Chapter_148
Tyler’s gaze lingered on Olivia for a moment longer, as if trying to read her, to find some sign of what she was truly feeling. But her face was blank, her eyes distant, as though she were no longer in the room with him. It was as though the weight of the moment—the gravity of what they had just done—had already consumed her.
“Olivia,” he said, his voice softer than before, as if testing her. “I never wanted this to be forced upon you.”
She blinked, her mind struggling to piece together a response, but her thoughts were tangled. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The words, the thoughts, they all felt heavy and suffocating in her chest.
Tyler seemed to hesitate, his mouth opening slightly as though he wanted to say something more. But before he could, the assistant cleared her throat and stepped forward. “Ms. Olivia, I’ll take you home now.”
Olivia didn’t resist. She stood up, still feeling detached from her own body as she followed the assistant out of the office. Her movements were automatic, her mind elsewhere, struggling to catch up with everything that had just happened.
As they made their way down the hallway, Tyler didn’t follow. Olivia didn’t look back. The door to the clerk’s office closed behind her with a soft click, sealing away that chapter of her life, but not the consequences. The reality of her marriage—a marriage that had started as nothing more than a formality to save her sister—hung in the air like a heavy cloud.
The car ride back to Sandalwood Palace was silent. Olivia sat in the back seat, staring out of the window, watching the world pass by without truly seeing it. Her mind replayed the moments of the day in an endless loop: the paperwork, the signatures, the cold indifference of it all. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just signed away a part of herself.
When they arrived at the mansion, the assistant led her inside. “Mr. Tyler is in his study,” she said quietly, but Olivia didn’t want to see him. Not now. Not after everything.
“I’ll go to my room,” Olivia replied softly, her voice barely audible. She didn’t need to explain herself; the assistant understood and gave a small nod before leaving her to her solitude.
Alone in her room, Olivia collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in the pillows. She felt empty, hollow. The whirlwind of emotions she had tried to suppress earlier came crashing down all at once. Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t allow them to fall. She had to be strong, for Naomi, for her family, for everyone except herself.
For the first time, she questioned everything—every decision that had led her to this point. Had she really done the right thing? Or had she just given up the last shred of herself to save her sister?
But no answer came. Only silence. And the weight of a marriage that wasn’t meant to be.
Tyler’s face flashed in her mind, his cold indifference, the way he had signed the papers so effortlessly. She wondered if he ever thought about the consequences, about how this would affect her. Or was he just as detached as she felt?
The days ahead seemed uncertain. Olivia didn’t know what came next, but she had a feeling she was no longer in control of her own life.
And that terrified her.