Chapter 686: Softest Heart, Hardest Armor

Joyce’s eyes quickly turned red. “Olive, you can do it,” she said. “You have to persevere.” Olive offered a strained smile. “Mom, it hurts. I want to rest…”

Joyce nodded. “Okay, Olive. After we have two more children, we’ll rest. I know you’re tired.”

“Yeah… Mom, don’t stop the bleeding,” Olive pleaded. “I feel… my strength draining. I’m exhausted… I don’t have the strength, or the time. Mom, help me give birth to two babies first, please?”

Joyce looked at her daughter, so frail she seemed about to collapse. Witnessing her daughter’s pleas, she raised her eyes, fighting back tears. Gently stroking Olive’s small, wrinkled face, she nodded. “Okay, then you just give birth, and leave the rest to Mom. Mom will save you.”

Joyce continued the delivery. Perhaps due to a mother-daughter connection, the second child, Levi, was born smoothly. Olive, summoning her last reserves of strength, brought Ivy into the world. The three babies were born safe and healthy.

But Olive collapsed, bleeding profusely. The heart monitor emitted a high-pitched “beep beep” alarm.

“Empress, the princess is… dying!” the nurse announced solemnly.

Joyce, her eyes red but her demeanor calm, approached Olive. Leaning down, she gently asked, “Olive, do you have anything to say to me?”

Weak and near death, Olive’s eyes blurred, her body paralyzed with pain. “Mom,” she whispered, “Send… my eldest brother to Elvis… Let him go with him… Don’t tell him anything. I want him to be okay…”

Joyce nodded. “Okay, I promise. I’ll take care of it.”

Olive turned her head with difficulty, her shining eyes finally resting on her three children. Motherly love, tender yet tinged with regret, filled her gaze. She hadn't watched her children grow up…

With a long beep, Olive closed her eyes, her heart ceasing to beat. Her breath was gone. She was only twenty years old. She left the person she loved most, her youth fading, having given birth to three children alone during the most difficult years of her life. She sent her eldest son, Nathan, across the sea to Elvis, to replace her as his companion. She wanted him to be okay.

Elvis watched all the videos on the USB flash drive, from start to finish, without blinking, afraid of missing a single moment. This was Olive’s three years. He had never known what she had endured. He imagined she’d easily cured the One Snap poison and lived happily with Derrick Domino. The reality was vastly different.

Turns out she had suffered so much.

Elvis narrowed his beautiful eyes, concealing the crimson flush. He had doubted her, misunderstood her. During her darkest hours, buried under a blanket, she had wept, calling his name, repeatedly saying she missed him, so desperately. He didn’t understand why he'd blamed her for not returning for three years. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to, but she couldn't. She'd closed her eyes and fallen into a deep sleep for two years.

The blood vessels on his palm throbbed violently, a sharp knife twisting in his heart, each pang agonizing. He should have been with her and the children. Why hadn’t he been there? How wonderful it would have been. Unfortunately, time couldn't be rewound. He finally understood that, for those three years, both he and she had been trapped, immobile. She had never left. He was her lover, untouchable by time.

Now, Olive’s beautiful face filled his mind. He had only one thought: to find her! He wanted to tell her that next time, she couldn’t make such a decision. Protecting her was his duty. She was not only his weakness, his softest heart, but also his strongest armor. From now on, she and their children would be under his protection.

Olive arrived at The Dearly Hotel as quickly as possible. Clara awaited her inside.

“Olive, you’re here. I didn’t expect you to be so fast,” Clara said with a wicked smile.

Olive’s clear eyes met Clara’s. “Where’s my son? I’m here. Let me see him.”

“Of course. The little prince of the Augustines is in the inner room.”

Olive quickly opened the door and saw Lil’ Nathan, bound hand and foot, unconscious on the bed.

“Nathan!” Olive cried, hugging him, then turning a cold gaze on Clara. “What have you done to my son?”

“Olive, you should ask what your son has done to us. This little prince is too difficult. We’ve sent many men to catch him, but they were all injured, and he almost escaped. I had to give him a sedative. Otherwise, how could he be here?”

Clara disliked Nathan. A hint of jealousy colored her words; Nathan was too much like Elvis—domineering, volatile, and intimidating. She was a little afraid of him.

“Clara, if anything happens to my son, I won’t let you go!”

“Got it. Actually, I don’t want to hurt the little prince. After all, I’ll be his stepmother. But Olive, if you disobey, you’ll be to blame. I’m marrying Elvis, and I’ll definitely give him more sons. My sons will be the princes of the Augustine family, so don’t blame me.” Clara laughed.

Ignoring the woman, Olive checked Nathan’s pulse. It was strong; he wasn’t injured. Her heart calmed.

At that moment, Nathan slowly opened his eyes, looking at Olive and calling out, “Mom…”