I gently and sorrowfully stroked my daughter’s hair, letting her release all her grievances in my arms.
Then I looked up, my eyes dark with hatred, my voice cold as steel.
“Kylie, in the six years I was gone, you stopped loving me, remarried, fine, I won’t blame you.”
“But what did my daughter ever do wrong? What gave you the right to treat her like this?”
Kylie’s expression instantly darkened, her voice filled with mockery.
“Ariana is also my daughter. How I treat her is none of your business. You have no right to lecture me, Brody. Now that you’re back, let’s settle the divorce.”
The crowd stirred in shock.
“That guy’s actually President Jones’s husband?”
“Husband? That was a lifetime ago. Everyone knows she’s married to Young Master Velez now, and they already have a kid.”
“With how much Young Master Velez adores her, this guy’s done for. If he falls into Velez’s hands, he’ll beg for death.”
I blocked out all the noise around me and drew in a deep breath.
“Fine. But I have two conditions.”
“Kid, don’t tell me you’re eyeing President Jones’s massive company and planning to make some outrageous demands?”
Before Kylie could say a word, Tanner cut in again with a mocking tone.
“I suggest you drop that thought. Or you’ll choke to death on your own greed.”
I simply gave him a cold glance, then turned back to Kylie.
“First, I want you to return the wedding gift my mother gave you.”
“You mean that worthless little pendant?”
Kylie frowned and pulled a dark pendant out of her bag.
My eyes trembled at the sight of it.
That was the very pendant my mother had tied around Kylie’s neck on her deathbed, entrusting her to love me, to hold on to our bond.
Kylie stared at it for a moment. A flicker of nostalgia flashed through her eyes.
But in the end, she only nodded and tossed it to the ground at my feet like it meant nothing.
I bent down, picked it up, and gently wiped the dust away.
Kylie’s voice rang out, filled with impatience. “What’s your other condition? Hurry up and say it.”
“The second condition is I want custody of Ariana,” I said firmly.
“That’s impossible. Ariana is my daughter,” Kylie snapped without hesitation.
“You still have the face to call her your daughter?”
I clenched my jaw, my fury spilling out in a near-roar.
“If you truly treated her like your own, would you stand there and watch her kneel before your assistant and your bastard son?”
Kylie’s expression turned cold.
With a sharp crack, she slapped me hard across the face.
“Bastard son? That’s my biological child! Don’t talk so disgustingly, Brody. I’m warning you: don’t push your luck. Sign the divorce agreement now, or I’ll make you agree in a hundred different ways.”
“Mama, don’t hit Dad. I won’t go with him anymore.”
Ariana knelt, trembling as she begged.
I immediately pulled her to her feet.
“Ariana, remember this: she’s not your mother anymore.”
“A woman like her doesn’t deserve your kneeling!”
That slap from Kylie crushed the last piece of what remained between us.
From this moment on, I wouldn’t show an ounce of mercy.
“Kid, if Kylie isn’t worthy, then what about you?”
“At least she raised Ariana,” Tanner sneered.
He scanned me from head to toe and mocked, “Just look at yourself. Can you even feed yourself properly? And you think you’re qualified to raise her daughter?”
