Between the Dream I Don’t Need to Continue or the Old Friend I Never Expected

Oliver came to pick me up, arm in arm with a nightclub girl. He casually asked, “Paula, have you learned your lesson now? Do you know how to be a good wife to me?” I nodded. Only then did Oliver’s expression soften. He dismissed the nightclub girl and hugged me tightly. “Paula, I only did this for your own good. How could you possibly survive in New York without me?” “Besides, isn’t this how every family in New York operates? This truly was an accident. I promise it won’t happen again.” Half a year later, he threw me a birthday party that caused a sensation throughout the entire city. While changing backstage, I stumbled upon him entangled with my makeup artist. This time, I calmly closed the door and paid off the waiting media with a hefty sum. That day’s headlines showed my lonely silhouette, with the caption: [Promises Slapped in the Face, Mrs. Cerano Accepts Defeat.] From that day on, Oliver began to revel in the company of women without restraint, hiding nothing. He knew that no matter how badly he treated me, I couldn’t leave him. Until yesterday, when the young nurse assigned to my grandmother’s care started flirting with Oliver, the girl pleaded, saying she was afraid I’d see her leaving her post on the security cameras and blame her. Oliver immediately ordered the power to be cut off to the entire building. Along with the security cameras, my grandmother’s ventilator was also shut off. By the time I realized something was wrong, I rushed into the ward. My grandmother was barely clinging to life. Her last words to me were, “Paula, go home.” At that moment, I knew it was time to leave. The media kept pressuring me for money. I repeatedly calmly said, “Three hundred. I’ll give you a bombshell story. A bombshell that will make your magazine the top media outlet in New York.” The paparazzi was stunned by my words and after a long pause, he chuckled and cursed, “Mrs. Cerano, have you been driven mad by Mr. Cerano?” “Alright, I understand your situation. I won’t charge you this time. We’ll settle everything next time we catch you together.” He hung up and Oliver returned. Seeing me, he instinctively walked over to embrace me. I took a step back, leaving him empty-handed. The warmth in his eyes cooled slightly. “Are you angry? That little brat Quina Tivoli insisted on dragging me to the parking lot to make a scene. She even bragged about becoming the woman with the highest buyout price among my women.” “She looks the most like you did when you were young. When she pouted, I couldn’t help but agree.” “By the way, how is Grandma?” I replied coldly, “Grandma passed away, Oliver. Don’t you want to know how she died?” Oliver merely hummed in acknowledgment, dismissively saying, “Grandma’s illness was incurable. It’s only natural she couldn’t hold on. My condolences, sweetheart. I’ll have a grand funeral arranged.” I closed my eyes, my clenched hands trembling almost beyond control. Oliver didn’t notice at all. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pushed me out. I’ve had the auction house prepare a gift for you. I believe you’ll like it. Consider it my way of comforting you.” Numbly, I let him lead me to the auction house. No sooner had I sat down than a video call came in. Oliver glanced at it, then sat bolt upright, his eyes bursting with delight. He turned, embraced me excitedly and kissed me several times. “Honey. I have great news to share with you. Wait for me to return.” With that, he left me behind and walked out. I remained in a daze for a long time. I had almost forgotten when Oliver last held me like this.

It seemed to be the day he found out I was pregnant. Before long, he returned, holding hands with the jewel-adorned Quina. Spotting me, Quina cooed in a sweet, delicate voice, “Mrs. Cerano, might I have a seat to rest my feet on? After all, I’m carrying two lives now. The doctor says I need to rest often.” Even though I had long given up on Oliver, hearing that he had gotten Quina pregnant still sent a sharp pang through my heart. After Oliver had completely indulged himself in his affair, he had made one promise to me. He said, “Paula, I would never get any other woman pregnant. I owe you a child. It’s the thing I’m most sorry about in my life. Since you can’t have children, then I won’t have one either.” Oliver tapped my nose, met my stunned gaze and said nonchalantly, “I’m getting on in years. It’s time for an heir.” Quina peeked out from behind him. “Paula, Oliver worried someone might take advantage of me if I live outside. He wants to bring me back to Greenwich Manor to live with him. “ She stuck out her tongue. “This is Oliver’s love nest, crafted just for Madam Cerano. Outsiders aren’t allowed. Who’d have thought I’d get to live here too?” “Madam Cerano, please take good care of me.” Oliver gazed at her with indulgent affection, then turned to me. “You can help her manage her pregnancy diet and provide close personal care.” He added, “Paula, this mother and child mean everything to me. They must never suffer the slightest hardship. Do you understand what I meant?” I closed my eyes briefly and gave a soft hum. Only then did Oliver break into a smile, taking my hand. “Paula, I told you I owe you a child. Now I’m repaying that debt. This child will also call you ‘Mommy’ from now on. Are you happy?” I said nothing, merely pushing his hand away. The auction items were brought up one by one. I casually bid a few times, but each time I raised my paddle, Quina would try to outbid me. Later on, I remained silent throughout, watching Oliver lavishly spend to keep bidding for Quina. Until the final piece was brought out, my face instantly drained of color. There was a cheap fake jade bracelet on the display stand. The starting bid was a mere three hundred dollars. That was the keepsake of my mother, which I had been desperately searching for all this time, the one that had been pawned. I jumped up, holding the number paddle, which I had almost crushed in my hand, high in the air. “Three hundred thousand!” Quina lifted her hand, her voice sweet as honey and said, “Three million.” Meeting my furious glare, she shrank fearfully into Oliver’s embrace. “I’m sorry, Madam. It was my mistake. Oliver said to reward me for getting pregnant, I could have anything I wanted today. “I just wanted to buy it as a teething toy for my baby, Ronald. But since you want this trash-quality jade bracelet, I won’t compete. I passed it.” Ignoring her taunt, I pressed my lips together and raised my paddle to bid again. “Thirty...” “Thirty million.” Oliver cut me off, “I promised Quina that I’d give her anything she wants today. It’s just a broken bracelet, so let her have it.” “The Royal Auction has several imperial green jade bracelets tomorrow. I’ll bid for them and give all of them to you.” I said firmly, “Oliver, this is my mother’s keepsake!” My voice trembled. “You can do whatever you want! But Oliver, you absolutely cannot take this away from me.” For the first time, I begged him humbly, “I’m begging you, Oliver. For the sake of our past, for the sake of when I sold the only heirloom my mother left me to buy a ticket to New York.”

“Please, just let me have it.” Oliver looked at me silently, saying nothing more. I rose to my feet recklessly, shouting with all my strength, “Three million three hundred thousand.” It was all the savings I had accumulated over the past ten years. If Oliver raised the bid again, I would have no other choice. To my surprise, Oliver put down the bidding paddle and didn’t raise the price again. I was still in disbelief and shock when the bracelet was presented to me. My hands trembled as I handed over my card and reached for the jade bracelet. But someone grabbed my hand. “Mrs. Cerano, there’s no money left in your account.” I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. “How could that be? There’s clearly…” Quina walked over with the jewelry and jade she had just bid on, smiling sweetly at me. “Mrs. Cerano, I just used your card to pay. Thanks for the apology. I won’t hold it against you for scaring me earlier.” Something inside me broke at once, instantly. “Give it back! Give me my money back!” I grabbed her hand and shouted at the auctioneer, “I didn’t bid on these jewels! Go collect payment from Oliver! Give me my money back.” Quina pushed me in fright, the jewels in her hand striking my cheek and eyes, leaving bloody scratches. I released her hand in pain, covered my eyes and squatted down. Through the blur of blood, I saw Quina slip and fall to the ground, clutching her stomach and wailing. Oliver pushed through the crowd and rushed to her side. “Quina, what happened to you?” Quina pointed at me through tear-filled eyes. “Honey, she tried to snatch the jewelry from me! But these were gifts from you! I refused to give them up, so she pushed me. Please help me get justice!” I staggered to my feet, wanting to explain I hadn’t pushed her, but she’d slipped on her own. The enforcer hesitated, explaining, “Mr. Cerano, the one who pushed her was.” Quina clung to his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. “It hurts so much, honey, it hurts! Is the baby going to be okay?” In that instant, Oliver lost all sense of reason. He scooped her up and turned to leave me. His voice, cold and decisive, said, “Whoever dared lay a hand on my woman won’t get away with it today. Whichever hand pushed her, I’ll break that arm. If anything happens to the baby, I’ll make his entire family pay.” I lay on the ground, pinned down by the thugs like a dead dog. I cried out his name, “Oliver!! It’s me!” Before my words faded, the baton struck both my arms, pain surging through my entire body. I couldn’t utter another sound, collapsing limp on the floor. Oliver’s gaze darkened sharply as he turned to look. “Who just called my name? Was it Paula?” Before he could get a clear look, Quina, in his arms, began crying again. Oliver didn’t dwell on it, striding away quickly. Passing guests stared at me, discarded like trash at the doorway with my broken arm limp and limp, their jaws dropping. “And we thought Mr. Cerano was madly in love with her. Turns out it’s nothing special.” “I heard Mrs. Cerano’s father is that mining tycoon surnamed Frassinetti, who’s got deep connections with the newly appointed anti-corruption chief in New York.” “Don’t you think Mr. Cerano is risking a crackdown and retaliation by treating her like this?” A wave of snickering rippled through the crowd. “You didn’t know? Mrs. Cerano ran away from her wedding for love years ago. Her father disowned her long ago.” “He hated her disobedience so much he declared she’d be chained to Oliver for life. If she ever regretted divorcing Mr. Cerano, he’d kill her.”

Their shrill laughter stirred up memories of my passionate past with Oliver. Fifteen years ago, he was just the most insignificant underling working for my father, while I was an unloved, spoiled girl raised in the countryside. We fell in love in secret. For the sake of his business, my father arranged my marriage to a mentally unstable tycoon. On my wedding day, Oliver came to steal me away, trying to elope with me in his car. I cursed him as foolish, “Oliver, let me out! My father will have you beaten to death.” He refused to listen. “Even if it means dying, I won’t stand by and watch you be thrown into a pit of fire.” We evaded wave after wave of assassins my father dispatched. Oliver shielded me, taking three bullets meant for me. One scarred half his face, one shattered his thigh and the third grazed his heart. Kneeling at my father’s feet, I begged him to let us go. After puffing several cigar rings into the air, my father finally spoke, “I’ve seen men like him before. He’ll use you as a stepping stone. Once he’s got the power, money and fame he craves, you’ll just be trash in his way.” “By then, he’ll have countless women at his beck and call. What will you be to him?” I only said, “Dad, that’s what you did to Mom, not Oliver. I believe he won’t be as ruthless as you.” In the end, my father took all his men away, leaving me with only the sentence, “Paula, this is the path you chose. Don’t you dare turn back, even if it means death.” My father issued a kill order for me to everyone in the underworld. If I divorced Oliver, I would be killed. Later, Oliver learned about the kill order. He threw himself into the fight, risking his life to battle for territory with the New York Gang. On our wedding day, he stubbornly splurged tens of millions to buy out every headline to broadcast our ceremony live. As if swearing an oath to my father, he shouted, “I, Oliver Cerano, will love only Paula Frassinetti for the rest of my life! She staked her heart on me and I won’t let her lose! Don’t you dare harm her!” Yet even the most faithful heart could be lost in the intoxicating glamour of hedonism and neon lights. Oliver pleaded with me, “Paula, if you divorce me, you’ll lose everything, even your life. Why risk it?” “Besides not being able to give you loyalty, I can give you all the prestige and enjoyment of being my wife. Isn’t that good enough?” He bought countless luxury brands, filling my entire walk-in closet. He believed he’d won my understanding and affection. But he never knew that from the very beginning, all I ever wanted was to leave. At the end of last year, my kill order was quietly withdrawn. My father’s children, in the ups and downs of the business world over the past few years, have either died or been crippled. Now, only I remain as the heir. He gave me a chance to reconsider. Now that my grandmother has passed and I’ve found my mother’s bracelet, everything that could bind me has vanished. It was the right time for me to go. Oliver learned of my injury and hospitalization a week later. At that moment, he was preparing a press conference to grant official recognition to Quina and her unborn child. Upon hearing my news, he immediately abandoned his affairs and rushed over. When I woke up, he had just entered my room. “Honey, how are you feeling? I’ve already had the bracelet paid for and sent home. Don’t worry.” “Looks like Christie’s can shut down now. They can’t even recognize my own wife. What a bunch of useless fools.” Oliver examined my wounds with a cold expression, then addressed his assistant beside him.

“Whoever touched Paula that day, you must break their legs and toss them into the open sea. Whoever spreads rumors, you must smash their mouths shut.” I gave a sarcastic chuckle and spoke up, “So how do you plan to punish your little darling Quina? She maxed out my card, humiliated me and got you to break my arm. How exactly will you avenge me?” Oliver took a deep breath, pinching his brow with impatience. “Paula, that’s enough already. You were the one who picked a fight with Quina first.” “I give you millions every month. You can pick any jewel you want from the auction house. Was it really worth causing trouble over a few million and a worthless bracelet?” I almost laughed. Oliver had probably forgotten that he had liquidated my accounts to force me to submit. Every penny he’d given me had long been reclaimed. Beyond those luxury items I could only use but never owned, all I had left were the savings in that card. But now, bringing this up was pointless. “Let’s drop this matter. Quina won’t hold it against you. She says if you raise a toast to her at the engagement banquet to save her face, she’ll forgive you.” At the mention of Quina, a smile spread across his face. I found it laughable. Once upon a time, it was the concubine who offered tea and wine to the main wife. Now, I, the legitimate wife, was expected to toast the mistress. But I no longer cared. I won’t be Mrs. Cerano for much longer. That evening’s cocktail party drew a crowd of socialites. Flashbulbs lit up the room. Oliver and Quina accepted congratulations like a newlywed couple. Quina leaned against him. Her voice, sweet and coquettish, said, “Oliver, I want a wedding even grander than Mrs. Cerano’s. I also want a love nest that belongs only to me.” Oliver smiled and agreed to each request. Every gaze directed at me now carried a hint of mocking amusement. A young reporter, clutching her press pass, timidly approached me. “Mrs. Cerano, that story you mentioned earlier, the one about the three hundred dollars. Is it real?” I turned my head to look at her. “Three hundred dollars isn’t enough now. If you want to know, I can tell you.” I leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words. Her pupils contracted sharply. She covered her mouth, staring at me in disbelief. I whispered softly, “Hurry up and finish your news, or it’ll be too late after midnight.” Her face drained of color as she turned and ran away. Her bizarre, unnatural behavior drew many curious glances. It also caught Oliver’s attention. He released Quina and started walking toward me to take my hand. Bang! A gunshot shattered the chaos. Countless armed mercenaries stormed the venue, red dot sights flashing in the lights. The crowd scattered in screams. Someone grabbed my arm. I turned and saw a familiar face. It was the man who had kidnapped me fifteen years ago, the one responsible for the death of my unborn child. Oliver’s expression changed in that instant. He charged forward, his voice said, “Sebastian Montanol! Let them go! I’ll agree to any terms you demand.” Sebastian emitted a hoarse laugh. “Oliver, you killed my brother, my woman and my son. You took everything from me. Now it’s time for you to pay.” He raised the gun in his hand, aiming it at me, then glanced at Quina, who his men were holding. “Want to save them? Fine. Hand over what’s in your safe and I’ll let them go.” Oliver’s face went completely white. Inside that safe lay all the evidence of his crimes over the years. He fell silent, his gaze shifting between Quina and me. “Oliver!” Quina trembled so violently she could barely stand. “You said I and the child are the most important things to you. Please give them those things. I’m so scared!” Oliver’s voice was dry, unable to agree, “Quina.” Sebastian, seeing this, coldly laughed as he unbuttoned his coat, revealing a belt strapped with explosives. “I’ll give you three seconds. If you don’t hand them over, we all die together.” “Three! Two! One!” The moment he pulled the fuse, Oliver’s men fired. A bullet pierced Sebastian’s shoulder. Staggering back, Sebastian yanked the fuse loose and grabbed me as he fell backward. “No! Get down!” Oliver instinctively threw himself forward. He grabbed Quina, shielding her fiercely in his arms. As for me, I fell into the deep sea amidst the blinding light of the explosion. The last thing Oliver saw was me vanishing into the blast. He stood rooted to the spot, as if his soul had been ripped out. Then, he let out a mad, howling scream, “Paula—!!”