Marina wanted to rant very badly, but she was forced to hold her tongue. She had no idea since when Ethan refused to even utter a word to her."Ethan, didn't you see my face?"It was only then that Ethan looked up. He saw her red cheeks sporting clear handprints."Who hit you?""My dad.""Then I can't do anything about it." Upon returning to his seat, Ethan flipped open a folder.He couldn't possibly ask Chris to take responsibility, after all.His connections to the Carltons aside, Ethan respected Chris as a person.Seeing his nonchalance, Marina hastily ran toward him. "If Olivia got hurt, would you be this cold to her too?"Ethan wanted to say that Marina wasn't worthy enough to be compared to Olivia. But when he thought about the deceased Kurt, he chose not to say it.He simply said, "I'll ask Kelvin to send you to the hospital.""I am your fiancée!"Marina was upset with Ethan's half-hearted attitude. In the past, he was never intimate with her, but at least he was gen
Ethan and Kurt were cousins, and they looked alike. Kurt had been in love with Marina since they were young, but Ethan was the one Marina liked. So they had been in a love triangle for quite some time. During one of Marina's birthday parties, Kurt attended, but Ethan didn't. Marina got drunk and thought Kurt was Ethan. She got pregnant after that. That was one of the happiest times in Kurt's life. He cared for her attentively and was making preparations to marry her. He once told Ethan that he wanted to leave the life of danger behind him because he wanted to be there for Marina and his child. Ethan agreed to let him go after one last mission. But fate was cruel to Kurt. He lost his life in the final mission. Before he died, he asked Ethan to take care of Marina in his stead. Kurt never found out that Marina never loved him. He didn't know that their one night of passion resulted from her being drunk. She wouldn't have slept with him otherwise. She even thought about having
At the hospital, Chloe was out of danger after some emergency medical treatment. But she looked frail and pitiable.Chris held her hand that wasn't hooked to the IV drip and looked at her sorrowfully. Chloe's health had worsened immensely in a short amount of time. "I'm sorry, Chloe. It's my fault Marina turned out like that."He didn't know the whole story, but he was sure Marina had done more horrible things than he imagined. Chloe wouldn't have been so angry otherwise. Chloe smiled weakly. "It's okay, I'm fine. You don't have to blame Marina. She's just a kid.""She's the mother of two children. She's not a child anymore. I'm aware of what kind of person my daughter is. She has always blamed you for what happened to her mother."Chloe grasped Chris' hand. "I can understand how she feels. She lost her mother at such a young age. It's natural for her to hate me. I don't blame her.""Sometimes, I wish you'd at least get angry at her. I'd feel better that way. I'll ask her to s
Chris saw that Ethan didn't respond, so he added, "Donating her bone marrow is different from donating her kidney. No harm will come to her body. I know she's still mad about what happened during the kidnapping. "But they're mother and daughter, after all. She shouldn't hold a grudge against her mother. Let me meet with her. There are some things that I need to say to her in person.""Mr. Carlton, I'm not holding her captive. Her phone is accessible. You're here because she isn't willing to meet with you, right?"Ethan exhaled some smoke with his head tilted upward. "Since she has already decided, I don't want to trouble her with more issues. She suffered significant psychological trauma in that kidnapping."The conversations between them had always been short and straight to the point. But Chris had no choice but to lay his pride down for Chloe's sake. "Ethan, I know you don't have feelings for Marina. You're marrying her because you want our family to back you, right?""That'
Olivia lazed around on the island for a few days. She did nothing but sleep and eat the whole time. The quality of her life improved immensely. She walked around the beach barefooted while carrying a bucket in hand. She would grab any sand crabs she saw with tongs. Snowball wanted to help her, but the sand was too hot for her, so she moved away. Olivia went to the livestock area after she had caught quite a few sand crabs. She poured the sand carbs out, which caused the farm animals to chase after them. Her mood improved as she looked at the lively animals. Then, she went back to her room to shower in preparation for dinner. She happened to get a call from Colin."Olivia, how have you been?""I've been pretty well. I've been eating, drinking, and sleeping well. I don't have to worry about getting kidnapped either.""That's great. I just wanted to inform you that your father has arrived at the destination safely. The doctors on the island have just examined him. His body is
After he hung up, Ethan looked at all the new leads before him. In the time Olivia was out of town, he had gotten to investigating the whereabouts of Toxic Hive and about the past. He found the hometown of Paul Cruz and Clara Foster. According to what his people found out, the child had been gone for some days. From the pictures provided by the villagers, the child looked a lot like Belle and had some of Paul's features. Paul and Clara had also disappeared from Aldenvine. Even though he couldn't bring the child back, their existence was proof enough. Someone had pinned the blame on Jeff. The claims about Belle having his baby and Jeff forcing her away, which caused her to suffer from mental illness before she ultimately committed suicide didn't hold up to scrutiny. Someone had plotted everything, even before Jeff's traffic accident. But it didn't seem like the person wanted to harm him. Their main objective was to destroy his relationship with Olivia. The person went to great
There was a hidden tunnel under the cherry blossom tree in the garden of the Moriarty residence. Colin jumped into it. At a certain underground base outside of the city, Colin was seen in a black outfit and a mask. Scanning his fingerprint, he entered the base. He walked down a long dimly-lit flight of stairs where the air smelled like mold and rotten corpses. He walked through a door, and the scenery behind it was completely different. There were advanced mechanical devices glowing with blue lights and robots everywhere. His identity was being verified at the door. A robotic voice said, "Verified. Welcome home, Leo."Colin quickly walked forward, but someone pressed something against his head. A woman asked, "Where did you take the old man?"The gentleness he usually showed for Olivia was gone. He swung his elbow hard toward his back with a sullen face. The woman dodged instinctively. He used the opening to grab the woman and got behind her. With one hand, he grabbed her
Olivia took it easy for two more days. As long as her phone was on, Chris' messages would keep coming in, so she turned it off. She lay in the soft and spacious bed as she looked at the horizon.Although the island was a great place, she kept thinking of Ethan's words. She wondered when he would come and take her back to the city. She was eager to go back. She had time to wait, but the same couldn't be said for Jeff. It was almost time for his operation. She called Ethan again."What's wrong?" Ethan sounded tired. "I want to go back now, Ethan.""Give me some time. I'll come get you myself." "But … I want to go back now.""I need some more time." Ethan couldn't let her know what he was doing. He could only guarantee her safety after he cleared out all the threats in the city. "But if there's something you have to do, you can tell me," Ethan said patiently. Olivia didn't want too many people to know about Jeff's condition, so she didn't tell him."It's nothing. I'm just