"You're well aware of it, Luna," I emphasized each word.Luna left Rowan when the latter went bankrupt. She'd rather become a mistress just to be with Shayne, proving she couldn't live without money.If Shayne were to leave her, not only would she struggle with her son, but she would also become a mistress to other men and depend on them. However, they might not cherish and care for her like Shayne did. Hence, Luna would do anything to stay with Shayne."Aralyn!" Luna looked displeased, as she didn't expect I'd threaten her."I don't have time to waste," I calmly urged.Just as I turned to leave, Luna shouted through gritted teeth, "I'm sorry!"I turned back toward her. "Whoever did wrong should be the one to apologize, don't you think?"Luna glared at me, but for the sake of her and her son's future, she had no other choice.Luna pushed her son to the front and said, "Apologize to her."But her son refused. When I was about to leave with Willow, Luna slapped him twice acros
As his words fell, Luna stormed inside in a fury.As soon as she saw Zach, her anger flared up even more. She stormed toward him and slapped him. "I had to hit my son because of your mom, so I'm doing the same to you!"Zach, who had finally stopped crying, burst into tears again.Luna ignored him and headed straight for the kitchen. When she saw that the mac and cheese was still warm, she finally relaxed and returned to the living room.She took the food container Zach had used and handed it to her son. "Throw these out."Her son grabbed the containers and ran outside to toss them. Zach stared at them in confusion, not knowing what they were trying to do.Luna glanced at Zach out of the corner of her eye.Since he always complained to Shayne, and Shayne doted on Zach, Luna planned to ruin their bond little by little. She wanted Shayne to refuse to believe Zach when Zach told the truth one day.Luna's gaze softened when her beloved son returned. She beckoned him over with a sm
Zach stared at Luna in disbelief. He had been eating takeout and cold sandwiches. How could she say he was hard to manage?Shayne glanced at Zach before asking Luna gently, "What happened?"Afraid her act would be exposed, Luna leaned against Shayne's shoulder. "Since Zach has a sensitive stomach, I cooked mac and cheese for him this morning. But he refused to eat it."On the verge of tears, Zach shouted, "She's lying!"She just ordered takeout for him this morning! She didn't cook at all!Shayne pushed Luna away gently and went to sit on the couch. He then motioned to Zach. "Come here. Tell me what you had this morning."Feeling even more aggrieved, Zach approached and recounted everything that had happened that morning in detail. By the end, he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. "She left without taking me and then hit me when she got back."Shayne didn't respond immediately. Instead, he turned to Luna and asked, "What about you? Do you have anything to explain?"Luna bit
It piqued Shayne's interest."I think she might've married someone else," Luna said cautiously.Shayne scoffed, completely dismissing her claim. "That's impossible!"Everyone in their circle knew how deeply Aralyn loved him. She had given up her career and moved far away to marry him. Throughout their many years of marriage, she had never voiced a single complaint.Someone like her would still think about him even after they divorced. She couldn't have possibly married someone else.Shayne was convinced that Luna was just testing him on purpose."I know the girl who called Aralyn 'Mommy.' She's Mason's classmate."Shayne stared at Luna."If you don't believe me, why don't you join me on Monday when I take Mason to school?"Initially, Shayne wanted to refuse. But after giving it a thought, he nodded. "Sure."…With all the side dishes prepared, it was time for Julian to showcase his skills. He started by asking everyone's preferences. "Willow, how do you like your steak?""W
Julian took the book and examined it.Willow looked up at him expectantly. "Is it good?"Julian fell silent. His sense of aesthetics wasn't refined enough to appreciate entirely pink drawings. But when he met Willow's hopeful gaze, he hesitated for a long moment before nodding. "Yes."Willow finally felt satisfied. She packed all her books into her backpack, checking repeatedly to ensure she didn't forget a single one. Only after making sure everything was there did she zip it up.She then sat down to enjoy the steak Julian had cooked for her.The well-done steak was juicy and tender. She only had one bite, but she couldn't stop praising Julian. "Daddy, your cooking is as amazing as ever!"Julian accepted her compliment. "Thank you."Willow noticed that I hadn't yet tried the steak and urged me, "Mommy, you have to try it!"Even though she was just a little girl, she loved sharing, whether it was the food she enjoyed or the happiness she felt.Under her watchful gaze, I cut of
Even if Zach was in the wrong, Shayne would still defend him unconditionally. Luna's mind was racing. It seemed she needed to be patient instead of rushing things. Shayne might indulge Zach at first. But as time passed, Shayne would undoubtedly grow tired of Zach.As she pinched Zach's cheek, her tone softened. "I promise to treat you just like I treat Mason from now on, okay?"Zach nodded eagerly. "Okay!"Shayne patted Luna's hand, silently asking her to wait for him. He then put Zach down. "Go eat."Zach ran to the dining room cheerfully.Luna cast Shayne a glance before turning back to walk into the bedroom.Shayne closed the door and hugged her from behind. "Luna, he's just a kid. Don't take it to heart."Luna snorted coldly. "But he's the one at fault.""But you shouldn't keep it going and let him starve, right?"Luna didn't reply."I know you're not satisfied with this. Tell me what you want, and I'll make it up to you."Luna turned around to look at Shayne. "Hire a
Even though my connection with him was only because of Willow, his willingness to protect me made me genuinely grateful. "Thank you.""It's the right thing to do," Julian replied before taking Willow into the bookstore.They sat on a couch not far from me, close enough to monitor the situation but far enough that they couldn't overhear the conversation.I shifted my gaze back to Shayne. "Mr. Pearce, we're divorced. Do I need to notify you just to visit a bookstore?"Shayne was speechless.I continued, "As for the relationship I have with them…"He stared at me intently, clearly eager for an answer.I took my time deliberately. "Well, I've never asked about you and Luna. By the same logic, my life is none of your business, right? After all, we're strangers now. I can't think of any reason why you'd have the right to question my situation."I watched as irritation grew on his face. I didn't get why he was bothered about it.Shayne took a deep breath. "We were married—""Stop! T
"You couldn't even control yourself when we were married. You cheated and brought Zach along to please Luna. So what right do you have to dictate my life?"With that, I left him standing there and walked into the bookstore to find Willow.The moment Willow saw me, she ran into my arms excitedly, shouting, "Mommy!"Her loud voice echoed through the quiet bookstore. Just as I was about to remind her, Julian had already spoken up. "Willow, lower your voice.""Okay," Willow replied.Seeing how well-behaved she was improved my mood instantly. I held her hand and said, "Let's go upstairs and see what books you want to buy.""Okay!"…After we left, Shayne remained in the same spot.Seeing the sour look on his face, Luna tried to comfort him. "Shayne, don't take it too hard.""I never thought that leaving her with nothing after the divorce would push her to this point," Shayne muttered.Luna frowned in confusion.What was he talking about? Aralyn had clearly moved on.Shayne o
Shayne nearly collapsed onto the couch, staring at the ceiling with reddened eyes.The thing he feared the most had happened.Julian's secret crush was Aralyn.That meant he had no chance anymore.His tears fell in big drops.He didn't understand why he hadn't realized that someone had been eyeing Aralyn.If he had noticed earlier, would he have realized that Aralyn was someone others wanted too? Would he have realized that leaving him didn't mean she'd be alone, and that she was never bound to him?Would he have felt a sense of crisis then, which might have made him decide to cherish Aralyn, settle down, and build a life with her?Shayne was filled with deep regret. He couldn't understand how Julian had endured this long.All these years, he knew that Aralyn had been married, yet he still waited for her. He didn't even waver when she watched him get married and have a child later on.Shayne closed his eyes numbly. After a long time, he let out a bitter laugh.Sure enough.
"Does the name matter?" Shayne asked without hesitation."I can tell you. Consider it my way of repaying you for tipping me off. Her current name is Aralyn Jaffe." Julian's usually cold voice was now filled with amusement."That's impossible! Aralyn is gentle and honest. She could never have done the things your first love did," Shayne stated, not believing it."The fact that you would say that only proves you never truly understood Aralyn. If you had spent more time with her while you were together, you would have realized her gentleness is built on the premise that she can protect herself," Julian replied calmly.Shayne's mind went blank.Julian continued, "As long as no one harms Aralyn, she will always treat them nicely. But the moment they scheme against her or threaten her in any way, she will find a way to deal with it."Julian seemed to be in a good mood. "Haven't you noticed that what I just described sounds a lot like what you went through?"Shayne didn't know how to r
"Yes." Robert had been wondering how to continue, but with Shayne's question, he had the perfect segue. "After those two got out, they kept trying to make a comeback. They're not stupid."Even though they've been out of touch with society for a long time, after some time of trial and error, they managed to reintegrate fairly quickly. And later, when they started their own business again, it was extremely successful."Robert sighed. "Once they made money, they started looking for the true love. But they soon discovered that she seemed to have vanished from the world—there was no trace of her at all."They refused to give up and kept investigating for years before finally realizing that she had taken on a new identity and was living under a different name. Now, those two have been biding their time, just waiting for the right moment to go after her."Hearing this, Shayne finally smiled. "Say, if I call Julian right now and tell him about his true love's situation, do you think he'l
"But such justice doesn't exist in this world," Shayne said.Robert said, "Exactly. At that time, her response was…"He cleared his throat and did his best to imitate the first love's tone. "I didn't do anything to you; I just stated what you did back then. There shouldn't be a problem with that, right?"The principal's response at the time was, "You may not have done anything wrong, but your actions have had a huge impact on our school. Our school used to be the number one in the city, and now we've dropped to second place!""If you were so afraid of the impact, then why didn't you handle the situation when I was being bullied? Given your position, you should have thought about this outcome when the incident happened," the first love refuted."But you didn't, which clearly showed you believed that even if I left, it wouldn't have much of an impact on your school, right?"The principal remained silent.The first love continued, "Indeed, just as you thought, I don't have that kin
"In order to verify everything, I went to ask the local residents, and I found out that it was all true after asking around. There wasn't a single fabricated detail."Robert sighed. "She's a legendary figure—she's someone we could strive our whole lives to emulate but never will. Of course, she wasn't satisfied with just doing this. She even compiled her successful methods and handed them over to the teachers at her school."She kept an eye on the next two graduating classes as well. As a result, the school she attended ranked first in the city for three consecutive years."Shayne chuckled. "I initially thought Julian liked housewives. I didn't expect that he also admired strong-willed women."To be honest, he also had some admiration for a woman this strong and independent.Robert didn't respond to Shayne's comment but continued, "She wasn't just determined and capable; she was incredibly motivated. When she graduated, she ranked first in the entire province. Then, during an inte
The more Robert spoke, the more he felt that the mistress was out of her mind.She had already stolen someone else's father, and she wouldn't even let his kid study properly."At the time, the whole school started looking at the first love differently, and some people even gave her a hard time. But the first love never paid them any attention. Not gonna lie, she had an incredibly strong mindset."She knew exactly what her goals were, so she wouldn't let external factors affect her grades because she understood that only through studying could she change her life."Robert sighed. "After looking into all this, I feel as if I'm starting to fall for the first love myself. Even after everything that happened, her grades didn't drop at all in the next exam. In fact, they improved significantly. During a school meeting, they even selected her to give a speech on stage."Suddenly, Shayne could understand why this kind of woman could become Julian's first love.She was smart enough. Her a
Willow shook her head without thinking and said, "No. When my parents had just passed away, no one was willing to take me in. But Daddy did and raised me himself."She added in a small voice, "At the time, there were a lot of important tasks that Daddy needed to handle."Afraid I wouldn't understand, she specifically explained, "The kind of work that absolutely required Daddy to do it. If Daddy didn't go, it wouldn't work. But he still pushed the work to others so he could take care of me."I heard that because of this, a lot of people in the company were complaining about him, thinking he was incompetent."The more Willow spoke, the quieter her voice became. "Back then, Daddy must have suffered a lot of grievances too. They all said that Daddy always put work first. But only I know that in Daddy's eyes, work was never more important than me."I felt happy for Julian. His daughter was smart and could see everything he had done for her. "Exactly, so you see—he loves you. It doesn't
"Mommy, you should go too. After you're done, we'll meet in my room."I smiled and said, "Alright."Willow bounced back to her room happily."Willow doesn't agree with us being together," Julian muttered.Seeing the conflict and distress on his face, I raised my hand and touched his face."Willow is a kid. She's used to the way things are now. If you suddenly tell her there's going to be a big change in her life, of course, she'll struggle to adjust. And of course, she'll worry. You can understand that, right?"Julian nodded.He knew Willow was a thoughtful child."So, we should take our time. One day, she'll be willing to accept us being together," I reassured him.Julian's mood finally improved. "You're right. I've waited so many years already. There's no rush."I asked curiously, "Waited so many years?"What did he mean?"I mean, I've been single for so many years already, so there's no rush to get married now," Julian rescinded, poker-faced.From his expression, I coul
Willow felt a bit nervous. "What is it? You look so serious. I'm a bit scared."I patted Willow's back, signaling her to relax. "It's not a big deal. You can make the decision yourself, so there's no need to worry too much."Only then did Willow let out a sigh of relief.In front of Willow, Julian took my hand, his expression solemn. "Our relationship has reached a new stage. After carefully evaluating everything, I think it's time for us to get married. But we're worried that getting our marriage certificate without informing you would be disrespectful to you."We're also afraid you might feel resistant to it, so we wanted to ask for your opinion first. If you don’t want us to get married, then we won't."Willow was stunned. "You're asking for my opinion on something this important?"Lilia and Gabriel exchanged a glance."Yes, because you're important to us. We both want to have your support," Julian replied calmly.Willow's mind went blank. "This is a huge deal! Since you ask