CHAPTER 279
"Please don't scare me, Brian!" Rachael began to cry. "I love you! I don't want to divorce you! Even if it's for Lucy and Larry, you mustn't divorce me!" At that moment, she suddenly realized that Brian wasn't just paying lip service when he told her he wanted to file for a divorce.
While she was frightened by the thought of the worst that could happen, she went through a lot before she successfully won Brian's heart. Because of that, she loved the man so deeply that she started to reject Alex's presence and treated him as an eyesore. At the same time, her love for Brian also became a catalyst for her refusal to accept the fact that her husband was once in love with another woman.
Over time, Rachael's strong possessiveness eventually took over her, making her intolerant of Alex's presence because that child was Brian's son with his former wife. Therefore, she began looking for ways to get rid of Alex so that she could continue fooling herself that Brian was hers and only hers. Brian is mine and only mine! Thinking Brian also felt the same way toward her, Rachael had so much faith in their marriage that she grew audacious and abused Alex to drive him away from her family.
However, her worst nightmare happened when Brian seemed serious about the idea of divorcing her. My father is Brian's mentor, as well as the research institute's dean, while I'm Brian's pretty wife, who is younger than he is. Moreover, I gave birth to two children for him, so how could he divorce me over something so trivial? Deep down, Rachael had always thought that Brian would remain by her side and love her unconditionally as always, no matter what happened.
Therefore, she was devastated upon learning the moment of truth as she scurried toward Brian and patted his chest tearfully. "Where is your conscience?! I did everything for you because you're the only one I've ever loved in this world. I sacrificed so much for you, yet this is how you repay me?! Is your
heart made of stone?!"
"You did everything for me?!" Brian stared at the lady unwaveringly, his eyes turning red. "You lied to me about the money that you were supposed to give my mother and abused Yuri and my son. You call that a sacrifice?! My mom is in poor health, which makes raising Alex even harder for her. For more than twenty years, my mother did everything she could to raise me; but when I was finally capable of making a living myself, I was busy with work and making you happy in Dusktown with Larry and Lucy. While I never once did anything to repay my mother, you shamelessly embezzled the money I had you transfer to her."
The man closed his eyes, his face written with determination. "Rachael, I have made up my mind. I will file for a divorce because I can no longer stand your hypocritical and wicked heart. In fact, I would rather stay a bachelor my whole life than live with a woman like you. So, like it or not, we're getting a divorce!"
"Nonsense! You can't do this to me, Brian! If you ever dare to divorce me, I'll be sure to take my own life, as well as Lucy and Larry's. Brian, you're not a human! You don't have a heart at all!"
Soon, Brian stood up and stared at the lady coldly. "If you want to die, go ahead, but leave Lucy and Larry out of it. They are just young kids who have nothing to do with our conflict, so how can you take their lives away from them? That's why I call you wicked because you have no qualms threatening to take your children's lives. In fact, you're the most wicked person I've ever seen in my life!"
"If I die, Lucy and Larry are not going to live happily either anyway!" Rachael screamed tearfully. "With your demanding work schedules, who is expected to take care of Larry and Lucy if I'm gone? You? How are they going to continue their lives? If there is no one around to look after them, they are better
off dead than alive because that way, they'll be free from suffering at least."
"You're right." Brian mocked Rachael. "Ever since Yuri went missing, Alex lost his mother while his father carried on with his life like a living dead. That poor boy had his fair share of suffering when I decided to leave him to his wicked stepmother. For that, Alex's fate was no different from the one you said our children would go through if you're gone. Nevertheless, it's never too late to learn from your mistake because I'll be happy to keep Larry and Lucy if you don't want them with you. At the same time, I will not marry another woman again because I'm tired of leaving my kids to a stepmother. Then, I'm going to apply for a job transfer to a new department where I won't have to work on hectic projects anymore. Meanwhile, I will also hire two more caretakers to look after my children."
"No…" Rachael shook her head tearfully. "Please, Brian. I have realized my mistakes! I will never do that again. Please forget about the divorce, can we? Larry and Lucy are too young to live without their father or mother, plus we used to live like a happy family, so why should we divorce? Why don't we forget about the past and start everything anew? I swear I'll treat Mom and Alex well from now on! I swear!" Rachael was unwilling to divorce, deeming that the end of her world should that happen. After all, she was not young anymore, not to mention the fact that she hadn't been working for years since she married Brain. Therefore, the question of who she was going to live off immediately became concerning to her.
If she was a few years younger in age, she could still perhaps hope to find a reliable man, but now that she was already in her thirties, her chances were getting slimmer by the year. Furthermore, her reputation had just been tarnished by Belle after the heated confrontation they had in the research institute because everyone probably had already known her as a wicked stepmother and a daughter-in- law, who had no respect for her mother-in-law. holds © this.
Although Rachael still didn't think she was in the wrong, she was sure that rumors about her would go
viral and undermine her reputation even further. By then, she would probably lose all her hope of meeting another reliable man in her life.
If I divorce Brian, I'm going to be a woman that no man wants to marry. As the dean's daughter and the wife of the youngest deputy dean in the research institute's history, she once had a life that everyone wished to have. Thus, everyone would probably wonder when they saw Rachael struggling to find her second Mr. Right after Brian. Because of that, she knew she mustn't let Brian divorce her so that she could continue to be the deputy dean's wife whom everyone was envious of. If I let Brian divorce me, it's going to be the end of my life.
"You should have thought of that earlier." Brian looked at the lady with a glacial look. "I've made up my mind to file for a divorce with you. So, I will draft a divorce settlement agreement and have you sign in as soon as possible, but if you won't sign your name on the paper, I'm going to get the court involved. One way or another, we're going to get a divorce!" He then walked up to Belle and said, "Mom, I'll get you and Alex a new place to stay."
Belle stood up as Brian seized his mother's arm. Deep down, the older lady thought it was a good thing for Brian to divorce Rachael because she was counting on her son to take care of Alex one day when she kicked the bucket. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about Alex being bullied by his wicked stepmother.
Soon, Brian seized Belle's arm and walked out of the house with her just as Laine caught up to them. "Brian, marriage is not a game, so please think twice before you make any bad decision. About what happened to your mother and Alex, I agree that Rachael was indeed in the wrong, and I'll be sure to lecture her for that, but Larry and Lucy are innocent. If you divorce Rachael, they are going to be the ones who get hurt the most. They—"
"If I don't divorce Rachael, Alex is the one who gets hurt the most." Brian interrupted the lady and said, "I asked Rachael before I married her if she could treat Alex as her own son, to which she said yes, but in the end, she failed to keep her promise. So, I'm going to exercise my right and divorce her for that!"
"That's your son with another woman, so why should I treat him as my own child?!" Rachael fell apart and eventually spilled out her thoughts in a devastated manner. "I love you, Brian! I love you so much that I can't tolerate the child between you and your ex-wife, yet you repay my love by divorcing me?! How can you do this to me?!"