Chapter 159 Seeking Peace? Nothing but a Scheme

Chapter 159 Seeking Peace? Nothing but a Scheme

From the very beginning, Ethan and Martin had never seen Olivia as their equal.

They dismissed everything she did and denied every contribution she made.

In their minds, it was only natural that Olivia gave everything for them.

So whenever someone publicly criticized or bad-mouthed Olivia, their first instinct was never to defend her. They would simply go along with the outsiders and put her down.

Because deep down, they believed Olivia was beneath them. Even without outside interference, their life together would never have been truly happy.

As Ethan and Martin climbed higher and drifted further away, they would only grow more dismissive of Olivia's sacrifices, eventually erasing every trace of her worth and presence.

After saying all this, Olivia looked steadily at Martin.

"Go home. I can pretend today never happened, but don't come looking for me again. If you keep harassing me, I'll move — somewhere you'll never find me."

Martin's attempt to act cute and beg for forgiveness froze instantly. He looked up at Olivia in disbelief, his eyes brimming with hot tears.

He stood there, lost and at a loss for what to do. Just then, a luxury car pulled up nearby, and a small figure came running over.

"Aunt Olivia, I'm here to pick you up! Guess what — I won first place in my piano competition yesterday! My teacher gave me a hair pin as a prize, and I want to give it to you!"

Bobby's voice was young and bright, bursting with joy he couldn't hide.

Olivia reached out and pulled him into her arms, tilting her head slightly so he could pin the hair pin into her hair.

The two of them laughed and joked around, completely ignoring Martin, who was still standing there like a statue.

Martin felt his throat tighten, as if something was stuck there. His heart ached, but the tears wouldn't come.

He stared blankly at their retreating figures, his vision going dark — and then he collapsed.

By the time Ethan arrived, this was the scene he walked into: Olivia and Bobby chatting and laughing together, while Martin lay flat on the ground.

His heart lurched. He rushed over, scooped Martin up, and hurried after Olivia, his face full of anger.

"Olivia, that's going too far! Even if Martin did something wrong before, he was manipulated by someone else. He's your own son. You're busy fussing over an outsider while your own child passes out right in front of you and you don't even care. How is that okay?"

Ethan's brow was furrowed tight as he lashed out at her, but Olivia didn't spare him a single glance.

He felt a flicker of irritation but kept talking anyway.

"I've already looked into what happened before. It was Hestia's fault — she was the one bullying you and stirring up trouble. I didn't get to the truth in time, and that's on me."

He paused, then shifted his tone.

"But you're not without fault either. If you had just explained yourself from the start and shown some proof, things never would have gotten this far."

Listening to him twist the facts and turn everything back on her, Olivia almost laughed out of sheer disbelief.

She looked at Ethan. "So what exactly are you trying to say?"

Ethan shifted uncomfortably under her gaze and cleared his throat.

"Olivia, all the misunderstandings have been cleared up. Come back. Martin needs his mother, and I… I need you too."

He lowered his voice on that last part, staring at her with a forced look of sincerity.

But Olivia suddenly burst out laughing.

Catching Ethan completely off guard, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

The sharp crack of the slap stunned everyone present.

Ethan's expression darkened instantly. He was about to say something when Olivia cut him off.

"If something's wrong with your head, go get it fixed — don't waste my time," she said coldly. "What's the matter, Mr. Wood? Are you really so desperate that you'd come here just to humiliate yourself? Yes, Hestia went too far — but even she isn't as disgusting as you. You didn't trust your own wife, but you took an outsider's word without question. And when things fell apart, you dumped all the blame on everyone else. Is that really how you operate?"

Her words tore his dignity to shreds.

Ethan's face turned ugly. He forced down his anger.

"Olivia, I know you're upset, but we're still husband and wife…"

"We've been divorced for a long time."

Olivia's voice was ice-cold. "I've made myself very clear. Ethan, I have absolutely no interest in getting back together with you. Stay away from me — you're making me sick."

With that, Olivia turned and got in the car.

Ethan stood frozen, unable to pull himself together.

Simon sat inside the car, watching the whole scene play out with a quiet smile on his lips.

As the car slowly pulled away from Ethan and his group, Simon picked up a document from beside him.

"Olivia, Ethan didn't come just to get back together with you. What he really wants is that ten percent stake you're holding."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, took the document, and flipped through it quickly, zeroing in on the key details.

"Ethan is about to go bankrupt?"

Simon gave a light laugh and explained patiently, "Bankruptcy is still a stretch, but he's taken a serious hit. Douglas openly showed his dislike for him at the birthday party last time, and that, combined with a string of recent negative incidents that his rivals have been fanning the flames on, has cost Wood Corporation over a dozen partnerships in just one month."

"On top of that, a number of investors who were trying to get in Douglas's good graces have very publicly pulled their money out of Wood Corporation. At this point, the company has lost more than a tenth of its total assets."

"The terms of your divorce agreement got leaked online and sparked a huge backlash. Ethan is scrambling right now. He desperately wants to get your shares back to stabilize things."

Simon laid it all out clearly, making sure Olivia didn't miss anything important.

Olivia's eyes lit up when he finished, and she broke into a smile.

"Simon, do something for me. Let everyone we know in the industry know — I'm selling off all my Wood Corporation shares."

Simon looked mildly surprised. "You're going to bleed him dry?"

"Exactly." Olivia didn't hesitate. "His company is already in crisis. The moment word gets out that I'm dumping my shares, he'll completely panic."

Simon pointed out, "But Wood Corporation's assets have taken a big hit. He doesn't have much liquid cash left."

Olivia wasn't worried at all. She gave a sly blink.

"He may not have much cash, but he still owns a lot of property. What I want is to force him to sell those assets at a loss just to stay afloat."

"Simon, keep an eye on his moves. The moment he lists any property for sale, let me know right away."