Mrs Quinn was just about to say, “It’s not a big deal”.

But before she could speak, Melissa suddenly screamed and fainted.

Mrs Quinn frowned.

These two bitches, always caused her trouble!

She looked at the butler. “What are you staring at? Take them to the hospital!”

The butler quickly called for people to carry them to the car, and rushed them to the hospital.

The living room was in chaos.

Once everyone had left, Olivia looked at Brian, “Brian, I’m sorry. Did I cause you trouble?”

Brian casually tossed the whip aside, took the towel she handed him, and wiped his hands.

In a cold voice, he said, “Is this what you wanted?”

Olivia was stunned. “What do you mean?”

After wiping his hands, Brian tossed the damp towel aside and looked at her. “Three lashes—was that enough? Or would you have preferred I beat her to death?”

Gone was his usual tenderness and affection. Brian’s expression was blank, even his gaze was icy as he looked at her, making Olivia instinctively let go of his arm.

Olivia’s heart trembled. “Brian, what do you mean? I don’t understand.”

Mrs Quinn also frowned. “Brian what are you saying?”

Brian looked at the disordered handbag on the coffee table. “Engagement ring? When did I ever buy an engagement ring?”

Olivia’s face turned pale.

Right.

There was no engagement ring.

The whole thing was a story she had made up.

But didn’t he just help cover for her?

Didn’t that mean he agreed and supported her?

Everything had already passed, so why was he bringing it up now? What was he trying to do?

Olivia instinctively looked at the maids.

Sure enough, the maids were all staring at her, their eyes filled with curiosity and surprise.

Mrs Quinn was also stunned.

Olivia touched her lower abdomen. “Brian, I—”

“She’s just a servant; it would’ve been easy to deal with her. Why do that?” Brian’s tone was now tinged with disdain.

“As the future mistress of the Quinn Family, you can’t even handle a maid without me stepping in.

“Since you troubled everyone, you are satisfied with it now?”

Olivia bit her lip, not understanding what he meant.

“Huh, only a maid.” Brian looked at Mrs Quinn. “Mom, you got dragged into this too.”

With that, he let out a mocking laugh, as if he despised such petty schemes.

Mrs Quinn’s face went pale, and she looked at Olivia with an increasingly grim expression.

“You? You are gonna married to me, and you are gonna be a mother! How childish that you made everyone act in your play!

“Olivia, you’re twenty, not two. Do you still need me to teach you?”

Brian’s words grew harsher, almost to the point of accusing Olivia of being unworthy.

She looked at Brian, listening to his stern tone, and felt an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

He looked into her eyes as if he could see the corruption deep within her soul.

But wasn’t she his most cherished and respected lover?

So why did his tone sound like he was scolding an incompetent, failed subordinate who had messed everything up?

Mrs Quinn’s gaze also turned cold as she looked at Olivia. “You made this up? And you dragged me into it?”

Olivia’s face turned red, unable to find words.

“I’ve always hated being manipulated,” Mrs Quinn said through gritted teeth. “Huh, you haven’t even become my daughter-in-law yet, and you’re already trying to set me up!”

Mrs Quinn was so angry her hands started to tremble.

She cursed, and then went upstairs, leaving everyone else behind.

Olivia’s lips quivering with unwillingness as she stood there.

Brian dismissed the maids and was about to head upstairs himself.

Olivia suddenly grabbed his hand. “You did this on purpose!”

“On purpose? Why would I do it on purpose?” Brian looked at her expressionlessly.

Olivia’s eyes burned with anger.

Outwardly, Olivia was the beloved daughter of the james Family, but only she knew what kind of life she had lived since childhood.

Years of enduring and pretending had long taught her to keep her emotions hidden.

In an instant, the anger in her eyes vanished.

Brian noticed it all, raising an eyebrow.

Emotional control was a lesson all children of wealthy families, and Olivia had mastered it at least seventy percent.

He reached out and pinched her chin. “The marriage alliance is for the benefit of both families. You don’t think that I really love you, right?”

Tears welled up in Olivia’s eyes. “But you were so good to me!”

“So what?”

Olivia was taken aback.

She thought: Yes, so what? Just because he was good to her, did she really believe he was genuinely kind, that he had truly fallen for her?

Looking into Brian’s emotionless eyes, she slapped his hand away. “When did you find out?”

Even her parents didn’t know her true nature.

Brian sneered. “Maybe you should ask why I decided to expose you.”

Olivia was silent for a moment.

Indeed.

It didn’t matter when he found out; he hadn’t exposed her until now.

But why was he suddenly revealing her true nature? What was he after?

Olivia tentatively asked, “Is it because of Ashley?”

No, that couldn’t be it.

If he truly cared for Ashley, he wouldn’t have beaten her.

Those three lashes just now had almost torn Ashley apart, blood and flesh flying everywhere.

Brian burst out laughing.

The more Brian laughed, the more uneasy Olivia felt, until she was both angry and ashamed. “Stop laughing!”

Brian wiped the tears of laughter, and then looked at her. “Olivia, if you keep making such ridiculous jokes, I’ll have to kick you out of the game.”

Olivia froze.

Brian’s laughter disappeared. “If you’re just a brainless romantic, I really need to reconsider the necessity of working with you.

“This marriage alliance doesn’t have to be with the james Family.”

The string in her mind finally got cut because of his words.

She looked at Brian, recalling their recent interactions, and a slightly absurd suspicion began to form in her mind.