The number of visitors to the haunted house was relatively low. Only a few people lingered near the entrance.Claire, Javier, and Ollie became separated from the rest of the group while exploring the haunted house due to the numerous split roads. They were the only ones who remained on this path. The dark surroundings and eerie music added a terrifying element to the haunted house.Claire’s grip on Javier’s hand tightened as she sought a sense of security in the unnerving environment. Javier couldn’t help but chuckle as he felt the clamminess of her hand, noting how Claire was putting up a tough facade despite her palpable terror.The trio continued to walk further inside. They occasionally saw some gruesome heads or dismembered limbs. No ghosts or monsters were jumping out to scare them. When Claire was about to let out a sigh of relief, a hideous ghost appeared from the corner, letting out a blood-curdling scream. “Argh!” Claire was immediately startled. She clung to Javier like
Claire’s cheeks turned bright red, like a boiled crab. Fortunately, it was very dark, so Javier couldn’t see how embarrassed she was. Otherwise, it would have been too awkward.Claire quickly broke free from Javier’s embrace and jumped to the ground. The embarrassment made her less afraid of the creepy surroundings.Feeling the emptiness in his arms, Javier suddenly felt a bit empty and raised his eyebrows at her. “What? You’re not scared anymore?”His words brought back the feeling of fear, and Claire quickly grabbed Javier’s hand, “Please take me out of here. I’m about to be scared to death.”Javier led Claire forward by the hand, a helpless chuckle escaping him as he walked with a natural and affectionate ease, without a hint of his former superiority.Claire watched his back closely and wondered if this was still the Javier she knew.Meanwhile, Ollie had already run out by himself, entertaining the staff with his mischievous behavior.At that moment, Ollie realized that his
The assistant was unable to quickly assess the pros and cons due to the significance of the matter.Hattie saw his hesitation and immediately adopted the attitude of a spoiled princess. She impatiently urged, “Stop wasting time and speak up.”The assistant quivered under her domineering presence and knew he couldn’t hesitate any longer. He blurted out, “We’ve just received news that Javier has taken Claire and their child to the amusement park this morning, and they’ve been there since then.”Hattie stood up immediately and asked in disbelief, “How is that possible? Are you sure you’re not making this up?”The assistant trembled again and said, “It’s absolutely true. Our people went there and investigated it thoroughly.”Although frightened, the assistant also felt excited. He was the first to bring the news to her, and he knew he would be rewarded handsomely.With the assistant’s statement confirmed, Hattie’s face changed from a sickly pallor to a deep flush of red, eventually s
Shawn felt his anger dissipate instantly when he noticed Hattie was trying to please him. His spirit lifted, and he was about to agree when he heard Hattie asking on the phone, “What is Javier doing? Shall we call him out too?”Hearing Javier’s name again from Hattie’s lips, Shawn couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically at himself inwardly. He directly declined, “Sorry, I’m not interested.”It wasn’t that he couldn’t forgive Hattie—he just couldn’t accept her repeated exploitation of him.Hattie noticed that Shwan was about to hang up. She became anxious and quickly softened her tone. With a hint of flattery, she said, “Alright, Shawn, don’t be angry with me. I admit I was too impulsive last time and said things I shouldn’t have. I know I was wrong. I ask you out because I want to apologize for what happened last time.”Shawn snickered, unsure if he was laughing at his own foolishness or at Hattie’s scheme to use him again. After a moment of contemplation, he sighed and helplessly sa
As Hattie walked nearer, she immediately saw Javier wearing matching clothes with Claire and Ollie. The trio stood in front of her, looking surprisingly harmonious, which made her feel annoyed.Obviously, she was the woman best suited to stand by Javier’s side, so why was Claire by his side now?She had walked over with a smile, but seeing the scene before her, Hattie could not regain her smile. Her face looked extremely ugly.With her eyes fixed on Claire, Hattie felt so jealous that it was driving her crazy.Nevertheless, Javier was there, so she struggled to calm herself down. The consequences of impatience and recklessness could be significant, and she understood this principle well.Javier saw them and was unhappy. He frowned and asked, “Why are you guys here?”He sounded impatient.Shawn knew Javier would be upset, so he quickly stepped forward and said, “Javier, I’m the one who asked Hattie to come. I heard you’re at the amusement park and had to come and see it for mysel
Hattie was immediately hit by the wave and tumbled around. She was soaked from head to toe, and she looked extremely embarrassed.She glared at Shawn, who was still out of it, and complained, “Why didn’t you hold on to me just now?”Shawn did not say anything. He was not stupid and knew Hattie’s intentions earlier. Shawn’s expression dimmed, but he tightly pursed his lips without saying a word.Hattie gave Shawn a resentful glance and gritted her teeth, secretly looking at the intimate trio in front of her. Just as they were about to go toward Javier and Claire, the waves in the pool suddenly surged up one after another. They were clearly more violent than the previous ones. The waves caught Hattie by surprise, and they rolled over her.As for Claire, she felt the water splashing over her, and although she tried her best to hold on to Ollie, she couldn’t help being pushed back by the tremendous force of the wave.Claire screamed in terror. She closed her eyes in fear, feeling th
Hattie could tell what they were talking about without even guessing by watching their intimate interactions. Jealousy raged within her, causing her to clench her fists tightly. She wished she had the power to tear that woman apart with her own hands!The waves in the pool had calmed down. It was like halftime for people in the pool to rest.Shawn, who was on the side, also followed Hattie’s gaze and saw the intimate interaction between the two. Although he could not hear what they were saying, he could guess from Claire’s demeanor. Surprisingly, the scene didn’t seem out of place, and the two appeared to be a great fit.Shawn looked at Hattie with a complex look, taking in all the emotions on her face. His eyes flashed with a hint of complexity.Then, the second wave surged with the screams and cheers of the people around as the waves hit them hard. Although it was not painful, it was enough to make people feel disoriented.Hattie was better prepared this time, and the waves didn
The weight of Javier’s influence had been palpable all along, and even though she was seething with frustration, she knew better than to act rashly.Shawn stood beside her, his expression also complicated. In the end, he said grudgingly, “Let’s go. I’ll take you back.”The situation was already out of her control, and she couldn’t do anything about it, so she could only go back and think of a solution.On the way back, Hattie’s face was a hundred times uglier than ever before. Not only was her face completely dark and stormy, but it was also long and puffy.Shawn realized Hattie was upset when he saw her like this. However, he had no idea how to console her.At this moment, Hattie spoke up. She gritted her teeth and said, “I absolutely cannot sit and wait for my demise. I must find a way to drive Claire out. If things continue like this, I will have no chance at all.”“Hattie, calm down. Maybe things are not as you think. As far as I know, Javier and that woman’s relationship is
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