Claire couldn't help but wonder if things would be easier for her and Javier if she came from a better family. The thought made her cry worse.Even so, she stayed right beside the road so that Javier wouldn't miss her if he drove by.Back at Diroux Residences, Ollie sat waiting anxiously for Claire to come home. When she was still missing in action after a long time, he began to get worried.Stealthily, he snuck downstairs so that he could use the phone to call Claire. However, halfway down the stairs, he saw Sofia at the bottom. Ollie paused.Ever since Sofia had kicked Claire out of the house last time, he had felt terrified of her. He remembered every threat that Sofia had thrown at Claire, and they traumatized him. However, for the sake of his mother, Ollie swallowed his fear and continued down the stairs. His movements drew Sofia's gaze to him.When Sofia saw that Ollie was heading down, her expression softened slightly. She was decent enough to know not to vent her anger on a me
Ollie looked close to tears. "Dad, Mommy went out to get food for me, but she still hasn't returned. Grandma didn't let me call her. Can you go and find her?"Javier was shocked. "What? When did Claire go out? And is my mother here?"Ollie nodded. "Yes, Dad, Grandma is here. She scolded Mommy, so we didn't have dinner with her. Then, Mommy went out to buy food for me because I was hungry, and it's been several hours since she went out. Mommy hasn't come home yet. It's all my fault," Ollie sobbed, tears running down his face. "I shouldn't have said that I was hungry, then Mommy wouldn't have gone missing."Javier wiped the tears off Ollie's face and brought him to his room upstairs. "Don't worry, Ollie," he said comfortingly. "I'll go find Mommy now. She'll be back soon, okay?" He tucked him in and went out in a hurry.He did not even think about arguing with Sofia about anything. From the moment he heard about Claire's disappearance, that was all he could think about.Oliie blinked bac
Claire had had an exhausting night, so it didn't take her long to fall asleep in Charles' passenger seat.She could care less about where she was right now, nor the reason why Charles was here of all places. Neither did she think about what Javier would think when he saw her with Charles. She was too tired for all that. All she wanted to do right now was sleep. Everything else could wait until she was awake and well-rested.When Charles saw that she had fallen asleep, he slowly brought the car to a stop by the road. They were quite close to Diroux Residences now, and he wasn't allowed to drive into the premises. He stopped here so that Claire could at least get some rest.With that thought, Charles also closed his eyes and prepared to take a nap.Unbeknownst to anyone else, he had also been worried when he heard that Claire had gone missing last night. He had also sent out his men to look for her. However, he had no reason to do so, as he wasn't related to her in any way.After a night
However, Javier knew all about how Sofia had been treating her, and it did not make him happy. It showed in his expression.He didn't understand why Claire kept choosing to keep silent about this. As he was simmering with anger, he picked Claire up by the waist.Startled, Claire squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck to stabilize herself. "What are you doing, Javier? Put me down!" she protested.Javier ignored her and began to stride toward Diroux Residences. They were actually very close to the house. It was a miracle that Claire wasn't able to find the way back.Claire knew Javier's temperament, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to make him put her down. She leaned back into his arms and just let him do whatever he wanted to do.As the first rays of the morning sun shone on his face, Claire seemed to see another side of Javier that she had never seen before. His stern features, normally cold and aloof, were rife with worry for her.Despite their silent trip home, Claire s
Sofia was prepared to start an argument with Javier over the way he had spoken to her, but the sight of the dark circles under Javier's eyes stopped her. She suddenly felt sorry for her son. In the end, she decided to put all the blame on Claire instead.Everything had changed because of her. This was all her fault!Claire wasn't exactly feeling glad about the situation either. She hadn't expected Sofia to think that she had gotten lost on purpose. It didn't feel good to be misunderstood.Fortunately, Javier took her side. She was grateful to him for staying by her no matter what happened.Javier carried Claire back to their room without another word to Sofia. The room was warm. He set Claire down on the bed gently as if he was afraid of hurting her. "How are you feeling? Let's go take a shower and nap for a while. We can talk about everything else after that, okay?" he said. He phrased his words as a question, but it was clear that he wasn't taking no as an answer.Claire felt like
Claire remembered something suddenly. "Did Ollie have breakfast this morning? He skipped dinner because of me."Patty nodded. "Yes, he did, Ms. Claire. He ate quite a lot as well, and he kept saying that he would have all his meals on time from now on so that you won't worry about him and won't get lost trying to buy food for him."Claire couldn't help but laugh at his childish logic. She gladly let go of her worries about him as she prepared to go back to work. "Patty, is … is Mrs. Marquez here?" Patty nodded. She lowered her voice, sounding terrified, "Madam Sofia is downstairs. She's been waiting for you since breakfast. You should tread carefully when you're down there, Ms. Claire. I'm just a servant here, I can't help you much."Claire knew that she was also trying to protect her, and Sofia had given her a fair amount of grief for it. She felt guilty about it. "Thank you, Patty. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You can get back to your work now."Patty nodded, but she still lo
With these thoughts in mind, Claire braced herself to confront Sofia. She looked up to face her and said, "Sofia, I know you don’t like me, but please trust me when I say, I really need this job, and Javier needs me too." Sofia was raised with conservative values, so she believed that women should be meek and dutiful in their roles as a wife. Needless to say, she couldn’t accept what Claire was saying, and her anger flared up in an instant. "What a joke! How dare you think that Javier needs you? You would be saving him trouble at work by staying home. Who knows what your true intentions are? Stardust Entertainment is already a mess. How would it benefit you to insist on working there?" Besides, she had never liked Morrow, and this incident only added to her resentment.Claire wanted to protest, but she couldn’t find the words. She knew arguing with Sofia now would be futile, so she could only remain silent. As she was figuring out a response, Sofia continued, "Also, Javier call
For some reason, she had become more and more afraid of being by herself lately. As her baby grew, she felt less secure by the day and wondered if it could be a side effect of the pregnancy. She hid in her room and scrolled through her socials for a moment. She also took time to inform Morrow that she was unfit to come to work today. After taking care of these matters, Claire laid back wearily on the sofa, glad that she could take the day off. She had arranged for Patty to bring her meal upstairs, and the doctor arrived shortly after she finished having her meal. The doctor was under Javier, so naturally he had high regard for Claire. After giving her a thorough checkup, he prescribed her some medication before concluding the examination.Sofia became anxious for her unborn grandchild as soon as she heard of the doctor’s arrival. She couldn't help but pace nervously by the stairs. When she saw the doctor approach after the checkup, Sofia quickly asked, "How is it? Is there anything
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