“Property Title Transfer”Claire widened her eyes as she stared at the words at the top of the document. She couldn’t quite comprehend them.Her surprise only increased after reading the rest of the document.She wasn’t well-versed in property, but nothing looked amiss from the document, which was the title for the piece of land in the east of the city.Her first instinct told her that this was a fake document, especially since there was no name on the title. Even though the rest of it looked professional, she was still suspicious.In the end, she decided to dial the number of the lawyer, which was printed on the back of the document.The call was picked up quickly. They didn’t seem surprised by Claire’s question after she explained her purpose.Claire paused for a moment before asking cautiously, “I want to know if this title is real.”She felt awkward asking this. After all, the lawyer’s phone number was printed right there on the document. They wouldn’t admit to it if it was a scam.
Claire nodded and pushed the door open.In the lavish office, Javier was sitting at his desk, looking at documents. Sunlight filtered through the blinded windows and cast a golden sheen over him. Claire was mesmerized by the scene.Javier noticed her and gave her a glance, indicating her to sit beside him.“What do you need?” he asked her.The elegance of it all stunned Claire. It took her a while to remember why she was here.When she finally pulled herself together, she hurried over to Javier’s desk and slapped the document she was holding on his table. “Can you check and see if this is real? I don’t quite understand all this.” She looked at him expectantly.Javier gave her a baffled look, but he didn’t say anything. He took the document and read it.A quick scan later, he asked with raised eyebrows, “Where did you get this?”His questioning gaze was filled with surprise, even though he looked calm as he looked at Claire. Unnerved by his stare, Claire glanced at him and said truthfu
Claire almost admitted that she didn’t want to have lunch with him. Thankfully, she stopped herself before the words came out.This was his territory. If she defied him, he could easily get rid of her. As it were, his glare was enough to burn holes in her.However, she couldn’t stop thinking of that night. Even now, her ears suddenly turned red at the thought of that.How could he act like nothing had happened after doing that to her?She regretted it so much, but Javier seemed like he didn’t care at all.At that thought, Claire made up her mind and said, “Uh, I have something I need to deal with at my office. I think I’ll skip lunch today.”Javier raised an eyebrow and snorted disbelievingly. “Are you really that busy?”It wasn’t like he didn’t know the state of Stardust Entertainment. He knew that this was just Claire’s excuse to avoid having lunch with him. He forced a cold smile. “Are you scared of me, Claire Weiss?”Claire shook her head in denial. “Of course not. Why would I be s
At that thought, Claire sighed. “You shouldn’t have taken on that ransom, but thank goodness I'm able to help you now.”She laughed, not noticing the strange light in Javier’s eyes.It didn’t last long, but Javier could still feel his heart pounding.He couldn’t quite believe his ears. Did Claire just say that she wanted to help him?As a man, he did not like the implications of that, but for some reason, he didn’t mind so much when it was Claire.“Thanks,” he said in a rare show of gratitude.Even Claire was shocked by that.As prideful as Javier was, she couldn’t believe that he was thanking her.Despite her disbelief, Claire did not say anything. She just laughed dismissively. “No problem. I’m glad I was able to help.”The conversation ended there.After lunch, Claire intended to go back to her office straight from the restaurant as she had no desire to fuel the rumors at Javier’s company. Even though she was his legal wife, their relationship was still undercover. Plus, she wasn’t
Henry shook his head. “There’s no need to be humble, Miss Claire. You’re good!” he said as he looked at her in admiration.Claire was embarrassed by the praise. “I’m really not that good. It’s just luck. Also, you can just call me Claire. There's no need to be formal; I’m not used to all that.”She was still red from the praise.Henry had a lot of things to deal with, so he didn’t insist on praising Clarie further. He turned to Javier and said, “I’ll excuse myself then, Mr. Marquez. You can continue where you left off.”With that, he made a hasty escape out of the office without even looking up to see Javier’s expression. Claire was beet red at that point. She didn’t know what to say to Javier.Why did Henry have to be so mouthy?Javier did not notice anything wrong at all. With a serious expression, he said, “This is all thanks to you. You’ve done well.”Claire laughed bashfully. “I just didn’t want to owe you anything. Even though you’re my husband on paper, it still wouldn’t be fai
Claire only asked David to send them to her personally because she wanted to humiliate him.Thinking of what happened earlier, Claire felt vindicated. Everything bad that had happened lately seemed to disappear.She wanted him to suffer for what he did to her that night. She wasn’t going to let him off so easily.Thanks to the contract and Thomas, Claire was in a great mood.There wasn’t much to do at work today either, so Claire decided to go pick up Ollie after school and share her happiness with him.When she came out of her company, so saw a familiar Maybach parked at the entrance.A vein throbbed in her forehead. Was Javier here?Why was he here?Full of questions, Claire moved toward the car and tried to peer through the window.The window rolled down, revealing Javier’s face inside. “Get in,” he said.Claire was baffled. “Why are you here?” she blurted out.Javier frowned impatiently and gestured for her to get in. “We’ll talk in the car.”Only then did Claire see the looks the
Javier knew that Claire couldn’t hold much alcohol.Claire shook her head. “I’m fine. I’ve had a great day, let me drink in peace.”Saying that, she downed another glass of wine.Javier shook his head. Since she liked it, he let her be.In the worst-case scenario, he could just carry her home.His indulgence was apparent as he began to drink with her.He could hold his alcohol much better than Claire could, so he felt nothing even after a few glasses of wine.Claire, on the other hand, was already feeling woozy. Her eyes were already clouded over.When she was drunk, Claire couldn’t help but remember all the hardships she had endured with Ollie when they were aboard. She also recalled her suffering at Chantelle’s hands.At those thoughts, Claire’s eyes reddened as she looked at Javier.“Do you think they ever feel guilty treating me like that?” she mumbled. She missed her father.Even though Liam wasn’t a great father, she still wanted answers from him.That wasn’t going to happen. Jav
Javier stripped every piece of clothing off of Claire. Her naked body made his expression darken, but he just picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.The bathtub had been filled with warm water, so Claire did not wake up when she was put into the water.However, she did protest feebly at the strange sensation. Javier frowned and went downstairs to call for Patty.When Patty came up and saw that Claire was unconscious in the bathtub, she was taken aback and looked at Javier worriedly. “What’s wrong with Madam, Mr. Marquez?”Javier did not answer her question. He just said, “She’s drunk. Take care of her.”Saying that, he turned and left. His cold expression told Patty that he wasn’t in a good mood.Perplexed by his attitude, Patty had no choice but to help Claire clean herself up.Javier, on the other hand, went to the next room to shower.He could still see Claire’s naked body in his mind’s eye when he closed his eyes.Sighing, he turned down the water temperature to cool his bo
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