4: 4
I rested at home for several days before I felt any better. Thank God I was rushed to the hospital in time, or it might have left lasting damage.
Thinking of all the ailments I'd carried in my past life, I gave a bitter little smile and nodded to myself.
While I was at it, I needed to hurry through the divorce with Leslie Heath and move my things out of that place.
I really had lost my mind back then. I'd moved in with him two whole months early, and volunteered to take on all the housework myself.
Even when my in-laws made things hard for me, I'd told myself it was their way of testing me.
So stupid.
By the time I reached the Heath residence, the whole family was inside having a lively dinner, and Julia Finch was right there among them.
I paused. That was right, today was the old man's seventieth birthday.
So the whole family had invited Julia over, yet no one had bothered to tell me, the daughter-in-law.
I gave a cold laugh, turned, and went up the stairs to my room to pack.
"Mercy, come down and eat with us."
Julia blinked those innocent eyes of hers, sitting beside Leslie as if she were the lady of this house. I didn't answer her, and I wasn't about to waste my anger on her either.
Leslie was still sulking, unwilling to say a word, downing a glass of liquor with a black look on his face.
My mother-in-law rolled her eyes and deliberately raised her voice for me to hear.
"Let her throw her tantrum, see how far it gets her! Petty little thing, aren't you? A man can't even have one friend?"
I stopped what I was doing and looked down at the woman.
"Then tomorrow I'll invite Florence Lawrence over to our house for tea."
Florence Lawrence was my father-in-law's ex-girlfriend. The moment she heard it, my mother-in-law shot up from her seat and started cursing me for having no shame.
"Mercedes Butler! Are you done making a scene?"
Leslie finally lost his patience and stood, seeming to give me a chance, waiting for me to apologize. My mother-in-law had already dissolved into tears, throwing herself into Julia's arms and sobbing until she could barely breathe.
Now I was the villain. How funny.
I walked out dragging my suitcase, and they all stared at me in disbelief, unable to imagine I would actually go through with the divorce.
"Don't forget, the Butler family belongs to your brother now. There's no place for you there. Where else could you go besides our home?"
Leslie came to my side, deliberately using this to hold over me.
I couldn't stop laughing inside. I really did know his family too well.
I'd been ground down by them for twenty years. How could I be stupid enough to walk the same road again?
Right on cue, my assistant came in just then. He pushed open the Heath family's door and respectfully handed me a folder.
"Ms. Butler, the meeting with Wanfield Holdings is about to start. We need you there to sign."
I nodded, pushed past Leslie, and walked out the Heath family's door without looking back.
"I forgot to mention. I took back the inheritance a long time ago. As for you Heaths, you'd better pray for yourselves."
The moment I finished, every face in the room changed.
