Javier dismissed the thought immediately.Claire clearly couldn't wait to distance herself from him. Why would she wait for him?With that thought, his expression darkened.Claire turned when she heard Javier coming back in.Her eyes were a little bleary. "Oh, you're finally finished with your work, Javier," she said awkwardly, then stopped. She didn't know what to say next.Before this, she had scripted out what she wanted to say to Javier.No matter what, she needed to convince Javier to let her go.However, she seemed to have forgotten what to say when she saw Javier.Javier gave her a deep look and walked away. "Follow me," he said, without further explanation.Claire didn't know what he was up to, but she did as she was told.Outside, she saw Javier's car, the one that he used to drive her to her office.She went closer, heart racing.Javier was one of the rare people who could afford to drive a three-million-dollar car.Just as she was perplexed, Javier rolled down the window and
Javier had been with Claire for a long time now. There was no reason for her to call off the wedding so suddenly.He refused to believe that she had cheated on him.He actually had his suspicions about what had happened. This suspicion first surfaced when Claire was poisoned and almost miscarried.Lately, he had been busy with the wedding, so he hadn't been paying attention to Hattie.It seemed like he had no choice but to confront her.He had an idea.He called Hattie. The call was answered almost immediately. "Hello, Javier! What's up?"Unbeknownst to Javier, Hattie was delighted when she received Javier's call.She was only forcing herself to sound calm so that she did not ruin her image."Come to my office when you have time later." Javier hung up directly after saying that.Hattie didn't know what was going on, but she was still excited.Javier sounded like he was asking her out on a date!With that thought, Hattie dressed up nicely and hurried over to Javier's office.In his offi
Hattie was startled, but she did not show it. Clenching her fists, she forced herself to calm down. "I understand, Javier."She had never felt so lowly before. Even though she resented it, she did not dare show it.Javier scoffed. He did not spare her another glance, clearly showing his disappointment.Hattie just stood there awkwardly, not knowing if she should stay or leave. After a while, she found an excuse and left hurriedly.Resentment boiled within her.If Javier wasn't present, she might have gone mad with hatred.She hadn't expected Javier to call her to his office just to talk about Claire.He had even warned her to stay away from her. As if that wasn't enough, he didn't even look her straight in the eyes when he warned her. That hurt her feelings.The more Hattie thought about it, the angrier she got. What had Claire done to deserve his special treatment?When Hattie left Javier's office, she loosened her tightly clenched fists. Her palms were filled with bruises. She felt
After a while, the bodyguards woke up. When they saw Javier, they looked terrified. "Sir, a group of men kidnapped Madam Claire. We weren't alert enough and fell for their trap.""This is all our fault. We'll take responsibility for this!"As they spoke, they trembled.Javier's expression was as dark as the night itself. He glared at the bodyguards and spat, "Useless trash! Go and find her now!"He was beyond livid at this point.Without further ado, the bodyguards ran out and began searching.Javier stood alone in the room. His expression was clouded over, but the cold aura around him was indicative enough of his mood.This was the first time he'd felt that Claire's room was so empty.How could he have never noticed?As his mind raced, he took out his phone and called Claire.The dial tone sounded for several minutes. No one picked up.Javier's expression darkened further. He ended the call and called one of his henchmen."Check what Hattie is doing right now," he said coldly.The he
"If you don't hand Claire over right now, I'll tear down Nuvola Palace," Javier said threateningly.Charles was angered by his constant threats."What the fuck, Javier Marquez? Claire is your woman. You were the one who lost her. Why are you throwing a tantrum in front of me? Do you really think I'll just stand back and let you bully me?"He dropped his usual charming veneer and glared at Javier with hatred in his eyes. However, what he said angered Javier further.What did he mean by that? Was it his fault that he lost her?He waved a hand at his men and said, "I've already warned you, Charles. I will find her today. Don't worry, if my men destroy anything important, just send me the bill. I'll compensate you for your loss."Saying that, he turned and left without a second glance.He knew that Claire wasn't at Nuvola Palace.Charles' expression had told him all he needed to know. If Claire was here, he would've taken her hostage and demanded a ransom.He just wanted to cause trouble
Pedro glanced at Sofia. They both looked angry."I know you promised us, Claire," Sofia said. "But you haven't held up your end of the promise yet. The wedding is in a few days, so to avoid any complications, we're locking you up here until the wedding is over."Claire caught on to the implication immediately. "Wedding? Who is Javier marrying?" she asked nervously.Who would Javier marry in her absence?Sofia scoffed derisively. "Hattie, of course. Who else? You? They grew up together. If it weren't for you, they would've gotten married by now. They're a match made in heaven. I suggest you stop pining after Javier right now."Hearing this, Claire felt as if someone had poured a bucket of icy water over her head. She sat there in a daze, unable to react.Time seemed to stop for a minute. After a while, Claire managed to gather herself together."Is this true?" she asked, her face pale. "Is he really going to marry another woman?"She couldn't believe it.Sofia couldn't help but feel sor
Claire eventually cried out. She did not know if it was a dream or reality.“Mommy, Mommy, what’s wrong? Ollie is here, Mommy…Mommy, did you have a nightmare?” In the midst of her confusion, Claire seemed to hear the tender voice of a child ringing in her ears. She wanted to open her eyes, but it felt like her eyelids were glued shut, and no matter what, she can’t seem to open them.The tender voice beside her rang again, and it was more desperate than before.“Mommy, Mommy, wake up quickly.”This time, Claire heard it clearly. That child was calling her "Mommy". Right, it was her child, Ollie. Claire realized this, and her heart instantly calmed down. The fear that was consuming her also gradually faded away.Finally, Claire slowly woke up amid Ollie’s urgent cries. She saw Ollie anxiously looking up at her as he lay in her arms. Claire quickly hugged Ollie tight in her arms.“Ollie, my baby, you're here. Mommy missed you so much.”Claire held Ollie and almost burst into tear
Throughout the night, Diroux Residences was as bright as daylight, with no sign of serenity despite the late hour.Inside the room, Javier sat on the main seat, looking down at the people who were kneeling with their heads lowered. His face was terrifyingly dark.“Still no leads?” After a long silence, Javier spoke in a deep voice; it was icy cold and could easily strike one's soul.Hearing this, everyone present could not help but quiver, feeling cold as if they had fallen into frozen waters. A few of them, who were less courageous, were trembling uncontrollably as they had never seen Mr. Marquez get so angry before.The leader’s heart was also filled with fear. She gritted her teeth, bit the bullet, and said, “Mr. Marquez, our people searched everywhere, but there’s still no trace of Madam. Both Nuvola Palace and Snyder Villa are being monitored, but there was nothing unusual.”As the leader spoke, her voice grew weaker and weaker, losing confidence. Finally, she had no choice
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