Claire grabbed Javier’s sleeve nervously when she heard this. “That’s a hundred million dollars you’re talking about. Don’t be rash!”She hadn’t done anything to deserve a hundred million from Javier. How was she supposed to pay him back in the future?Javier flicked off an invisible speck of dirt from his shirt without looking at her. He was staring at Charles calmly. “Let her go.”Charles gave him a sinister smile, which looked gross to Javier. “I changed my mind. If she can capture your heart, Mr. Marquez, then she’s probably priceless.”Claire was so angry that she almost went up to Charles herself to slap him. “What did you just say? Repeat that to my face,” she said, trembling in anger.Javier, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be angry. He grabbed Claire by the waist and told her gently, “It’s okay. I’m here.” Then, he turned his gaze to Charles. “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to resort to violence.”The atmosphere immediately cooled down at that declaration. Javier’s men stepped fo
Ollie nodded while glancing at Javier in surprise and delight. Admiration shone in his eyes as he exclaimed, “I knew you wouldn’t break your promise, Dad!”Claire shot a look in Javier’s direction while having mixed feelings. The memory of what happened earlier seemed to have touched her heart.The moment she noticed Javier looking at her, Claire averted her gaze instantly while feeling slightly awkward. Then, she hugged Ollie tightly while saying, “Ollie, I thought I’d never see you again.”Those touching words didn’t move Ollie’s heart at all. Instead, they made him feel unnerved. Ollie gazed at Claire worriedly before asking, “What’s wrong, Mommy? Are you alright?”Claire let out a helpless sigh in return. She was just trying to ease the awkwardness, but it turned out that she made things even more awkward.“I’m fine. It was just something I said to make you feel better. It’s getting late now, so you should go rest.”Ollie nodded in response. Even though he still longed for hi
The moment Claire was done speaking, the expressions of the people in the company changed drastically. Claire’s expression was more than enough to show that she wasn’t lying at all. It was coupled with the fact that Liam’s public reputation was already bad enough. There were even rumors traveling down the grapevine that he wanted Claire to get married to an old geezer.Obviously, Claire’s words were more convincing compared to Liam’s excuses.At that moment, everyone started looking down on Liam. However, since he was their boss, they didn’t dare show their disdain clearly. Instead, they decided to treat the whole fiasco as if it were a soap opera.Upon realizing that he had become the center of his subordinates’ attention, Liam could feel his pride starting to crumble. Since he was unable to unleash his rage on Claire due to the people present, he could only hint at his assistant to summon the security guards and chase Claire out of the company.Claire had already expected that th
Claire spent the entire day waiting. However, the detective never got back to her with any news.That night, Claire drove home from work. Her worry over the matter, coupled with the fact that she was unable to rest well due to the terrifying events she had gone through the night before, made her unable to concentrate on driving.When she crossed the road, a tricycle suddenly ran a red light. The moment Claire saw the tricycle, she turned the steering wheel immediately out of instinct in order to swerve to the side. She ended up crashing into the car next to her uncontrollably.The sharp screech of the car brakes being stomped on was soon followed by a deafening bang that indicated the crash. Claire’s windshield was shattered immediately due to the impact. Her head even smashed the window next to her due to the great inertia, causing her to start bleeding profusely.Now that an accident had happened, a barrage of shrieking honks could be heard drifting from the back immediately. Cla
Despite having said that, Claire couldn’t help but feel touched on the inside. She knew that Ollie was an obedient child, which warmed her heart.Meanwhile, Ollie nestled in Claire’s arms. He pulled out a cooling gel patch from his backpack and handed it to Claire. Then, he said eagerly, “Mommy, I used my allowance to buy this patch that can help your pain go away at the supermarket. The pretty sales lady told me that you won’t feel any pain after using this.”Upon noticing the cooling gel patch, Claire was so touched that words couldn’t even begin to describe what she was feeling. She hugged Ollie immediately and started showering him with kisses.“Mwah! My dear Ollie, I’m so happy right now! I knew you were the best! You’re not like a certain someone who was so fierce to me earlier!”The moment she was done speaking, Claire shot a glance at Javier, who remained silent throughout the entire exchange. A hint of resentment shone in her eyes as she did so.Javier just raised an eyeb
It was not until Javier heard the sounds of regulated breathing coming from the spot next to him that his gaze flicked from his laptop screen to Claire’s face. The moment he took in her pale face as she slept, his eyes softened momentarily.Perhaps he didn’t even realize how tender his eyes had become, seeing as that tenderness dissipated in the blink of an eye.Suddenly, Javier had a feeling that he enjoyed the momentary tranquility. It was true that he was exhausted from staying up all night. However, he felt energized at that moment as he returned to his laptop and continued working.Claire must have felt pain radiating from her body in her sleep because she let out a groan at that moment before kicking her blanket away in a fit of annoyance, which revealed her body. Despite being clad in a hospital gown, Claire’s curves could still be seen through the clothing. She was a slim woman, but she was still well-endowed in all the right places.When Javier saw Claire, he stopped bre
After entering the ward, Patty placed the supplements on the bedside table before looking at Claire in concern. “Madam, how are you? Are you feeling better today?”Claire nodded in response, feeling quite warm because of Patty’s concern for her.“Thank you for your concern, Patty. I’m fine. I think I’ll be able to get discharged tomorrow.”It seemed that Claire would be staying the night in the hospital.“Then why don’t I take care of you tonight, Madam?” Patty offered compassionately while tucking the blanket into Claire’s sides.Claire wanted to turn Patty’s offer down. After all, she was an adult, and she would be fine even if no one took care of her. Just as she was about to formulate her response, Javier suddenly spoke up from the side. “I’ll be here tonight, Patty. You should go home.”He was still dealing with his documents without raising his head. However, his attitude was firm, and his word was final.Patty knew Javier’s temperament very well. She opened her mouth, but
“Claire, are you alright? How did you get hurt?”Raina rushed over immediately before wrapping her arms around Claire and studying her from all angles. At the same time, she kept yapping her ear off. “Let me look at the injury!”Upon noticing how anxious Raina was, Claire did her best to suppress both the dizziness that came from Raina shaking her body and her flaring anger. She then explained patiently, “I’m fine. I just sustained a couple of external injuries and a minor concussion. Don’t worry.”However, Raina refused to believe her at all. “The bandages that are wrapped around your head are so thick! How could the concussion be minor? How did you get hurt?”While she was extremely worried about Claire, the latter still looked nonchalant and dismissive as usual. It was impossible for Raina to not worry about her boss.Realizing that she couldn’t convince Raina at all, Claire could only sigh helplessly. “I speak nothing but the truth. Then again, if you keep shaking me like this
Hattie looked extremely sincere in her pleading. However, when Sofia did not answer or even look at her, she began to lose confidence. Sofia's face was impassive. "Hattie, I've known you since you were a baby, but I can't help you with this. Please leave." She did not want to discuss the other stuff with her yet.However, Hattie was obstinate. She looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Aunt Sofia, please, please help me. I know it's not much trouble for you, but it can save our entire family. You've always been so kind to me. I promise that the Snyder family will repay you for your kindness!"Hearing this, Sofia felt uncomfortable. She raised her head and gazed at her coldly. "In this case, Hattie, I'll tell you why I won't help you," she said impatiently. "Do you really not know what you've done? I won't say it, but I know exactly what you've done to Ollie. You deserve everything that's happening to you now."Hattie widened her eyes, partly in shock and partly in disbelief when she h
Javier paused outside the door and waited until Claire left before giving his subordinates a look. They understood perfectly and grabbed Chantelle at once.As Javier had ordered, they were to send this woman abroad as far away as possible and leave her to fend for herself.Outside the hotel, Claire looked up at the sky blankly. She felt like a huge burden had been taken off her shoulders; for the first time in a long time, she felt relieved of all the hurt that she had suffered five years ago. Turning back, she told Javier, "Thank you, Javier, for allowing me to face my fears. I feel so relieved now."Javier's expression fell when he heard her thank him. He tapped her on the nose fondly in exasperation. "What are you talking about? Of course, I won't let those who hurt you get off so easily. They have to pay for what they have done."Claire was touched to see him so protective of her. A surge of warmness spread in her chest as she gazed at him fondly. "I'm lucky to have you, Javier."T
That was all Armand could think of.In just a few minutes, Chantelle admitted to everything she had done to Claire over the past few years.From drugging Claire out of jealousy and getting a stranger to assault her to getting Liam to banish her abroad, she admitted to everything. Claire knew some of them, but not all; only now did she know the extent of her crimes.When she was finished, everyone in the room sported conflicting expressions. Liam looked especially hurt and remorseful. It turned out that his younger daughter had always been evil, and he had wrongfully blamed Claire for all these years.Armand, on the other hand, didn't know how to feel about all this. He glanced at Claire and Javier. He felt that he really didn't deserve Claire, after all he had done. He had thought Chantelle to be kind and naive and had trusted her blindly to the point that he almost married her.Thank goodness the wedding didn't happen. Even so, he had lost Claire thanks to this. It made him regret eve
If Chantelle told Claire the truth about what happened that night, then there would be nothing stopping her from having a happily-ever-after with Javier.Back then, driven by jealousy, she had drugged Claire and put her in Javier's bed without their consent. She had planned all of this out herself meticulously. She had gotten Armand to catch Claire in the act so that he would call off the engagement and be with her instead. Liam banished Claire abroad to fend for herself. However, if she had known that the random stranger she had arranged to assault Claire was Javier, she never would've done it.Even so, it was a perfect plan worthy of a blockbuster film. Claire and Javier never found out the truth, nor did they know that Ollie was actually Javier's son.It took them two years of skirting around each other only to find out that they were meant to be in the first place. Now that the truth was out, Claire would not settle for prison as a punishment for the cause of all her suffering. Sh
After a lot of persuasion, Claire and Sofia finally managed to get Ollie to agree to stay in the hospital for another three days.Of course, three days weren't enough. Sofia and Pedro tried everything they could to convince Ollie to stay in the hospital for as long as possible.However, Ollie was smart enough to see through their ruse. He felt guilty when he saw them trying to cajole him into staying, so one day, after another attempt, he spoke up hesitantly, "Grandma, Grandpa, I'm glad that you're trying to keep me happy, and I'm touched that you're concerned about me, but I've been in the hospital for too long and it's making me sad. I promise that I'll listen to the doctor even when I'm at home, okay?" Under his bright, clear gaze, Sofia's protests died in her throat, leaving only exasperation and wordless sorrow.Ollie was too mature for his age. How could they not love him?Therefore, Ollie got his wish and was discharged three days later. In order to take care of Ollie, Sofia an
Hearing this, Javier narrowed his eyes. He felt like he was on the verge of grasping something, but the feeling passed too quickly for him to register it. Softening his tone, he said, "There's no need to be scared, Ollie. We're all right here with you. We'll protect you no matter what happens. Can you tell me what you remembered?"Ollie might have regained his memories from before he'd been drugged.Buoyed by the encouragement, Ollie thought hard for a moment and said with a frown, "I … I remember a lady beating me. She locked me up and didn't let me eat anything while saying bad things about me and Mommy all the time. I wanted to fight back, but I was too weak. After I tried to run, she caught me and beat me up some more and forced me to eat food off the floor." Toward the end of this, Ollie burst into tears.Claire's heart hurt for him. She wanted to hug him, but Javier got there first."Tell me, Ollie, do you know her name?" Javier's voice was thick with tears as well. "Do you remem
With that, Henry threw a glance at the rest of the employees and hurried them out. He also dragged Raina and Thomas out with him, leaving only Claire and Javier's parents to keep him company.Since it was only a small procedure for Javier, he did not get a lot of anesthesia. He tried to wriggle his body a little. Realizing what he was doing, Claire quickly helped him sit up.Javier did not look like he had just come out of surgery. Thanks to his strong physique, he looked fine.Seeing this, Sofia finally eased up a little on her worries. "How are you feeling, Javier?"Javier shook his head. "I'm fine, Mom. I just need some rest. How about Ollie? Did they say when he'll wake up?" He already knew that the surgery was a success, so he wanted to know when he would be able to see Ollie."Randy said that Ollie will be out for some time, but he's fine," Claire replied. Javier nodded. He, too, finally eased up on the tight knot of worry that was weighing his chest.Once he was sure that Javie
The surgery took three hours.As time went by, Claire got more and more anxious. However, there was nothing she could do but wait.In the end, Sofia was the first to crack. She went up to Claire and said anxiously, "Claire, are you sure that Dr. Xenos is good? It's been three hours, why aren't they out yet? I have a bad feeling about this."Claire wasn't exactly relaxed either, but she didn't show it. She gathered her thoughts and comforted Sofia. "Everything will be fine, Mrs. Marquez. Randy is a well-known surgeon, I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Don't worry." She wanted to reach out to comfort her, but in the end, she just sat there with an awkward expression. This was probably how their relationship would be in the foreseeable future—awkward and distant.Pedro watched their interaction with an air of knowingness. "Stop crying, Sofia," he said. "They're fine, you don't have to cry about them. Claire's still pregnant, don't upset her."Sofia was about to get angry about his admoni
At that, Javier narrowed his eyes dangerously.The Weiss family wasn't in a stable condition right now, so it wouldn't be hard for him to take revenge on Claire's behalf. Now that he knew the truth of what had happened, he had to find a way to punish the perpetrators.The news that Ollie was Javier's biological son quickly spread, especially after Sofia held a party in celebration. In fact, it made headlines the day before Ollie's scheduled surgery.Javier wasn't surprised about it. He had been looking for an opportunity to announce it to the public so that there wouldn't be unsightly rumors that would affect Claire. Claire, on the other hand, felt a little uncomfortable about the announcement. After all, she had always been a private person; she didn't want anyone to disturb her peaceful life.After a while, though, she got used to it.The most important contributor to this was that it benefited Ollie. From now on, he wasn't a fatherless child anymore. He could tell anyone who would l