After that, Javier went past Hattie and entered the house. Looking at the black door that shut her outside, Hattie was angry and extremely sad. She shivered, and her expression was ugly. Not even in her dreams would she think Javier would reject her. It must be Claire who made Javier leave her so mercilessly! At this moment, Hattie wished to barge into the house and pull Claire out so that she would never appear before Javier again. Claire’s place in that house should belong to her. How could it be snatched away by a woman with a child?The more Hattie thought, the angrier she was. Javier’s usual coldness to her was nothing compared to how she felt now. She stood there for a long time before leaving reluctantly. She was formulating a terrifying plan in her mind.Inside the house, Claire was clueless that Hattie had come by. Recently, she had been busy and was still awake. She leaned on the couch in the living room and browsed social media. When she heard the noise downstairs, she
Javier leaned onto Claire, and she could even feel his burning skin through his clothes. Half of her body felt hot, making her uncomfortable. She dared not look at Javier’s expression.Because Javier was tall, Claire had to use all her strength to bring him up the stairs and to his room. Claire rarely came into Javier’s room, so finding the light switch took her some time. When she put Javier onto the bed, she was exhausted. However, as she let go, Javier fell backward, and she was pulled onto the bed with force. “Ah!” Claire shouted and quickly pushed Javier away, but he seemed to fall asleep and didn’t move. Claire’s face was scarlet. So, she tried to wake him up. “Javier, hey! Wake up. You’re on me,” Claire called out three times before Javier finally reacted. He opened his eyes slowly and was in a daze. “Claire,” Javier muttered. Then, before Claire could react, he kissed her. Shocked, Claire didn’t return to her senses and stared at his handsome face. Javier’s gaze deep
Javier was right. Claire had come to the office early to avoid him. She didn’t even eat breakfast and rushed to the company after getting ready. What happened last night made her flustered and unsure of how to face Javier. Now, she only wished Javier was really drunk and would forget everything so she wouldn’t be this embarrassed. However, it wasn’t realistic. Due to having insomnia last night and coming to the company this early, Claire felt sleepy and was about to doze off in the office. After another yawn, Claire lay on the table, planning to get some shut-eye. Just as she was about to fall asleep, there was a knock at the door. Startled, Claire sat up, straightened her clothes, and cleared her throat. “Come in.” With that, Thomas and Raina came in. When they saw Claire’s sleepy state, they were shocked. Raina approached her and worriedly asked, “Claire, what’s the matter? You didn’t rest well last night?” This sentence poked Claire’s sore spot, and she chuckled. “No, what a
The three of them rushed out but who would’ve expected that they would run into Morrow along the way?Morrow looked to be in a good mood and greeted Claire without any semblance of being her boss upon spotting the three of them.“What a coincidence running into you here, Ms. Weiss. Where are you all headed to?” he couldn’t help asking after noticing the hurried looks on their faces.The already anxious Claire felt her temper flare at the sight of him. Thus, she gazed coldly at him and answered impatiently, “Do you need anything, Mr. Marquez? We’re sending Thomas to the pre-filming press conference for ‘Traverse 2’.”She didn’t want to waste time on Morrow as they were in a rush. However, it would seem that he had no intention of allowing them to leave as he directly blocked her way.“What has the company come to that you would need to trouble yourself with something so trivial, Ms. Weiss?” Then, glaring at Raina, he continued sternly, “Is your assistant incapable of handling somet
Morrow’s behavior throughout the entire car ride perplexed both Thomas and Raina who were sitting in the backseat. He kept trying to strike up a conversation with Claire and was constantly looking for a common topic to discuss.It looked like their boss really did have an interest in Claire—what were they to do?In the end, Morrow still did as Claire requested and reduced his driving speed.“Didn’t we agree to have a meal together the other day, Ms. Weiss? How could you leave on your own after going to the washroom? Isn’t that rather improper of you?” he asked, trying to start another conversation.Claire could feel a headache manifesting itself but could only bear with it and respond, “I had something urgent to attend to that day and didn’t have enough time to inform you before I left.”Her perfunctory response only further reinforced his idea that she was intentionally playing hard to get and a pleased smile appeared on his face.He was actually quite a handsome man and would b
Eida then pulled Thomas in the direction of the changing room.Thomas was stunned into a daze and could only look at Claire for help.Likewise, Claire too was stunned and didn’t understand what Eida was thinking. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she asked, “Erm, Eida, you haven’t told us what it is you intend to do?”“I’m going to do his makeup, of course! His excellent features provide the perfect opportunity for me to demonstrate my abilities, he’ll stun the crowd once I’m done with him. His makeup artist isn’t here yet, right? Just leave him to me.”“Well then, sorry to trouble you, Edia,” Claire said immediately, pleasantly surprised.“No trouble at all,” Eida replied with a casual wave of her hand. “It’s something I should do for my employer’s wife.”Her statement took everyone aback in an instant, Thomas and Raina were especially surprised.Did she just say “wife”? Claire was married?Claire immediately laughed and tried to cover up the situation. “Wife? That’s a good joke,
At the same time, photos of each character’s makeup test had also been uploaded to the movie’s official Twitter page. Aside from the main character, Thomas’ character, Percy Drake, was also popular.Thomas already had a regal air about him but with the addition of his character’s makeup, which gave him the appearance of a prince, he garnered even more fans over a short period of time.Countless comments were being left online about his killer looks and about how he was beautiful enough to even be envied by the female population.“Dear God, Thomas just took my breath away. I think I’m falling for him, and I’m a guy.”“You don’t have a chance of being with him, Thomas is undoubtedly straight.”David’s face grew darker and darker as he browsed through the content relating to Thomas and the pre-filming press conference as well as the online comments.This was especially so when he saw how devastatingly handsome Thomas looked, which made his intent to have Thomas all to himself grow s
The interior of the restaurant was tastefully decorated. Claire, Thomas, and Raina sat down in a secluded room after entering the restaurant.“Order whatever you want, it’s my treat today.” Claire offered generously as she handed them a menu each.Raina let out a small cheer. Nothing beat being able to eat good food when it came to a foodie like her.Even Thomas seemed to have been infected by Raina’s energy as he ordered a few of his favorite dishes.A server appeared with their food not long after. “The food here is pretty good, you’ve got good taste, Raina.” Claire praised after taking a few bites.“Of course! My taste buds are very picky, Claire.”Claire nodded her head in agreement, appreciating the rare moment of harmony.“Raina has good taste indeed, but we have to thank you too, Claire. Thank you for helping me get to where I am today and also for finding someone as capable as Raina to help me,” Thomas toasted, raising his glass of red wine.Claire also raised her glass
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