Chapter 26 Ruin

Claire had never heard Oliver call another man his dad before, so she snaked her arms around him tighter and worriedly examined every inch of his body. “Ollie, how have you been these days? Are you hurt?”

“Nope!” Oliver shook his head. “I’m not hurt. Grandma looked after me while you were gone, so don’t worry!”

Only after confirming there wasn’t a single scratch on Oliver did Claire relax—but that was also when she noticed something was wrong.

“Grandma?” she asked. As she started getting confused, she noticed the elegantly dressed woman who sipped tea under the gazebo while watching her. The woman bore a slight resemblance to Javier, meaning she was likely Javier’s mother, much to Claire’s dismay. Shocked by the twist of events, Claire wondered, “What’s going on? Why has Oliver ended up in Mr. Marquez’s home? Oh, whatever. I can’t push aside my manners just because I’m confused by everything.”

With that thought, she held Oliver’s hands and brought him to the woman. “You must be Mr. Ma