World A — Olivia Smith's World.
Meanwhile, back to the previous Olivia Smith World….
The moment Emma, in Olivia's body, stepped into the grand Smith mansion, she was met with the scent of lavender polish and the soft rustle of maids in green and white uniforms moving briskly about their chores.
Before she could even adjust to the opulence around her, Olivia's mother, Laura, rushed forward and enveloped her in a trembling embrace.
The warmth of that hug wasn't comforting, it was desperate. The woman was scared, clinging to her daughter as if afraid to lose her again.
Emma froze at first, but Olivia's memories came flooding in, painful, vivid.
She saw flashes of nights when Olivia had returned home, blood splattered across her clothes, her knuckles bruised from another confrontation. The assassins sent after her never succeeded, but each attempt chipped away at her parents' sanity.
Every time, the couple would break down. They would plead with their daughter through tears, telling her that none of it would be happening if they had been strong enough, capable enough.
But Olivia never listened. She would rush past them and lock herself in her room for two days, no food, no sleep, no bath, no tears.
Instead, she'd bury herself in mindless mobile games or sit on her balcony, staring at the city lights far ahead in the distance, tuning out her parents' constant knocking and phone calls.
And when she finally emerged, she would act as if nothing had happened, her usual spoiled, arrogant self restored.
If her parents tried to bring up the incident, she would talk about killing as if it were a game, laughing it off as though it had been "fun."
At first, her parents had been terrified by her behavior, but when she showed no visible trauma, they convinced themselves she was fine.
"Baby, I'm so sorry about this," Laura whispered now, her voice thick with tears. "I promise it will all be over soon. We have people working on it."
President Smith stepped closer and wrapped his arms around both women, his silence saying what words could not. He looked relieved that "Olivia" hadn't pushed her mother away.
Emma felt her heart break for them.
She could no longer pretend she wasn't moved. Without caring if she was going out of character, she wrapped her arms around Laura and let her tears fall freely.
Why did it hurt this much?
Because Olivia, the real Olivia, had died.
And the people holding her right now had no idea.
These two loved their daughter deeply. For all their wealth and power, they were nothing but terrified parents when it came to her.
Emma understood now why Olivia had been so spoiled. Her parents wanted to give her everything, the world even, to make up for the life they couldn't give her.
The life of safety.
Yes, Olivia was difficult, overbearing even, but it all made sense now. She had been deprived of the simplest thing: freedom.
She couldn't go anywhere without guards, couldn't make friends without her parents investigating their entire lives first.
People admired her from afar, envied her wealth, her beauty, her life. But none of them saw the cage.
Olivia's arrogance had been her armor, a shield to appear strong, untouchable. But behind that façade was a lonely girl who had decided the only people worth loving were her parents. Everyone else was background noise.
Emma drew in a shaky breath and rubbed Laura's back gently. "It's fine," she whispered, her voice soft and foreign in Olivia's tone. She reached out with her other hand and clasped President Smith's arm reassuringly.
The maids had already disappeared from sight, silently giving the family space.
It made sense that the Smiths hadn't eliminated Harry yet, they had no proof he was behind the attacks. And despite their suspicions, they still had to smile and greet him at every social event as though nothing were wrong.
President Smith had an inkling that his brother could have a hand in their daughter's plight, but hope that isn't the case. Recent development made him have that suspicion and he was currently working on it.
They never told Olivia what they suspected. The truth that her uncle might want her dead to take over the corporation, would have destroyed her.
The possibility of it is already destroying President Smith on the inside.
President Smith finds it best for his daughter to believe the assassins were just enemies trying to use her to get to him.
President Smith had pleaded countless times with both his daughter and his wife. Laura, in turn, had threatened to run away with Olivia if he didn't find a way to stop the attacks.
The only silver lining was that Olivia naturally despised Harry. She avoided him whenever possible. The man had a habit of teasing her in public, calling her "the spoiled princess" with a smile that hid poison.
And his daughter was even worse, petty, conniving, and obsessed with humiliating Olivia.
The father-daughter duo always tried to make her look foolish at gatherings, twisting the truth just enough to make their words sting but remain believable.
But Olivia never backed down.
She would smirk, silence her parents' attempts to interfere, and then slice through their insults with her own, sharp, toxic, and unforgettable retorts.
By the end of the night, she'd still be glowing, perfectly composed, while Harry and his daughter will be left fuming, their faces red with barely contained rage.
That was how Harry had come to call her a bastard.
Even though he worked tirelessly to make people doubt Olivia's competence as an heiress, he always left those encounters publicly humiliated with his pride in tatters.
Olivia is enough for the father and daughter duo.
President Smith already get into an argument with his brother over his attitude towards Olivia but the man claimed he only retaliated when Olivia gave him a stink condescending look whenever they met at a gathering.
This had been a lie but blinded by familiar love, the President just attempted to smooth the bad blood between his brother and daughter which ended badly each time.
But finally, a recent discovery had started to point a suspicious finger at Harry Smith as a traitor.
He suspected that Harry is acquainted with people that aimed at Olivia's life, unaware that Harry Smith is the ring leader.