"How dare she take my place?" She mumbled irately in front of the mirror, staring at her blazing eyes while gritting her teeth.
Her mother was right. It was her fault. She shouldn’t have left. Now, that woman sat on her throne, wearing her crown.
"Does she think she has won? Well, think again." She would not stop until she got back what was hers in the first place.
As long as no one discovered her secret, she still had a trick up her sleeve. She just had to play her cards right.
"You shouldn’t have co back, Alia." She whispered. A silent promise escaped her lips.
This ti, she would finish what her mother had failed to do.
"How dare Maximus give his shares to that nobody?" Again, she rumbled, unable to believe what she just witnessed.
She ca to the Morton Group’s office to visit her ex-husband, hoping that she could have so alone ti with him.
But to her irritation, the woman at the reception wouldn’t even allow her entry without an appointnt.
"Don’t you know who I am?" She questioned the woman, who kept a tight, polite smile on her lips.
How dare Oliver ban her from entering his establishnt? Even if they were divorced, she was still the mother of his child, at least in their eyes.
"Of course, you’re Ms. Hazel Smith." The woman courteously said, maintaining her professional deanor. "Who wouldn’t know who you are? But still, I couldn’t let you in without..."
But she didn’t let her finish as she saw the private elevator to the top floor open, and a senior executive entered.
Without another word, she walked straight to the open elevator doors and stepped inside. In a few seconds, she found herself outside the CEO’s office.
"I’m sorry, but you can’t..."
Again, she ignored his secretary and strode straight inside without knocking, walking into the middle of a serious conversation.
"Those shares should be mine." She fisted her fingers as a burning hatred consud her.
As the first wife of Oliver, Maximus should have given those shares to her. Instead, her ex-father-in-law just paid her a few million dollars to silence her and for her to relinquish her right to that child.
What a fool! She shouldn’t have agreed. But she was young and stupid.
But now, she had learned her lesson.
"What ga are you playing, Alia?" Of course, she already figured it out as she thought of that woman who was playing as Oliver’s wife.
Sophia was none other than Oliver’s old fla, Alia. That fat, obnoxious girl he t in college. The real mother of the child she pretended to have given birth to.
Sophia definitely had changed. Honestly, she didn’t recognized her. If not for her na, the na of that woman who was rushed to the hospital after a car accident. The woman who had given birth to a baby boy, she would never know that they were the sa person.
After her parents learned about her existence, they had been following her and her family. Watching their every movent. That night, her mother told her that they tried to escape.
Their n chased them, but the accident happened. When her mother, Linda, saw the child, she imdiately set her plans to action.
"You’re going to Oliver and tell him that this child was from that night." Her mother said when she brought the child ho.
"If you had only borne his child, then we never would have had to resort to this." Linda’s voice was laced with disappointnt, but she had been used to it.
Therefore, she did, hoping that finally she could use the child to earn Oliver’s love.
There was a ti when she tried to be the child’s mother. She genuinely cared for Caleb, wanting them to be a real family. But Oliver’s indifference to their marriage made her heart as hard as stone and as cold as ice.
At a certain point, every ti she looked at the young boy, she only saw Alia. Caleb had beco a constant reminder that Oliver would never learn to love her, no matter what she did.
Her sweet love eventually turned bitter. Every minute she spent in that mansion had beco a prison. Every ti Caleb called her Mom, it drove her crazy until she couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
"Don’t ever call Mom ever again." She angrily shouted at the child, making the young boy scramble back in fright.
It was not the child’s fault. He was innocent. Of course, she knew that. But at that point, she didn’t care anymore.
If Oliver didn’t care about her feelings, why would she care about his child?
The first chance she got, she packed up her bag, left and never looked back. She took the money that Maximus offered, thinking it was for the best. Then, she pursued her career.
But she never realized that she would regret it.
Regret leaving Oliver and the Morton na.
Now, Oliver was married to that woman, Sophia. The woman who had vanished after she buried her parents and the dead child they had replaced with her real child.
Why was she back? What was her plan? Did she realize that Caleb was actually her child?
What about the Morton family? What did they know?
But from the way Oliver and Maximus were acting, it seed they didn’t have a clue yet.
"Hmmm!" It seed she could use that to her advantage.
But she had to act fast before the truth blew up on her face.
In the anti, she was still fuming with the way the father and son had behaved towards her.
"How could they humiliate like this?" She continued, complaining. Her voice was full of indignation.
She rembered she had barely stepped into the room when Maximus ordered the security to escort her out again.
That old fart would pay for acting as if they were never once an ally. For betraying her. For turning against her.
"Calm down, my darling. Throwing tantrums will get you nowhere." Finally, another voice echoed in the rectangular room, bouncing off the tiled walls.
"Now, find sothing you can use to get rid of that woman before she ruins everything." The undeniable commanding voice of her mother bood through the phone’s speaker.
Gathering herself, she squared her shoulders and retouched her makeup. "Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll make sure that woman learns what happens to people who ss with the Smith family."
Ending the call, she grabbed her phone from the counter and shoved it back into her bag. But before she could take a step, the squeaking of the hinge of the door reached her ears.
Then, at the periphery of her vision, she saw a door open. Realization dawned on her. She was not alone.
"Who’s there?" She froze, her eyes widened, not expecting that there was another person in the room.
Apparently, soone else was inside the cubicle as the clicking of heels reverberated on the tiled floors.
Imdiately, she wondered how much of her conversation with her mother the woman had heard.
Was she eavesdropping this entire ti?
"Ms. Smith." The woman calmly said, greeting her with such familiarity. It was evident that hiding her identity had just gone out of the window.
"Don’t you rember ?" The unknown woman added with a sweet, friendly smile.
The woman walked slowly toward her, carrying the grace and confidence of a woman who belonged in her social elite circle.
Then, recognition.
A familiar face that she swore she had seen on many occasions. However, she believed they hadn’t had the opportunity to get formally introduced.
"Elizabeth," The younger woman introduced herself. "From the Winston family." Adding the na of one of the prestigious families in this part of the region.
Finally, it clicked. The woman was indeed from one of the elite families. But she appeared considerably younger.
"Hazel..." She said with a calculated smile, studying the woman to see whether she was possibly an ally or a threat.
"I have been a fan..." Elizabeth moved closer.
But she cut her off. She didn’t want soone to worship her. She needed soone who would help her.
"I don’t know how much of my conversation you heard..." She was about to warn her, but this ti, Elizabeth interrupted her.
"I think we have a common enemy," Elizabeth’s soft tone said with a glint in her eyes that seed to mirror how she felt. "If you want, we can help each other out." She suggested with a malicious smile that covered her lips.
The proposal sounded sweet and enticing, but could she trust her?
Under her discerning eyes, she scrutinized the young woman. But after a few seconds, she thought to give it a try.
Besides, at that mont, she had no choice. Either she declared her an enemy, or she took her offered help.
"Okay, but I think we should continue this conversation sowhere else." She said, not wanting soone else to overhear their conversation.
It was bad enough that she had lost her temper and gotten herself into this situation. She could not afford to ss it up again.
With that said, Elizabeth leaned closer to her ear and whispered a ti and a place where they should et.
If Elizabeth were really working under Oliver, then she could prove to be useful to her. She could beco her eyes and ears in the Morton Group.
However, she still needed to be cautious. Why would soone like her want to take down her enemy? What did Sophia do to her?
What was Elizabeth’s motive?
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