When Ms Hudson heard that the person who had arrived needed to speak to her about Martha, she looked around in a panicked state, hoping that Ethan heard nothing. It was at that moment that she decided to speak to whoever was outside.
As soon as she walked in from outside, Ms Hudson looked at her from head to toe and could only see a low-class woman. "What are you doing here?"
"They already told you that I'm here to talk about Martha. My name is Helena, her childhood best friend and judging by the look on your face, you know what this is about."
Ms Hudson looked around once again, hoping Ethan was nowhere near them. She then walked ahead of Helena to the study as she whispered to her with hostility that they could only speak in private.
Once they were inside the study and she locked the door, Ms Hudson crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Start talking," she said.
"Isn't it fascinating how time goes by so quickly?" asked Helena with a chuckle. "He's all grown up now."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Ms Hudson shrugged.
"Of course you do. Just look at your state right now. You know who Martha is. You still have the letter, right?"
"What?" Ms Hudson's eyes grew wide with panic.
"Just so you know, I wrote that letter that was found in the basket all those years ago when I left Ethan at the door of the orphanage."
Ms Hudson then drew in a long breath and narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"
"I'd like to conduct a DNA test between Ethan and Martha. Once it's proven that she's his biological mother, he can get to know her."
"I'm the only mother he has, the only one he'll ever know and the only one who will ever be in his life. Now get out!"
"I only requested that we start with a DNA test and you're already that far ahead of the situation? Alright then, I admit that you raised him but you're not his biological mother."
"Martha abandoned him."
"It was never her intention. It was all because of me. She has no fault in this."
"You think you can show up here and make demands?" Ms Hudson scoffed through her nervousness. "Do you know who you're talking to?"
"Of course," Helena calmly nodded. "You're this powerful billionaire but in my eyes, you're just a woman who raised Ethan. You're not his biological mother."
When Helena mentioned the DNA test once again, Ms Hudson chuckled with disbelief and realized Helena might have been the one who had taken Martha to Ethan's house.
Helena admitted to it and sighed with disappointment as it didn't go as planned because of Martha's state and it was all too fast.
"That's why I'm doing things differently this time," she said. "I could've easily spoken to him in private but out of respect for you, I came to you first so we could come to an arrangement about the DNA test."
"No," said Ms Hudson in a harsh tone, placing a hand on her chest to control her temper. She then held onto the table so she could sit down. "I'll never allow it to happen because Martha is nothing to him."
Helena sighed, not surprised by Ms Hudson's resistance. She then took out her phone and showed Ms Hudson a current picture of Martha for her to notice the resemblance, only for Ms Hudson to scoff.
"She's just a skinny woman," she said.
"That's because she's been living on the streets for so many years.
"And you think Ethan will have time for a homeless woman?"
"That homeless woman is the reason he exists today."
"And Ethan is where he is today thanks to me. No one can take him away from me."
Helena sighed. "No one wants to take him away from you. I just want him to know the truth. He obviously has always wondered why he was left at the orphanage and I just wish to clear things up for him."
"Martha's the reason he exists today? What proof do you even have?"
"It's simple. Let's conduct a DNA test."
"No."
"You're being difficult."
"Yes and I'll continue to do so because he's my son. Now get out!"
"If you don't let me speak to him, I'll just have to do it without your permission."
"I'll send you to your grave before you can even try it," Ms Hudson warned her.
"Are you that desperate to keep him all to yourself?"
"What's wrong with that?"
Helena chuckled, then turned serious as she wrote her number on a piece of paper and said she would give Ms Hudson three days to agree to the DNA test. If not, she would speak to Ethan herself and tell her about his biological mother and the DNA test.
As soon as she made her conditions clear, she headed to the door but stopped in her tracks when Ms Hudson caught her by surprise.
"How much?"
"What?" asked Helena as she turned around.
"How much for you to go far away and take Martha with you?" Ms Hudson confidently leaned back in her seat. "Name your price. I can afford it."
"It'll cost absolutely nothing. I only wish to reveal the truth."
As soon as Helena unlocked the door and walked out, Ms Hudson slammed her hand on the table. She wasn't going to risk agreeing to the DNA test, not for anything, not ever.
~
Just as Helena approached the exit, she heard footsteps from the stairs and instantly thought it was Ms Hudson but when she turned around, she froze in place as she saw Ethan. She couldn't help but stare at him.
He then approached her out of curiosity as he noticed how she constantly stared at him. "Is there something on my face? What are you looking at?"
She scoffed at his rudeness. "I was just confirming if it was you I saw at Olivia's house in one of the pictures."
"You know Olivia?" Pressed with another burning question, he didn't even let her respond. "What pictures?"
"Your wedding pictures."
"Really?" His eyes widened, taken by surprise as he would've never imagined it. "Olivia was looking at our wedding pictures?"
"Yes, I'll leave now. Tell your mother that I'll be back if she doesn't give me a call in three days."
He heard what she said but asked no questions as he zoned out, thinking about Olivia.
He then headed to the living room then sat down and leaned back as he faced the ceiling. He sighed deeply then chuckled as he imagined Olivia looking at the pictures and he couldn't help but wonder why she did so.
Not even a minute into thinking about Olivia, Natalie's loud heels, accompanied by her rant, got louder as she entered the living room and demanded for a reason why he had been ignoring her calls.
He inched forward as he rolled his eyes then looked at her as she stopped right in front of him with crossed arms. He expressed his surprise at how his mother still wasn't aware about everything that happened.
"Was the embarrassment too much to bear that you couldn't tell her?" he asked.
"You used me!"
He admitted to it with no hesitation as he told her that he only went with her so she could point at the cars which she liked and from that, he would assume those were the ones that would appeal to most women.
"If you want a car so badly, buy one."
"I only want the one you bought for Olivia." She pursed her lips.
"Then buy it."
"I can't afford it."
"Then stick to what you can afford."
She chuckled bitterly at how he bought that particular car for Olivia but couldn't do so for her. It was at that moment that she thought of something and moved even closer to him.
"Would you care for me just as much as you do for Olivia if I got pregnant?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck so she could comfortably sit on him but he lifted her off and dropped her on the other side with a grunt. He scoffed at how desperate she was that she didn't realize they were in the living room where anyone could walk in.
"I have some paperwork to take care of. Go home."
As he walked away, she launched a pillow at him with frustration. "Is this how you'll treat me when I'll be your wife?"
"You already have your answer."
Enraged, she launched more pillows at him but that didn't stop him from walking up the stairs.
"Clean this up before my mother sees you for what you are," he said.
She thought about how Ms Hudson would react and instantly rushed to pick up the pillows in panic. Once they were all neatly arranged, she dropped down on the couch and crossed her arms as she rocked back and forth.
"Olivia will pay for taking my car!" She whispered harshly.
She breathed hard for a few seconds, then sighed deeply as her expression turned malicious, thanks to some information she could use in the future.
~
Three days later, Pete was discharged from the hospital and Ethan had gone to check on him again. They still had a long way to go to fix their friendship and Ethan warned him to never talk about Olivia.
Ethan had taken on so much of his mother's responsibilities that he was overwhelmed by it all. Despite the stress, he wished for his mother to rest as much as she could so he took it all upon himself and also as a way to make it up to her.
Olivia had accepted the fact that she wouldn't see Ethan or hear from him as much as before and despite hating herself for it, she wished it wasn't the case.
Ms Hudson usually put on a brave face whenever Ethan was around but deep down, all she could think about was Helena and the response she expected concerning the DNA test. The wedding preparations kept her occupied at times but the internal pressure was far from leaving her in peace.
Natalie was having lunch with her father and was all smiles since the wedding was the following day. She couldn't stop gushing about it and how she had perfectly planned for it.
He has mostly listened in silence with a poker face and once she finally stopped talking, he dropped his fork with a loud sigh as he told her that they needed to talk about Ethan.
Thinking it was nothing serious, she carried on with her food and said she would listen.
He inched forward and intertwined his fingers, his expression turning more serious. "Apart from the car incident you mentioned, I've seen with my own eyes how badly Ethan treats you."
She paused with the glass in her hand. "Dad..."
"The first time I noticed was at the hospital. How could he treat his future wife that way? Does he even like you?"
"Whatever the answers might be to your questions, I'll gladly get married to him. He's a billionaire and our family's benefiting from the partnership with Ms Hudson. I believe that in the future, his attitude towards me will change."
He scoffed, shaking his head in disapproval. "Do you really wish to spend the rest of your life with someone like him? I don't want to see you miserable. Does he even care about you in the slightest?"
She clenched her fist as she thought hard about how to answer the question. She then forced herself to smile. "There might be times when he's stressed out but everything's great. He cares so much that he lets me wear his expensive shirts in the morning after spending the n-"
"That's too much information for your father."
They both chuckled, then carried on with their food. They were all smiles for a moment, but her smile faded when she thought about how she needed to make it work with Ethan.
It was only when her phone rang that she stopped thinking about her future with him. When she looked at the caller ID, she chuckled then informed her father that it was Ethan.
When she picked up, she spoke with enthusiasm and had the call on speaker as she gave him an update on how she had spent her day so far.
Mr Phillip listened attentively and scoffed at Ethan's cold replies. He also couldn't believe how his daughter overlooked all that happened at the hospital and the car incident just to claim Ethan cared.
Ethan had only called so he could meet up with Natalie to buy some jewelry sets for her wedding day and right after the call, she got ready to leave and gushed about how she would pick out the most expensive pieces and he would pay for it all with ease.
~
As Ethan and Natalie were about to make their way inside the mall, he glanced across the street a few times at the restaurant he had taken Olivia the last time they went shopping together. Thoughts from that day flooded his mind and he couldn't help but chuckle, leaving Natalie with questions as to what brought out that reaction.
Once they were in a luxurious jewelry store, he barely moved around as Natalie excitedly gushed over several pieces. She couldn't wait to take pictures of her jewelry and share them with her friends and also Ethan's active involvement.
Once they were out of the mall, Ethan looked across the road at the restaurant once again and his lips then curved into a smile when he saw the car he had bought for Olivia parked right outside and he knew right away that she was inside the restaurant.
"My car!" yelled Natalie as she dropped her bags and the driver had to rush over to pick them up.
Before she could cross the road to get to Olivia's car, Ethan quickly pulled her back with a tight grip. "That's not your car."
As Natalie went on a rant, Ethan paid little attention as he constantly looked at Olivia's car. Not having spoken to her since the day he was at the apartment, he let Natalie go then crossed the road and she hurriedly followed him, screaming in his face as she demanded an answer as to where he was going.
As soon as he stepped foot inside the restaurant, with Natalie still nagging him, he looked around for Olivia and once he spotted her, he sighed with satisfaction at her breathtaking beauty. Her bright red coat which cinched at her waist was so eye-catching that he couldn't look away. Her hair and makeup were just as breathtaking and even at a distance, he could spot the outline of her red lipstick which accentuated her luscious lips.
Olivia hadn't even noticed him from the moment he came in and it was only when Angela giggled with her fingers on her mouth and nudged her to tell her Ethan was there that she looked at him. Her face instantly brightened up as they looked at each other but soon, it faded when she noticed Natalie right beside him and glaring.
When he took a step forward to approach Olivia, Natalie wrapped her arm around his to pull him back but was no match for his strength. Instead, she followed him and tightly held onto him as she glared at Olivia and her striking beauty on that particular day.
As Olivia stood there and waited for Ethan to get to her, she paid no attention to Natalie as she could only keep her eyes on Ethan's face as he looked at her from head to toe several times.
Once Ethan and Natalie were close enough, his steps came to a halt and he stopped constantly staring from head to toe and focused on Olivia's face, her beauty captivating him even more on that closer view.
"Hey," he said to her.
"We're not staying!" said Natalie to Olivia.
Natalie's comment was completely ignored as Ethan asked how long it had been since Olivia and Angela had arrived at the restaurant. As Olivia responded, the eye contact between them was so intense that Natalie cleared her throat.
"Now that you've spoken to Olivia, we're leaving."
"No, I'm starving," he said, looking straight at Olivia.
Natalie groaned. "We'll order somewhere else."
"Can you just stop with all this?" he said, visibly irritated by Natalie's behavior. He looked back at Olivia with the same intense gaze from before. "Have you already ordered?"
"Yes," she said.
"The same meal from last time?" he asked.
"Yes, I can't believe you remembered." Olivia chuckled softly.
"How could I forget?"
Flustered, Olivia lowered her gaze as she thought of what to say.
In the background, Angela pressed her teeth on her tongue to hold in her giggles, delighted to see the two of them share such a lovely moment.
With a loud grunt, Natalie suddenly pulled Ethan back as she claimed it was so they could find a table.
Despicable his irritation, he went with her but looked back several times at Olivia.
Once Natalie found a table which was far from Olivia, she was satisfied but was uncomfortable with the situation.
After Ethan ordered his food and Natalie said she would only have something to drink, they waited for a few minutes and in that moment, he constantly tapped his fingers on the table. When Natalie asked if something was wrong, he shook his head but didn't stop. Unable to contain himself, he took out his phone and sent a text to Olivia.
"Why did you have to look like that today?"
"Is there a problem?" she replied.
"I can't stop looking at you."