Chapter 6
Lily Winters was just as lost as I had been back then, so she dropped to her knees, pleading desperately.
“Please, don’t make me get rid of the baby. I can’t do it.”
“Mr. Sterling, didn’t you say you loved me? You promised I was your favorite, that you’d do anything for me. Why can’t I keep the baby?”
Simon turned his head, lowering his gaze. For a fleeting moment, a cold, mocking sneer flickered in his eyes.
“Love?” he repeated, voice laced with disdain. “You really think you’re worthy of that?”
Lily stared up at those deep, unfathomable eyes, a chill running through her as terror set in.
Simon told Zoe to take care of Lily, then walked out and drove away. He had more pressing matters to attend to.
Zoe sighed, trying to comfort Lily as they waited for the doctor to arrive at the house.
When I left the Sterling estate, the combination of old wounds and fresh ones left me unconscious for days.
When I finally woke, Leonard was at my bedside.
Early morning light spilled across his hair, catching in golden strands.
Without thinking, I reached out to touch him–only to hear him mutter in the throes of a nightmare.
“Vivi, run…”
Vivi?
My hand froze mid–air. Was he dreaming about me?
Leonard stirred, and I quickly withdrew my hand, squeezing my eyes shut and pretending to sleep. But my fluttering lashes gave me away.
“Awake, but still pretending?” His voice was husky and low, tinged with that rough, vulnerable warmth of early morning. It was oddly endearing.
I couldn’t help but laugh. The moment I opened my eyes, I fell straight into the gentle depths of his gaze.
“Come on, get up. The chef downstairs made your favorite–warm, creamy lily and almond
soup.”
Leonard pulled me out of bed, tousling my hair affectionately.
Lily and almond soup… When I was little, my grandmother used to make it for me. After she
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passed, I never visited the countryside again. The versions I’d had in the city never tasted quite right.
I sat at the table, staring at the soup before me. I took a spoonful, and as soon as it touched my tongue, I felt as if I’d been transported back to those long, sweltering summers in the country.
“This flavor… It tastes just like my grandma’s used to!”
Leonard smiled softly, lips curving upward. “That’s my secret.”
I chuckled and finished the bowl, savoring every drop. But just as I set down my spoon, the sound of screeching tires shattered the calm–an SUV crashed through the garden wall, coming to an abrupt halt on the crushed stone outside.
Amidst the rubble, Simon stepped out.
“Leonard! Get out here, right now!”
A team of bodyguards blocked him, but Simon thrashed and shouted like a man possessed.
I knew he’d come for me.
I didn’t want Leonard to get dragged into this, so I stood up.
But Leonard caught my hand, gripping it tight. “We’ll face him together.”
“Leonard! You’ve always loved taking what’s mine. And now you have the nerve to steal my wife?”
It was the first time I’d ever heard Simon call me his wife. For years, he’d only ever referred to me as “that woman,” or worse.
The absurdity almost made me laugh.
I followed Leonard outside, watching Simon make a scene in the garden.
Despite everything, my chest still ached with a familiar, stinging pain.
“Vivi…” Simon’s eyes turned red the instant he saw me.
When we first got together, we’d both been so shy. He was always blushing, and if he felt wronged, his eyes would well up as he’d ask if I still loved him. I’d always comfort him like a child, endlessly patient.
But after my mother’s selfishness tore us apart, it was all over.
“Simon, go home. I’m not coming back with you.”
“My parents are gone now. There’s nothing left for me to hold on to. The debts my owed… ten years is more than enough to pay them back.”
mother
“From now on, we owe each other nothing.”
Simon’s eyes reddened further, those puppy–dog eyes brimming with pain.
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Chapter 6
“Vivi, I didn’t know your mother died. If I’d known, I never would’ve said those things. You have to believe me–I’m not blaming you anymore. Let’s start over. Please?”
“I’ve sent everyone else away. Seriously, the house is empty. You’d be the only lady of the house, I swear!”
Simon couldn’t quite meet my eyes, his gaze skittering as he spoke, voice trembling.
I shook my head and gently slid my arm through Leonard’s, looking down at Simon from the steps with a calm, distant voice.
“Simon, on our tenth anniversary, that was the hundredth time I asked for a divorce. I made up my mind the very first time–when I hit a hundred, I’d really leave you.”
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