Diane didn’t like this topic but steered the conversation to her advantage. It was easy to become a loose woman in such moments.
She suggested Olivia bring men to stir Johan’s jealousy, provided places for their trysts, and even spread rumors in high society.
“When I tried to persuade her to stop betraying you, she would punish me.”
“Just give me the names.”
Johan’s voice was colder, but Diane felt an inner laugh. However, she wondered why he was asking now when he had shown no interest during their marriage.
“Kyle Mitchum, a ballet dancer. Then Andrey Nikolai, the painter who did her portrait. Milton Lamont was a shoemaker.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
“The chance of my wife meeting someone else without your knowledge?”
“Impossible. I always accompanied her outside.”
“And her meeting with Edgar Langerster Lancelot?”
“Excuse me?”
Diane was again taken aback.
Why was that name coming up here?
Diane was getting irritated. She didn’t want to waste time like this.
“As far as I know, they never had a personal meeting.”
At that moment, Johan looked strangely at her. He gazed at his wine glass and said indifferently.
“Leave, please.”
“What?”
Diane almost repeated her question in disbelief.
Having been at Lancelot Hotel for nearly a week, Olivia was growing fond of this unfamiliar place. It was time to decide on her future residence.
“Brier…”
While folding the map, Olivia murmured to herself.
“What’s famous there?” asked Ann, brushing Olivia’s luscious brown hair that fell to her lower back.
“Not really. Just thinking of living there.”
“In Brier?”
“Yes.”
Staying in a hotel indefinitely wasn’t feasible, so finding a house was the right thing to do, but she hadn’t expected it to be in Litten.
Ann assumed that Olivia was simply traveling for a change of scenery. She thought the long journey would eventually lead back to Rondos. But it seemed Rondos was no longer in Olivia’s future.
“Brier’s roses are famous for being the most beautiful in Brite. Maybe they make money. Should we start a rose farm here? What do you think, Ann?”
Olivia’s voice was slightly excited.
“If you like it, Miss, I like it too.”
“Then, how about we visit this weekend?”
“Yes, Miss.”
Ann neatly arranged Olivia’s lush brown hair with a wooden-handled brush, then tied it up high with a blue ribbon.
“I’m thinking of cutting my hair.”
“Really?”
“A bob might suit me, don’t you think?”
“Well…”
Ann hesitated, recalling a girl smaller and more delicate than her peers.
The girl’s arms and legs were scrawny, underfed, but her thick brown hair seemed to absorb all the nutrients from her body, shining and voluminous.
The countess, with a handle of black scissors, roughly grabbed the girl’s hair and mercilessly cut it. She didn’t care even when the sharp scissors scratched the girl’s scalp and drew blood.
Thus, the girl’s hair was cut until she was seventeen and left the attic. Olivia would tremble at the sight of scissors.
“…Are you sure you’re okay?”
Ann asked cautiously.
Olivia hadn’t had her hair cut since leaving the attic.
“Yes. It will be convenient and nice.”
“Don’t do it for me, Miss. I love handling your hair.”
Ann’s expression seemed off. Olivia looked into her frozen past.
‘Ah…!’
After a moment of silence, Olivia smiled and said, “It’s okay now. Next time we have time, cut it nicely for me.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Ann nodded.
Olivia headed to the tennis court with Ann. They planned to make full use of the free tennis court until leaving the hotel.
Arriving ten minutes early for her appointment with Elaine, Olivia warmed up, swinging her racket lightly.
Under the clear morning sun, she closed her eyes, breathing in the cool air. Amidst the chirping birds, she heard footsteps.
Opening her eyes, Olivia turned with a smile. Edgar, dressed in tennis gear, was walking through the maze-like green walls. Their eyes met unexpectedly.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
