Chapter 7

Ryan gritted his teeth throughout the entire time he read the divorce settlement. It seemed Silvia only wanted custody of their daughter, and nothing more.

He scoffed while clutching onto his mouse. 'Ha, how nice of her to not demand anything. Does she even realize what’ll happen to her after divorcing?'

'Once we're divorced, she'll be rid of her title as Mrs. Pierce and has to leave the Pierce family.'

'She has no talent or skill to her name, since she married me the moment she graduated university. She's never worked a single job, and naturally wouldn't have experience in any field.'

'Detroit’s filled with smart, talented and experienced people, so it's entirely possible she'd have difficulty finding a job in the first place.'

'She wants custody of our daughter? And what is she going to raise her with?'

'So how could I possibly leave Autumn in her hands?'

He knew well that their daughter was Silvia's soft spot. Hence, he figured that if he refused to hand over custody, she wouldn't go through with the divorce either.

He was certain she wouldn't be able to live on without Autumn.

Thinking back to this, the frustration in his chest faded and his breathing became more regulated. Then, he picked his phone up from the table and dialed her number right away.

Silvia had just gotten out of her cab when she received a call from Ryan. She had just gone back to Rosaline's place after checking up on her daughter.

Having been away for a whole night, she couldn't sleep one bit, consumed by longing and guilt. Thus, she called a cab in the early morning, and waited at the kindergarten entrance.

She didn't use her own car in fear that Ryan would catch on. After reaching the kindergarten, she merely sat in the back seat and watched her daughter from afar.

She initially thought Ryan would have someone else send Autumn to school, so it was a surprise to see him drive her all the way here.

He was clad in a dashing suit, standing with his daughter at the front of the kindergarten, hand in hand. Hence, they attracted quite a few stares from the other parents and teachers.

Silvia didn't care to look at his expression, but instead put her entire focus on Autumn.

There was a joyful smile on her daughter's face, and she didn't seem to be throwing any tantrums either.

Just as Autumn was about to head in, Ryan patted her on the head gently.

For a moment, Silvia thought she was hallucinating. The man had never shown any affection towards Autumn at all, so seeing this strange behavior made her feel quite upset and conflicted.

She hoped her daughter would stop crying due to their sudden separation, but she also felt dejected after realizing that her daughter didn't seem affected in the slightest.

She hoped Autumn could be a little closer to Ryan, since he was still her father at the end of the day. At the same time, she wished for the opposite so her daughter would be less miserable from the divorce.

Only when the cab driver spoke up did she snap back to reality and have the driver return her home.

She was currently standing before Rosaline's apartment, staring at her buzzing phone screen. She knew that Ryan was definitely at work now, and had definitely seen the divorce settlement the lawyer sent in her stead.

'Maybe he's calling me to finalize the divorce right now,' she thought, and picked up the phone.

However, she didn't say anything after doing so, merely waiting for Ryan to give her his final answer instead.

It was quite a bittersweet feeling; she was quite confident at the start, thinking she could make this marriage work. Yet, this was the ending fate subjected her to.

In a way, she felt like the entire world was laughing at her previous naivety.

"So you're finally willing to pick up, huh? Aren't you the greatest at turning your phone off?"

Just as the call went through, Ryan immediately spoke in a mocking and condescending tone.

However, Silvia remained silent. She had nothing else to tell him, nor did they have anything they needed to talk about. She could only hope he'd just give a final answer right then.

Suddenly, he chuckled into the phone. "It's fine if you want to be a brat for attention, but overdoing it will only make things worse."

His obvious mockery, paired with his dismissive and prideful attitude towards her, was simply insulting. He was practically saying that her filing a divorce was merely a temper tantrum.

He sounded absolutely sure she couldn't go through with the divorce.

Silvia had something to say in regards to that, but the words just couldn't come out of her trembling lips. She was simply too furious to conjure up anything.

“Speak!”

Her silence upset him even further. Impatient, he lost his temper and yelled harshly at her.

Silvia bit down on her lip harshly, forcing herself to calm down. The moment she opened her mouth again, she was calm and collected. “I have nothing to say to you. Please talk to my lawyer in regards to our divorce.”

She intended to hang up right after, as she only answered the phone to hear his final decision. She wasn’t here to allow his demeaning insults.

Before she could do so, another loud shout from the phone sent her freezing.

“Silvia Alberich!” Ryan was fuming when he heard how distant she sounded.

“Do you think you’re the center of the universe? Do you think you can just marry and divorce whenever you want?”

“I’m telling you right here, right now, that you can forget it!”

The more Silvia listened, the calmer she felt. She replied, “Ryan Pierce. Why should we torture each other so? Now that Sommers is back, and the fact that you still love each other-“

She was rudely interrupted by his enraged voice mid-sentence.

“Don’t you dare play victim! If you hadn’t slept with me while I was drunk, she wouldn’t have broken up with me!”

Silvia couldn’t hold herself back as soon as she heard Ryan’s accusation. She huffed coldly and retorted, “Didn’t you drink precisely because she broke up with you? You were so sad about it that you had one too many drinks, so don’t blame the fall of your relationship on me.”

“So what if she did? I would’ve had a chance to convince her to stay with me if it weren’t for you! I was forced to marry you because you were already pregnant! I lost any chance to ever get back together with her!” Ryan continued accusing her.

The bright sun was shining down on Silvia’s eyes, but it was nothing compared to the silent rage she held within her mind.

She knew he had always resented her for that incident. Now that he admitted it himself, her heart immediately turned numb from the intense pain. She even started laughing to herself. “Hahaha, yeah! It was my fault, wasn’t it? Everything was my fault!”

“That’s why I’m going to make up for my mistakes. I’ll be releasing you from this horrible marriage. I’m now giving you two the opportunity to make things right!”

She accidentally let her emotions spill right at the end of her words, and immediately hung up after yelling back at Ryan.

Silvia simply didn’t want to talk to him any longer; she would be a clown if she allowed him to make a fool out of her any longer.

‘I was wrong. I really was,’ she thought, admitting to herself for the first time that it was a grave mistake to have insisted on marrying Ryan Pierce.