At that time, the sound of running water came from the bathroom, creating a somewhat intimate atmosphere. Claire closed her eyes and felt her cheeks burn even hotter, feeling a bit scared about what was going to happen. If Javier wanted to do something, how should she refuse? As she thought about this, Claire was so startled that she sat up and quickly left Javier's room. Only when she returned to her own room did she begin to regret her actions, feeling like such a fool. She had her own room, so why did she follow Javier to his? Her face turned red at this thought, and she quickly grabbed some pajamas and headed to the bathroom, preparing to take a hot bath. She had been so tired over the past few days, and today's argument with Chantelle had worn her out even more. She thought she had forgotten about the past, but after everything was revealed, she realized that the painful memories had been suppressed inside her all along, never forgotten.Now, only the warm water from the shower c
Chantelle looked at Armand gleefully, feeling satisfied. She was determined to stir up trouble and turn Armand against Claire completely. Sure enough, as soon as Armand heard her words, he exploded in anger and felt even more disgusted with Claire. He had been holding a grudge against her for what had happened five years ago, and now that she had the audacity to bring it up again, he was boiling with rage. As he was deep in thought, Chantelle suddenly remembered the file Javier had given her. She handed it to him and asked tentatively, "Armand, Claire asked me to pass this to you. She said you won't be disappointed after reading it."Armand took the file from her suspiciously and looked puzzled as he was about to open it. But then he seemed to remember something and put the file away, saying to Chantelle, "Alright, I already know about this."Chantelle immediately became vigilant. However, she still had a gentle look on her face, and asked, "What is it?" She had never looked at the
The pain from the wound not only woke her up from her deep sleep but also caused her to sweat profusely due to the discomfort. She lay on the bed and tried to stay still as any slight movement would disturb the wound on her back. She suddenly recalled that when she was in the altercation with Chantelle, she had pushed her against a wall that had glass fragments on it. She barely felt any pain at that time, but now the pain had become unbearable, piercing through her bones. Claire had a bad feeling as she struggled to get up from the bed despite the pain. She could vaguely see from the reflection in the mirror that the wound was getting worse, but she couldn't see how deep it was. However, she could feel there were no signs of improvement. Claire sighed, her disappointment and resentment toward Chantelle intensified, and she vowed not to let her get away with this. She needed to clean the wound quickly, otherwise, it would leave a scar. With this in mind, she decided to get up and take
"Let go of me, Javier."Her bare back was fully exposed and was now being stared at brazenly by him. Claire could not bear the embarrassment and tried to break free from his grasp."Don't move." Javier put even more pressure on her, making sure she stayed still. Claire was unable to break free, and she wished she could hide in a cave as her face turned bright red. Her smooth back was covered with red marks and scratches. Some were even bleeding, leaving bloodstains and scabs that looked ghastly. He had let his guard down when he was arguing with Chantelle earlier and allowed Claire to get hurt. Now, he felt nothing but guilt and heartache. Chantelle was vicious enough to even hurt her own sister this badly. She went too far this time, and he needed to teach her a lesson. Javier was focused on applying the ointment gently to avoid causing her any more pain. Despite his efforts, she still twitched in agony, and buried her head in the pillow, trying not to make any sound.Javier admire
Early in the morning, warm and gentle sunshine poured through the window, lighting up the room. Claire opened her eyes with confusion. She rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the sunlight as it was already bright outside. She quickly looked over to the other side of the bed and was relieved to see that Javier was not there. He had probably gone to work. Claire breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, she wouldn't know how to face the awkwardness of waking up to Javier. She shook her head, forcing those thoughts away. Was this the result of them spending too much time together, causing her to start having these intimate thoughts? Claire got up without any hesitation. She still had a lot to do. After getting ready, she went downstairs and saw Javier sitting on the sofa in the living room, seeming to be working on something."You're awake. You slept well," he said as he turned around to look at her, standing at the corner of the stairs. She walked over and felt it was unreal to witness this with
"I'm really looking forward to it." Javier nodded in satisfaction, then got up and left the house.Thanks to Claire, he was very optimistic today, and he was even looking forward to tomorrow. Claire stayed at home, reminiscing every word Javier said, and felt extremely conflicted. She had never felt this way before. She couldn't explain it, yet she knew it was a wonderful feeling. She tried resisting it, but somehow, she still held a glimmer of hope. Even when she was in love with Armand all those years ago, she had never experienced such a profound feeling. Was this love?After breakfast, Patty and Claire said their goodbyes and headed to school with Ollie.Claire had not planned to go to the company so hastily today, but after she packed everything, she took her laptop and went upstairs. As she browsed through her social media accounts, she thought about returning to the company tomorrow and felt that she had to check on Thomas' progress who was under her management. As she scroll
Although Claire seemed to have turned the tables, that dejected feeling in her heart did not disappear, instead, the feeling grew even more intense. She had thought that everything would finally come to an end, but now she had to face them once again. Only she knew that she had never forgotten the pain the Weiss family inflicted on her, although she never mentioned it. Even in her dreams, she would wake up in agony because of the hatred and pain they caused. It tormented her whenever she thought of it, and she wished she could utterly destroy them herself. But she also knew that these things couldn't be done in a day, so she had been waiting for an opportunity. Now, she was overjoyed that this opportunity had presented itself. However, she was still haunted by the memories of the pain she had suffered. Her younger sister betrayed her and stole her fiancé away from her. She was drugged and her virginity was given to a stranger. Then, her father sent her and her son to live abroad for fi
Javier hid in a corner from Claire. Initially, he thought it was good to let her drink away the pain, but by the looks of it, it seemed she was trying to drink herself to death. His heart ached as he strode toward her and took away the glass she was holding. "Stop drinking," he demanded. Claire had never been good at holding her alcohol, and she drank too quickly, so she was already showing signs of being drunk. When she saw Javier coming to take her glass, she was quite upset. "Javier, can you stop worrying about me just this once?" Claire pushed Javier away fiercely. Seeing that her glass was gone, she picked up the bottle and poured the liquid into her mouth. Javier grabbed her and took away the bottle from her hand, putting it aside. "Stop drinking. Are you tired of living?" He was really anxious to see Claire this way and held her tightly as she drunkenly tried to grab the bottle from him. Claire struggled desperately in his embrace. "Let me go!" She tried to break fre
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