Chapter 21
Olivia Vance, her new heart beating strongly, her bitterness festering, decided she wasn’t done with Ethan Hayes. She had been recuperating at a private clinic, plotting her return. She still believed Ethan was hers. That Sarah was a temporary aberration.
She arrived at the mansion unannounced, using an old key she hadn’t returned.
She found them in the sun-drenched conservatory. Ethan was teaching Lily to play a simple tune on the piano. Sarah was watching, a soft, genuine smile on her face. A picture of domestic bliss.
Olivia’s carefully constructed composure shattered.
“Ethan!” she shrieked, her voice laced with venom. “What is the meaning of this? Why is SHE still here? And that … brat?”
Sarah flinched, an involuntary fear response. She stood up, her body trembling slightly, moving instinctively to shield Lily.
Ethan rose slowly, placing himself between Olivia and his family. His face was calm, but his eyes were cold.
“Olivia,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “You are no longer welcome here.”
“Not welcome?” Olivia laughed, a harsh, grating sound. “This is my home! We were going to be married!”
“That was before, Olivia,” Ethan said. “Before I realized what truly matters.” He gestured towards Sarah and Lily. “This is my family. This is where I belong.”
Olivia’s face contorted with rage.
“She bewitched you!” Olivia screamed. “That whore! She and her bastard child! They’ve ruined everything!”
She lunged—not at Ethan, but at Sarah—her nails outstretched like claws.
Ethan moved with lightning speed. He caught Olivia’s wrists, his grip unyielding.
“I warned you, Olivia,” he said, his voice like ice. “You will not harm them.”
Olivia struggled, but his strength was too much.
“You chose her over me?” she sobbed, her voice a mixture of fury and disbelief. “After everything I’ve been through? After she destroyed my life?”
“You destroyed your own life, Olivia,” Ethan said, his voice flat. “With your jealousy, your manipulations, your cruelty.”
He dragged her towards the door.
“But Ethan, my heart!” Olivia suddenly gasped, clutching her chest, her eyes wide with feigned pain. “I… I don’t feel well! My new heart… it’s… it’s failing!”
It was a desperate, last-ditch attempt at manipulation.
Ethan paused, a flicker of concern in his eyes. Old habits, old guilt, died hard.
Sarah watched, her heart sinking. Was he falling for it? Again?
Ethan looked at Olivia, then at Sarah, at Lily—who was clinging to Sarah’s leg, her small face pale with fear.
He saw the truth in Olivia’s desperate eyes. The lie.
“I’ll call your doctor, Olivia,” Ethan said, his voice devoid of emotion. “He can assess you.”
Sarah felt a renewed stab of disappointment. He was still, in some way, tethered to Olivia.
She turned, pulling Lily with her. “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go to your room.”
She couldn’t watch this.
“Sarah, wait!” Ethan’s voice, urgent.
He let go of Olivia, who stumbled slightly. He reached Sarah in two strides, gently taking her arm.
“Don’t go,” he said, his eyes pleading.
He turned back to Olivia. His face was hard, resolute.
“Your act is over, Olivia,” he said, his voice cutting. “I see through you. I’ve always seen through you, I think. I just didn’t want to admit it.”
He pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling security. They will escort you off the premises. If you ever come near me, near Sarah, near my daughter again, I will ensure you spend the rest of your life regretting it.”
His voice was a low, dangerous growl.
Olivia stared at him, defeated. The fight drained out of her. Only pure, unadulterated hatred remained in her eyes.
Ethan led Sarah and Lily away, towards the safety of the inner rooms. He didn’t look back as security guards arrived and forcibly removed a screaming, cursing Olivia Vance from his life.
Later, Mrs. Davies, the housekeeper, found Sarah.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish, if you ask me,” she said, a rare smile on her stern face. “This house feels lighter already.”
Sarah had to agree.
A chapter had finally, definitively, closed.