Did she truly believe the Eldridge family owed me?
Or had these ten long years just been her way of testing her daughter-in-law, and now that I had passed, the bracelets were nothing more than a hidden reward?
I could not be bothered to guess.
Instead, I answered steadily, “Mom, thank you for thinking well of me. I do not feel wronged.”
I was not being gracious. I was cold and beyond caring.
Meanwhile, Chris’s mother looked absolutely stricken with guilt.
Gemma’s lips trembled for a long moment before she finally managed, “Get some rest, child.”
In the end, she and Chris were still family.
How could she possibly choose me over her son?
After they all left, Melissa suddenly returned, claiming she had gotten her period.
She shut the door behind her with a sharp click and announced, “I don’t know what you’re planning, but I need to make something clear.”
Then, she pressed a hand against her lower belly, smug satisfaction written all over her face.
“My period’s been late for three months. And that whole ‘two-kid school quota’ Chris mentioned? That brain-damaged kid of yours was never part of it.”
A thousand knives seemed to slash straight through my chest.
I naively hoped that Chris or his mother still felt some guilt, but I never expected them to use Matty, the person I care about most, to manipulate me.
Seeing how devastated I looked, Melissa’s smile grew even more triumphant.
“Actually,” she went on, practically buzzing with excitement, “the place in the city isn’t some little three-bedroom. Chris is the CEO of Eldridge Tech—yeah, the one that just went public. We’ve been living in a luxury villa.”
She lifted her hand and flashed the massive diamond on her ring finger.
“See this? Chris put it on me at the wedding this morning. It’s worth dozens of times more than those bargain-bin bracelets you’re wearing.”
Her smile twisted, turning mean.
“Nadine, Chris and I are the real family. You’re just a dirty little gutter hen. Don’t even dream about turning into a phoenix.”
I clenched my palms tight enough to feel my nails break skin, forcing back my tears.
“So you came back just to tell me all this?”
My calmness clearly irritated her. The delicate layer of sweetness she had been pretending to hold onto finally tore apart.
“Nadine, you deserve nothing better than spending your whole life with that brain-damaged kid.”
She paused, then added with a sudden, vicious brightness, “Oh—did I forget to mention something?”
Her voice sharpened like a blade.
"Matty isn’t even your biological child. You and I gave birth on the same day. My son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy the moment he was born, so I swapped the babies. Chris saw it happen."
She laughed softly, almost gloating.
“To calm me down afterward, he even cooperated with the doctor. They told you that you hemorrhaged during childbirth and had to have your uterus removed. That way, you’d never get pregnant again. Never have a healthy child of your own.”
Then she leaned in slightly, her tone dripping with cruelty.
“Nadine, you’re a woman with a disabled kid and no uterus. Do you honestly think Chris is ever going to marry you again?”
Maybe my heart had already been punctured full of holes, because strangely, I felt no pain at all.
A numb, quiet laugh slipped out of me.
Melissa didn’t know the truth.
It no longer mattered to me whether Chris remarried me or not.
After she left, I packed my bags overnight. I also returned the bracelets, quietly slipping them into Gemma’s luggage.
...
The next day, I finalized the divorce.
When Chris’s mother noticed my bare wrists, she looked startled.
“Nadine, why aren’t you wearing the bracelets?” she asked, her voice trembling. “It’s all my fault for being so useless. When we reach the city, I’ll pick up trash and sell it if necessary, but I’ll get you an even better bracelet.”
So that was it.
Now I finally understood where Chris inherited his habit of making sweet promises.
So I pretended nothing had happened and said, “Mom, I still have two days of farm work left. I was worried I’d damage them. I’ll wear them once I get to the city.”
Gemma accepted the explanation without hesitation and didn’t say another word.
After I saw their whole family off, my phone rang. It was Professor Pearson.
“Nadine, the overseas specialists rescheduled. Pack your things. I’m coming right now to pick you and Matty up.”
“Alright, Professor.”
I hung up and glanced around the old house one last time.
There was nothing left here worth holding onto.
I felt detached from this home and these people. None of them had anything to do with me anymore.
