Tears rolled uncontrollably down my cheeks, betraying the promise we once made to love each other for life.
Jason’s secretary, Emily Brooks, who had been watching from the side with sympathy, cast me a cold glance and spoke sarcastically.
“Miss Evans, as Jason’s secretary I shouldn’t meddle in his private matters, but ask yourself—what part of you, a housewife, is worthy of him? You dare to divorce him? If anything, it should be him leaving you.”
I gave Emily a cold smile and retorted without hesitation.
“Miss Brooks, since you care so much for my husband, once I divorce him you can have him. Wouldn’t that be convenient for you?”
Emily’s face flushed red, and she finally bit her lip and shut her mouth.
Jason, who had been watching coldly, glanced at the divorce papers and sneered, tearing them to pieces.
“Emily is right. If anyone is divorcing, it’s me leaving you, not the other way around!”
“But right now my mom is in poor health, and our daughter is still young. The family can’t do without you. I won’t divorce you.”
At that moment, Lily, usually so well-behaved, looked timidly at me, then suddenly clung tightly to Jason’s leg, her big innocent eyes filled with tears.
“Daddy, does Mommy not want us anymore?”
“Hmph! She doesn’t want us. Don’t worry, Lily, Daddy will always love you.”
Jason scooped her up in his arms and glared at me with hostility. Lily bit her finger and looked at me doubtfully.
“Mommy, is it because you like that old man who came looking for you, so you don’t want me and Daddy anymore?”
Her words set off another uproar among everyone present.
“No way, Rachel Evans really has the nerve? After eight years as a housewife, she’s cheating?”
“No wonder she wanted a divorce even after Jason’s promotion and raise—turns out she found herself some old sugar daddy!”
“Poor child, so young and already seeing her own mother act so shamelessly.”
Jason’s face turned black as night. He grabbed my arm harshly and demanded:
“Rachel Evans! Which old man have you been seeing behind my back? How much is he giving you every month to make you betray me and abandon our family? Tell me!”
His grip hurt so much I wrenched myself free.
“I haven’t! What old man? The one who came to see me was my father, the man who abandoned my mother and me when I was little. Now he’s old and wants to reconcile, but I refused him!”
Emily sneered, rolling her eyes at me.
“Oh please, don’t make me laugh. You ditched Jason for an old man? That ‘father’ of yours? More like a sugar daddy!”
Her words made my mother, Margaret, lose her temper. She rushed over and slapped me hard across the face.
“You really take me for a fool, Rachel Evans? Your deadbeat father abandoned us decades ago, said he was going to the United States to make a fortune, and died in a shipwreck during an illegal crossing!
And now you’re telling me he’s alive, rich, and back to ‘reconnect’ with you? If he really dared to show his face again, I’d skin him alive!”
Covering my stinging cheek, I looked at my strong-willed mother through tears.
“Dad came to me secretly because he was afraid you’d go after him for revenge. He didn’t die. He made a fortune in the United States—his assets are worth billions now. But I refused to go inherit anything. I just wanted to talk to you first, explain everything. I never thought you’d misunderstand me like this…”
