Bye, Mr.Francis

Chapter 7 He Destroyed Everything

Anna emerged from the house. "Sweetie, playing here so early in the morning? Aren't you hungry?"

"Mommy!" The boy abandoned the horse and rushed into Anna's arms. She scooped him up. "Daddy promised to tell me a story last night, but he left after dinner."

"Mommy will ask Daddy to video call you from work and apologize, okay?"

"Okay!"

Olivia approached them, her movements stiff, her face pale. "You... you two..." The boy couldn't be less than three years old!

Turning around, Anna's eyes widened in alarm upon seeing Olivia. "Olivia, why... why are you here?" She spun around, clutching the child, and hurried back into the house.

Olivia caught up to her in a few strides, grabbing Anna's hair and slapping her hard across the face.

"Anna, how could you do this to me? You came from nothing, I paid for your university tuition, got you a job at the Austen Group, bought you a house, and this is how you repay me?"

She had assumed Nolan and Anna's relationship was recent, but they already had a child together. How could she have been so blind? Betrayed by the two people she loved most, their actions had ripped her heart out and stomped on it.

Eyes red with fury, Olivia continued to strike Anna. The servants tried to intervene, but she was relentless.

A hand shot out, grabbing Olivia's hair and pulling her back. She stumbled, falling hard onto the floor, the impact knocking the air out of her lungs.

Looking up, she saw Nolan standing over her, his expression cold. "Olivia, what are you doing here?"

"Why?" Struggling to her feet, Olivia stared at the man she had loved for over a decade. "Your parents were gone, my father took you in, gave you a home, and cared for you! My father gave you everything, and you killed him?"

Nolan's face darkened. He had entrusted Anna with that task; no one else knew. How had Olivia found out?

Olivia pressed closer, her gaze unwavering, each word laced with pain. "Why, Nolan? Why did you go to such lengths to frame me, to put me in another man's bed?"

"Because I wanted to destroy the Austen family, and you!" His eyes were filled with icy hatred.

"The Austen Group doesn’t belong to your father's to begin with. Thirty years ago, your father and my father founded the Austen Group together. My father was the majority shareholder; your father had no real power and always resented it. Shortly after the company went public, my family was targeted. I only survived because I was at a classmate's house that night..."

"You're lying! You're lying!" Olivia shook her head, refusing to believe his words. "My father treated you like his own son, gave you everything, even arranged our marriage..."

"He felt guilty, that's all. He didn't take me in out of the goodness of his heart." He leaned down, his gaze venomous. "He wanted to control me, to get his hands on the shares my father held!"

He hadn't known any of this until recently when he encountered a disfigured man who claimed to have escaped the fire that had claimed his family. The man had revealed the truth about that night. No wonder Olivia's father had been so kind to him, it was all out of guilt!

Looking at Olivia's pale, stubborn face, Nolan felt a surge of inexplicable irritation. He grabbed her hair and dragged her towards the gate, throwing her out.

"Olivia, this is the last time." He warned, his voice low and menacing. "Next time we meet, I won't be so lenient!"

As the gate slammed shut, despair washed over Olivia. The man she had loved for over a decade, the man she believed to be her savior, was nothing but a vengeful devil. He had destroyed the Austen family, and her...

Numbly, Olivia walked down the street. As she stepped off the curb, a car sped towards her, its headlights blinding her. She closed her eyes, a strange sense of peace settling over her. She had nothing left. Maybe this was it, maybe death was a welcome escape.