Homecoming Surprise: The Family They Never Expected

On the day we were supposed to get married at the courthouse, my boyfriend Samuel Lee had someone kick me out and brought in Rachel, his childhood sweetheart.

He looked at me nonchalantly and said, Rachel's child needs legal custody. After we divorce, I'll marry you.

Everyone thought that I, being so in love with him, would willingly wait another month for him. After all, I had already waited for him for seven years.

But that very night, I accepted my family's arrangement for an international marriage and disappeared from his world.

Three years later, I accompanied my husband back to the country for ancestor worship. My husband had some urgent business, so he arranged for the local branch company to pick me up.

Unexpectedly, I ran into Samuel Lee, whom I hadn't seen in three years.

"You've made enough of a fuss. Come back... Rachel's child is about to start kindergarten. You'll be responsible for picking him up and dropping him off."

In the arrival hall, I saw someone holding a sign with my English name. As I walked over, I realized it was Samuel Lee, whom I hadn't seen in three years.

He was there with Rachel and a few of his good friends, all craning their necks and looking around expectantly.

"Sam, isn't that your doormat Olivia?" one of them said.

Samuel looked surprised to see me too, but quickly pretended to be indifferent and said, "See? I told you she'd come crawling back."

The group snickered and looked at me:

"Olivia disappeared without a word back then. Now that she sees Sam's successful, I bet she cries herself to sleep every night regretting it!"

"But Olivia, if you wanted to pretend to bump into him, why did you just wear casual clothes? Couldn't you have dressed up a bit?"

"Don't tell me you can't even afford decent clothes without Sam? You must be in a really bad state!"

In the past, whenever I went out to see Samuel, I would always put on my most exquisite makeup and choose the most flattering clothes, presenting my best side to him.

But now, there was no need for that anymore.

Because of my pregnancy, my husband doesn't let me wear makeup and wants me to dress comfortably. This casual outfit was specially customized for me by someone he hired.

However, hearing their words, I realized they only knew my English name but didn't know that I was the person they were supposed to pick up.

Seeing that I remained silent, someone who used to be closer to me quickly tried to smooth things over:

"Olivia, it's good that you're back. Actually, Sam has been looking for you all these years... asking around for news about you!"

Samuel's smile froze, then he pretended to be nonchalant and said:

"Rachel's child is about to start kindergarten. From now on, you'll be responsible for picking him up and dropping him off."

Samuel was still his same arrogant, self-righteous self.

But I was no longer that young girl who always accommodated him. Seeing him again, all I felt was annoyance.

Not wanting to waste time with them here, I was about to reveal my identity when Rachel spoke first:

"Olivia, don't blame Sam. He did this to take care of you too. After all, who knows what you've been up to during these three years you disappeared?"

"Now that you're in such a poor state, you couldn't even handle being my personal assistant if he offered you the job."

"Don't worry, no one will look down on you if you help me take care of my son."

Three years later, Rachel was still as arrogant as ever, still able to make me frown in disgust.

Samuel misunderstood my expression as jealousy and anger towards him, a hint of smugness flashing in his eyes.

"Alright, enough with the fuss when you can't even make it out there anymore," he said.

"Just take care of the kid properly and stop causing trouble. You need to know your place."

"Don't worry, we still have a room for the maid at our place."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people around burst into malicious laughter.

"Olivia, see how good Sam is to you? He's afraid you're suffering out there, so he's arranged food and lodging for you."

"It's just helping Rachel take care of the kid, isn't that much better than your current poor life? Hurry up and thank Sam."

Rachel touched her earrings, pretending to be considerate:

"Olivia, don't worry. If my son misbehaves and doesn't listen to you, I'll discipline him for you. I won't let you suffer any grievances."

Samuel snorted with laughter, glancing at me.

"What grievances could she have? She disappeared over a trivial matter back then. Now that she can't make it on her own and has come back, it's only right for her to suffer a bit."

Hearing these words, my heart skipped a beat.

Even now, did he still think that getting married to Rachel was just a trivial matter?

It turns out that the Samuel who once loved me was long gone.

He was no longer that boy who, covered in wounds, carried my injured self across half the city.

Nor was he that young man who, with nothing to his name, loudly proclaimed his love for me and promised me everything.

And he certainly wasn't that successful man who was willing to cook for me with his own hands.

But it's fine. It's all in the past, no need to bring it up.

After all, I'm about to have my second child soon.

Suppressing my thoughts, I didn't want to argue with them here. It was pointless.

I looked at Samuel and said calmly:

"Weren't you here to pick me up? Let's go."

The scene went quiet for a moment, and they exchanged glances before suddenly bursting into laughter.

Rachel sneered coldly:

"Wait for you? Who do you think you are?!"

She pointed at the sign, "Look carefully, we're waiting for Olivia. Do you know who that is?"

This was my English name, of course I knew.

"Olivia is Mrs. Young, the lady of the Young family, and the legal wife of Mr. Young."

"Mr. Young is decisive in the business world, but he's actually quite the romantic. They say he refused to marry for years, just waiting for Olivia."

"Everyone in the circle knows that rather than trying to please Mr. Young, it's better to please Mrs. Young. She's the apple of Mr. Young's eye."

Hearing their chatter, a happy smile appeared on my face.

After three years of marriage, Gabriel's business had grown bigger and bigger, and his reputation as a wife-doting maniac had spread far and wide.

Rachel, always trying to one-up me, couldn't resist showing off in front of me:

"Mr. Young once bought a 'True Love Forever' bracelet at Christie's auction for $20 million... US dollars, just to please Mrs. Young."

"Mrs. Young is the envy of women all over the world."

She paused, then pointed at my wrist and said shrilly:

"It's this one!"

The scene suddenly went quiet, with everyone looking at my bracelet.

Samuel grabbed my hand abruptly, examining it for a moment before saying mockingly:

"The imitation is quite exquisite! Which delivery guy bought this for you? Giving fake gifts."

"Trash."

I shook off his hand, curled my lips into a smile, and gently caressed the bracelet.

Seeing my happy smile, Samuel's pupils constricted, and he suddenly grabbed my wrist, roughly rubbing the bracelet.

I hadn't expected this to happen and was caught off guard.

Rachel stepped forward to examine the bracelet, taking it from Samuel's hand and playing with it.

"It is indeed more exquisite than the imitation I bought, but I would never wear it out. It's embarrassing."

"The imitations from abroad are really different, the feel is quite nice."

"Or are you saying, Olivia, that you're Olivia, that legendary Mrs. Young?!"

As she finished speaking, the people around burst into laughter.

After all, it was too absurd for them to believe.

Gabriel Young was a world-renowned financial genius, cold and ruthless in the business world, decisive and unforgiving.

And I was still hanging out with them three years ago, a nobody whose wedding was called off by Samuel.

No matter how they thought about it, it seemed impossible.

Rachel twirled the bracelet around her finger.

"Olivia, why don't you give me this bracelet? I'll pay double for it."

Afraid she might drop the bracelet, I quickly said:

"Give me back the bracelet, it was given to me by Gabriel..."

Before I could finish, Samuel slapped me hard across the face, making my head turn and drawing blood from the corner of my mouth.

"Shut up!"

Samuel looked at me with some annoyance and said:

"Olivia Johnson, you dare to mention Mr. Young's name? You're even daring to spread rumors about having a relationship with him. Are you trying to get me killed?"

Samuel's good friends also looked indignant, glaring at me angrily.

"Olivia, do you know that we barely managed to get the chance to pick up Mrs. Young today?"

"Sam's company was acquired by Mr. Young last year. We all depend on Mr. Young for our livelihoods now. Only by pleasing Mrs. Young can Sam's position be secure."

"Now you're here spreading rumors about having a relationship with Mr. Young. Are you trying to ruin Sam?"

I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and slowly turned my head, meeting Samuel's gaze.

Perhaps my look was too frightening, as Samuel frowned, a flash of panic crossing his eyes.

Seeing Samuel's strange look at me, Rachel shot me a venomous glance and pointed at my nose, cursing:

"Olivia Johnson, you ungrateful wretch! Sam has already agreed to take you back, don't be so ignorant and ungrateful, getting above yourself."

"Even if you have some resentment towards Sam, you can't use this method to get revenge on him, can you?"

Hearing this, I felt like I was back three years ago.

No matter what I did, Rachel would always misinterpret my intentions and explain them to Samuel.

At first, Samuel would scold Rachel.

But later, he would follow Rachel's words and blame me.

Just like now, Samuel scolded me in a tone of disappointment:

"Jealous woman."

But this time, he didn't continue to scold me as he did in the past.

After a moment of silence, Samuel took out a check for $200,000 and placed it in front of me.

"For the sake of our past relationship, I won't do anything to you."

"Take the money and buy yourself some decent clothes. If you don't like taking care of children, I'll find you a respectable job in a few days."

"Don't worry, since Mr. Young acquired the company, this amount of money is nothing to me now."

Samuel's patronizing attitude made me sick. Looks like he's been doing quite well lately.

Under everyone's surprised gaze, I pushed away Samuel's hand holding the check, retrieved my bracelet from Rachel's hand, and said with a smile:

"No need, Mr. Lee. I don't accept things from strangers."