Chapter 163 Tangled Webs

Chapter 163 Tangled Webs

Olivia finished speaking, and Azalea froze on the spot.

She never expected that digging a little into the past would uncover so much dirty truth.

Azalea's legs gave out and she sank onto the sofa, muttering to herself.

"How could this be... why would she do something like that?"

Olivia didn't explain directly. She just spoke in a flat tone.

"Sometimes, simply existing is enough to be a crime."

And that was the truth.

After Barney drove Ursula away, he quickly regretted it and had been quietly searching for her ever since.

Tony and Murray couldn't accept it at first either, but after years of living with Penelope, they had long come to see her as a capable younger sister, and had even grown to resent the mother who had left.

When Penelope learned of Ursula's existence through the two brothers, she immediately had someone look into it.

Ursula had only been on guard against Barney. She never saw Penelope coming — how calculating she was, how skilled. Penelope not only tracked down Ursula, but also discovered that when Ursula left, she had a child with her.

Sharp as she was, Penelope understood immediately that she could never allow Ursula and her biological daughter to return to the Barnett family. If they came back, everything she had, her entire position, would be gone.

She had originally planned to erase every trace of Ursula and Olivia, but Ursula always had people around her, and Penelope could never find the right opening.

Later, when she learned that Ursula had no intention of returning to the family, she quietly helped conceal their whereabouts instead. That was a big reason why Barney had never been able to find them all those years.

After Ursula died, Olivia was alone in the world and seemed to pose no threat at all.

Penelope then dug into everything between Olivia and the Wood family.

The plan she had set in motion — drugging Olivia and getting her into Ethan's bed — had a simple purpose. In her eyes, the Wood family had money and influence, but they were no match for the Barnetts.

Getting Olivia married to Ethan would, first of all, give her enough financial security to live comfortably for the rest of her life, so she would never feel the need to go looking into her own past or try to reclaim her place in the family.

Second, an Olivia who had been married and had a child could never compete with someone as polished and accomplished as herself.

Having pieced together all the hidden schemes, Olivia let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.

Barney had certainly taught Penelope well. Every dirty trick of elite family politics — she had mastered them all.

Olivia felt suffocated inside, but her expression grew even calmer.

Azalea felt sick to her stomach. Her face kept shifting through different expressions until she finally couldn't hold it back and dry-heaved.

"This is absolutely disgusting. A so-called illegitimate daughter of a prestigious family, and she could do something this vicious just to protect her position and lifestyle."

"But she succeeded, didn't she?"

Olivia's tone was flat, like she was telling someone else's story.

"The place Penelope holds in Barney's heart now is far beyond anything my mother or I could claim. Barney talks about guilt and regret, but he never had any intention of making my identity public. That's exactly the outcome Penelope wanted."

Azalea had nothing to say to that. She felt a weight pressing down on her chest.

Olivia thought back to how Penelope had deliberately acted like a stranger when they met, and her guard went up even further.

Her phone rang again. She rejected the call and turned to Azalea with a calm, steady voice.

"Get me in touch with Barney. Tell him I agree to every condition he put forward. But I have one demand — I want Ethan completely destroyed."

On the other side of the city, Ethan had no idea any of this was happening.

He sat with a dark expression, staring hard at his phone.

Saskia sat nearby, her face just as grim.

"She's still not picking up?"

Ethan said nothing. The silence was answer enough.

Saskia's anger flared instantly. She slammed her hand on the table.

"That woman! I knew she would never stay in line! I told you from the start — never give her those shares! And what did you say? You said she was Martin's mother, that the shares would eventually come back to Martin anyway, that nothing could go wrong! And now? She's trying to sell them off! Is this your idea of foolproof?"

She glared at him, her face tight with fury.

Ethan was already irritated. Her ranting pushed him over the edge.

"Enough. I'll handle it. Stay out of it."

He waved his hand, signaling her to leave.

That gesture sent Saskia over the edge. She shot back with open contempt.

"You'll handle it? How exactly? I've been going along with everything you wanted, and what has it gotten us?"

"I told you not to marry Olivia. You wouldn't listen. You dug your heels in just to spite me, brought her home, then treated her like she didn't exist."

"Then I told you not to divorce her. You still wouldn't listen. And now she's gone, and the shares are almost gone with her. If you had listened to me even once, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Saskia kept seeing it in her mind — Douglas publicly acknowledging Olivia as his granddaughter in front of everyone.

If they hadn't divorced, maybe they could have used the Campbell family's influence to hold their ground.

And even setting that aside, if Ethan had never married Olivia in the first place, they wouldn't have made enemies of the Campbells at all.

But now Douglas had called them out in front of the entire social elite. Half their business partners were sitting on the fence, and the rest were slowly pulling away.

In just one month, Wood Corporation's market value had dropped by a tenth.

At this rate, they wouldn't last long before the whole thing collapsed.

Saskia's resentment was eating her alive. The way she looked at Ethan was getting worse by the second, and her heart was full of regret.

"I should never have listened to you. If your brother were still here..."

"Shut up!"

Ethan's voice dropped into a sudden, low snarl. Every trace of composure was gone. What was left in his eyes was something cold and vicious.

"What's the point of saying any of that now? You're the one who threw your own son away. And now you're turning around and blaming me?"

Saskia couldn't believe he had actually said that. Her eyes went wide.

When it sank in, her whole body began to shake. She could barely stay on her feet.

"Ethan! Everything I did, I did for you! How can you say that to me? Have you no conscience at all?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Ethan regretted them. But faced with Saskia's accusation, he pushed down the guilt and kept his voice cold.

"Even if you did it for me, you're still the one who committed those sins. Mom, we're in the same boat right now. If I go down, you go down with me. Don't say things like that again. I'd hate for it to come between us."

His tone was low — half a warning, half a plea.

Saskia opened her mouth, but said nothing. A chill ran through her entire body.

She gave Ethan one last cold look, then clenched her jaw, turned around, and walked out of the office.

The room fell silent. Ethan was alone.

He looked down at his phone, something dark and dangerous churning in his eyes.

"Olivia. You pushed me to this. I never wanted it to go this far."