Even After Death by Lilting Champ

Chloe Parker had left when Olivia was eight.

It was Jeff’s birthday, and Olivia had been in high spirits, eager to return home and celebrate her father’s birthday with her family. She never knew that what awaited her was her parents’ divorce.

Olivia had chased after her mother, scrambling down the stairs and falling. She did not even realize that she had lost her shoes. All she cared about was clinging onto her mother’s legs and crying, “Mom, don’t go!”

The graceful woman bent down, stroked Olivia’s cheeks, and said, “I’m sorry.”

“Mom, I’m first in my grade. You haven’t seen my test papers yet. You have to sign them. Don’t leave me, Mom. I’ll be a good girl. I promise I won’t go to any more fun fairs. I won’t make you mad. I’ll listen to you. Please …”

Hastily, young Olivia blubbered everything she could think of in hopes of making Chloe stay. In the end, Chloe simply told Olivia that her marriage with Olivia’s father was not a happy one and that she had found her true happiness elsewhere.

Later, Olivia watched as a man she had never met helped Chloe place her luggage in a car, and they both left while holding each other’s hands. She chased after their car for a mile without wearing any shoes before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Her feet and knees were scraped, and they bled as she stared at the gradually diminishing outline of the car that she could never reach.

At that time, she could not understand what had happened. Now that she was grown up, she knew that it was because her mother had been caught cheating on her father and simply decided to file for a divorce, leaving him with everything, including Olivia herself.

Chloe had never contacted Olivia, and the latter hated her with every fiber of her being. She even hoped that she would never have to meet Chloe again.

However, fate worked in mysterious ways, and Olivia could do nothing to stop it. Her throat went dry and her feet turned to lead.

Chloe knew what was on her daughter’s mind. She approached Olivia and pulled her to sit beside her. “I know you hate me. You were very young back then. Lots of things weren’t as simple as they seemed, so I wasn’t able to explain them to you.”

She caressed Olivia’s cheeks and continued, “Look at you, all grown up now. Liv, now that I’m back, I’ll be staying here permanently. I know something’s happened to the Fordham family. It doesn’t matter, though, because I’ll take care of you.”

her mother was not worth mentioning at all.

have dinner. Chris has taken good care of me for the past few years. He has a daughter who’s older than you by two years. She’s coming over with her fiancé for dinner. I’ll

of Chloe’s new family. She hastily interrupted her, “Mom, I’m here this time for my dad. My family’s bankrupt now, and Dad just had a heart attack, but I don’t have

not yet replied when they heard a

Going so far as to come to my house for

Olivia looked incredulously

be except Marina and

with her again. She never thought that

now Marina’s family. To make things worse, those two had caught her in the act of

but he remained calm and indifferent

a maid pushing in a twin stroller. The moment the babies’ cries started,

four. Olivia’s child would have been

regretting coming here. She felt as if she was being embarrassed and humiliated over and over again. Strangely, one of the babies could not stop crying today. The maid rushed to prepare the

continued soothing the baby. “Be good, and don’t

a baby gently in his arms was heart-warming. Seeing this patient and gentle side of him, Olivia suddenly had a

him and picked up the child. Somehow, Ethan did not stop her from doing so. Even

its lips curved into a smile, and its eyes twinkled as it looked at her. The child then started chuckling and mumbling, “Ama

up in an attempt to grab the fluffy ball-like ornament on her cap. The child was all

was the last straw for her, crushing any bit of persistence

He had been kind to her during their first year

remember him whispering to her,

could she refuse

her studies, she did not hesitate

her, he did

Ethan and darted into the toilet. Then, she locked the door

puked, all that came out was a mixture of her blood and the medications she took. Crimson liquid filled her sight, and tears started flowing down her