A Love Once Known

When the airport announcement rang from above, it hit me that I had really come home. After seven years of studying abroad and spending what felt like an eternity working on my doctorate, I had graduated with honors.However, I was stunned when I exited the international arrivals gate.The massive electronic screen in the arrivals hall was plastered with an image of me that I didn't even remember when I'd taken. Along with the image were the words, "Welcome back, Jennifer Palmer, the great love of Ivan Olsen's life. After a decade of yearning, his true love returns.""What's going on?" My fingers instinctively tightened around my suitcase's handle. Before I could process what was happening, a dozen reporters charged at me with cameras flickering and microphones blaring."Ms. Palmer, how do you feel about Mr. Olsen's welcome ceremony?""Do you know Mr. Olsen is the most eligible bachelor in the city? It's nearly impossible to find a man this devoted these days!""Ms. Palmer, ar

News of Ivan's pursuit of his true love was so widely reported that even my parents knew about it.The moment I walked through the door, I overheard them talking about how cruel I was to have dumped him back then. Not to mention, they were worried about what he might do now that he was powerful.But after the day's events, I could barely explain anything to them. I merely said, "Mom, Dad, all you need to know is that I would never dump anyone casually like that. But there are things I need confirmation of."Once in my room, I quickly searched for Ivan's interviews, and a flood of results instantly popped up. Almost every headline included my name.I clicked one at random, and a handsome man appeared on the screen. His expression carried a hint of longing. "In my hardest times, thoughts of her kept me going."The camera cut to the host's moved expression after hearing his words.The video ended with Ivan sighing and saying, "Even though she once told me we could never be togeth

"Everyone," I addressed my stunned classmates. "I don't know what story Mr. Olsen made up to get you to believe him, but I don't even remember that he existed in our class until last week. "He's using my name to build some tragic love story and even got a girlfriend who looks like me! Then, as soon as I returned, he started love-bombing me with his public confessions, sneaking pictures of me, and using his power to manipulate the people in my life!""That's enough!" Ivan slammed his hand down on the table so hard that the others jumped. He glared at me—almost psychotically so—and demanded, "Then why did you write 'I'm lucky to have known you.' in the physics notebook?""I wrote it because I was trying to memorise the sentence for a test. Everyone wrote the same thing!" I snapped, unable to hold my emotions at his illogical thinking. I kept taking deep breaths while Tara tried to calm me down.Once I regained my composure, I gently brushed her hand away, nodded my thanks, then t

I momentarily paused before the realization hit me, and I asked, "You mean Olsen Group's funds were dodgy from the start?"Chelsea looked impressed and pulled up a series of charts on her laptop as she explained, "Ivan has filed for an IPO, and the valuation is close to ten billion dollars. However, roughly 40% of that comes from an illegal source. "So, I think your plan isn't ruthless enough. Putting him behind bars would be too easy on him. A man like that needs to watch his empire crumble before he's thrown into prison."She finished the last piece of her fruit and elegantly wiped her hands with a napkin. Then, she seemed to remember something important and asked, "Can Ashley access his financial records?"Ashley was shaken by Chelsea's ruthlessness, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized she couldn't be gentle when facing someone like Ivan. She wasn't sure of the plan's specifics, but she was prepared to go along and wait for Chelsea's lead.Pulled back from

The Olsen Group was under investigation. When Ivan got the news, he was in a bar, looking for women who looked like Jennifer. He was thrilled that he had found someone whose lips resembled Jennifer's. However, her eyes didn't measure up at all. He only saw a shallow, scheming woman desperate to climb the social ladder.He roughly yanked the woman's hair, causing her to scream in pain. He imagined it was Jennifer screaming, and a twisted laugh escaped his mouth.He believed Jennifer had to be miserable after those edited pictures of her got out, but he thought she deserved this lesson for pretending not to know him.As Ivan was lost in his fantasy of Jennifer needing his help like a damsel in distress, he was startled awake by the bar manager's panicked shout, telling him to run. It was then that he realized what was happening outside.His company had been raided, and its finances were entirely cut off. Even his house had been searched, where the police discovered a massive co