Oliver's Substitute Bride (Oliver and Jessica) novel Chapter 71

She had almost forgotten she had said that if It wasn't Lambert asking now. Because once she had thought that Oliver was terrified and was a real monster, she had wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Now that the relationship between them gradually improved, the thought of leaving stopped appearing. She didn't know how to answer Lambert's question because she hadn't thought that far yet.

Jessica said vaguely, "One step at a time. Things happen. By the way, was Oliver so bad-tempered as a child?"

Lambert's hand clenched on his teacup when he heard Jessica asking about Oliver. He didn't know what to say.

That was the time before Oliver had a car accident. They were still polite to each other at the dinner table during the holiday times. They weren't close, but at least they didn't hate each other as they did now. Oliver felt it was Lambert's fault that Oliver's mother was dead in that car accident because Lambert was the indirect cause. Lambert always felt bad for Oliver but didn't know why it was his fault. He couldn't choose his birth family after all.

Lambert chose to ask back, "Didn't he tell you?"

Jessica smiled awkwardly. "He rarely talked about his childhood."

Not to mention telling her what happened when he was a child, Jessica had never seen a photo of him when he was a child. Perhaps there were some in his study, but she never entered his study without his permission. For the few time that she had been in there, she didn't see any photos either. He seemed not to have any emotions, and he was always alone.

"His personality was totally different when he was a child. He turned into a different person ever since the car accident. Then he went to the United States to recover while studying, and he was very distant from the families."

Lambert didn't want to hide anything, but he didn't say anything about the cause of the accident. It would involve the grudges between the older generations. He couldn't explain it clearly.

Jessica saw Lambert's thoughtful expression and was afraid that she had asked the wrong question. She stood up and said, "I'll go and check if Mr. Halper is back."

She walked towards the door as she spoke.

Lambert put down his tea, mustered up the courage, and asked, "Jessica White, I have something to ask you."

Jessica was not used to being called by her full name. However, when she thought about it, it seemed that when there were no others around, he sometimes did call her by her full name.

"Go ahead."

"If... I mean if you didn't..."

Before Lambert could finish his sentence, Jessica said, "Mr. Halper, I'll take it."

Lambert had no choice but to swallow the rest of his sentence.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Hayden said.

Jessica went to pick up the wine from Hayden's hand. "No worries. Take your time. Would you like to have a cup of tea and take a rest ?"

"I'm fine. Let's go to the restaurant now."

It was indeed lunch time. Three of them walked to a restaurant nearby.