Chapter 16

For some inexplicable reason, Ryan felt a dull ache in his heart as he watched Silvia carrying her daughter away from the rearview mirror.

He felt especially suffocated as he watched Autumn putting her head against Silvia's shoulder, while repeatedly looking back at his car with a sad, disappointed gaze. She looked exceedingly lonely, yet was considerate enough to not throw a tantrum over her current plight.

Not long after Silvia left with her daughter, she heard Ryan's phone chiming from behind once more. She was absolutely sure that it was the mistress urging him to see her right away.

Her instinct told her that Mariah knew about Ryan's plans on picking up their daughter, as well as the fact that they would bump into each other. Hence, the mistress had likely thought of an excuse to have him leave.

'I think Sommers was crying during the call. Hah! I cried in front of him earlier too, but it was nothing to him. Rather, her tears are his kryptonite.'

'We can all see who he prioritizes. It's not like he was trying to hide it, anyway.'

'As expected from the love of his life, I suppose. One single tear is enough to give him a full heartbreak.'

Silvia headed to Rosaline's with Autumn. Since her friend hadn't gotten off work yet, she decided to make a nice hearty meal.

With five years of experience, she went from only being able to cook instant noodles to almost being able to serve a full buffet.

At first, she was only doing it for Ryan, as she strongly believed that a way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

Since then, she devoted most of her time to cooking; even when her fingers were bleeding with cuts and the back of her hand blistered due to the splashing oil.

In the end, Silvia managed to refine her culinary skills so well that Ryan would always come home for dinner so long as he didn't have any social events to attend.

When their daughter was born, she had yet another mouth to feed, which naturally resulted in her nearly perfected skills.

After she was done cooking, Silvia left a portion for Rosaline, and started eating with her daughter at the dining table.

She had been rather uneasy during the past hour, as she was worried her daughter might continue asking about her divorce with Ryan. She hadn't thought of a suitable answer just yet, but it seemed the little girl had way more important things to talk about, like the fun things that happened in school.

Although Silvia was worried Autumn might mention the topic, realizing her daughter was pretending like nothing happened made her even sadder.

She knew her daughter hadn't forgotten the divorce just yet. The little one must’ve noticed her demotivation at the time, and didn't bring the issue up out of thoughtfulness.

Silvia couldn't possibly be happy knowing her daughter was deliberately looking out for her.

As a mother, her child was the most important thing in her life. She wished to provide Autumn a complete family and give Autumn eternal happiness.

And yet, she ended up giving her beloved daughter divorced parents instead and forced Autumn to endure the pains of being a single-parent child.

Once, she mentioned her guilt regarding this to Rosaline.

Being someone who had similar experiences, Rosaline consoled her by saying that it wasn't her sole fault that their marriage failed. If Ryan had just put in a little effort, they wouldn't have divorced. It was clear this was an issue on both ends, and Silvia didn't have to blame herself for everything.

Moreover, Rosaline also advised Silvia to harden her heart, especially since Silvia knew she could never go back to Ryan.

Glancing at Autumn's cute little face, Silvia lowered her gaze and continued eating. 'Yeah, Rosa's right. I can only harden up my heart for us…for her.'

'I’ll do my best to fight for custody and work hard so that my daughter can live a good life under my care.'

'This is the only thing I can do to make it up to her now.'

Later, when Silvia cleaned up after dinner, she noticed that the little one was curled up on the sofa, fast asleep.

She was confused as to why her daughter went to bed so early, but carried Autumn to the bed and tucked her in nonetheless.

Knowing that Ryan was likely staying at Mariah's, Silvia figured that Ryan wouldn't be home tonight. Hence, she intended to ask Rosaline to look after her daughter while she packed some of her and her daughter's clothing from their old house.

This was so that she and Ryan could officially separate.

As Silvia walked out of the bedroom, she pondered for a little and took her phone out. She had decided to call her parents and come clean about the divorce.

Having already made the decision, it was simply impossible for her to hide it from her parents any longer. She also really needed their support now, more than ever.

As she finished explaining, her father yelled on the other end of the phone before her mother could say anything.

"Good! You should've divorced him long ago! I didn't understand why you were so adamant on marrying him back then when he didn't even like you in the first place!"

Silvia felt a lump forming in her throat.

Five years ago, her father strongly disagreed with her decision; especially since everyone knew Ryan didn't love her, nor was he willing to marry her to begin with.

However, Silvia’s desperation turned into obsession, and she went against everyone's advice regardless.

Her mother, on the other hand, pitied her daughter in this entire ordeal. Thus, the only thing she could do to help was by convincing her father to respect her decision. No matter if it ended in sorrow or happiness, all of this was in fact Silvia’s choice.

Under her mother's persuasion, Silvia's father was only able to let go of his opinions. Yet, he still couldn't bring himself to see the good in this marriage at all.

Besides that, Ryan had rarely visited her parents with her after they got married and wasn't close with his in-laws at all. Although his relationship with her mother was fine, her father was extremely opinionated when it came to this so-called son-in-law.

As such, her father happily agreed to Silvia’s decision to divorce. He had hoped she would open her eyes to the man's true colors sooner.

Silvia’s mother stopped her father from saying anything else, and asked her calmly, "What about Autumn?"

Silvia decided to be completely honest. "I want to fight for custody and bring her back home. I want to live with you now. I'm never coming back to Detroit anymore."

Her mother paused for a few seconds, then said softly, "Like I've always said, we’ll always support whatever decision you make, my dear. Come back to us whenever you need."

Hearing her mother's gentle words, tears started welling up in Silvia's eyes. She felt as if her heart was receiving a warm hug. "I'm so sorry, Mom. I was too reckless back then, and I didn't want to listen to you."

She was only able to be completely vulnerable in front of her parents and shed tears before them. Now that Silvia had a daughter as well, she knew she would feel absolutely heartbroken if she knew that her daughter experienced a failed marriage like hers.

Her parents…were definitely feeling the same heartache at the moment.

Silvia hated herself for being so stubborn in the past. She hated herself for bringing her daughter into such an unhappy home, and hated herself for making her parents worry. She felt like an irredeemable sinner.