Late Return, Gazing at Stars

Five years after Olivia Olivia left Carl Carl, he returned to Ashford in triumph—new fiancée on his arm, a lavish banquet in his honor. Meanwhile, Olivia was hunched in a nightclub stairwell, vomiting her guts out for a few bucks to pay for her medical treatment. “Mr Carl is something else. A self-made man, and in just five years, he’s become the new star of the business world. So young, so accomplished!” “Absolutely. From now on, we’ll be leaning on Mr Carl’s support!” “…” Three figures descended the stairs. Reeking of alcohol and slumped against the wall, Olivia weakly lifted her gaze—and suddenly locked eyes with a pair of icy, penetrating ones. For a second, she instinctively tried to straighten her disheveled appearance. But that gaze lingered only a moment before indifferently shifting away. The man turned and continued down the stairs. As if she were a complete stranger. “Carl, don’t go…” Fumbling frantically, Olivia pulled out her phone. Her hands shook as she dialed the number she knew by heart. The call connected almost instantly. “Hello.” His cool, detached voice yanked her violently into memories she couldn’t escape. A sob caught in her throat. “Carl Carl, I’ve missed you so much.” She could almost hear his breath hitch on the other end. After a long, heavy silence, his voice finally returned. “Wait right there.” The call ended. In less than two minutes, Carl stood before her, slightly breathless, his voice tight with suppressed anger. “What—you regret betraying me back then? Now that you see I’ve made it, you want to come crawling back?” Olivia leaned against the wall, staggering to her feet. “Yes, I regret it.” “Carl Carl, you once said that on the day you achieved success, you’d grant me one wish.” Carl stared intently at Olivia, as if pulled into the past. His eyes began to redden. “I remember.” “You said your only wish was to marry me.” Olivia laughed, taking one unsteady step after another toward him. “No. Not anymore.” “I want money, Carl Carl. I don’t want to marry you anymore. I just want money.” “Give me a million. I promise I’ll forget everything between us, completely. No one will ever know that the red-hot business mogul of today was once head over heels in love with a woman like me.” Carl let out a cold, mocking laugh—tinged with something like relief. “Five years apart, and you come to me for money?” Olivia’s smile was bitter. “What else? Did you really think I’d ask you to marry me?” “How could I ever marry a cheap woman like you, who’d sleep with anyone for a bit of cash!” The disgust in his eyes felt like it was shredding the last of Olivia’s dignity. She lowered her head, taking a long moment before she could speak again. “You’re right. I am that kind of cheap woman.” Finally, she looked up, meeting his gaze. “So, a million. Not a cent less.” “Why would I give you anything?” “Because…” Olivia reached out, her fingers lightly hooking his tie. “I have a lot of… intimate photos of us. If I sold them to the media, I’d probably get a pretty penny too, right?” Carl forcefully shook off her hand, his disgust deepening. “You think you can threaten me?” “Unless you strangle me right here, right now, you can only keep one: your money or your reputation.” “Olivia Olivia!” Carl finally snapped, each word ground out between clenched teeth. “You’re truly despicable!” “Is money that important to you?!” Olivia fought with everything she had to keep the tears from falling. “Yes. Money is more important than my life!” Carl stared at her, his breathing heavy and unsteady. “You—” “Carl, who are you talking to?” A clear, gentle woman’s voice shattered the moment. Carl took a sudden step back. Pamela Pamela approached from the lower stairs. Seeing Olivia, she paused briefly. “Olivia, what are you doing here? And dressed like this?” She strode over, taking off her own coat as if to drape it over Olivia. “I told you before to stop doing this kind of… physical work. Why won’t you listen?” Carl pulled Pamela behind him, shielding her. His cold gaze swept over Olivia. “Don’t touch her. She’s filthy.” Olivia flinched violently. Carl would never know: every single cent he’d received for his startup back then had been earned by this “cheap” woman, traded piece by piece with this “filthy” body of hers. “I can give you the money.” Carl’s voice cut through the silence. “But, Olivia Olivia, you’ll have to trade your body for it.” Olivia’s head snapped up, only to meet Carl’s eyes, blazing with hatred.