Bryson stood there, half believing, half doubting. He looked up at Adriel.
Meeting his gaze, Adriel spoke calmly, “Since that’s the case, we’ll register the divorce tomorrow. I’ll have someone draft a divorce agreement now. Once you sign it, the child will finally feel at ease.”
When he said that, the uncertainty in Bryson’s eyes vanished.
His entire expression lit up with hope.
I pressed my lips together and replied, “Alright.”
Adriel’s lawyer acted fast. Within two hours, the divorce agreement was brought to me.
Without pausing, I signed my name.
The moment my name was written, I heard a light, satisfied breath from beside me.
Bryson grabbed the agreement with a smile and laughed as he said, “I finally don’t have a crazy mom anymore. No one at school will laugh at me again.”
While I stood there stunned, Adriel, next to him, gave me a look that seemed just a bit too satisfied.
“When you were taken away, someone took photos and posted them online. Because of you, Bryson has been getting plenty of dirty looks at school.”
His voice was openly blaming.
But he overlooked that everything had started with him. I stopped challenging him at that point.
I went along with it, letting him dump every bit of blame onto me.
Yet when I caught the dismissive look in his eyes, it brought me back to the second time he mentioned divorce.
Back then, I couldn’t bring myself to accept it; like someone completely rattled, I ran straight to his office building.
In front of everyone working there, I shouted and accused him and his assistant, Amanda Collin.
He stood in the middle of the crowd, not reacting at all, watching my humiliating display with a cold stare.
And I forgot, those employees’ paychecks were given by him.
They wouldn’t talk about their boss’s personal matters carelessly, nor would they risk their jobs for someone who meant nothing to them.
Everyone stared at me like I was some joke.
Those mocking eyes left me with nowhere to go.
I naturally wanted to run, yet I heard someone in the crowd say, “She looks beautiful, but she really can’t compare to Assistant Amanda. If I were the boss, I wouldn’t pick this old woman either.”
“Yeah, there are so many cheating men out there, especially rich ones. Why is she so dumb, not knowing how to look the other way?”
“If I were her, I wouldn’t make a scene at all. Why not just take the money and live easily at home? Why run around like a maniac and let everyone watch the show?”
Standing inside the crowd, hearing those quiet comments close by, I suddenly recalled the year Adriel started his company. I helped him secure a deal with a big client.
I drank so much during the negotiation that I ended up with stomach ulcers and was hospitalized.
It was he, Adriel, who stayed at my bedside, holding my hand tightly as he cried and choked out, “Melanie, in this life, I will never cheat on you. I’ll give you a home, make you the Mrs. Hester everyone admires.”
I parted my lips, wanting to answer those people, wanting to tell them it was Adriel who promised me a future. He was the one who said he would grow old with me.
But before I could speak, Amanda came rushing over in tears.
With a heavy sound, she dropped to her knees right in front of me.
Bowing her head, she sobbed, “Mrs. Hester, I never planned to come between you and President Hester. If you dislike me, I can leave right away. I won’t see him again. But please, I’m begging you, stop causing trouble here. If you keep acting like this, how is President Hester supposed to face the staff later?”
She looked like a kind woman who only cared about Adriel, and with one line, she made me look like the unreasonable, wild troublemaker.
Adriel Hester looked at her, crying so gently she seemed breakable.
