Chapter 180 Divorce Agreement
Seeing her own family arrive, Olivia quietly let out a breath of relief. With Nora and Steven by her side, she finally felt a little less tense. If the Reed family tried to impose unfair conditions, Nora and Steven would help her handle it.
Willie pushed the menu toward them and said casually, “Go ahead and order whatever you like. Today’s on me.”
“We’ve already eaten,” Nora replied coolly.
Olivia added, “I’ve eaten as well. You all can finish your meal first. We’ll talk about the divorce once you’re done.”
The Reed family had almost finished eating anyway.
Eleanor set down her utensils, her eyes filled with resentment as she glared coldly at Steven.
Earlier, Willie had mentioned that someone was helping Olivia—apparently it was Nora’s husband. Eleanor didn’t know his name, but there was something about him that made her uneasy. His calm demeanor and commanding presence didn’t seem like that of an ordinary man.
She thought to herself: 'What does Willie and Olivia's divorce have to do with this man? Why is he inserting himself into their business? What a meddlesome outsider.
Still, she didn’t want anyone humiliating Willie either.
Nora leaned slightly toward Steven and whispered, "That old woman keeps staring at you."
“I noticed,” Steven said calmly, meeting Eleanor’s gaze without the slightest hint of discomfort.
His composed expression made Eleanor feel strangely unsettled. The young man didn’t look intimidated at all—if anything, he seemed completely in control.
“I’ll help you stare back,” Nora murmured with a faint smile.
She turned toward Eleanor as well, the couple silently facing her together.
Eleanor’s brows knit together in irritation.
Bianca and Giselle soon joined in, glaring right back.
For a brief moment, the two families sat across from each other in silence, the tension at the table thick and unmistakable.
Finally, Willie cleared his throat, breaking the stalemate.
“Alright, everyone. We’re here today to discuss the divorce, so let’s keep things civil.” He pulled a document from his briefcase and handed it to Olivia. “Olivia, this is the loan I took out when I built the factory. The total amount is ten million dollars. Take a look."
Olivia accepted the document and read through it carefully.
Before she could respond, Bianca couldn’t hold back.
“Olivia, since you’re asking for half of Willie’s company, you should also take responsibility for half the debt,” she said sharply. “The company may have made ten million dollars in profit over the years, but it also owes ten million in loans. So in reality, there’s nothing to divide. You shouldn’t expect to receive a single cent.”
“Bianca, that’s enough,” Willie cut in quickly before turning back to Olivia. “Olivia, regardless of everything, we were husband and wife once. I’m still willing to give you one million dollars. You already took five hundred and forty thousand before. I’ll add another five hundred thousand, and we’ll consider everything settled. How does that sound?”
Olivia remained silent.
Nora gently squeezed her hand, offering silent encouragement.
Feeling Nora's support, Olivia lifted her chin and spoke calmly. "Of course not."
The Reed family immediately looked displeased.
Eleanor’s expression darkened. “Willie offering you one million dollars is already extremely generous. No one else would give you that much. Don’t be so greedy.”
Her tone was deliberately harsh, clearly trying to intimidate Olivia into backing down.
But Olivia simply looked at her coldly. Then she took out several documents from her bag and placed them directly in front of Willie.
"What's this?" Willie asked, confused.
“Take a look first,” Olivia replied evenly.
Willie opened the documents and flipped through a few pages. His face quickly turned pale.
Olivia had uncovered all of his assets.
"Who helped you investigate this?" Willie asked in shock, clearly not expecting Olivia to obtain such detailed information about his private finances.
Olivia’s expression remained calm. "You don't need to know who helped me investigate. Today, we're going to settle the divorceproperly."
In truth, if Willie had been willing to offer five million dollars earlier, Olivia wouldn’t have pursued the matter this far. She would have simply taken the divorce certificate and walked away.
But instead, the Reed family had spent the entire evening scheming, trying to dismiss her with only one million dollars. They clearly thought she was easy to bully.
Since that was the case, she had no reason to remain polite.
Thanks to Alton’s help in investigating Willie’s assets, she now had the leverage she needed.
Olivia looked directly at Willie.
“Apex Technologies is currently valued at ten million dollars. I want five million.”
She continued calmly. “The money used to build the factory was borrowed by you personally. I don’t want the factory, so I won’t take responsibility for that debt. In addition, you made roughly three million dollars from investments over the past two years. I’m only asking for one million of that.” She paused before delivering the final number.
“So altogether, you need to pay me six million dollars.”
“You might as well be robbing us!” Eleanor shouted immediately, slamming her hand on the table and pointing angrily at Olivia.
But Olivia wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
She met Eleanor’s glare with a cold expression.
“The company was founded by Willie and me together. Naturally, I’m entitled to my share.”
Then her voice grew sharper. “On the other hand, your entire family has nothing to do with Apex Technologies. Yet you’ve been living off our money this whole time—staying in our house and spending our income.” Her gaze swept across the Reed family.
“You eat in our home, live under our roof, and spend the money we earned—yet you still have the nerve to accuse me of robbery?”
Olivia let out a cold snort.
“The ones who’ve been robbing us all along—hasn’t that been your family?”
Eleanor was momentarily speechless.
Giselle abruptly stood up. “Olivia, I don’t like you talking like that. Terry and Bianca both work for Willie. How can you call that robbery? Besides, Eleanor is Willie’s mother. As her daughter-in-law, shouldn’t you be supporting her in her old age?”
Olivia’s expression hardened.
“If she hadn’t caused the death of my child, I might have supported her,” she said coldly. “But now, we’re enemies.”
Her gaze shifted to Giselle. “As for Terry—he works at Apex Technologies and earns a salary of twenty thousand dollars a month. That’s more than enough to support his own family. So why are you still living in our house? Why should Willie and I be paying your children’s tuition?”
Her voice grew sharper. “And let’s not forget that Terry has been taking kickbacks from the company and using the corporate card for personal expenses. Do you really expect me to pretend I don’t know about that?”
Giselle opened her mouth to argue but found herself unable to respond.
Olivia continued calmly.
“Now that I think about it, the tuition for your two children, the kickbacks Terry took, and the personal charges on the company card—all of that should be calculated as part of Willie’s share of the company.” She leaned back slightly.
“You can spend Willie’s half however you like, but I won’t allow my half to be touched. So Terry had better prepare that money. Otherwise, I’ll take this to court and let a judge settle it.”
Giselle gasped and gripped her water glass tightly.
Inside, she was furious. Olivia was going too far—demanding compensation even for the children’s tuition. There was no way she would agree to pay that money.
"Olivia, don't push things too far!” Eleanor slammed her hand on the table. “Terry gave up his chance to attend college so Willie could go instead. That’s why Willie has everything he has today. Now that Willie is capable, what’s wrong with helping his nephews and niece with their tuition? The brothers have always had a good relationship. Don’t try to drive a wedge between them!”
"What does that have to do with me?" Olivia gave a cold laugh. Her eyes were icy.
“That’s a responsibility you, as parents, should bear for your child. Yet you’ve placed the burden entirely on Willie.” Her tone turned even sharper.
“My sister and I didn’t have money for college either. We took out student loans and worked our way through school. So don’t claim Terry ‘gave up’ college for Willie. He could have gone too—he simply didn’t want to put in the effort.”
Her blunt words left the Reed family members looking extremely uncomfortable.
“Nora, your sister is amazing,” Nora whispered quietly to Steven.
Steven chuckled softly.“A woman who has finally awakened is a force to be reckoned with.”
Nora nodded in agreement, feeling even more admiration for Olivia.
The Reed family fell silent, unable to refute her.
Bianca wanted to argue back, but Olivia shot her a sharp glare before she could speak. “And you, Bianca,” Olivia said coldly. “How many designer bags and luxury clothes have you bought using the company’s money?”
Her voice turned threateningly calm. “Don’t think you can get away with it. I’ll investigate everything later—and when I do, you’ll be paying back my share as well.”
Bianca was left speechless, her face flushing bright red.
Nora felt a surge of satisfaction and couldn’t help laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Bianca snapped, glaring at her.
“I’ll laugh if I want to. It’s none of your business.” Nora raised her brows, her voice light with mockery. “Besides, before you start worrying about designer bags, maybe you should calculate how much you still owe Olivia. And you still have the energy to argue here? That’s honestly hilarious.”
"You!" Bianca was so furious she nearly lunged at her.
Steven stood up, his eyes coSteven rose from his seat, his expression turning icy.
“Go ahead. Touchg her and see what happens."
Bianca froze. She didn’t dare move another step and quickly retreated behind Willie. “Willie, he’s bullying me!” she complained, clinging to his arm.
Willie looked exhausted, rubbing his temples.
“That’s enough. Stop arguing. Let’s sit down and talk this through like adults.”
"If you want to talk properly,” Olivia said as she calmly took her seat, “then stop trying to cheat me.”
Steven watched the Reed family silently.
In his mind, they had already crossed the line too many times. He had been planning to investigate Terry and Bianca for a while now. Once he found something solid, he would make sure they paid back every cent they owed Olivia.
And not just for Olivia. They had caused Nora trouble again and again. Steven had tolerated them long enough.
After finishing the asset statement, Willie pressed his lips together and turned to Olivia. “Olivia… we were married for years. Do you really have to go this far?”
Olivia met his gaze without hesitation.
“How far am I going?” she replied calmly. “I’m only taking back what belongs to me.”
Willie sighed heavily.
“You humiliated me at the company on Friday, and now you’re forcing me to hand over this much money. Olivia, are you trying to drive me into bankruptcy?”
A cold smile tugged at Olivia’s lips.
“Dividing marital assets equals bankruptcy?”
“You know perfectly well I don’t have that kind of cash on hand,” Willie said frankly.
The moment he saw the asset statement in Olivia’s hands, he had already realized he couldn’t escape this. Olivia had uncovered everything.
Even if he refused to cooperate, the court would eventually force him to pay the same amount. In fact, it might cost him even more after legal fees and taxes.
Negotiating privately was still the better option.
Willie fell silent for a moment, his hands clasped together as he stared down at the table. "You know most of my money is tied up in the factory. I don’t have much liquid cash right now.”
Olivia leaned back slightly.
“How much cash do you actually have on hand?”
"If you insist on divorcing now, I can only give you another five hundred thousand dollars,” Willie said after a pause. He looked at her carefully before continuing.
“Or… we could delay the divorce. Give me three years. Once I recover the money, I’ll pay you everything.”
In Willie’s mind, three years would be more than enough. By then, he believed he could easily make a fortune again.
Paying Olivia five million dollars at that point wouldn’t be a problem.
Olivia fell silent.
It seemed Willie truly didn’t have much cash available right now.
After a moment, Olivia called Steven and Nora out of the private room. The three of them stood near the doorway to discuss the situation.
“What do you think? Should I agree to his proposal?” Olivia asked, looking at them both with some hesitation.
Nora wasn’t familiar with matters like asset division and financial negotiations. She instinctively turned to Steven, relying on his judgment.
Steven glanced at her briefly before turning to Olivia.
In a low voice, he asked, "Does he really have no money left?"