“Now that the children are back, let’s have one last talk then and get everything off our chests.”“Lia…” Greg didn’t want Ophelia to go down that topic, but she seemed insistent.“After finding out you’ve been providing for those two behind my back and had arranged for them to live in another country, there was only disgust left in my heart for you.”Greg furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing this, but Ophelia continued speaking in a calm tone.“I tried comforting myself later on, because you’ve had a child with her and they’re still part of your past. It’s your responsibility to provide for them, so I didn’t mind. But how did you make it up to me? You forced Ryan to give up on the girl he liked just so her son could have what he wanted, as per usual.”“I completely gave up any hope I held for you in my heart since then.”Ophelia was still rather soft-spoken when saying all this, but it was enough to make Greg’s heart sting.“Ryan’s marriage ended up in a divorce…because of you. I
Silvia knew it all along. She knew he had always seen her as a complete mistake.It was her fault he couldn’t stay with Mariah, and it was her fault he was unhappy. Their marriage, their divorce, along with his parents’ divorce; everything was all her fault.Her heart had already gone through the pain of disappointment, so she didn’t respond to his accusations. Instead, she merely lowered her head and bit down on his hand, forcing him to let go of her out of pain.The deep teeth marks on his flesh were more than enough to represent the silent rage she held for him.Ryan froze in place, his mind filled with sheer disbelief that she would actually bite him. However, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of panic as he watched her walk further outside. She wasn’t even turning her head to check on him.He had always thought that she couldn’t possibly bear separating from her daughter, but she didn’t seem to back down from getting a divorce even after he told her he’d fight for custody.
From his point of view, him taking the initiative by voluntarily explaining that he never intended to go back to Mariah was the equivalent of begging her to stay by. He couldn’t find any fault in himself.‘But no, she just had to be greedy. She just had to ask if I love her or not! How could I not be angry?’‘Fine, then. If that’s how she wants to play it, I won’t let her off easy either.’ He dialed a number and gave out some orders. “Contact her lawyer for me. Tell them that I’d be coming by tomorrow.”‘Let’s see how she’s going to take me to court when she doesn’t even have a lawyer to begin with.’Ditching her old car, Silvia called a cab back to Rosaline’s place.Rosaline had previously allowed her to stay at her place temporarily. Her apartment was a small unit containing two bedrooms, which was just enough for the two of them. It used to be her and her ex-husband’s property, and Silvia was the one who helped Rosaline hire a lawyer to fight for the ownership of this place.
Ryan seemed disgusted as he tugged on her shirt gently, chuckling. “Let me give you some advice while we’re at it. Not just any man out there can provide the life I gave you!”Silvia found his expression extremely distasteful. He was basically telling her she couldn’t survive in this world without him. He suggested that it was best to stop her ‘tantrum’ and to stay in her lane; to stay as Mrs. Pierce.His arrogance and false sense of superiority definitely stemmed from her obsession with him in the past. However, seeing and hearing all of this now just made her so furious that she began trembling; she even felt her vision blurring out for a second.‘Does he think I’m that useless?’‘I was a valedictorian back in university! I graduated with first honors as a Chinese Mandarin major! And I had been quite active in other school activities as the head of the art department within the student council!’‘If I hadn’t married him, I would’ve been a bright young white-collar woman by now!
“Nope, just these! I don’t feel cold, though. I swear!” In face of her mother’s questioning, Autumn insisted on saying she wasn’t cold. Just then, a gust of wind breezed through, causing her to wrap her chubby arms around herself. She quickly lowered her head out of guilt from lying.Autumn then admitted that she wanted to wear this outfit for quite some time, but her mother had always made her wear that coat with every outfit she wore. She thought the coat was ugly, so she just wore whatever she wanted when her mother wasn’t home.Silvia was fuming. She lectured Ryan as soon as he was near. “Pierce, would it kill you to give Autumn an extra coat during cold weather?!”Ryan, however, was already in a bad mood. The sudden scolding irked him even more, and he snapped, “She wanted to wear this, so what does that have to do with me? How could she not know if she’s cold or not?”Silvia was so angry that tears formed in her eyes. “She’s three years old, for pity’s sake! How could she e
Autumn blinked her big doe eyes, not thinking much as she said, “Mama said she’s not going home anymore. My classmate Jamie told us his parents don’t live together, and he said it’s because they’re divorced.”Silvia didn’t know if she should feel sad after hearing this from her daughter.The divorce rate had been increasing rapidly throughout the years, so much so that little children are used to the topic at this point. They might not understand the concept of divorce, but somehow, the word had already been added into the dictionary in their minds.Ryan, however, was narrowing his eyes. It was clear he was shocked by his daughter’s unexpected explanation as well, as she shouldn’t have had to learn something like this at such an early age.The two adults couldn’t bring themselves to say anything when faced with their naive daughter’s words. Before they could come up with an appropriate answer, the little girl spoke up once more. “I know you’ll ask me who I’d choose to stay with,
For some inexplicable reason, Ryan felt a dull ache in his heart as he watched Silvia carrying her daughter away from the rearview mirror.He felt especially suffocated as he watched Autumn putting her head against Silvia's shoulder, while repeatedly looking back at his car with a sad, disappointed gaze. She looked exceedingly lonely, yet was considerate enough to not throw a tantrum over her current plight.Not long after Silvia left with her daughter, she heard Ryan's phone chiming from behind once more. She was absolutely sure that it was the mistress urging him to see her right away.Her instinct told her that Mariah knew about Ryan's plans on picking up their daughter, as well as the fact that they would bump into each other. Hence, the mistress had likely thought of an excuse to have him leave.'I think Sommers was crying during the call. Hah! I cried in front of him earlier too, but it was nothing to him. Rather, her tears are his kryptonite.''We can all see who he priorit
After her call with her parents, Silvia received a notification that five thousand dollars had been transferred into her bank account. It was from her mother. Right after that, she received a text.[Use this money for the divorce proceedings. It's best not to use Ryan’s money anymore, especially when you've already made your final decision.]Clutching to her phone as she stared at her mother's message, Silvia bit her lips as tears silently fell down her cheeks.Her parents’ enthusiasm regarding her divorce showed that they had long recognized the problems within her marriage. Yet, Silvia was still foolishly trying to stay with Ryan.When Rosaline returned, Silvia informed the former that she needed to go back to Ryan's place to pack some things. Being a good friend, Rosaline happily agreed to look after Autumn while Silvia was away.Before heading out, Silvia checked on her daughter, only to realize that Autumn’s cheeks were flushed and that her body was burning up quickly. Realiz