Chapter 2

When I rushed to Dad's place, he was crouched on the floor and picking up scattered pills. He hurriedly stuffed the notice behind his back.

Dad said, "The system probably made a mistake. I'll go to the bank tomorrow and ask them about it. Don't fight with Alexis."

I helped him up and brought him over to the couch to sit down.

I said, "It wasn't a system error. She suspended it."

Dad was stunned. "Why?"

"Because I'm divorcing her."

He was silent for a long time before finally asking, "Was it because of the medical tests?"

I didn't answer.

Dad gently patted the back of my hand. "Em, I have a pension. If the insurance gets canceled, so be it. Don't go back and beg her for my sake."

The more he said things like that, the harder it was for me to look him in the eye.

All these years, Alexis had always claimed that Dad depended on us.

However, whenever Dad came over for dinner, he brought his own groceries. Whenever we gave him money on his birthdays, he put it away untouched into my old account. Even the 7,200 dollars I'd needed for the biopsy had come out of his retirement savings.

He had never depended on anyone.

I was the one who had become dependent on Alexis' money after she'd gradually cut off every other way out for me.

There came a knock at the door.

Alexis and her mother, Molly Lomb, were standing outside. Molly walked in and placed a thick stack of bills on the table.

She said, "Since you want a divorce, there are some accounts we need to settle."

I opened the first page. Everything was itemized, from the formalwear we'd bought during our first year of marriage to the stomach medicine I'd bought just last week. Even the farm-fresh eggs Dad had given us had been valued at market price and counted as 30 dollars against me.

Molly took a sip of water and said, "You've been married for years and still don't have children. Instead of trying to make this marriage work, you're demanding a divorce and a share of the assets. What will people think?"

Dad's face turned pale. "Molly, Emmett pushed himself too hard when he was taking care of Robert and ended up with a perforated stomach. That's why they kept putting off having children. How can you blame him for it?"

Alexis frowned and said, "Vincent, let's leave the past in the past."

I looked at her. "Why can't we talk about it?"

Four years ago, I'd spent months taking care of Robert and barely slept.

One day, he fell in the bathroom. I used every ounce of strength I had to pull him up. A sharp pain suddenly tore through my stomach, and I vomited blood.

I called Alexis 11 times.

She'd been out of town on business and replied with only one sentence. "Take care of Dad first. We'll talk when I get back."

I spent an entire night in the emergency room and ended up having a third of my stomach removed.

When she finally arrived at the hospital, the first thing she said was, "Good thing Dad is okay."

Molly pushed the bills toward me. "Your health problems are your own doing. You can't blame it on an elderly man. Besides, our family never mistreated you."

Suddenly, she noticed the gold bracelet on Dad's wrist.

She asked, "Isn't that the bracelet Alexis bought when you two got married?"

Dad quickly took it off and explained, "Em needed money for his medical tests, so I had it appraised in case we had to sell it. I couldn't bring myself to sell it, though. I was planning to give it back to him today."

Molly reached out and took it. "Since you're getting divorced, anything that belongs to the Lomb family should be returned first."

Dad's hand froze in midair.

I took hold of the bracelet and argued, "This gold originally belonged to my mother. It was melted down and made into this bracelet. It has nothing to do with the Lomb family."

Alexis spoke up. "My mom gave you that bracelet at our wedding. All our relatives saw it. If you claim it belongs to your family, do you have any proof to back that up?"

I stared at her. She had gone with me when my mother's gold was melted down and made into the bracelet. She knew exactly where it came from.

I stated firmly, "Alexis, this was my mother's."

Alexis responded, "If it really belonged to your mother, I wouldn't want it."

She put the bracelet into Molly's purse and said, "We'll give it back once the ownership is verified. That way, you can't accuse me of taking marital property from you later on."

Dad anxiously got to his feet. "Alexis, you can't do this. That's the only thing he has left from his mother."

Alexis didn't even look at him.

She just handed me the stack of bills and said, "You spent 1.73 million dollars from our joint household account over the past few years. Withdraw the lawsuit, and I'll write all of it off. If you insist on divorcing me, I'll have my lawyer go through every single expense."

I laughed bitterly. "So, the household expenses and the costs of caring for your father count as money I owe you too?"

"Let's settle the accounts first. Then, we'll talk about our feelings."

Alexis said it so calmly. It sounded as though what she'd just taken wasn't a precious keepsake, but merely a disputed financial asset.

Molly got up and headed for the door.

Dad followed for a couple of steps, but his blood pressure suddenly spiked. He grabbed the edge of the table and swayed.

I quickly caught him.

Alexis instinctively stepped forward, but her phone rang before she could reach us.

As soon as she answered, Wesley's voice came through.

He said from the other end, "Alexis, I just found a place. The thing is, the deposit is a little expensive…"

"How much?" Alexis asked.

Wesley replied, "They're asking for six months of rent upfront, plus three months' worth of a security deposit. It's 120 thousand dollars."

Alexis looked at me and answered calmly, "Send me the lease. I'll pay for it."

Dad leaned against me, one hand still reaching toward the doorway. "Em's bracelet..."

Alexis had already helped Molly out the door.