| abstract
| - Olivia Kate Fraser nearly made a premature entry into the world as her mother went into labour whilst going for a walk. Even though they got home in time, she was diagnosed with a heart murmur at birth but quickly recovered to be reunited with parents Lachie and Chloe. But then Lachie was diagnosed with a brain tumour and although an operation went well he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage that left him permanently brain damaged. His mother Diana sent him to the States for treatment and after Chloe briefly tried looking after him on her own they moved back in with Irene. Lachie’s brother James, Olivia’s uncle, came to town to keep an eye on his family. Diana also began to involve herself in Olivia’s life, offering to get her on the list for a private school, and James was surprised when Chloe agreed. Chloe was uncomfortable when an old lady mistook James for Olivia’s father and felt Olivia needed her father in her life. James paid for them to go to the States to see him but when they arrived they discovered that, as a result of his brain damage, Lachie no longer had any feelings for either of them and was seeing someone else. Soon after her return to Australia, Olivia showed signs of being unwell. Irene and Chloe seemed ready to dismiss it but James insisted on taking her to a specialist and learned she was suffering from a narrow aorta. She needed an operation but fortunately it went well. With Joey behaving erratically at the time, as a result of undiagnosed schizophrenia, Irene persuaded Chloe to take Olivia and move in with James, who she had recently started dating. Chloe and James married but cracks soon started to appear in the relationship. James asked to adopt Olivia but Chloe suggested they try for a baby of their own instead, only she kept taking the Pill. When James found out, he ended the marriage and Chloe and Olivia returned to live with Irene. Soon after, Lachie died in the States from a second haemorrhage and Diana became even more obsessed with controlling Olivia’s life. When a solicitor told her she had no more say in Olivia’s upbringing than Chloe allowed her, Diana kidnapped her granddaughter but her husband Peter quickly returned her to Chloe and checked Diana into a clinic. Chloe allowed Diana supervised access when she came out but had begun to feel she needed a new start. She took Olivia to live in the city after a hasty farewell to Irene and James. Olivia returned to Summer Bay in 2005, by which time she had started using her mother’s maiden name Richards and also somehow aged to around ten years old. Chloe and Sally went to collect her from the city, after which Sally and Jesse took her to the Diner. She was on hand to give Chloe a hug after she was attacked by her violent boyfriend Troy. Olivia wished Alf a happy 60th birthday but that evening she was orphaned when Chloe was killed in a car accident. Colleen was looking after her for the evening when Irene and Barry returned to tell her the news. Irene declared her intention to apply for custody of Olivia and she and Barry took her away for a while. They returned to the news Jesse had turned himself in for causing the accident. Despite Irene doing the bare minimum to inform her of Chloe’s death, Diana turned up at the funeral, where Olivia greeted her politely but without any real pleasure. Although neither Irene nor Olivia was happy with the idea, Diana was allowed to spend time with her granddaughter. Hayley took Olivia down the beach but Diana joined them uninvited until Irene stepped in and took her away. With Diana having applied for custody, Olivia was looked after by Kim and Hayley during the hearing and told them that because they were having a baby and loved each other they should get married. With the first day of mediation having gone badly, Olivia begged Irene not to let Diana take her. That night, Irene grabbed Olivia and drove off into the night, without any real idea of where they were going. Olivia left the teddy bear Chloe bought her at a petrol station and when Irene went back to get it, they ran into Barry, who persuaded them to return home. Olivia backed up Irene and Hayley’s story that they had gone to a sale in Yabbie Creek and had a flat tyre. The mediator questioned Olivia and she said that she loved Irene but also liked living in the city and, because she was questioned in front of Diana, didn’t feel able to say she didn’t want to live with her. As a result, the mediator awarded Diana custody and a distraught Olivia was dragged from the house. After only a few hours of Diana’s cold and highly disciplined parenting, Olivia was ringing Irene begging for help. Irene and Hayley went to the house and spoke to Olivia through the gate but Diana turned them away. However, then James arrived as the executor of Chloe’s will, and summoned Diana and Olivia to the beach house. He announced that not only had Chloe left everything to Olivia, to be placed in trust until her 16th birthday, but she had also stipulated that under no circumstances was Diana to be given custody of her – and had instead awarded guardianship to James. Olivia told Diana that she didn’t want to live with her because she always made trouble for everyone and was delighted when James told her they would be living in his flat in the city, so she could stay at the same school and still see all her friends. Once more, Irene said a sad farewell to Olivia as she waved them off, but was happy in the knowledge that Chloe’s wishes had been honoured. In October 2015, Olivia returned to Summer Bay in the hope that her mother's former foster carer Irene Roberts would look after her, following some trouble at her school in London. Olivia flirts with VJ Patterson upon her arrival. But soon after she becomes very fond of Hunter and starts dating him.
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