He was determined to make this amnesiac Olivia understand his and Dexter’s feelings.
He stared darkly at Olivia, who was wearing a red Christmas sweater. The red color accentuated her fair and smooth skin, making her look like a delectable porcelain doll under the light. The beast inside him wanted to devour her on the spot.
But he restrained himself.
He had to find a way to restore Olivia’s memory or change her impression of him.
The best way was to make the current Olivia fall in love with him…
But how could he make her fall in love with him?
Olivia lowered her head and continued eating, feeling that her brother’s gaze was filled with aggression and possessiveness. Was she being too sensitive?
Wasn’t Bryce her brother? Why did she feel that Bryce was interacting with her as if he were an admirer?
If they were normal siblings, how could he show such a look?
That look, as if he wanted to devour her, made her uncomfortable.
But she didn’t dwell on it too much. She had more important things to discuss with the Hogan family parents. “Dad, Mom, I want to get a driver’s license.”
Mrs. Hogan almost choked. “Cough, cough-what did you say?” She drank some water to soothe her throat and stared at Olivia. “You? Get a driver’s license? Can you do it?”
Olivia pouted, a stubborn glint in her eyes. “Why can’t I? If Carley can do it, why can’t I? I want a Ferrari, and I want to drive Carley to the mall in style.”
Luca was delighted and happily served Olivia some food. “Of course you can. Don’t worry. Whatever car you want, Dad will buy it for you. Which model of Ferrari? But first, you need to get your license. Two months should be enough, right? Once you have your license, you can buy any car.”
The news of Olivia wanting to get a driver’s license caused a stir in the Hogan family. Bryce was also shocked.
“Driving isn’t as easy as you think. Olivia, wherever you go, the family has drivers. In the past, Dexter and I always took you wherever you needed to go. We will continue to do so in the future, so there’s no need for you to get a license.”
He felt that Olivia was gradually slipping out of his control, which made him very uneasy.
“Bryce, there will be times when you’re not available. I’m an independent person now; I’ve grown up. I want to do what I want.” Olivia smiled brightly, showing eight small white teeth. “So I want to drive myself. I want to be as cool as Carley.”
What was she thinking before? Living in such a wealthy family without even having a driver’s license was too lame. She secretly criticized herself.
She didn’t know what kind of life she had lived before or what kind of psychological pressure she had endured.
“Olivia is right. In the past, Dexter and you took too much care of her, making her too dependent on you. She should be more independent in the future. Otherwise, she might be bullied when she gets married.” Mrs. Hogan fully supported her daughter’s decision. “Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to choose a good driving school and instructor. We’ll definitely go for VIP lessons; you’ll learn quickly with one-on-one instruction.”
“Thanks, Mom, love you the most.” Olivia quickly gave Mrs. Hogan a kiss.
Mrs. Hogan laughed heartily. “Oh dear, your mouth is all greasy; don’t kiss me.”
This coquettish daughter was only seen when Olivia was little. Since she became an adult, she had become sensitive and gloomy, rarely smiling, let alone acting coquettishly towards her parents.
Mrs. Hogan couldn’t help but feel like crying again.
It had been a long time since she had seen a smile on her daughter’s face.
Luca also felt emotional. “Our Olivia has grown up.”
The only one unhappy was Bryce. He sat gloomily at the table, losing his appetite.
Damn it!
She even wanted to get a driver’s license and buy a car!
She was getting wild!
But with their parents’ support, Olivia didn’t care about Bryce’s opinion at all. This made Bryce very annoyed but helpless.
The next morning, Olivia took her documents and told the family driver, “I need to go to Kaur Group for my job; please take me there.”
Bryce was about to leave for work when he heard her voice and his face stiffened immediately. “You’re starting work today?”
“Yes, I agreed with Carley that we’d share an office.” Olivia smiled at him. “Bryce, you have to support me! Who knows, I might be the next female Buffett!”
Bryce almost fainted from anger. “You… you have no work experience; it’s better if you stay home.”
“Of course not; being idle is embarrassing.” Olivia’s attitude was firm. “I’m leaving now. Bye.”
Bryce grabbed her arm but realized he couldn’t overpower her. He reluctantly said, “I’ll take you.”
“But I’ve already arranged with the driver! It wouldn’t be nice to cancel on him,” Olivia instinctively refused without thinking. “Besides, don’t you have work? I don’t want to delay you.”
Saying that she shook off Bryce’s hand and walked towards the garage.
Bryce felt a surge of anger but couldn’t vent it. Damn it! She was so disobedient now; he glared at Olivia’s back, wishing he could drag her into his car.
But reason told him he couldn’t.
She wasn’t the old Olivia; she would resist… Everything reminded him that the current Olivia wouldn’t just accept things passively.
The family had four cars: Luca and the Hogan brothers each had one and drove themselves.
The other car was Mrs. Hogan’s, usually driven by the chauffeur.
So Olivia was now taking Mrs. Hogan’s white BMW.
She got in and told the driver to start driving. “Tommy, let’s go.”
Tommy chuckled. “Miss, won’t Mr. Bryce be unhappy that you refused him? He and Mr. Dexter used to always take you.”
“It doesn’t matter; I’ve grown up. I can’t rely on my brothers for everything.” Olivia said as she took out her phone to text Carley.
“Carley, I’m on my way.”
Looking at the sent message, she thought to herself: Was she really that close with her brothers before?
Why didn’t she feel that way?
Instead, she felt closer to Carley?
Strange.
Never mind; work is important.
She took out her documents again to check if she had everything before putting them away again.
The car headed towards Kaur Group, marking the beginning of Olivia’s new life.
Winter days turned dark especially early; it was only around six o’clock but already completely dark.
Franklin’s car slowly pulled into the parking lot of the identification center. He got out and walked towards the lobby inside.
An hour earlier, Sylvia had called him asking for help in picking up some test results.
He thought it was for Sylvia or someone else and didn’t think much of it. After receiving the results, he returned to his car.
Just as he got in, Sylvia called again. “Aren’t you going to open it and see what’s inside?”
“Without your permission, how could I open your documents?” Franklin’s deep and magnetic voice echoed in the car.
He looked through the car window at the dark sky outside; a few stars twinkled in the distance but there was no sign of the moon.
Sylvia couldn’t help but laugh; her slightly cold voice sounded out. “It’s for you and Olivia. When I operated on her, I took a blood sample.”
Franklin’s chest tightened. “You mean it’s for me and Olivia?”
“Yes! Because I’ve been busy taking care of Jenna in the transplant ward, I forgot about this matter. Luckily Carley texted me today reminding me that I hadn’t picked up your and Olivia’s results.” Sylvia seemed eager for the results. “Open it quickly.”
Franklin had no choice but to put his phone on speaker and open the document.
The sound of paper rustling filled the car as he flipped to the last page with the results.
Seeing there was no relation between them stunned him for a moment before Sylvia’s anxious voice came through again. “What is it?”
“No relation. There’s no blood relation between us at all. Maybe… we just look alike by coincidence.” Franklin didn’t care whether he was disappointed or not.
After all, with Poppy and James as his siblings in the Maskelyne family, he didn’t particularly yearn for another sister…
It would have been nice if they were related but it didn’t matter if they weren’t.
Sylvia was more disappointed because she knew what kind of life Olivia had been living.
She felt regretful; if they were siblings by blood, she and Franklin could intervene in Olivia’s affairs and take her away.
She had done her own and Jenna’s tests at this identification center so she believed their results would be accurate.
It seemed… true after all.
What she didn’t realize was that everything was under Lucille’s control.
Lucille would only let her see what Lucille wanted her to see.
And what Lucille didn’t want her to see would remain hidden.
“If that’s the case then forget it; if you’re not related then you’re not.” Sylvia could only say this much. “Drive safely; it’s dark and slippery.”
The snow hadn’t completely melted yet; at night when temperatures dropped roads would freeze again. The identification center was quite far from downtown.
“Don’t worry.” Franklin said as he started his car.
Just as he drove out of the parking lot, a man on top of the identification center watched his car disappear into darkness before calmly saying to another man behind him, “He’s gone.”
“Yes sir,” replied a hoarse voice before giving orders: “Move out!”
Immediately a group of men dressed in black moved down the stairs like shadows in the night.