Ch. 281..285: Trapped in a Secret Marriage with a Dangerous Billionaire Chapter 281-285

Chapter 281: Stephanie’s Children Arrive

Two Days Later...

The afternoon sun bathed the grand Swift residence in a warm golden glow as two sleek, black cars pulled into the circular driveway. The house staff, already prepared for the guests, stood in a neat line, ready to receive them.

As soon as the car doors swung open, Stephanie’s two children stepped out, their presence commanding attention.

Her son, Damian Coker, was the first to emerge—a tall, well-built man in his late twenties with a sharp gaze that mirrored his mother’s. His tailored navy-blue suit fit him perfectly, exuding an air of effortless wealth and power.

Following closely behind was his younger sister, Ivy Coker, who was Olivia’s age mate. She stepped out of the car in a chic beige dress that hugged her curves, her dark, wavy hair cascading down her back. Her features were delicate, yet there was an unmistakable confidence in the way she carried herself.

The house staff immediately moved into action, rolling their luggage into the house while Stephanie, beaming with joy, stepped forward to greet them.

"My darlings," she said warmly, opening her arms.

Damian was the first to embrace her, pressing a light kiss to her temple. "Mother," he greeted, his voice deep and smooth.

Ivy followed suit, wrapping her arms around Stephanie. "I’ve missed you so much, Mom," she murmured.

Stephanie smiled fondly, pulling back slightly to study their faces. "And I’ve missed you both. Come inside."

She led them into the living area, where the grandeur of the Swift residence was on full display. The elegant chandeliers, the lavish decor, and the rich mahogany furniture still held the same warmth as when Adam was alive.

As they settled onto the plush couches, two housemaids appeared with a tray of refreshments—glasses of freshly squeezed juice and an assortment of snacks.

Damian leaned back, taking in his surroundings. He hummed in approval before turning to his mother. "Nothing has changed here."

Ivy nodded in agreement, glancing around with nostalgic eyes. "It still feels like Uncle Adam is here," she said softly. They had last visited during Adam’s funeral.

Stephanie’s smile was tinged with melancholy. "I left things this way as a remembrance of him," she admitted, her voice calm but firm.

Her children exchanged glances before Damian gave a small nod. "I like that," he said simply.

Ivy reached for her drink, but as she lifted the glass to her lips, her gaze flickered around once more before settling on their surroundings. "Where’s Olivia?" she asked curiously.

Stephanie didn’t even glance upstairs as she responded casually, "Probably sulking in her bedroom."

Her children exchanged knowing looks.

For a while, they caught up, discussing everything from their recent travels to business ventures. Damian spoke about an Investment opportunity while Ivy animatedly talked about her latest shopping spree in Paris.

Everything was peaceful until footsteps echoed down the grand staircase.

All eyes turned toward the entrance of the living room as Olivia finally made her appearance.

She was dressed in a fitted black top and high-waisted jeans, her face devoid of warmth. The second her gaze landed on her cousins, her expression shifted into something unreadable, but there was no mistaking the hostility simmering beneath the surface.

Despite her tense posture, Damian and Ivy offered polite smiles.

"Olivia," Damian greeted smoothly. "It’s been a while."

Ivy smiled as well. "Hey, Olivia. How have you been?"

For a brief moment, Olivia remained silent, her cold gaze lingering on them. But when she caught the sharp look Stephanie shot her, she begrudgingly muttered, "Fine."

The lack of enthusiasm in her voice was evident, and Ivy’s smile faltered slightly.

Stephanie remained composed, watching the silent battle unfold.

Then Olivia turned to her aunt, her tone clipped. "I thought you would have waited a little longer before inviting your children over," she said. "Or at least until my mother’s trial was over."

A heavy silence followed.

Stephanie’s expression didn’t waver, but her eyes darkened. "And why exactly should I do that?" she asked, her voice laced with subtle warning.

Olivia clenched her jaw. "Because it’s humiliating enough that our family’s name is being dragged through the mud. Now you’ve brought more people into this mess."

Stephanie let out a quiet scoff before delivering a cold, cutting response. "Tell me, Olivia," she said, tilting her head slightly. "Was I the one who asked your mother to kill people?"

Damian and Ivy stiffened slightly at their mother’s harsh words. The tension in the room grew so thick it was suffocating.

Olivia’s eyes burned red as hot tears threatened to spill. Her fingers curled into fists at her sides, her entire body trembling with a mixture of anger and shame.

How dare her Aunt say that in front of her children?

Feeling humiliated, Olivia turned sharply on her heel and stormed out of the living room without another word.

Once she was gone, Damian sighed and leaned back into the couch, his fingers pressing against his temple. "That was... a little harsh, don’t you think?"

Stephanie remained unbothered. "She needed to hear it."

Ivy, however, smirked slightly as she crossed her legs. "Honestly, I don’t feel bad for her. The way she looked at us when she walked in—like she was above us."

Stephanie hummed. "She will learn soon enough."

Damian sighed but said nothing more.

After a moment, Stephanie shifted the conversation. "Your cousin Aurora will be coming for dinner later."

Damian’s expression brightened slightly. "It’s been a while since we last saw her."

Ivy perked up as well. "I’m curious to see her again. She and Olivia are so different."

Damian smirked. "That’s an understatement."

Ivy giggled before her expression turned thoughtful. "I heard her husband is ridiculously rich."

Stephanie arched a brow. "Where did you hear that?"

Ivy shrugged. "Here and there. Some friends mentioned it. His name is always in the business headlines." Then she sighed dreamily. "I wouldn’t mind visiting her home."

Stephanie let out a small chuckle before bursting her bubble. "Keep dreaming."

Ivy frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

Stephanie didn’t bother answering, only sipping her drink with amusement dancing in her eyes.

Before Ivy could press further, Stephanie stood. "Come," she said, gesturing for them to follow. "Let me show you around the house."

As she led them through the grand corridors, Damian and Ivy took in the home they hadn’t visited in months.

Everything was beautiful. Luxurious. Nostalgic.

But beneath the surface, there was a tension that couldn’t be ignored.

A storm was brewing within the Swift family, and sooner or later, it would explode.

Chapter 282: Their Next Big Mission

Aurora chose to wear a multi-coloured shift dress that hid her baby bump for the night.

She used a soft floral perfume on her wrists and dabbed some around her neckline before reapplying her pink lipstick while sitting in front of her vanity table.

"You shouldn’t stay there later than 8 PM," Xander spoke from the side as he watched her get ready. "It would be preferable to spend the night rather than travel back late."

"But you don’t want me spending the night at my father’s house, so you want me home early," Aurora finished for him as she turned to meet his gaze.

She wasn’t angry or anything, just stating the obvious.

Xander smiled as he got ready to defend himself.

"Sweetheart, it’s actually because I don’t want anyone dragging you into their drama. Being pregnant is already stressful, then you had to add office work to it." Spreading his arms out, he added, "I feel for you."

Aurora shook her head as a smile bloomed on her lips. It didn’t matter whether he was telling the truth or not. She chose to believe him.

At least, she was well aware he cared so much about her that her safety was his priority rather than his selfish interest.

"As we discussed earlier, Nene will go with you," Xander said as he started walking towards her. "Read the room and respond with wisdom."

Stopping in front of her, he leaned in to kiss the corner of her neck. Of course, he would do that. That was the reason he got up from the couch in the first place.

"I trust you," he said, leaning away from her.

"You don’t have a choice," Aurora replied. Then, she grabbed her bag from the desk and got up on her feet. "See you, darling."

Xander followed solidly behind Aurora until they arrived at the entrance of the house, where Nene was already waiting.

Xander proceeded to adjust Aurora’s coat before hinting that she could come right back into his arms if she changed her mind about the dinner.

"See you in a few hours, Xander," Aurora said with a smile before walking away.

She wasn’t going to change her mind about this dinner. She needed to know what her Aunt was thinking, and which better way to find out except through conversations over dinner?

Xander stood at the entrance and watched until Aurora’s car left before he went back inside the house. And as soon as he got into the study room, his phone’s ringing tone went off.

At first, he thought it was Aurora calling, but when he saw Asher’s name displayed on the screen, disappointment contoured his face.

"What’s up?" Xander answered the call and placed the phone on his ear as he walked towards his desk to sit.

"All’s good," Asher replied quickly. "I got leads on our next big mission. It has to do with a dangerous arms-snuggling syndicate. And guess where this terrorist group is based?"

Xander frowned slightly. And since he had the luxury of time, he tried to guess the right location for their next mission. But when none of the options he came up with in his head made any sense to him, he gave up.

"You tell me."

Asher chuckled. "You won’t believe it, but we are going to Octavia Empire."

"What?" Lines appeared on Xander’s forehead as he leaned out of his seat. He didn’t look pleased.

"Sounds unbelievable, right?" Asher teased.

Xander briefly shut his eyes and opened them again. "How did you get this piece of information?"

"I pay more attention to the organization than you these days, so of course, I will get information faster than you," Asher stated proudly. "Anyway, the Royal family of Octavia asked our President for help as soon as they got the intelligence report."

Xander thought for a moment before asking, "Is it possible for a big crime organisation to be suited in Octavia?"

Asher knew he had his doubts. Even he was surprised when he learned of that information. But then again, big terrorist groups are known to hide and operate from the least expected locations.

"We are required to change our appearances and accents completely," Asher added. "We will be gone for months."

A groan escaped Xander’s lips. Aurora wasn’t going to like this. Even he wasn’t comfortable being away from her, knowing that their child was growing in her belly.

Asher understood his best friend’s frustration from the other end of the phone and sighed. He didn’t know what to say to make him feel better, so he went ahead to continue talking about their new mission.

"From next week, we are required to be at Arsenal’s headquarters twice a week. This mission is a serious deal, and highly confidential. We need to follow up on so many details and start a special operation training."

Asher continued revealing more details to Xander, which ended up leaving him more displeased than he already was.

He thought he had more time to spend with his wife before the next mission. He hadn’t expected the situation to turn out this way.

"Is there a possibility that the Reagent family have a hand in this?" Xander inquired.

"There is, but we aren’t sure," Asher replied. "But it will do us a lot of good if they are involved in this so we can get rid of them once and for all."

Letting out a sigh, Asher thought of something and added with a trace of seriousness in his tone, "Lex, you know the Reagent family have been after you for sabotaging their plans. You have to be careful this time around."

"I’m already thinking about it," Xander said, his voice lacking enthusiasm. He was already exhausted for a mission that wouldn’t commence until next year.

After talking about the mission, Asher stirred the conversation towards something else to lighten the mood.

"I think you are not going to be the only one lacking time for yourself this period. My mother wants a grandchild, so she took it upon herself to arrange several blind dates for me. Now I feel like I’m going to need your moral support."

Finally, Xander’s resolve cracked. He made fun of Asher and blamed him for being single at this age.

"What were you thinking would happen?"

Asher immediately sat upright at the other end. "Don’t make fun of me. Have you forgotten when you got married?"

"I was waiting for the right one, and I found her," Xander stated proudly. He didn’t want to mention Victoria being in the picture before because Asher has never dated seriously.

"Seems like I came to the wrong person for moral support," Asher scoffed.

---

Swift Family Residence.

Aurora was welcomed warmly by her family’s butler, who stood outside until her arrival.

It has been a while since Aurora last visited, so of course, the staff dearly missed her.

The butler mentioned to Aurora that her Aunt was already waiting in the living room as he escorted her inside with Nene following closely behind.

As soon as Aurora walked into the living room, Stephanie stood from the couch and approached her with a big smile, while her cousins slowly stood up as well.

"Welcome, Aurora." Stephanie hugged Aurora carefully and leaned away. "I thought you wouldn’t be coming again," she said, looking into her eyes.

"I told you I would come," was all Aurora said when she replied politely.

Stephanie nodded and gestured for her to come in properly.

While Nene followed, she thought that Aurora was being treated like a guest.

"Aurora," both Ivy and Damien called as they took turns hugging and greeting her. "It’s good to see you."

"Welcome," Aurora said, returning the warmness before separating from them while Stephanie stood at the side, smiling from ear to ear.

She was elated by how Aurora was getting along with her children.

Before Stephanie could remind Aurora to sit, she chose a two-sitter couch next to Stephanie and sat down before asking Nene to sit down.

Knowing her position, Nene took the other couch next to Aurora’s and fixed a subtle attention on her.

"I didn’t see you come in with any bag," Stephanie said with her gaze fixed on Aurora after everyone had settled down.

"I won’t be staying for the night. I will just have dinner and go back," Aurora said to her.

Stephanie sighed. "The helper already cleaned your room and got everything ready. I’m disappointed."

Aurora didn’t say anything about that, and thankfully, Stephanie didn’t push it. Although she didn’t know what was wrong, she could tell that Aurora was a bit distant, or maybe she was the one overly excited.

"Aurora, congratulations on your marriage," Ivy started, looking excited to talk about it.

"Thank you," Aurora replied curtly. Aurora was never close to any of her cousins, so she didn’t know how to relate with them. Thankfully, they understood and didn’t see her as haughty.

"I’m sure you had a wonderful celebration. It’s a shame we didn’t get to attend." As soon as Ivy said that, she quickly added, "Would you be holding another wedding any time soon?"

Chapter 283: One Birkin and One Kelly

As soon as Ivy asked that question, all eyes turned to Aurora. They were all interested in her response, including Nene.

"I’m too busy with work at the company to think of hosting another wedding. I will leave that to a wedding anniversary."

Aurora was very clear with her response. She wasn’t interested in having another wedding any time soon. She was too busy at the company. Therefore, she didn’t have the energy to start planning a wedding she had already had.

But if having a wedding celebration with her family members in attendance was that important, they would have to look forward to a wedding anniversary party, which might be held after her fifth or tenth year in marriage with Xander.

Aurora isn’t an extrovert. She doesn’t know how to socialise, so even if she had all the money in the world to waste, partying wouldn’t even be on the first list.

Not wanting more attention on her, Aurora took the reins and started asking her cousins questions.

Stephanie saw this and smiled to herself. She thought Aurora was bonding with her children, and I liked it. Most importantly, she liked Aurora’s positive energy.

"If I understood clearly, you both have been in and out of Wing City. What are you up to these days?" Aurora inquired, looking genuinely curious.

Ivy chuckled, excitement glittering in her eyes. She welcomed the question and went on to answer it excitedly. She repeated the same thing she had told her mother.

It’s been less than a year since she finished her Master’s; hence, she decided to take a little break and tour some of her favourite countries.

"It had only been a few days since I returned from Paris before my Mum said we could come over," Ivy finished.

Damien mentioned he was seeking a career change while expecting an investment opportunity.

After chatting for a little while, the housekeeper came to announce that the table had been set.

As Stephanie led everyone to the dining room with all smiles, Aurora was pleased she invited Nene too.

Nene sat beside Aurora at the table and almost reached out to serve her out of habit. Thankfully, a servant beat her to it.

"Nene, relax and eat comfortably beside me," Aurora whispered to her with a small smile on her lips.

"I will try," Nene said, not giving any promises as she hid a smile.

After the food had been served on everyone’s plate, Aurora fixed her gaze on one of the helps and inquired about Olivia.

"I don’t see Olivia at the table. Isn’t she home?"

While it was possible that Olivia would never come out to see her when she arrived, Aurora didn’t think she would miss dinner, or maybe not.

Before the maid could reply, Stephanie beat her to it. "If Olivia isn’t here now, then she isn’t coming because I personally reminded her about dinner."

Aurora slowly moved her gaze from her Aunt’s face to the maid briefly before lowering her gaze.

Stephanie quickly shoved Olivia’s matter out of the way and asked Aurora to say a short prayer for the food and their small gathering.

Just as the prayer started, the maid Aurora posed that question about Olivia’s whereabouts left. She took the stairs and went straight to Olivia’s door before stopping.

In the meantime, behind the closed door, Olivia was busy going through her expensive closet.

She had hundreds of thousands of dollars bill to foot, all thanks to her recklessness and Owen’s wickedness. That bastard was just after her sanity, not even her life otherwise. Why would he choose to make things difficult for her?

Olivia didn’t have such an amount of money in any of her accounts. And she hadn’t anyone to borrow it from.

She was now tagged the ’daughter of a murderer’, so definitely, going to her so-called friends would be a slap to her face because it was either they made an excuse about not being able to help her, or they gave her the money and go on to spread it to the ears of those who care to listen that she, Olivia, was broke.

Since Olivia had a valid reason for not asking her friends for help, she could have easily gone to her Aunt to ask for the money since she had plans to pay it back, but she didn’t want her problems reaching her cousins’ ears, so she decided to deal with it herself by going through her closet, looking for a few expensive collections of hers to sell.

Also, Aurora was the last person on her list to ask for help. That would be admitting how stupid, foolish and wrong she was for all the things she did to her.

And how on earth was the proud Olivia going to do that?

"This bastard has to die an ungodly death for trying to put me to shame," Olivia cursed through gritted teeth as her gaze moved through her expensive bag collection, looking for the appropriate ones to part with.

But that was the problem. All were beautiful and expensive. She didn’t want to take anyone out, so she moved to her show collection. But it was useless.

She would have to sell almost 90% or all of them and still wouldn’t be able to foot the bill.

Sighing for the hundredth time, Olivia moved back to her bag collection and painfully picked up two Hermes bags: one Kelly and one Birkin. Their price tags combined gave her a whopping $70,000.

Olivia felt a punch in her heart after staring at the bags longer than required. Instantly, tears formed in her eyes. She slowly slid down to the floor in tears while holding the bags. But she was still conscious enough not to let them hit anything or touch the rugged floor.

Olivia was wallowing in her sorrows when a consistent knock on her room door followed. Immediately, she got out of her trance and tilted her head to the side.

"Who would knock on my door like that? Have they all gone mad?!" She bellowed.

The next second, she was up on her feet. She carefully placed her Hermes bags back in their positions before closing the glass shelf and leaving her closet.

Olivia was angrier when she opened the door and saw the maid standing there.

Chapter 284: The Mentally Unfit Patient

If the maid hadn’t seen that Aurora wanted Olivia to be at the table, she would never have dared to make this risky move.

It was already by the Lord’s mercy that Olivia hadn’t slapped her the moment she opened the door.

At first, Olivia thought it was one of her cousins who had come to disturb her. To add to her current frustrating situation, she was ready to bring down their entire existence with the words from her lips. But to her surprise, it was a mere servant who dared to disrupt her peace.

"I’m sorry for disturbing you. Everyone is at the dining table, and your sister asked about you," the maid quickly reported, head bowed.

’Aurora is here?’ Olivia thought to herself. She had completely forgotten that Stephanie had earlier informed her about the dinner to welcome her children into her own father’s mansion.

But the next second, likes appeared on her forehead. "Why would she ask about me? Do we look like friends?" she barked before shutting the door in the maid’s face.

The maid flinched and scurried away with immediate effect.

’They are probably going to be talking about me and making fun of my situation, so why should I sit at the table with them?’ Olivia thought to herself behind closed doors.

She totally set aside her problem of raising money and faced Stephanie and her children. She felt her Aunt was bringing her children to come and reap where they didn’t sow.

This was her father’s house, and with her mother locked up for murder, Stephanie now had the sole right to run the family, so she didn’t want to give any chance to her cousins to belittle her.

"I wonder how long they have to stay here," Olivia hissed with an ugly look on her face.

But after a while, she felt the need to join everyone at the dining table and listen to their conversation because, who knows, they might all discuss and conclude how to get rid of her, and she wouldn’t know about it.

By the time Olivia arrived at the dining room, everyone had already started eating. And they were all surprised to see her.

"I thought you weren’t interested in dinner," Stephanie said as her gaze followed Olivia until she pulled the seat at the other end of the table and sat down.

Ivy and Damien’s spoons hung in the air as Olivia took that position at the table. There were a lot of unspoken words hung in the air, and they knew better than to openly say their mind.

On the other hand, Aurora and Nene glanced at Olivia before continuing with their food.

Olivia made sure to settle down before answering any question. Smiling, she said, "I changed my mind. I thought the table wouldn’t be complete without me, and I was right."

Ivy scoffed inwardly at that comment. She so badly wanted to talk Olivia that no one was missing her, but she couldn’t, because of her mother.

"I see we have a visitor," Olivia said almost immediately after she noticed Nene who was a constant reminder to Aurora’s ’Mrs. Scott’ status and how she was deceived before she found out the truth about that Aurora’s identity.

Without waiting for anyone’s comment, Olivia continued as a maid placed a plate in front of her and filled it with food.

"I completely forgot that the highly esteemed Mrs. Scott would be having dinner with us tonight." Olivia had her gaze on Aurora when she said this, and the latter didn’t utter a word to her.

For the first time, Ivy and Damien realized a few rules in the Swift family after catching a glimpse of this scene; Olivia could sit at the other end of the table as if she was dragging position with their mother, and no one would say anything about it.

And Olivia could also make some off-handed comments and absolutely no one would attack her for it.

Just who in the world did Olivia think she was?

"When next would you be inviting me to your place? You know, I missed the teas and deceit. What would you have in store for me this time around?"

Olivia was definitely mocking Aurora by hinting at her trickery, which no one else at the table except Nene knew about.

Even Stephanie looked curious, wondering what Olivia was talking about, but deep down her heart, she understood that whatever Olivia said was the truth, given that Aurora hadn’t said anything to counter it.

In response, Aurora lifted her head to meet Olivia’s gaze without looking bothered. And contrary to everyone’s expectation of her, she asked, "When are resuming your position at the company? Haven’t you taken a long break enough?"

Stephanie, who was casually chewing food in her mouth, gradually slowed down to look at Aurora. She hadn’t expected that she, of all people, would even think of having Olivia back after everything she did to her.

Since when did this concern start?

On the other hand, Olivia chuckled in disbelief. "It is an error for you to care about me, so I would take it that you are looking for an opportunity to kick me out, right?"

Aurora rolled her eyes in her mind and turned her gaze away.

Seeing an opening at this moment, Stephanie took to the opportunity to explain the situation to Aurora.

"Aurora dear, Olivia will return to the company as soon as she has shown progress in her treatment."

"What treatment? Is she sick?" Aurora asked, genuinely surprised.

That vibrant, rude young lady sitting by her right definitely didn’t look sick to her. As everyone wondered how Olivia was sick, Stephanie burst their bubbles.

"We are both aware that she is sick upstairs," she said, pointing at her skull, which infuriated Olivia. "She has anger management issues, plus her violent tendencies."

Ivy’s eyes grew wide in shock while Damien stared at Olivia in disbelief. They both couldn’t believe their ears.

Stephanie continued, "She was given a temporary leave in the first place because she assaulted you at the company. Actually, I thought she would learn a lesson from that. Unfortunately, she did something similar again."

The more Stephanie spoke, the angrier Olivia became because. She could clearly see the side glances her cousins were stealing at her.

Why did she feel their mother was using this opportunity to fill them in on her bad behaviour?

"She assaulted someone?" Aurora asked as she turned her gaze back to Olivia. It was like she wanted Olivia to see how crazy she was.

Chapter 285: Olivia Defends Herself

"I didn’t assault anyone!" Olivia quickly reacted, defending herself before Stephanie could escalate the matter.

"But you did," Stephanie replied almost immediately as Olivia glared at her. "It seems to me that you’ve forgotten about it so soon."

Aurora scoffed. She really was done with a stupid person like her stepsister. Why did she even care to find out about her affairs in the first place?

She should have just minded her business.

"That was a mistake. It happened in the heat of the moment," Olivia stated defensively as her gaze moved to Aurora, as if trying to prove a point to her.

Stephanie couldn’t let this matter drag on, so she finished it off. Turning to Aurora, who had her head down in regret, she revealed;

"Olivia assaulted Owen’s butler. She hit him in the face because he didn’t let her into the house per Owen’s instruction. And in the end, she vandalized their expensive windows before she was thrown out."

"Wow!" Ivy mouthed as she picked up her wine glass to take a slow sip. Learning this crazy side of Olivia was something to be grateful for; otherwise, imagine if she crossed her without knowing how mentally deranged the other party was.

On the other hand, Damien whispered and picked up his cutlery.

Getting these reactions from her cousins, whom she loathed on a different level, Olivia clenched her fists. She turned to Stephanie and directed her anger at her.

"Aunt, it wasn’t necessary to talk about my private matters in front of others!"

Stephanie glanced at her children before shifting her gaze back to Olivia. "Olivia, the news of your assault made it to the gossip magazines during your divorce battle with Owen. It was only a matter of time before your cousins found out."

Stephanie wasn’t even mad at Olivia for her cautious attempts to segregate her children. That only goes to show how much guilt and shame she felt for being violent toward others.

Aurora picked up her cutlery and started to eat slowly, thinking back to that scene weeks ago when Olivia came to make noise at the Scott Family’s old house. It was just now that she fully understood the context of what had actually happened.

"Olivia, it seems to me that you still don’t understand the gravity of your actions. I won’t enable your bad behaviour. Therefore, until you show improvements in your counselling sessions, you won’t return to Vintage Cellar," Stephanie stated with finality in her tone.

At this juncture, Aurora finally reacted, especially after seeing Olivia discreetly grip the edge of the table.

"Aunt, who is this doctor treating Olivia?" Aurora inquired.

"Dr. Freya Williams," Stephanie answered with a smile. "She is a friend of mine. She is a pro in her field. Though her schedule was tight, she accepted to take Olivia under her wing."

Olivia stabbed her fork into her plate of grilled salmon. Since she arrived at the dining table, she had barely taken a bite. She had been busy trying to defend herself against a situation she could never win because she was guilty as charged.

"Aunt, you shouldn’t forget to mention the condition for my return to my dad’s company," Olivia reminded kindly as she sent a piece of salmon into her mouth with her eyes on Stephanie.

At the same time she made that statement, she was trying to remind everyone at the table on who the real owner of Vintage Cellar was. And of course, they all understood her subtle reminder.

Aurora raised a brow of confusion. She actually had no idea that her Aunt had given Olivia a condition for her return to the company. And from the little she had heard this evening, she could tell it had everything to do with the psychiatry visit.

And just like she thought, Stephanie confirmed it.

"I decided to give Olivia a second chance to return to her position because, I do not want a situation in the future whereby everyone would start pointing fingers at me, talking about how ruthless I am or was to my brother’s child," Stephanie started by explaining how the whole counselling treatment came about.

Even Nene thought that her reasons were justified and listened to the rest of her explanation.

"But with everything Olivia had gone through, coupled with her bad character, I knew she was mentally unfit to return to work. And to prevent such ugly incidents like physical assaults, which could damage the company’s reputation from repeating, I asked Olivia to get counselling before returning. Did I do wrong?"

Aurora shook her head. If her aunt’s intentions were exactly as she had spoken, then she didn’t do anything wrong.

"Aunt, your concern is well appreciated," Aurora spoke for Olivia who scoffed at her remarks.

Stephanie smiled and gestured for everyone to continue eating.

Olivia rolled her eyes and grabbed her glass of white wine. She swirled the contents a bit before downing the whole thing. As she set the empty glass on the table, a maid waiting by the side stepped forward to refill it before returning to her previous position.

Silence stretched across the dining room as the sound of human voices was replaced by the clacking sound of plates and cutlery.

Everyone seemed to be solely focused on filling their stomach while enjoying the good white wine.

Moments later, Stephanie said to Aurora, "Your spicy wine would have made sense here." She pointed at the remaining pieces of grilled salmon on her plate.

Aurora agreed with a nod. "The white wine isn’t bad either, but I believe that red wine would have done a better job to our taste buds."

Smiling, Stephanie lifted her wine glass in the air towards Aurora who was sitting by her right. Aurora lifted her own glass and clinked it with hers before they both took a sip.

From the other end of the table, Olivia watched that interaction and felt her heart churn in bitterness.

"It seems like our creative director has a new wine underway."

Aurora had no words for her, but Stephanie sure did.

"Olivia, I think it would be best you start working on a new product idea if you are interested in boosting your reputation in the future."