When a grown-up breaks down, they bawl. Their emotions erupt out of them in a split-second.Melanie could not even spare enough mind to the fact that her daughter was standing right next to her—she dropped to her soles into a pitiful crouch and bawled, howling in grief and agony, all the while a part of her reminded herself that she had not wanted to cry at all.In the late evening, Melanie prepared a sumptuous meal for the family and texted Alejandro, telling him to come home for dinner.She had already finalized her divorce agreement; Melissa’s custody would go to Alejandro, since Melanie did not know if she would have a destination to go or an abode to stay. It would be fine—Alejandro had always treated her daughter with utmost love and care. He could be bad to the entire world, but he would never be so to his kid. Letting Alejandro raise Melissa was not a bad choice at all.The clock was close to nine at night. The food was losing their last remnant of warmth. It was then that
Tiffany received Melanie’s text.She instantly sat up from her bed, ignoring the ensuing protests of pain all over her body. “That dumbass Alejandro is serious about divorcing Melanie! For real! What the f—?!”Jackson, who was sitting by her bedside, shoved a freshly-peeled apple into Tiffany’s hand. “The hell do you care about someone else’s marriage? What, your body’s suddenly not hurting anymore?”She frowned, her eyebrows knitting tightly. “No, no, it’s just that… Alejandro must have divorced her because he thought Melanie was the one who pushed me, b-but it wasn’t her at all! Melanie’s a sweetheart through and through; for Christ’s sake, we are frickin’ besties! Oh God, oh my God… What about Millie, huh? Poor girl is still so young…”Jackson cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously? You’re seriously worrying about some other guy’s marriage right in my face—aren’t you at least worried that I might be jealous? Babe, Alejandro didn’t ask for your input before he decided to divorce Melanie.
Granted, Tiffany knew she was in the wrong. “Urgh! I knew telling you would only complicate things… Look at me, hey! I’m fine, aren’t it? Isn’t that good enough? Besides, Melanie suffered enough already, don’cha think? I get that her brother’s the perp and that means she’s somewhat connected to this whole thing, but she’s innocent, you know? So can we please, please-please-please, just drop this?”Jackson’s eyes reddened in furious frenzy. “Even if she deserves pity, so what? Does that mean our daughter doesn’t?! Our little angel can’t even leave her incubator!” he bristled. “You chill the eff out, Tiffie. I know who wronged us. I know Melanie isn’t one of those bastards and I’m not the type to drag an innocent person into my revenge. But those real culprits—those mother**kers are gonna pay for what they f**king did! I have no qualms leaving Melanie out of this since her brother was the one who pushed you, but that’s all. The rest of the Larks have got hell to pay, and come hell or hi
Mrs. Lark came to the Capital from Ayashe the very next day. Alejandro was not at home, leaving only Melanie, along with her daughter, waiting by the entrance to greet her.Melanie could tell what awaited, yet a large part of her refused to believe it or accept it as reality. How could she, when she remembered how vehemently her mother had objected to her daughter marrying a disabled man? She would not have cared so much if she saw Melanie as a mere pawn, right?But then Melanie watched how fury oozed from every movement her mother made since disembarking from her car, and her heart sank. Fear began to claim her, and she stumbled a few steps back from the incoming presence. “Mom, I…”Mrs. Lark scowled with daggers in her eyes. “Don’t you dare! I am not your mother… I don’t recall having a selfish excuse as my daughter!”Selfish?!At that moment, Melanie felt every drop of blood in her body gel. It was early summer, yet she felt cold, nipping steel in her veins.“Me… selfish? Did
Alejandro picked the little girl up and cooed, “There, there; okay. Go play with your toys. Daddy will be with you after he’s done with some unfinished business, okay?”Melissa, already in a mood to report the bad guy, sniffled before complaining in her squeaky voice, “That grandma hit M-M-Mommy! She hit Mommy!”Alejandro pinched her cheek. “Aww, got it. Daddy knows.”Seeing how kindly Alejandro treated Melissa drew doubts in Mrs. Lark’s heart. How could an esteemed family of their standing, which traditionally demanded an heir rather than an heiress, see any need to dote on a girl? What kind of powerful family would ever be fine with not having a son?The nanny dutifully approached him to take Melissa away. Melanie, meanwhile, looked positively embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Alejandro. This… this is an altercation between my mother and me. It doesn’t concern you.”Alejandro narrowed his eyes slightly. “Yes, I agree. It’s none of my business. But you’re having your silly spat on my prop
Mrs. Lark sneered. “You want a divorce? Okay, I’ll get out of your way, but only if you know how to settle those properties—if you’re thinking about leaving my daughter anything less than she’s due, you can kiss your divorce goodbye! I know your reputation for underhanded trickeries, Alejandro, but I’m not intimidated by you at all! We Larks are not some doormats for you to walk all over!”Even when she was apparently fighting for her daughter’s share, it was really just for the family—none of it was for Melanie’s benefits. Once this realization set in, Melanie could not brook any more of her mother’s squalls. “Leave, Mom! Leave us be right now! This is none of your business!”Mrs. Lark stomped toward the door, the racket of furiously clicking heels trailing her. Shortly after she left, she had the temerity to text Melanie, ‘Alejandro still doesn’t know this is your big brother’s doing, does he? If you snitch, I’ll kill you.’Melanie deleted the message the instant she finished it.
Melanie waited until Alejandro put his pen down before signing her name with equal resolute. She ended it with a print of her thumb, asking, “So, when do we begin the legal procedures?”Alejandro didn’t answer her. Instead, he stormed out of the house and slammed the door.Melanie’s knees buckled and she crashed onto the couch, her strength leaving her body. Tears broke out from the corner of her eyes and traced an invisible path down her face, its salty liquid stinging the painful heat that had yet left her cheek. A while later she rose to her feet and went into the bathroom.She stared at her reflection in the mirror and suddenly felt a thick, awful lump furling in her chest. Mrs. Lark had put in more force than she expected, causing her cheek to swell even more than she had imagined. When Alejandro looked at her just now—she must have been a hideous sight to him, wasn’t she? He had never liked her, but after all of this, after Tiffany… He must hate her even more, did he not?The
“Where are you?”Alejandro asked to the beep of a terminated call.Instead of putting down his phone, he simply stayed in his posture, his mind churning unfathomable thoughts.A while later, he finally put his phone down before gingerly placing Melissa back onto her bed. Perhaps something was wrong with the way he lowered her—either way, the feel of his movement was too dissimilar with Melanie’s that Melissa woke up before screaming for her mommy again.Alejandro had lost his patience. Exasperated, he decided to let the child bawl and shriek to her heart’s content until Jett, who heard her from outside, knocked on the door. “Mr. Smith? Would you like me to help?”Alejandro sat on the edge of the bed, defeated. “Yes, just coax her to sleep. I’m done.”Jett pushed open the door. He adroitly brought Melissa up in his arms before gently rocking her. “Hush, hush. It’s alright, don’t you cry… Mommy will be back very soon.”Melissa would not listen. She knew her mother was not around.