The Day I Went Silent Chapter 03
The next day, Olivia woke up early to pack her things.
She had treated this villa as her home, carefully decorating every corner.
Julian would occasionally trip over the potted plants and complain they were a “nuisance,” yet he would still help water them from time to time.
These little details always gave Olivia the illusion that perhaps Julian liked her too.
Thinking about it now, it was probably just unintentional on his part.
She clung to these faint, fake hints, scrambling to convince herself she was loved—and it made her feel utterly pitiful.
Now that she was leaving, Olivia only wanted to take everything away with her.
“Olivia!
Why didn’t you make me breakfast!
What is this stuff!”
Oliver’s furious roar came from the living room. Olivia frowned and walked out of her room.
The dining table was a mess. The little boy’s face was dark, and the nanny stood to the side with her head bowed.
Olivia’s expression remained unchanged. “Oliver, you need to have some basic manners.
You don’t have to call me Mom, but you should at least address me as Ms. Sterling.”
“So annoying!
I’m asking you why you didn’t make me breakfast!”
Olivia glanced at the overturned bowl of porridge on the table.
To ensure Oliver enjoyed his meals, Olivia had specifically learned how to cook, making him delicate Warm Oatmeal Porridge every morning.
Oliver always showed extreme disgust, drinking half and throwing the rest away.
Today, Olivia didn’t make it, and suddenly he wasn’t used to it.
Olivia said calmly, “I was too tired and didn’t want to.
Go ask Chloe to make it for you.”
“I won’t be making it anymore in the future, either.”
Oliver looked at her in disbelief. “You… you promised Dad you would take good care of me!
How could you do this!”
Olivia curled her lips into a beautiful smile. “Oh, that’s in the past.
As for now—”
“Whoever wants to take care of you can do it.”
Being a stepmother was hard. In the past, Olivia had shown Oliver absolute patience, always gentle, meticulous, and soft-spoken.
No one remembered she was a spoiled young lady from the Sterling family, never known for endless patience.
Oliver had never been spoken to with such sarcasm by her before, and he froze on the spot.
His eyes slowly turned red.
Right then, the door was pushed open, and Julian walked in with Chloe.
“Waaah, Dad, Mom, this bad woman is bullying me!
She’s abusing me!
She won’t let me eat!”
Oliver threw himself over, crying hard in Julian’s arms.
Chloe looked at Olivia with displeasure. “Mrs. Vance, is this how you bully my son when I’m not around?”
“That’s right. After all, this is my home, not yours.”
Chloe’s face changed slightly, a dark glint flashing through her sharp, beautiful slender eyes.
“Olivia, you…” Julian frowned. He was about to scold her, but remembering she had just lost her baby, he softened his tone. “Forget it, get some good rest.
Don’t go out for the time being.”
He was always like this.
If not for his constant, blind favoritism, Oliver would never have grown so spoiled and insolent?
Olivia felt a wave of exhaustion and weariness. Without saying a word, she turned and left.
Julian’s frown deepened.
Usually at a time like this, Olivia would be teary-eyed, accusing him of favoritism.
Perhaps she was just still physically weak and didn’t have the energy to lose her temper.
Julian lowered his gaze and patted his son’s head. “Oliver, I’ll say this one more time. Olivia is my wife, and she is your mother.
You need to respect her.”
Oliver held his tongue, but his fists tightened furiously at his sides.
…
In the middle of the night, Olivia heard a rustling sound.
She was a light sleeper and woke up with a start.
She opened her eyes to find Oliver’s small face inches from hers.
The night was pitch black, his figure blurred in the darkness.
“Oliver, what are you doing—”
He gave a malicious smile, splashing the liquid from his cup onto Olivia as he said, “It’s all your fault that Dad scolded me.
Once you turn into an ugly monster, Dad won’t like you anymore, and I can be with Mom…”
A bad feeling surged through her, and she instantly threw her arms over her face to block it.
A burning sensation instantly followed.
—It was sulfuric acid!
It burned!
It burned terribly!
Olivia’s mind quickly went blank as she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
The villa’s lights quickly flicked on. Julian rushed over, his pupils shrinking at the sight of her wounds.
“Oliver, what did you do!”
Oliver hadn’t expected it to be this serious either. He stumbled back a few steps, looking dazed: “I didn’t… Mom said this water would just make her ugly… She didn’t say it would hurt this much…”
Julian had no time to deal with him. He scooped Olivia up into his arms and rushed to the hospital.
The medical team worked tirelessly for hours to finally ease her agony.
She had multiple burns across her body, her skin ulcerated and wrapped in layer upon layer of gauze.
Julian sat beside her, his lips pressed tightly together.
Olivia had always cared deeply about her appearance. Back in college, she’d even pout and fuss over a single breakout.
Even after marrying and becoming Mrs. Vance, she hadn’t changed. She always loved leaning into his embrace and asking, “Does my hair look good today?
Is my makeup pretty?”
But now, she was hurt like this…
Olivia stirred and slowly opened her eyes.
Looking straight into Julian’s relieved eyes, she said coldly: “Chloe manipulated Oliver into attacking me. I’m pressing charges against her.”