Claire cried her heart out. Worried about disturbing others, she buried her face in her arms and let her tears flow.Javier couldn't help but feel sad for her. He also felt conflicted. What could he do to help her? He couldn't even find Ollie's biological father; he refused to believe that Charles was Ollie's father.However, this was the only lead he had. It wasn't like he had any evidence that suggested otherwise. Claire had done a lot more than him to find Ollie's biological father, but all she got was threats.For the first time ever, Javier felt powerless. He couldn't help Claire at all. As he watched her sob quietly, trying not to make a sound, he felt like he could go mad with desperation.As much as he had thought he was powerful, in the end, he was but a man. He had no way of helping Claire.Just before he broke his resolve and stepped out, he stopped himself. He shouldn't appear in front of Claire now. If he comforted her, that would make her choice even harder. Javier didn't
"No matter what they do, I want that project to be transferred to us immediately. We can buy up companies if need be. I will teach him a lesson even if it means I suffer losses," Javier said in a single breath. Henry was both excited and uncertain about his plans. Seeing this, Javier added, "I know you have a lot of questions, but now's not the time. It's time to show me how capable you really are. You know how I am. Don't make me repeat myself. I want to see the results in two days, or you're fired.Henry had always known that Javier and Charles were like fire and water, but he hadn't expected it to be so heated. He began planning quickly in his head as he responded to Javier's orders.Once Henry had left, Javier narrowed his eyes in thought as he stared into blank space. The severe light in his eyes was unmistakable. "Charles, it's on. I will threaten you like how you threatened Claire earlier. Be prepared for my wrath!"Henry was efficient. Within the same day, he had already dealt
Henry felt no compassion toward Charles' men at all. After all, they had done many bad things under Charles as well. Most of them had blood on their hands.He was just doing his part to clean the streets of vermin at this point.At the same time, Claire was apologizing to Ollie for being late with his food. She had bought some food for him that wasn't from the hospital, but it should be good enough. She didn't want to use her position as Mrs. Marquez to trouble anyone.Ollie knew that something had happened to Claire, but since she wasn't telling him anything, he decided not to ask either so that he wouldn't accidentally hurt her. Therefore, he didn't say much about the food either.Claire had no idea that Javier was doing so much for her. He was now feuding openly with Charles just for her sake.After hanging up, Charles was livid. All of the men he had sent out to take down Javier had been caught. He really shouldn't have underestimated him. At this point, more than ten chain hotels
Charles might not be a match for him, but desperate people were the most dangerous. Javier knew there was still a possibility that Charles could turn the tides against him, especially now that his company was in hot water. He felt a headache coming on.Despite that, he managed to stay calm when he heard about the losses. He had expected this to happen eventually. It was just a little troublesome as they couldn't find the spy, who was working quickly. Charles' plan wasn't even complicated. It was simply a game of taking everyone down with him, so he wasn't holding back anymore. What Javier was more worried about was that he still had his sights on Claire. She was the reason for this war between them. Clearly, Charles still liked her.Charles was just trying to buy time until Claire agreed to be with him. He would give the world for Claire to stay with him. As for Javier, he could go to hell for all Charles cared. As long as Claire agreed to leave Javier and be with him, all was well. J
"Is this Mr. Marquez?" Javier nodded. The caller, clearly relieved, continued, "Um, my boss wants to talk to you at the Rainbow Hotel."Javier frowned. "Who's your boss?"Normally, his assistants would intercept invitations like this. How did this person get his personal contact?"You'll know who my boss is when you arrive," the caller said mysteriously. "I'm just passing on the message. I can't reveal too much." He hung up right after that. Javier frowned in confusion at his phone, then continued working.Charles knew better than anyone else that he wasn't the most morally upright person. And right now, he was preparing for the standoff with Javier.As he made his mental preparations, time flew by quickly. Soon, the work day ended.The office buzzed with the usual after-work excitement. Some people were stretching, while a couple of people were slumped over their desks. Most of them were packing up and preparing to go home when a supervisor came in and announced that they needed to
"This has got nothing to do with you. You invited me here to solve this, didn't you?" Javier said finally. "This feud between us has lasted long enough.""You're right, it's lasted long enough." Charles narrowed his eyes. "I can't wait to see you hopeless and despondent when you've lost everything, Javier. Are you ready for that?"Javier laughed and gave Charles a long look. "Why are you so sure that I'll be the despondent one? What if it were you?""What nonsense." Charles knew that he had lost this argument. "You're right, we need to end this feud today. I think Claire will make the right decision, don't you?"Javier nodded with a smile. "Of course."In the other room, Claire clenched her fists tightly and bit on her lip, trembling as she watched the two men arguing. She didn't know what she should do. If she barged in on them, it would just make things worse.Javier was a proud man. One of the reasons why he was so successful was because he stuck to his word. Angrily, he rounded on
Javier looked at Charles weirdly, but he ignored him."If you're so smart, Javier, then answer me this," he said instead. "You and I both know that Claire is a kind woman. You're the father of her child, and I am her friend. Who do you think she'll choose if one of us has to die?"Javier's heart dropped. "What do you mean? What did you do?""Nothing much, really." Charles stopped laughing, but the creepy smile was still on his face. He used his free hand to point at himself. "You wanted to end the feud, didn't you? Then I'll set the terms. We'll bet who Claire cares more about when we both get shot at the same time. What do you think?"Javier was furious at the suggestion. He wasn't afraid of dying; he just thought that this choice was too cruel to Claire. "Are you insane? Claire is a person, not a toy you can just play around with. I know you're just doing this so that she'll remember you!""Are you betting or not?" Charles interrupted.Javier clenched his fists. "You insane fucker."
Claire struggled against Javier's grasp as he was hurting her, but he was too strong for her. Javier ignored her struggles and continued to stare at her. Claire felt uncomfortable. "Javier, can you let go of me?"The air around Javier seemed to drop in temperature. Claire shivered as their eyes met. Both sets of eyes seemed to have lost all the love and fondness they used to hold when they were lovers. "Javier, please," she whispered. "I really can't tell you why, but please don't kill Charles.""I don't believe you!" Javier refused to let go of her. His gaze was chilly."My girlfriend said no," Charles said suddenly. He wrapped an arm around Claire's waist and pulled her into his embrace."I am not your girlfriend," Claire said through gritted teeth. "I chose you, but that doesn't mean I'm your girlfriend. Watch your words."Charles' eyes darkened. He let go of her and looked at Javier, whose expression was as dark as the night. There were conflicting emotions flicking in his eyes, th
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