete disarray with everywhere littered with bottles of alcohol and the table filled with cigarette powder.Clothes were thrown on the couches, discarded, and scattered everywhere. My nose twisted with the smell emitting from his room. How is he able to breathe here? I went to the closed window and opened it, allowing fresh air to enter the house, giving more room for breathing.I turned to him “Why did you call me here? What do you want? I thought I asked you not to call me except I do”He chuckled, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “Oh, Olivia. Still as fiery as ever. But we both know why you are here.” I glared at him, my patience already wearing thin. “Stop playing games with me, I don't have time for your nonsense. What do you want from me?” He took a step closer, his smirk fading into something more sinister. “I want what you promised me. Do you think you can just cut
Ryder's pov Finally, after leaving my office, I went to my room, had a quick shower, and slipped into casual clothes. I got little or no sleep and the pounding in my head demanded one thing—coffee. The house was still quiet, the morning light filtering through the windows. As I walked toward the kitchen, I paused by Ryan's room and pushed the door open slightly.He was still asleep, his small form curled up under the blanket, clutching his stuffed lion tightly, one of the gifts Ophelia got him on his birthday.For a moment, I just stood there, watching him. His soft breathing filled the room, a sound so comforting yet so fragile. He looked so much like her, Ophelia, when he slept.I shook the thought from my mind and headed to the kitchen to set about making coffee. The machine whirred softly, filling the air with the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee.I leaned against the counter, staring into the mug in my hands. The silence wasn’t peaceful, it was suffocating. There was a time
Ryder's pov “That's true Ryder. I haven't seen Ophelia yet, why is she?” Mum asked, her eyes settling on me.“She is gone,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant, but my voice shook a little, almost giving away what I felt. “What do you mean by she is gone? Gone to where?” Dad asked, his voice sharp while his brows furrowed deeply.“She isn't interested in our marriage anymore, Dad. She gave me divorce papers and left,” The words felt heavy and like poison, burning my throat as I said them.“What are you talking about Ryder? She would never do that. I know her” Dad defended her, his voice in disbelief. He took out his phone and began dialing her number.The familiar sound of the ringing tone filled the room, but I knew she didn't pick up. “Did you two fight?” Mum asked, concern lacing her voice.“She was tired of pretending, Mum. She wanted to live her own life.” I shrugged, trying to mask the ache in my chest. Dad’s jaw tightened as he continued to listen to the ringing before the
Ryder's pov It was just between me and Ophelia. How did it leak out?A video began playing.Ophelia was standing In front of a burning car, and I could hear the pleading from the other side, but Ophelia just stood there, back to the camera, without doing anything.“Thank your stars, your son isn't with you right now; if not, he would have burnt with you to hell,” Ophelia said before walking to her car.I dropped to the couch as disbelief filled me. I was shocked.That was her voice, my body shook with rage as her words kept playing in my head.“Mama,” I heard Ryan's cry and looked down at him.His eyes were on the TV when he heard her voice. The reporter continued, “This video was sent to almost 15 media outlets with the sender anonymous. It leaves everyone to the question of why she would want to kill her sister and threaten to end her son's lie,”The room fell silent as the words sank in, leaving me breathless and with only one question in mind.Why?My heart went numb, I didn't k
Ophelia's pov The cab pulled up to the airport, and I handed the driver some cash. “Keep the change,” I muttered, stepping out of the cab and I held the scarf tighter around my head. The air was crisp, biting against my skin, but it wasn’t enough to chase away the chill settling deep inside me. I walked into the terminal with my heart pounding with every step I took. The buzz of activity was washing over me. People were rushing past me, some dragging their suitcases, others clutching boarding passes in their hands, and some, their faces a mix of excitement and fatigue. I envied them. They had somewhere to go. They have a good reason. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I needed to leave. The phone I tucked away in the hotel room had been deliberate. I tossed it in the bin before I left the room. Even though it hurt me a lot, tossing a lot of memories away but I had to do it.I couldn’t risk anyone tracking me and finding me. I wanted to live far away from them, away f
Ryder's Pov The airport came into view, and I slammed my foot on the brake as I skidded into the parking lot. Barely having time, I turned off the engine before jumping out of the car.I didn’t know what I would say to her if I saw her. I entered the terminal which was buzzing, scanning the crowd for any sign of her with my guard following behind me. Another of my guards joined us there.“I was keeping my eyes on her but she got lost in the crowd,” the new guard who joined us said.Why can't they do a simple task right?“She is just a fucking woman; how could you lose her?” I was losing my cool while staring at the guard.“She was sitting right here waiting before people started moving and I lost her in the crowd. I am sorry sir,” he apologized, bowing his head. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. I went to the nearest information desk. “Excuse me,” I barked at the woman who was sitting down there. “I am looking for someone who might have checked in recently. Ophelia
Ophelia's pov Shortly after the security men reached my row, they caught the man with a bag of hidden drugs. It turned out he was referring to the man sitting next to me. His bag was searched and it was filled with clothes dipped in drugs. His flight was canceled, and he was led out of the plane.I breathed in relief when the pilot announced we were about to fly. I closed my eyes as the plane ran through the railway and was to taxi.I felt the plane lift from the ground, and I shut my eyes tightly, clenching firmly to my seat and biting hard on my lips.When the plane was finally in the air I unlocked my seat belt and breathed in relief. After some time, a waitress came to me asking what I wanted and I told her before relaxing back on my seat.I am starting a new life now. A life where no one knew me. Not as Ophelia Hamilton, the daughter of Alice Hamilton, or Ophelia Smith, the wife of Ryder and the mother of Ryan, but as Eva Hunter.I decided to use my other name, Eva, one of my n
Ophelia's Pov I opened my eyes to the cold room. I checked beside me but didn't find Ryder with me. The duvet was on me which I didn't do myself.I swung my leg to the floor and stood up from the bed. I headed to the living room, and I saw Mum sleeping on the couch.What is she still doing here? I thought she went home.I walked past her to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. At the sound of moving about and making noise, she woke up and sat straight, rubbing her eyes.When her eyes settled on me, she stood up immediately.“You should go home, Mum. You will have body pain by sleeping on the couch,” I said without giving her a glance.“I am not leaving until you talk to me,” I continued doing what I was doing.“And I don't want to,” I said.“Please, even if it is the last thing you do if I join your father,” I froze before turning to look at her.“Are you threatening me with that now? I have lost Dad, not you, again. Is that how you want to play it? I am angry with you but I
Ophelia's Pov I moved my eyes from the bottles on the table to Mum.“What truth mum?” I asked, curiosity eating me up.“I would like you to listen to the story I am about to tell you,” I said slowly, trying to gain my acceptance and I nodded.“When your father died, it was the darkest time of my life. I couldn't handle a kid all by myself not to talk more of two girls.I tried to handle both of you together, bring you closer, and make sure you are alright, but you withdrew yourself totally. I should have put in more effort but I didn't. I only made sure you were safe because of your illness, but emotionally, I didn't try.Olivia was the only one who I was close to so when the two of you went to university, I didn't monitor her like I did to you. I knew nothing about her love life or health,” she paused before continuing.“Few days for you both to graduate, I stumbled across your book when you wrote about hating a guy Olivia was with. Then I started looking after her and that was when
Ophelia's Pov As the car drove from the station to the house, Olivia's confession didn't leave my head.How? How did it happen? I have always blamed her for everything but I was the villain in her story. She was hurt because of me.As I rested my back on the passenger's seat, my thoughts went back to 20 minutes before I left the station.******“Since when and how long do you have more?”“Since I was in university. I had a breakdown and was rushed to the hospital, tests were conducted and I knew about it. I don't know how long I have but I know it isn't soon.”“Why did you tell Mum or me?” I asked as a tear escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheeks.“It was bad enough I was the black sheep. I didn't want to make Mum worried. It was hard seeing her breakdown during Dad's death and how she struggled. If you don't notice, she still dies and that is why she buried her head in work.”“You should have told someone, we could have helped. Is there any treatment for it or any way you can man
Ophelia's Pov “Why?” I paused trying to brace myself together, “I didn't take dad from you. I never did,”“Really? You didn't?” She moved her chair and fixed her gaze on me. “Who was his perfect princess? Why read day and night to make sure Dad is proud of her? Who goes to meet Dad any chance she gets so he can spend time with her? Who was Dad's favorite?”“Olivia—” I started, but she interrupted me.“You made him distant from me. Then you came sick and all the attention was shifted from both of us to only you. Only Ophelia deserves to rest while I go to school activities. Only Ophelia deserves 24/7 monitoring. I began to fade and I became your shadow. It was all about you,” she screamed with tears flowing down her eyes.She is getting it all wrong, or is she right with what she said?I was suffocated and choked. I blamed my sickness for that and envied Olivia whenever she could go anywhere she liked or do anything she wanted.“I didn't know you felt that way,”“You wouldn't because
Ophelia's PovI sat in the interrogation room waiting for the officers to bring Olivia out.The sound of the door opening reached my ear, and I saw Olivia enter the room.My eyes met mine immediately, and I offered a little smile, which she returned forcefully.“Hi,” I said as she took her seat.“How are you doing?” I asked and she shook her head.“Shitty,” she replied and I nodded, looking down my fingers.“I know. It isn't the best place to be in,”“Are you finding means to get me out?” She asked.“Not yet—,”“Why?” She interrupted me with her voice harsh. I looked into her eyes, and for the first time, I saw something I had not noticed before.Anger.“Olivia, why?” I asked, maintaining eye contact with her. I watch her eyes transition from anger to confusion.“What?”“Why did you do all of these? Why did you hurt your family? Why did you hurt me?” She didn't reply to me; she only held my gaze for a few seconds.“Do what, Ophelia. You and Ryder should find out how to get me out of
Ophelia's Pov Three million dollars.The amount kept ringing in my head. The amount was huge. Why did she take a loan of that amount and what did she use it for?“Got it,” Dave said and gave me his phone.I read through her information, and every line I read got me more confused.I looked up from the phone back to Ryder. “How is this all true?”“There are pictures to prove it; scroll down,” Dave said, and I did as he said.There were a few pictures of her, from old to recent, but a picture caught my eye, and I zoomed in on the picture.The cloth. It looks familiar. I went to the search bar and typed my name. Many articles popped up, but I went to the videos and searched for the video of that day's accident. There was no video of the accident on the web. But I saw it while I was in Brazil.At that moment, Ryder came down and I turned to him immediately.“Ryder, the accident video is not on the web anymore,”“Yes, I took them all down,” he said, sitting down next to me. “Why?” he a
Ophelia's Pov As I watched the video, I felt a strangling knot in my stomach.Paul was on the call with someone as he placed about.“Did you do everything I asked you to?” He asked the person on the other side.“Listen to me. Go to my place and do exactly as I instruct you unless the boy dies,”“Talk to you later, Olivia. I have to feed the boy,”On hearing Olivia's name, the knot in my stomach tightened.I turned to Ryder.“She knew,” I said and he nodded.“That is the only evidence we got that the kidnapping is tied to Olivia,”Wow.“I need time to process this,” I stood up and walked to our room.I lay on the bed and closed my eyes, wishing that what I saw would disappear, but it only got clearer.I knew Olivia was tied to it one way or the other but confirming it now was hurting me more than I thought.After some time, I felt fatigue slowly kicked in and I slept off.******Waking up from the bed, I stood up and went to the bathroom to wash my face before leaving the room.I went
Ophelia's Pov Desmond and Ryder were checking all the CCTV cameras around the side where we found Ryan.They are looking for any connection with Olivia.I was with Ryan as he played with his toys. His little fingers moved busily as he stacked colorful blocks on top of each other. His soft giggles filled the room.I felt my phone vibrate beside me and I removed my eyes from Ryan to my phone.I saw 5 missed calls from Dave. When did he call that I didn't pick up? My brows furrowed. I looked at Ryan to make sure he was alright before calling him back.“Hi,” “Ophelia, are you alright?” He asked directly.“Yes, I am. How is Lily?” I asked.“She is fine. We are married,” the line went silent after that.The words settled in, a strange tightness forming in my chest.“Erm,” I cleared my throat. “That is good; I am happy for both of you,” I said, my voice coming out tighter than I intended.“Ophelia, I—”“It is okay.” I cut in, forcing a small smile even though he couldn’t see it. “You are
Ophelia's Pov A heavy silence fell over the room. The implications of what we had just uncovered were unsettling. Could Olivia have orchestrated Ryan’s kidnapping? Why would she do that if she did?I glanced at Ryder, his jaw tight, his hands clenched into fists. His expression was unreadable, but I could sense the storm brewing beneath the surface. Gina sat stiffly on the couch, her fingers twisting together. “I— I don’t want to believe it,” she whispered. “But if she could do this to Ryan, what else is she capable of doing?” Ryder exhaled sharply, running a hand down his face. “If Olivia did this… If she put our son in danger…” His voice trailed off, but the quiet fury in his tone was unmistakable. “She faked her death and framed me, what else can she not do?” I asked aloud, trying the grasp the realization we just made.A cold shiver ran down my spine. Olivia had always been manipulative, but would she really go that far? To harm an innocent child? Her biological child?