Claire was currently in a room upstairs with Ollie quietly. There were several notebooks and books placed on the table, and Ollie had buried his head deep into his homework. Occasionally, Claire would help Ollie with some questions. However, although Claire’s eyes were fixed on the books before her, she was clearly distracted and lost in thought. She felt a pang in her heart whenever she thought about what Javier and Sofia might be discussing downstairs. She knew Javier was extremely busy, but she couldn’t resolve these issues without him. It felt very uncomfortable to rely on Javier, but she had no choice. At that moment, Javier and Sofia sat in silence at the table, just as Claire had expected. For a while, neither one of them spoke. In the end, it was Sofia who finally broke the silence when she couldn't bear the awkward atmosphere any longer. "Javier, how long are you going to defend that woman?" She really couldn't see what other qualities Claire had that were worthy of
Patty had just finished her work and was met with this scene when she came out. She was flabbergasted initially, as she couldn’t believe what was happening. She quickly snapped back to her senses and approached Sofia worriedly. Patty cautiously reached out her hand, but immediately withdrew it when she realized that she had overstepped her boundaries. "Madam, what's wrong? Don't be sad. You have to take care of yourself," Patty said. She felt helpless as she spoke because her words of comfort seemed futile. Sofia was aware that she was shedding tears before Patty, something that was absolutely unacceptable for someone in her position of power. She hesitated for a moment and quickly wiped away her tears while putting on a disdainful expression. "It’s fine. Why are you still here? You don’t have to concern yourself with this. It’s enough that you’re doing a good job," Sofia answered, her tone cold and distant. Patty knew she had overstepped her boundaries, but after working for S
Javier tried to shift his body, but he still felt a sense of fatigue washing over him. He couldn't tell if it was physical or emotional fatigue, but something felt out of place. He wasn't surprised that Sofia would leave tonight; on the contrary, he had expected it. Javier knew she was determined to leave because of his hurtful words to her and he had no intention of stopping her, especially after hearing what the doctor had said. He was completely engulfed by anger. He remembered that he was at the company, having just finished a meeting when he received the doctor's call. However, he hadn't anticipated that the doctor's words would be enough to infuriate him."Mr. Marquez, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with Madam’s health. As long as she follows my instructions, she will deliver a healthy baby. But there is another incident that I’ve decided to report to you after some consideration. When I was giving Madam her checkup, Mrs. Marquez approached me and asked about the gender o
At this moment, it was already late at night. After a while, Claire nestled herself in Javier's embrace and drifted off to sleep. However, Javier couldn’t fall asleep. Initially, he felt a bit drowsy, but he couldn’t sleep when he saw the restrained and pained expression on Claire's face. Moreover, he really enjoyed watching Claire sleeping in his arms every night. He never imagined this would happen to him when he was in his early twenties. But now, he no longer felt repulsed by relationships as he once was. He used to believe that he would never fall in love with anyone. Love was something he looked down upon—something that he never imagined would happen. However, life really took him by surprise. In the end, nothing was as important as making this woman happy and content. With these thoughts, Javier couldn't help but sigh softly. He planted a gentle kiss on Claire's lips. She was perfect. However, everything was about to change, and nothing could change that. Early the next morn
Thomas didn’t say anything and left with Claire. He didn’t even greet him in the end.When Morrow looked at them leaving, there was cruel hatred in his eyes. He was already angry that Claire ignored him, and now even Thomas wasn’t respectful toward him.Morrow swore to remember this and take revenge one day. At the thought of that, a pleasant smile appeared on his face. Suddenly, he was reminded of a woman—a very innocent and kind woman—Raina. He seemed to hear David mention that Raina and Thomas had a weird relationship. Morrow didn’t care in the past, but now he was curious about what these two had going on. After all, the matter would only become interesting if he poked his nose in, right? Morrow had forgotten what to do and returned to his office. He was used to being carefree. So, when he did things, new ideas easily distracted him. Just like now, when he was making a call to someone. The person on the other end seemed terrified of him and answered the call immediately. Th
"That’s enough, Thomas. I know. So, stop nagging me. Now, you’re the priority, and you must focus on the shooting, okay? Don’t slack! This is a critical period for you."Thomas nodded. He wanted to continue persuading Claire but couldn’t utter a word. In the end, he pushed down the worries in his heart and nodded.Then, Claire reminded him of some work and told Thomas he could leave since it was late. After sending Thomas away, Claire felt much more relaxed. However, a bad feeling gradually settled in her gut after she was done with her work. Come to think of it, Raina hadn’t been to the office for days. Did something happen? When Raina left that day, Claire could feel that the atmosphere wasn’t right. So, what had happened to make Raina react in such a way?Did something happen? Raina was playful, but she was hard-working and focused. She would never take off and leave like this.Claire couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening and worried that something bad was happening
Raina thought that if she could stay away for a few days, Morrow would forget about this matter. However, she didn't think that Morrow would find her so soon.Her heart was a mess of feelings. At this moment, Raina was in pain, and she knew she had no way to fight back. What would happen if she told Claire about the matter? Would things improve?However, she pushed this thought out of her mind immediately. After all, Morrow was a part of Javier's family. Javier might just give him a warning and let him off the hook. Moreover, once Morrow found out that she tattled on him, her family would be implicated.At the thought of that, Raina was in a dilemma again, but she just couldn't think of a solution. Helpless, she cried for hours. A few hours later, her phone rang again. Raina was shocked, and her tears instantly stopped. Extending a trembling hand, she took the phone. She thought it would be Morrow again, but it was Claire instead. At this moment, her tears couldn't help but rol
She could finally relax. However, if Claire had been slightly more attentive, she would’ve noticed something strange. She would’ve discovered something must have happened to Raina. Unfortunately, she didn’t notice anything. The only thing she found strange was her tone. Raina's strange way of speaking did not alert her at all.Regardless, Claire didn’t overthink and thought Raina would be fine. Therefore, Claire shook her head. Her anxiety was probably because of the pregnancy hormones! Unfortunately, there was no pill for regret in this world.When Raina ended the call, she looked like she was in pain. No one knew how much she wanted to tell Claire what had happened. Alas, Raina knew she couldn’t, and she also wasn’t brave enough to confess. Morrow wanted to see her again. What was she going to do? She didn’t want to go, but what other choice did she have?Then, she thought of Claire telling her about Thomas, and her heart did skip a beat. Although she hadn't been at the co
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