Married to My Enemy's Blood novel Chapter 2

To join Scripps, Ophelia had to bring along the research she’d developed on her own.

But all the research data and samples were in the lab.

The lab could only be opened with both her and Augustus’s fingerprints and passwords. Both had to be present to open the door.

Not long after, Ophelia finally got her son, Julian. His face was covered in tears, and he fell into a dazed sleep.

She kissed her son’s forehead. “Jules, do you want to leave with Mommy?”

Julian’s eyelashes trembled. He looked at Ophelia and cried, “Mommy, I almost fell into the sea.‘

A five–year–old child already understood what had happened.

The one who took Julian away was Augustus’s closest assistant.

Tears welled in Ophelia’s eyes.

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“Jules, if you come with Mommy, there won’t be a Daddy anymore. Will you still come with me?”

Julian wrapped his little arms around Ophelia’s neck and nodded.

“Tll

go

wherever Mommy goes.”

Ophelia brought Julian to the company. Her fingerprints and password could access the executive research lab.

But the door wouldn’t open.

Through the glass door, she saw the computers and various samples inside.

The only thing she wanted to take was the data from an experiment she developed alone.

“Mommy, what do we do? Daddy isn’t here. You can’t open this door.”

Ophelia’s mind went back to when Augustus built the lab and recorded fingerprints and passwords with her.

He held her and whispered in her ear, “Ophelia, don’t tell me your password, and I won’t tell you

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mine. These are the company’s most precious treasures. Only if we come here together can we open this door and see them. That way, we’ll always be inseparable.”

When they loved each other, this was mutual dependence.

But when love was gone, it was the best way to guard against the other.

“Augustus, did you ever imagine this day five years ago?”

Ophelia never opened the lab door.

She took Julian straight to their home on the second floor.

For years, she had lived with Julian and Augustus in the company. It was not until Kimberly appeared that they bought a villa and lived like a family.

Everything here had been completed by Ophelia and Julian before Kimberly came.

Ophelia sorted through all her belongings, including the gifts Augustus bought her, gifts she bought him, matching couple items she bought, and everything her son had.

“I don’t want this thing that Daddy bought anymore. I’ll take this thing that Mommy bought with me. This is our family photo, I don’t want it anymore.”

The little boy grabbed three bags and sorted everything quickly.

Ophelia held back her tears, watching her son carefully organize their things.

“Augustus, do you know how smart Jules is?

“He didn’t say anything, but he knew you had given up on him,” she said inwardly.

Julian ran over and hugged Ophelia.

His little hands wiped her tears.

“Mommy, you’ve always wanted to go to that lab, right? You said the ocean takes up three- quarters of our home. We have to protect it. You’ve always wanted to be a warrior who protects the ocean. Mommy is the strongest. You’re just fulfilling your dream. I support you. I’ll go with you.”

Ophelia looked at a painting in the distance.

Augustus was very good at painting.

It was an oil painting he made when Julian was two–of her and Jules together.

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Ophelia walked over, opened a nearby paint box, and took a brush to paint herself out.

Julian immediately grabbed a small brush and painted himself out like Ophelia.

The little boy said warmly, “Mommy, when I learn to paint, I’ll paint just for you. My painting will be better than this.”

Ophelia’s lips curved into a faint smile as she stroked her son’s face.

After sorting and packing everything.

Ophelia called a junk removal service to take everything away.

Including the bed she and Augustus had slept in, the sofa, and the kitchenware. Everything.

The heartwarming photos she had hung on the walls, and Julian’s messy drawing.

She removed and discarded everything, then repainted with new paint over and over.

By the time she finished, the 200–square–meter house was empty except for the load–bearing walls. White walls, completely clean, not a trace left.

Even in the kitchen, the stomach medicine she always prepared for Augustus was gone.

It took a whole day and night, and Jules had fallen asleep on the floor.

Ophelia carried him back to the villa.

When she opened the door, the living room was smoky, ashtrays filled with a dozen cigarette

butts.

Augustus’s cold face looked a little disheveled, his red–rimmed eyes bloodshot.

His voice was dark and heavy. “Kim was bullied as soon as she went to school. She was injured, lying in her dorm, and she has no money to buy medicine!”

He had been waiting for Ophelia. His eyes were icy, as if she were his enemy.

Ophelia glanced at Julian sleeping in her arms.

“Augustus,whatever you need to say, don’t argue in front of our son.

She was about to go upstairs when Kimberly appeared on the staircase.

She wore a white nightgown, her long curly hair cascading down her waist. Her innocent face was full of panic.

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Her tense hands gripped the hem of her nightgown.

“Ms. Flynn, I… I won’t bother Gus anymore. Please don’t send me abroad.”

The girl stood not far off, deliberately calling Ophelia “Ms. Flynn,” as if she weren’t married to Augustus at all.

Kimberly looked at her pitifully.

Augustus had already gotten up from the sofa and walked directly toward Kimberly on the stairs.

He pushed aside her hair, revealing the red handprint marks on her fair cheek from a hard slap.

Kimberly cried, leaning against Augustus’s chest.

“Ms. Flynn, the people who bullied me were all Americans, and they claimed someone paid them to do it. Since you sent me to a top music school, I know you couldn’t possibly be behind this.”

Augustus stared at Ophelia with cold eyes.

“Ophelia, you may not like Kim, but as I have told you, I must take care of her until she finishes her Master’s degree at 25, unless her uncle is back.”

“But my patience and compromises only let you bully her again and again.”

Their argument woke Julian.

He wanted to turn his head, but Ophelia stopped him. “Jules, close your eyes. Don’t listen.”

She struggled to control her emotions.

“Augustus, the Royal College of Music is the best music school in the world. If bullying happened, you could report it and even investigate it yourself instead of questioning me here.”

Kimberly sobbed uncontrollably. “Ms. Flynn, I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

She begged on her knees.

“Please, Ms. Flynn. I just want to study in New York. I can even live in the dorm and come back for a day every month. No, even half a day is fine. Don’t send me away. They’ll kill me.”

Her tears captivated Augustus. In front of Ophelia, he scooped Kimberly up and looked at Ophelia, rage written all over his face.

“We’ll talk in the study later. I’ll comfort Kim first.”

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Ophelia went upstairs numbly. Leaning on her shoulder, Julian whispered, “Mommy, can we leave Daddy sooner?”

Ophelia stroked his back, her heart aching. “Yes, once Mommy finishes everything. I’ll do my

best.”

Ophelia carried Julian down the second–floor hallway toward his bedroom.

Passing Kimberly’s room, she noticed the door slightly ajar.

Through the narrow gap, she saw Augustus pressing Kimberly onto the bed, and one of his hands inside her white nightgown.

Ophelia’s body froze instantly, her eyes full of pain.

Augustus, was that how you took care of her?