Helen once again slapped the armrest of her wheelchair in fury.
“Enough! Jason is working himself half to death for this family, and now you want to abandon him? This marriage is not up for discussion! You must stay, take care of the children, and support him!”
“No! I don’t want to! I don’t want some old man’s daughter as my mommy. Grandma, Daddy, I want a new mom!”
Lily squirmed uneasily in Jason’s arms, crying hysterically.
Jason, playing the role of the doting father, looked at me coldly while soothing her gently.
“Sweetheart, who do you want as your new mom?”
“I want Emily Brooks! She’s young and pretty, and she smells nice. I don’t want that old hag who flirts with old men to be my mom!”
With that, Lily stretched out her arms toward Emily. Startled but delighted, Emily hurriedly took her into her arms.
“Sweetie, of course I’d love to be your mommy—oh no, I mean, your dad and mom aren’t divorced yet. You can call me Aunt Emily, or maybe… I could be your godmother for now?”
“No, I want to call you Mommy Emily. Once Daddy divorces Mommy, you can marry Daddy and be my mom, okay?”
Hearing my daughter, whom I had raised with so much love, calling another woman “Mom,” my heart shattered.
“Lily! No! You misunderstood. That man who came to see me was your grandfather, not some sugar daddy!”
“Hmph! I don’t believe you! If he was my grandpa, then why are you divorcing Daddy right now? You just don’t love us anymore, do you?”
Her little face was streaked with tears, falling like broken pearls.
The sight made my chest ache, and even the people around us were moved to tears.
Jason clenched his jaw, his face ashen, his eyes filled with icy contempt.
“Rachel Evans, how does it feel to have everyone against you? And you still want a divorce? Who would even want you after—you, a washed-up housewife with a sagging body and no appeal?”
“If you’re smart, you’ll stay home and do your duty as a wife and mother. And in return, I’ll keep fulfilling my duty as a husband. But if you keep this up, no one will be able to save you!”
Jason tugged at his tie in agitation, ripping open his shirt to reveal red marks all over his neck, stabbing me with fresh pain.
“Jason, ask yourself—this past month, staying at the office until five in the morning every night, was it really all for work?”
“You—Rachel Evans, what are you implying? What else would I be doing at the office? Sleeping there? You think I get $50,000 a month just for sleeping? You think the CEO’s an idiot? Ridiculous!”
Jason faltered under my piercing gaze and quickly buttoned his shirt back up.
I wiped away my tears and gave a bitter smile.
“What ordinary employee gets promoted overnight to Vice President, their salary leaping from $8,000 to $50,000, while coming home every morning pale and exhausted with dark circles under their eyes?”
“And how convenient is it that you’re always ‘working late’ with Sophia Carter, your glamorous middle-aged CEO? Tell me, Jason—do you dare take off your shirt in front of everyone and show them where all those marks on your body really came from?”
My words immediately shifted all eyes in the room onto Jason.
