Chapter 81 Revealing the Past

Chapter 81 Revealing the Past

Selene's face instantly darkened. She gripped the bouquet tighter, crushing the petals between her fingers.

"I'm his fiancée! What the hell are you supposed to be?"

"Fiancée?"

Olivia let out a soft laugh.

"Is that just wishful thinking on your part, or did Charles actually say that himself?"

Just then, a nurse wheeled a treatment cart past them, reminding them quietly.

"Please keep it down, ladies. This is the ICU hallway—there are patients trying to rest."

Selene shot Olivia a venomous glare.

Her phone rang at that moment, so she had no choice but to turn and click away to the end of the hallway in her high heels, answering with her back to Olivia.

Olivia was about to leave when Selene's deliberately lowered voice caught her attention.

"...Yeah, that's right, she's at the hospital right now..."

"What about that Wilson woman? You didn't let her slip away, did you?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know which room that idiot is in? I don't have time to go around hunting people down!"

"How much does she know about what went down back then? Just keep a close eye on her..."

Each word hit Olivia like a bolt of lightning.

Someone named Wilson?

How could this be such a coincidence?

Her blood seemed to freeze instantly, cold sweat breaking out across her back.

Could the Wilson that Selene was talking about be Mia?

She suddenly remembered that night back in college—Mia hiding under her blanket, crying, her phone screen lit up—Olivia had caught a glimpse of the contact name: "Peterson"!

And there were the bruises on Mia's body back then, her evasive looks, and her sudden withdrawal from school...



All the overlooked details were now connected, pointing to a terrifying possibility.

Could Mia's departure and sudden reappearance, even her injuries, all be connected to Selene?

A few days later, Olivia visited the film set.

During a break in John's night shoot, she pulled Lily behind the trailer.

"Lily, do you remember the morning Mia left?"

"There was a black Bentley parked outside our dorm, wasn't there?"

Olivia's voice trembled.

Lily paused, looking confused.

"Yeah, I remember. You said that car must've cost like several hundred grand... Why are you asking?"

"We didn't think much of it at the time."

"Recently, I saw that same car outside the Green Group building. It's Selene's car."

Olivia took a deep breath.

"A couple of days ago at the hospital, I overheard Selene on the phone talking about someone named Wilson, saying they needed to keep a close eye on her."

Lily's eyes went wide.

"You mean... back then Mia was taken by Selene..."

"I don't know. I just think there are way too many coincidences."

Olivia shook her head, her mind spinning.

She looked toward the lights of the film set in the distance, feeling a chill creep up from her feet.

So during those seemingly peaceful college days, there had been so many conspiracies she knew nothing about.

Could the misunderstanding between her and Charles also be tied to these past events?

"Olivia, this is seriously scary."

Lily gripped her hand tightly.

"Should we... call the cops?"

Olivia shook her head.

"We've got no proof. The police won't be able to do anything."

"Besides, I have a feeling this involves way more than just what happened to Mia."

The trail went cold after that.

Later, Olivia tried looking for Mia at the hospital, but could never find any trace of her.

Had Mia already been discharged?

Olivia had no way of knowing, so she went back to focusing on work.

The air conditioning in the office was cranked up a bit too high.

Olivia pulled her thin cardigan closer around her shoulders. She had just sent the final renderings for the Green Group project to Wilder when she heard her colleagues gossiping in the break room.

"Did you hear? Bodhi came to our office today. He's in the conference room."

"Charles's dad? I heard his health isn't great—he's been stuck in a wheelchair."

"Yeah, I saw Wilder wheeling him in earlier. Father and son really do look alike..."

Olivia's hand holding her water cup froze.

Bodhi?

A memory flashed through her mind—something Wilder had mentioned before.

Bodhi had been hospitalized after getting so worked up back then, and his health still wasn't good.

Olivia was about to head back to her desk when she rounded the corner and nearly ran smack into a figure in a wheelchair.

"Sorry!"

Olivia quickly stepped back. When she got a clear look at the elderly man in the wheelchair, she couldn't help but freeze.

The old man had graying hair and the gaunt look of someone recovering from illness, but you could still see the handsome features he'd had in his youth.

He was slightly turning his head as a caregiver pushed him forward.

When his gaze fell on Olivia, he suddenly stopped.

"Are you... Ms. Smith?"

The old man's voice was hoarse, with a note of uncertainty.

Olivia was even more surprised.

"You know me?"

"Dad!"

Wilder's voice came from behind. He hurried forward, looking surprised when he saw Olivia too.

"Ms. Smith, what a coincidence."

Bodhi waved his hand, signaling the caregiver to stop the wheelchair.

He looked at Olivia with searching eyes that held a barely perceptible warmth.

"I've seen your photo."

Olivia's heart skipped a beat.

"Charles's phone wallpaper. He's had it for years."

Bodhi spoke slowly, his gaze resting on her face as if seeing someone else through her.

"The one of you laughing in the art studio, with your ponytail, your eyes so bright."

Olivia's cheeks flushed slightly.

Charles was still using her photo as his wallpaper, even during these four years they'd been apart.

And she had never noticed, not even once.

"Dad, did you want to check out the physical model of the collaboration proposal? The project team is handling these, though."

Wilder tried to smooth things over, clearly not wanting his father to bring up too much of the past.

He was worried Olivia might feel uncomfortable.

"Alright, you handle those things. What do I need to worry about with you running the show?"

But Bodhi caught on to Wilder's intention perfectly.

He turned and patted Wilder's hand, then looked at Olivia.

"Ms. Smith, would you mind taking a walk with me?"

Olivia nodded quickly.

"Of course not."

The caregiver handed the wheelchair over to Olivia, and like Wilder, quietly stepped back to give them space.

Olivia slowly pushed the wheelchair forward. Bodhi looked at the design drawings hanging on the hallway walls and suddenly spoke.

"Charles has always been stubborn as hell."

"Years ago, I insisted Charles study architecture. He fought with me for days, but in the end, he enrolled in computer science on his own."

He paused, turning to look at Olivia.

"Later, though, because of family circumstances, he ended up in the architecture business anyway."

"I heard you're the most talented designer on the entire project team."

"That makes sense—in Charles's eyes, you must be better than any designer the Peterson family could buy with all their money!"

At these words, Olivia's heart skipped a beat. She suddenly remembered the question that had been eating at her these past few days, so she decided to ask.

"Mr. Green, do you... do you know Selene?"

Bodhi's expression darkened, and a faint sneer played at the corners of his mouth.

"How could I not know Selene?"

"Plenty of ambition, plenty of schemes too."

"And the engagement between her and Charles back then..."

"It was a business deal."

Bodhi cut Olivia off directly.

"When my second wife, Calista, conspired with outsiders to gut the Green Group, the Peterson family did bail Charles out, but their condition was that he get engaged to Selene and transfer five percent of the Green Group's shares to the Peterson family."

He saw Olivia's shocked expression and continued.

"Charles refused at first, but no matter how much he hated the idea, for the sake of the Green Group and my health, he had to go along with it."

Bodhi's voice carried guilt.

"Selene's been using that engagement as leverage ever since."

"All these years she's been messing with company business, both in the open and behind the scenes. Charles has been putting up with it to keep me from stressing out."