Chapter 2

Olivia's health improved drastically.

Her body grew stronger, and her status rose too. No one her age dared to pick on her anymore.

Everything was good. Olivia saw me as her father. She loved telling the story of how I had heroically stood up to a powerful businessman at her preschool.

Isabella saw me as her husband as well. After her company flourished, she constantly handed me shares in the business and bought me multiple luxury cars and properties.

For someone who had grown up with very little, I was content to live the rest of my life this way.

Then, Lucas came back and pulled me out of my sweet dream with Isabella.

"The truth is, everything you've enjoyed these last ten years was stolen from me," Lucas said as he sat across from me, lazily exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"Although I left with Chloe back then, Isabella was still my wife, and Olivia was still my daughter. You had no right to take my place."

He flicked the ash into a tray, then continued, "I'm willing to forget what you did. Now, I'm giving Chloe back to you. Give my wife and daughter back to me."

I clenched my fists.

Chloe had gone bankrupt not long ago. Her financial situation was even worse than Isabella's back when I first met her.

"Lucas, your timing is impeccable. When your wife wasn't doing well, you stole my girlfriend. Now that everything has fallen apart, you want to come back to play the devoted husband?"

He furiously threw the ashtray by my feet.

Then, he lifted his chin and said, "Is this how you speak to your own brother? Marcus Donovan, I may have been involved with your girlfriend, but you seduced my wife and raised my newborn daughter as your own. Don't you see how bad that looks? Think about it. Who's more shameless here?"

I froze.

He stood up, walked over, and looked down at me.

"If you refuse to let this go, I'll tell everyone about what you've done. Then, we can see who gets condemned more—you or me."

Honestly, I wasn't too worried about being judged. All my life, my only wish was to have a roof over my head and food on the table. When I started dating Chloe, plenty of people already called me a gold digger anyway.

I thought of Olivia and the way she'd sweetly call me "Daddy". If the truth came out, what would she think? And what would Isabella think?

I took a deep breath, then said, "Give me three days."

Lucas frowned.

"What? Don't you think I'd need time to pack my bags? And don't I need to clean up the traces I've left behind? Isabella and Olivia have changed a lot over the last ten years. Don't I at least need to leave you some notes?"

Only then did his expression ease. He sneered coldly, "If you try anything funny, I'll make sure your reputation is destroyed."

At dinner, both Isabella and Olivia noticed that something was off.

The moment we finished eating, Isabella followed me into the bedroom. Grabbing my arm, she looked at me intently and asked, "Is someone giving you trouble?"

"Isabella, what would happen if one day you had a different husband?"

The smile on her usually gentle face slowly cracked. "You're leaving me?"

I cupped her face with both hands. "Why are you panicking? I'm just asking out of curiosity."

"I won't have a different husband!" she answered through clenched teeth, a rare display of assertiveness coming from her. "If you leave, I'll stay single for the rest of my life and raise Olivia myself. If you die, I'll raise her until she's 18 years old and then come and find you!"

"Hey!"

I immediately covered her mouth. I hated hearing her say things like that.

Looking into her eyes, I spoke seriously. "Let's say, hypothetically, what if one day someone who looked exactly like me came and took my place? Would that make it any different?"