However, Eugene acted as if nothing had happened. Plus, he was unscathed and remained standing behind Olivia, utterly silent. He had reverted back to his boy toy appearance as his eyes were filled with absolute adoration for Olivia.
Alice found it amusing and a little envious. She had heard Albert talk about Eugene Nolan, the legend of Criecia and the owner of Nolan Group's business empire that spanned the globe. Promise Island was also on par with Double Dragon Court. Yet, this man was willing to stand behind Olivia and be there for her whenever she needed him.
Who wouldn't envy such unconditional love? "Mr. Nolan, Doctor Maxwell, it's my fault for not being forceful enough. I apologize to both of you."
Alice bowed to them sincerely.
After all, she was still the Queen. So, her apology and the delivery of said apology took them completely off guard.
Olivia hurriedly went to support her. "Oh, no. There's no need for that. We're fine."
Eugene also said, "If it weren't for the Queen's protection today, we might not have been able to leave the palace."
"No, I will protect you with my life."
Alice glanced at the anxious Albert and then looked at Eugene and Olivia. "Let's go inside and talk. We can't risk Godmother's health by exposing her to such winds."
Eugene answered, "Alright."
The group promptly entered the house. Yet, Albert couldn't take his eyes off Olivia. Although his heart had given him the answer to all his questions earlier, he didn't dare to ask or say anything. He was afraid that it might be the answer he feared the most.
If that happened, there was no way he could compensate for his mistakes!
Everyone took their seats, and Alice immediately turned to Doreen and said, "Godmother, did you know? Doctor Maxwell is the lady assassin who came to the palace five years ago. She had obtained the necklace, but later, she returned the necklace to me after seeing me cry so bitterly. Then, she tasked me to find a fake one to replace it. At that time, I wondered how someone so softhearted could ever be an assassin. Later, I had someone secretly look for you, but we couldn't find you."
Olivia's smile took on a bitter tinge. "That was because my mother had passed away recently. When I saw you sob your heart out, I couldn't help but empathize with you. That's why I requested you to find a fake necklace for me. Yet, that decision almost cost the three of us our lives. At that time, Joseph and Jonathan treated us fairly well. So, I naively thought that we would just get slightly beaten up for failing our mission. I never expected that they would take one look at the necklace and know it was fake. They threw my senior, who was barely alive, into the sea without caring about his life. If it weren't for my master saving him, he would have died right then."
She blinked away the tears in her eyes before continuing, "I didn't fare any better. I experienced various forms of torture due to my failure. Later, my master paid a ransom to Jonathan and spent twenty million to rescue me and my senior, George. The last of our trio couldn't be rescued at the time due to lack of funds, and she almost lost her life in the fire. Fortunately, Fate wasn't done with us just yet, so we managed to narrowly escape with our lives. I don't regret exchanging the necklace with you, but I do regret that my decision had cost the others so dearly."
This time, she couldn't restrain her tears as they rolled down her cheeks.
Now, it seemed as though it was nothing to fear. Regardless, there was no denying the fact that she almost collapsed due to the guilt.
She felt even worse when she saw her senior lying on the bed and living like a comatose patient. He had to rely on intravenous nutrition to live. It only made things even more unbearable for her when she learned that Jewel had been burned to death in the fire.
At the time, she was so ashamed of her decision that she wished day after day that she could go back in time and change the course of action that had brought them so much suffering.
Eugene hugged her tenderly, wiping away her tears while comforting her, saying, "Don't blame yourself. This decision wasn't made by you alone. All three of you had agreed to it. If even one person said no to that option, you wouldn't have exchanged the necklace, right? Just look at how much they still care about you. None of them blame you for your decision that night."
Olivia sobbed harder. "That's why I blame myself even more. If it weren't for my suggestion, they wouldn't have considered exchanging the necklace. All the hardships they were forced to endure were all because of me."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Super Wife’s Three Babies