Chapter 12

From his point of view, him taking the initiative by voluntarily explaining that he never intended to go back to Mariah was the equivalent of begging her to stay by. He couldn’t find any fault in himself.

‘But no, she just had to be greedy. She just had to ask if I love her or not! How could I not be angry?’

‘Fine, then. If that’s how she wants to play it, I won’t let her off easy either.’

He dialed a number and gave out some orders. “Contact her lawyer for me. Tell them that I’d be coming by tomorrow.”

‘Let’s see how she’s going to take me to court when she doesn’t even have a lawyer to begin with.’

Ditching her old car, Silvia called a cab back to Rosaline’s place.

Rosaline had previously allowed her to stay at her place temporarily. Her apartment was a small unit containing two bedrooms, which was just enough for the two of them. It used to be her and her ex-husband’s property, and Silvia was the one who helped Rosaline hire a lawyer to fight for the ownership of this place.

With that, they were able to force the ex-husband, Shaun Brooks, to get nothing out of their divorce.

Silvia had given Rosaline a hand during her toughest times, which was why Rosaline was doing the same for Silvia right now.

When she reached the apartment, Silvia knew that she had to find a job as soon as she could, and immediately started writing her resume.

As someone who married right after her graduation and proceeded to become a stay-at-home mother after giving birth, it was almost impossible for her to craft a nice and eye-catching resume.

In the end, she felt quite dejected.

Any company that’s hiring would naturally look at resumes, first and foremost. People with more experience within the field would naturally make it to the shortlist.

Silvia had none of that. The most experience she had was either taking care of her daughter, trying to read Ryan’s mind, or killing her own passionate heart.

After their failed discussion, Ryan picked up his coat and tie, getting prepared to leave as well. However, the sudden movement tore his woundsomewhat, which made him narrow his eyes for a split second. He also discovered his shoulders stringing.

Thus, he entered the bathroom and took his shirt off, realizing that his arms were filled with bruises as well. It seemed Silvia was the culprit; she was attacking him in an attempt to struggle out of his hold just now.

Putting up with the pain as he dressed himself, he cursed her out in his mind.

‘That damn woman!’

‘How have I never realized how vulgar she can be? First she slapped me in front of all the guests last night, and now she attacked me! Can’t she be a little more ladylike?’

Enraged, he kicked his door open once more, leaving the room.

As he passed by his parents’ bedroom, he halted and stared at the shut door, spacing out for a moment. After that, he huffed coldly and strode away without turning back,

When his mother left, he did in fact notice the pain in Greg’s eyes. However, he would never show any sympathy towards a father who had never cared for his son.

Two hours later, Silvia bumped into Ryan once again in front of their daughter’s kindergarten. She was there to pick Autumn up from school, and it was obvious he was here for the same exact reason.

The black Bentley he usually drove was parked next to the road. As he was making a call at the time, he happened to be leaning against the vehicle. He was as hostile and elegant as usual, wearing a neat suit that seemed to have only increased his innate charm.

Silvia found this rather ironic, as he had never picked up their daughter from school up till now. Yet now, not only did he personally send her to school that morning, but he came by to fetch her as well.

‘Looks like he’s really trying hard to win that custody, huh?’

Silvia shot him a dirty glare, her expression full of disdain as she walked towards the entrance, waiting there as per usual.

She had always waited here for her daughter every single day without fail. This was because she didn’t want Autumn to have to look for her; she hoped Autumn could see her the moment Autumn exited her classroom. With this, Autumn wouldn’t have to wait, to panic, to feel uneasy, or to keep her hopes up and only end up disappointed.

Although classes hadn’t ended just yet, there were already quite a few parents gathered around the area.

Ryan noticed Silvia the moment she arrived, but he was very upset with her attitude towards him. ‘Did she just glare at me? Is she looking down on me? This woman is really getting on my nerves!’

From what he remembered, Silvia had only ever looked at him with loving and passionate admiration. Sometimes, she would seem calm and distant, but she had never held any negativity behind those beautiful orbs.

Thus, he couldn’t focus on the call after being glared at her that way. After ending the call dismissively, he immediately dialed her number, intending to make her come over so that he could question her audacity to pull an attitude with him.

Hearing her phone ring, Silvia took it out and realized it was from Ryan. As she turned to look at him, she noticed he was scowling at her, and found this rather absurd. Thus, she hung up and turned back to the front, continuing her wait for her daughter in silence.

Ryan was once again annoyed by her actions. Putting his phone away, he decided to approach her instead.

He actually didn’t want to argue with her in public, especially since his reputation was directly connected to Pierce Group. Plus, he didn’t wish for anyone to learn about her filing for a divorce.

However, he simply couldn’t stand back and watch her act insolently. He had to call her out on it.

Silvia turned around and found Ryan walking over to her. Her mind sped as she weighed the pros and cons, then came to the conclusion that she should stop him before he reached the kindergarten entrance.

She whispered under her breath, “What are you doing?”

She figured that they would argue the moment they spoke to each other. If any other parents overheard that they were getting a divorce, it would affect her daughter badly.

‘Since this so-called father never really showed up before, I’ll just let the teachers and parents continue thinking he’s just a busy, busy man.’

Ryan halted and lowered his gaze; his eyes laid on the woman before him, who was puffing up her cheeks angrily. Then, he looked towards her outfit, scoffing with an eyebrow raised. “Are you sure you want to get a divorce?”

“Yes,” Silvia replied, clearly vexed.

‘Doesn’t he understand English? How many times have I told him that he can contact my lawyer if it was regarding the divorce?’

‘I have absolutely nothing to say to him!’

Ryan scanned her up and down, his tone filled with mockery. “You realize you’ve been out of touch with society for five whole years, right? As a woman without any skills or talents, aren’t you worried that you might starve to death after our divorce?”

Silvia’s eyes started reddening after hearing his ruthless ridicule. Yet he didn’t seem to understand boundaries, and continued to insult her where it hurt most without any regard for her feelings.

“Besides, how are you supposed to raise Autumn when you can’t even survive on your own?”

“Are you expecting her to live in poverty with you and wear cheap clothes like this? Well, too bad! That’s not happening, not on my watch. If you insist on divorcing, I’ll never give you custody of her.”