Chapter 37: The False Gift
Chapter 37: The False Gift
(Olivia’s POV)
Although this was within my expectations, and it was the result I wanted, my heart still ached. The image of Cassius Shadowcrest floated in my mind. Although we haven’t known each other for long, every expression, every smile, every elegant and calm movement of his has been clearly preserved in my memory.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. This wasn’t the time to dwell on what might have been. The confrontation with my family demanded my full attention.
The mate bond dissolution agreement sat in my bag, ready to be signed. After years
umiliation and pain,
I would finally be free of Graham Storm. The thought should have filled me with joy, but instead, I felt
strangely hollow..
I parked my car outside the Northern Territory Medical Center, steeling myself for what was to come. The
hospital’s antiseptic smell hit me as soon as I walked through the sliding doors.
Following the nurse’s directions, I made my way to the intensive care unit where Bella was being treated. I’d
expected to find my father and Gloria still detained, but they were already there, undoubtedly released early
thanks to Graham’s influence.
Bella lay in the hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines and IV drips. Her skin had a yellowish tinge, a symptom of her heart failure. She looked frail, her cheekbones protruding sharply against her pale skin.
Graham sat beside her, holding her hand. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his usually immaculate appearance had given way to rumpled clothes and messy hair. He looked up as I entered, relief washing over
his exhausted face.
“You came,” he said, rising to his feet,
I nodded curtly, keeping my distance. “I said I would.”
Bella’s eyes fluttered open, locking onto me with a mixture of resentment and frustration. Even at death’s
door, her hatred for me burned bright.
“Did you bring it?” Graham asked, his voice low and urgent.
patted my bag. “I have the agreement ready to be signed.”
Gloria stepped forward, her face twisted with anger. “We’re not talking about your precious agreement.
Where’s the bracelet?”
“Gloria,” my father warned, placing a restraining hand on her arm.
I met her gaze coolly. “I see you’ve been released. How unfortunate.”
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “You think you’re so clever, getting us detained like that.”
“It’s not like you haven’t deceived me once or twice,” I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
Graham cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the tension. “Olivia, please. Bella doesn’t have much
time.”
< Chapter 37: The False Gift
I turned my attention to him, pulling out the agreement. “First things first. This needs to be signed and
witnessed.”
He hesitated, glancing at Bella’s frail form.
“The bracelet for the agreement,” I said firmly. “That was our deal.”
With a resigned nod, Graham took the document and began reading through it. I watched as his eyes scanned each clause, each condition I’d meticulously included to ensure my freedom.
I took out my phone and snapped photos of each page as he signed, sending them immediately to my lawyer
for verification. I wasn’t taking any chances with Graham or my family.
Gloria paced impatiently, shooting venomous glares in my direction. My father stood by the window, his face grim and unreadable.
My phone buzzed with a message from my lawyer: “All in order. Proceed.”
I took the agreement from Graham and added my signature to the final page. “When will the official announcement be made? And the meeting regarding the severance of our relationship and change in
company ownership?”
My father spoke up for the first time. “Monday morning. Nine o’clock.”
I nodded, tucking the signed agreement safely into my bag. “I’ll be there.”
“Now,” Gloria demanded, stepping forward with her hand outstretched. “The bracelet.”
I ignored her, moving instead toward Bella’s bedside. Graham tensed, shifting slightly as if to protect her from
- me.
I raised an eyebrow at his reaction. “You’re nervous about what? I’m not going to lay a hand on someone who has one foot in the grave. It would dirty my hands.”
Bella’s lips curved into a weak smile. “Always so high and mighty, aren’t you, Olivia?”
Graham helped her sit up, adjusting her pillows with tender care that made my stomach turn. The devotion in his eyes as he looked at her was unmistakable.
“I’ve always wondered,” Bella continued, her voice barely above a whisper, “what it is about you that makes everyone think you’re so special.”
I remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
“Your clothes, your company, your status…” She paused, drawing a labored breath. “Even Graham. I wanted it all. Everything you had, everything you valued.”
Her admission stunned me. After years of her playing the innocent victim, here was the truth at last.
I turned to Graham. “Do you hear that? Didn’t you always say I was overthinking it, that Bella was so innocent and naive, and wouldn’t have such thoughts–do you still think so now?”
Graham looked away, unable to meet my eyes. His silence was answer enough.
Bella reached for his hand, her thin fingers clutching his desperately. “The bracelet. Give it here. You’ve already signed the papers to get your shares back and dissolve our relationship Do you want to go back on your word?”
< Chapter 37: The False Gift
49 Ponts
I hesitated, my hand moving to my wrist where the moonstone bracelet sat warm against my skin. It was the last physical connection I had to my mother, a precious heirloom that had somehow found its way back to
- me.
“Olivia,” Graham pleaded. “Please.”
With a deep breath, I unclasped the bracelet and held it out. “Here.”
Graham took it from me, his fingers brushing mine briefly. I pulled my hand back as if burned.
He turned to Bella, gently slipping the moonstone bracelet onto her wrist. It looked wrong there, alien against
her sickly skin.
Bella’s lips curved into a triumphant smile as she admired the bracelet. “It doesn’t look like much, does it?
Just an ordinary piece of jewelry.”
I felt a surge of anger at her dismissive tone. “Even if it seems ordinary to you, it’s still something you can’t truly have. The moonstone responds to bloodlines, and it was my mother’s.”
Her smile faltered slightly, but she recovered quickly. “Your mother,” she spat, her voice suddenly venomous.
“Let me tell you something about your precious mother.”
I tensed, sensing the malice behind her words.
“To be precise, it was your mother who started it! My father and my mother were meant to be together and were going to marry, but your mother took a fancy to my father and insisted on being with him, stealing him away! My mother was already pregnant at the time, and she lost the baby later. Fortunately, fate smiled on her, and later my mother became pregnant again, and she was actually pregnant with twins. The lost child came back as Thomas and me…” Bella claimed, her voice weakening but her eyes burning with hatred.
I stared at her in shock, unable to believe what I was hearing. “That’s a lie,” I whispered, my voice shaking with rage. “My mother would never do something like that.”
Bella’s eyes gleamed with malicious satisfaction. “Ask your father if you don’t believe me. Ask him who really came between him and my mother.”
I turned to my father, searching his face for any sign of denial. But he wouldn’t meet my eyes, his gaze fixed firmly on the floor.
“It’s not true,” I insisted, though doubt had begun to creep in. “My mother loved my father. She would never-” “Your mother was a manipulative b***h who couldn’t stand to see others happy,” Gloria interjected, her voice cold. “She saw what Ambrose and I had and couldn’t bear it. She seduced him away from me, knowing I was carrying his child.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. “You’re lying. Both of you.”
Bella laughed weakly. “Why would we lie? What would be the point now? I’m dying, Olivia. I have nothing to gain by making this up.”
I looked at Graham, hoping for support, but he was focused entirely on Bella, stroking her hair with gentle fingers.
“My mother was a good person,” I said, my voice breaking. “She wouldn’t have done what you’re accusing her
of.”
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