It was a photo of a dog, with three boxes of toys of her three children placed inconspicuously next to it.
"Damian! You are not even human!" Adeline broke down.
She rushed forward to retrieve the boxes of toys, but a guest who didn’t recognize her kicked her down.
"Where did this crazy woman come from? How dare she cause trouble at a Ravenswood Family event? Bodyguards, drag her out!"
Adeline struggled to stand and shouted, though without much force, "I'm not a lunatic. I’m from the Ravenswood Family .. ."
She stopped mid-sentence. She couldn't bring herself to say ‘the daughter-in-law’. After all, she wasn’t that anymore. She had already said she didn’t want the title.
Damian had noticed the commotion for a while but hadn’t stepped in yet. He was waiting for Adeline to say those words. But even as she was kicked again in the abdomen and crawled toward the toys, she never did. His expression darkened and he strode over.
"Adeline, what are you doing?"
Adeline saw him and immediately knelt down, bowing her head to the floor.
"Damian, please, give them back to me. Give me back the children's toys. Please, I’m begging you."
Damian grabbed her by the back of the neck and forced her to look at him.
"What? I gave the child a funeral and now you’re ashamed? Is it so wrong to be the Ravenswood Family’s daughter-in-law?"
Adeline shouted, her voice cracking, "A funeral? You call this a funeral? You put my children's toys next to a dog’s as some kind of background decoration?"
"What dog?"
Damian turned to look, confused. Then, he saw it. the dog's photo and the toys placed front and center in the mourning hall. His heart dropped. He hadn’t ordered any of that.
Just then, Jessica stepped up onto the platform, carrying a few yelping puppies.
"Oh, poor babies. They miss their mommy."
The puppies cried loudly and wriggled around, bumping into the toys.
"No!" Adeline screamed, but she couldn't stop what was coming.
There was a crisp shattering sound. Gasps echoed through the crowd. Damian panicked for the first time. He rushed to Adeline to comfort her.
"It’s okay, actually, it’s not—"
Slap!
Adeline hit him hard across the face.
"You think it's okay? You want me to submit to her again, don’t you?"
"Fine! I’m divorcing you right now! I’ll give her everything. The whole Ravenswood Family’s fortune, even that damned dressing room! I sincerely hope you two rot together forever!"
Ignoring Damian's stunned expression, Adeline walked past him with tears filling her eyes. After that, she knelt beside the scattered toys. As she reached out, she felt something warm drip onto her hand. Jessica was standing above her, holding a puppy.
"How dare you to hit Damian! Who do you think you are?"
Jessica then smashed the remaining two toys into pieces. Ever since she heard about the funeral Damian was planning, she had made up her mind. She would never let those children rest in peace.
Adeline froze. A cold wind blew through the mourning hall, leaving only pieces of wood where the toys once lay. She suddenly remembered the gentle breeze she had felt in front of her mother's tombstone.
Perhaps, it was her mother who came to take the children with her. There was nothing left now. Nothing to hold onto.
Adeline’s body trembled. With her last bit of strength, she had a moment of silence before the scattered remains of the toys.
At that moment, Mr. and Mrs. Ravenswood arrived, having rushed over after hearing the news. Desperate, they tried one last time.
"Adeline, please. Give him one more chance. Stay."
Adeline shook her head, her eyes blank and lifeless.
Seeing his parents standing beside Adeline ignited Damian’s rage once more. He stormed over and sneered, "What kind of act is this? She has no one in her family. Where else could she go? She’ll be crawling back in three days, begging me to take her in."
He then lifted Jessica into his arms in front of his parents and stepped over the broken pieces of the urns.
"Everyone, the funeral is canceled. Let’s turn this into a bachelor's party. Tonight, we drink!"
"You monster!" Mr. Ravenswood shouted, trembling with fury.
But Adeline remained silent.
She pulled a signed divorce agreement from her coat and handed it to Mr. and Mrs. Ravenswoods.
"It’s finally over."
Without looking back, she walked away from the mansion. Outside, a row of Maybach cars waited.
Half an hour later, she boarded a plane to another country. On the plane, she tossed all of her old identification into the trash. Her past ended there.
From that day on, she was no longer Adeline Ravenswood.
She became Adeline Waddell, who was ready to start a new life.
