apter 24
Chapter 24
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With their hands interlocked, Bryan and Olivia began walking down the podium. As they walked down the stairs, Olivia’s gaze didn’t leave that of Ethan, but through the corners of her eyes, she could see Shirley’s expression and it was certainly funny,
Shirley suddenly rose to her feet and raised her glass of wine, gently hitting it with a fork so she could gain the attention of everyone,
“What a lovely couple, Ms. Olivia Rowan; I pray you both become a great pair in the future, just like I and my husband, Ethan, Shirley uttered and smiled back at Olivia. They were fake smiles, but it was better to hide them instead of acting like whatever was happening was affecting the hell out of her,
“Thank you so much. And I pray so, too; after all, all that matters is true happiness, isn’t it?” Olivia questioned when she averted her gaze at Shirley’s fingers to see her engagement ring still on her finger,
This was a clear issue that she was yet to be married to Ethan just like she always badly wanted to be,
“Mr Fordham, we’ll be taking our leave very soon, and as a result, won’t be able to stay till the end of the party as I’m a bit worried about my son. So, I’d like it if we move forward with the opening of the hospital as soon as possible. We’ll take our leave now, and I hope to meet you there as soon as possible.”
Ethan rose to his feet and nodded his head, “I guess you must be tired after the long talk. Besides, I must have forgotten to say earlier, you look extremely beautiful, Ms Rowan.”
Olivia froze for a few seconds, unable to find the right words to utter when she heard those words from Ethan,
She cleared her throat aloud after a few seconds, hoping that her face had not turned red from his compliment as this was the first time since she had ever known Ethan that he complimented her,
“Thank you,” Olivia responded,
She hated him so much, but then why did the word affect her, even if it was just a little,
“Come on baby, let’s leave, I’m getting tired,” Olivia uttered, and once again, Bryan took her and they began to walk away,
FLASHBACK:
“Aren’t you going to have your meal? I made one of your favorite dishes, Ethan.”
“Step out of the way, I have a meeting by 9 am,” Ethan responded with a look of irritation on his face, while Olivia swallowed down the tears that were at the brim of dropping,
She loosed the apron around her waist and began trailing behind him outside,
“You know what today is?” Olivia uttered as she trailed behind him, but he completely ignored her and stepped into the car, Before Olivia could utter another word, the car drove out of the house at speed, leaving her heart to ache more in pain,
How much more could she take? Her life was miserable as it was, but Ethan wasn’t making anything better for her. A few weeks back, he had completely forgotten that it was her mother’s memorial, and now he cared less that today was her birthday,
She sniffled and walked back into the car after staring at the gate for as long as she could,
Once Olivia got in, she headed towards the kitchen, opened it, and brought out the cake wrapped up in a box from the fridge,
She had even prepared on time so he would be able to notice, but he failed to notice her,
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Chapter 24
She found the candle sticks and gently placed one on the cake, lighting it up,
“Make a wish, Olivia.” She muttered to herself, using the same tone her mother would use whenever it was her birthday and it was time to blow out the candles and make a wish,
Olivia shut her eyes and silently muttered something to herself, hoping that God would be able to hear her wish and grant it one day,
It was still the same wish. Her wish hadn’t changed as it was still the same wish she had been making since she was fifteen,
“Let him love me one day; that is all that is asked.“.
That was it. The one person who ate up every wish every year of her birthday was Ethan, and it was always about her praying to be loved by him.
END OF FLASHBACK,
“Olivia!”
Olivia felt a gentle touch on her shoulders and she immediately darted away from her thought,
“Hey, are you alright?” Bryan questioned as he wrapped one of his hands around her waist, pulling her close to himself,
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She uttered in a very faint voice,
“You’re crying?” He questioned, and when Olivia touched her face, she realized that a few drops of tears had slid down her face without her realizing while she was thinking about her past,
“Maybe something got into my eyes or….”
Bryan immediately tucked his hand into his pocket and brought out a white handkerchief. He moved in front of her and cleaned the tears on her face while Olivia remained still,
Why was she still having flashbacks about her past with Bryan? It was quite obvious that there were lingering feelings for him buried somewhere inside of her, but she couldn’t let it get the better part of her,
“If you don’t want to be here, I’ll take you home as soon as possible and maybe the opening can take place tomorrow. After tonight, you need all the rest you can get.” Bryan uttered, but Olivia shook her head in negation,
“No. Let’s get this done and over with so we can leave here. I want to go back to Australia,” Olivia responded,
She had decided that it was better to leave New York for Australia as soon as possible to sort out whatever was going on in her heart,
Seeing her in the condition she was, Bryan moved behind her, and pulled off his jacket,
“Here, cover up, okay? You need it.” He uttered and placed it on her while Olivia smiled,
“Where’s Noah?”
“In the car.”
Olivia nodded her head, “You must have a lot you want to ask me, Bryan, and I promise, I’m going to answer all your questions correctly.” Olivia uttered,
“Not now. We can talk about everything that happened when we returned to Australia. For now, I’m worried about you.” Bryan uttered, but before he could take Olivia’s hand, they both heard Ethan’s voice from behind as he spoke,
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“Sorry to ask, am I interrupting something special?” Ethan uttered as soon as he got to where they were standing, but then even as he stood, his gaze refused to move away from Bryan’s hands on Olivia’s shoulder, and to him, it almost felt like another man was touching what was his.
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