Chapter 3

Cherie's POV

From that day onward, I asked the lawyer to draft a divorce agreement for me while I went home to tidy up my belongings.

I caught sight of a box in the study and thought that it was a box of Aster's toys. When I opened it, however, I realized it was a box of old photos I took with Mitchell.

There were photos of us laughing while eating from the cheap fast food restaurant outside our rented apartment, and also of us running along the beach hand in hand.

These photos had been here for a very long time, but there were no signs of wear or storage on them. In fact, there wasn't even a single speck of dust on them. It was obvious that someone had been taking them out every day and then carefully and meticulously putting everything back.

A surge of emotions welled up inside me. However, I ultimately put the photos back where they belonged.

I wasn't going to change my mind again since I'd already made up my mind about leaving.

Still, Bianca refused to let me go without a fight.

She kept sending me photos of Mitchell at the event that night with captions like, "Isn't he so handsome? What a pity that you've never seen how charming he can be at events like this in person.

"Damn, I wouldn't have dumped him back in the day if I knew that he would be wearing tailor-made suits now. Still, luckily for me, I dumped him so hastily that he just can't stop thinking about me and missing me.

"I mean, he might be married now, but he's still pathetic enough to be treating another man's daughter as his own, like an obedient dog. Guess it's just engraved in his bones, huh?"

I read the long line of text and didn't reply to her at all. Instead, I just calmly took screenshots of the conversation and took Aster out to the amusement park instead, letting him enjoy himself to his heart's content.

It was just that Aster would occasionally look at the other children at the park happily riding on their fathers' shoulders, and the smile on his face would drop.

I casually shielded him from the view and handed him the ice cream cone I'd just bought.

"Wanna ride on Mommy's shoulders instead, sweetie?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm too heavy for you, Mommy. You'll get hurt."

I ruffled his hair endearingly at that.

My marriage to Mitchell might have been a mess, but I was still grateful every day for having a son as kind and thoughtful as Aster.

We stayed at the amusement park until closing time. Then, I brought him out to a fancy dinner before going home.

However, as soon as we reached home, we saw Aster's favorite toy dog thrown carelessly on the lawn.

Aster immediately ran over to the toy, picked it up, and dusted it off.

Mitchell then came out of the mansion.

"Stacy and Bianca are coming over to stay for a few days. You and Aster can move out for a while when they're here. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"

I looked at the suitcases and other items that were already packed at the door. He wasn't even asking me for my opinion anymore, but rather, just notifying me of a decision he'd already made.

How could he even think of driving his own son out of the house for another woman's sake?

My face went red with anger as I began to retort.

However, Aster grabbed my hand tightly and looked at Mitchell, saying, "I don't have a problem with that, Uncle Mitch."

Mitchell frowned when he heard Aster call him that. He was used to Aster calling him "Daddy" at home, but now…

I felt my heart breaking. I looked at Mitchel with disappointment in my eyes, not wanting to say another word to him anymore. I didn't even want to take any of the suitcases or things with me. Instead, I just turned and led Aster out of the yard.

Mitchell's voice sounded behind me.

"Aren't you taking the suitcases with you?"

"I don't need them."

Northern Yewrope, the place we were going to, had plenty of those things anyway. I didn't want Aster or myself to touch any of the things that would ever remind us of Mitchell anymore.

However, I never thought that Mitchell would come after me. He grabbed me by my wrist and asked, "Are you mad at me, Cherie?"

I scoffed and thought of flinging him off when his phone suddenly rang right at that moment, and Bianca's voice could be heard on the other end of the line.

"Mitchie! What should I do? Stacy cried until she threw up, and she also won't stop crying at the hospital! I… I really don't know what to do anymore!"

Mitchell immediately comforted her and said, "Calm down. Tell me everything."

"I heard from her teacher that she was shoved to the floor by her classmate and called a 'bastard' because she didn't have a father…"

"What?"

Mitchell's voice thundered. "Who dared to say such a thing about Stacy? Give me their names! I will personally talk to their parents tomorrow!"

I chuckled self-deprecatingly and tugged Aster along with me to leave.

But then, Bianca said clearly over the phone, "It was Aster Clayton."

Both Aster and I stopped in our tracks, turning back to look at him incredulously.

"You're lying!"

Aster immediately ran up to Mitchell and released all of his pent-up frustrations. "She's the one who kept calling me a 'bastard' without a father! She's the one who always called me names like that!"

"Aster Clayton!" Mitchell roared at him. "Shut up! Stacy would never call you anything like that!"

Then, he continued speaking gently into the phone. "Don't worry. I'll drag him over at once and make him apologize to her."

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard him say that.

"Mitchell Clayton! Aster didn't even go to school today! We were at the amusement park the whole day!"

"That's enough, Cherie Hudson! Stop teaching your son to lie!" he yelled angrily and immediately grabbed Aster by the arm before forcefully dragging him into the car without waiting for me to say another word.

Aster fought and struggled hard as he screamed tearfully, "Mommy! I don't want to go with him, Mommy! I didn't do anything wrong! Why must I apologize?"

At that point, I didn't care about anything anymore and shoved Mitchell aside with all the strength I had.

"You're worse than a beast, Mitchell Clayton!"

Then, I gathered Aster in my arms and ran with him as quickly as I could.

Mitchell didn't come after us. He just rolled up his windows in frustration before driving off.

I stopped running, suddenly losing all energy to move.

"Mommy, you can put me down."

Aster sounded quiet and exhausted as well. I carefully set him down on the ground and wiped away the tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, he held my fingers and spoke so calmly that he didn't sound like a kid anymore. "Mommy, is there a way for us to leave Daddy for good? I don't want him anymore."

My hand froze midair. I never thought that Aster would actually ask me if we could leave.

At that moment, all of the heartache I felt up to that point suddenly became still and calm. I smiled at him and said, "Of course, sweetie. I've already done all the preparations necessary. We can leave tomorrow."

I then brought him to a hotel, and he obediently went to wash up as usual without a fuss.

It wasn't until I woke up in the middle of the night and pulled the covers off of him that I realized that he was sporting a high fever.

I got such a scare that I rushed him to the hospital as quickly as I could.

The doctor told me that Aster was too emotionally distressed, which then caused a psychogenic fever.

I sat in the waiting room, feeling more exhausted than ever.

Just then, I received a text message reminder on my phone. It said, "Your flight will depart at 9:00 am tomorrow. Please arrive at the boarding gate on time."

I felt energized after reading the words on the screen and got up to get some warm water for Aster. However, I never thought that I would bump into Mitchell at the end of the hallway.