Chapter 3

Harvey's suggestion to have Scotch eggs was, in truth, a ploy to get Mary to contact Elara. He thought he was already offering her a way back into the fold.

"Mrs. Fisher said she isn't coming back," said Mary.

Harvey choked on his coffee, unable to suppress a coughing fit.

Mary sensed something was amiss. "Did you and Mrs. Fisher have an argument, Mr. Fisher?"

"Mind your own business!" Harvey's sharp tone chilled the air in the dining room.

Mary shrank back, not daring to say another word while Harvey tightened his grip on the mug in his hand.

How could Elara possibly not come back? By now, she should already be preparing the homemade lunch she always sent to his office.

Whenever Elara upset him in the past, she would personally deliver lunch to the office as a reconciliation gesture.

…

Bambi sat at the dining table, and her eyes lit up when she saw the breakfast. "Wow! Chicken noodle soup!"

Bambi loved chicken noodle soup, but Beau would gag at the sight of it. At the Fisher residence, Elara rarely made soup because Harvey and Beau didn't like it.

Even Ethel had once remarked that soup was "poor people's food"—a way to stretch ingredients when there wasn't enough to eat. Meals were meant to follow a scientifically balanced diet in the Fisher household.

Even though Elara believed her homemade soup was nutritious and easier for the children to digest, her efforts weren't appreciated.

When she added chicken, vegetables, and soft-boiled eggs for extra flavor, the Fishers would mock it. They would call it "slop" and say it looked disgusting.

One time, she made a simple chicken and vegetable soup without eggs specifically for Beau. But after he dumped it in the trash, she stopped making soup altogether.

She had once tried to teach Beau not to waste food, but he lashed out at her, saying, "This is pig food! How could you give this to me? Mommy, you truly are a country bumpkin!"

The memory stung her deeply. Snapping out of her thoughts, Elara noticed that Bambi had already finished her soup.

Bambi let out a satisfied burp. She gazed at her empty bowl that was licked clean and shining, still wanting more.

"Can I only have chicken noodle soup when we're at Grandma's?" Bambi asked.

Elara said to her, "We'll eat whatever we want from now on. We don't have to worry about anyone else's opinions."

Bambi smiled and said, "Then, Mommy, you shouldn't cook tomorrow. Take a break! Let's eat out instead!"

Elara was stunned by this. She was just following her routine as a mother to prepare breakfast for her daughter. It hadn't occurred to her that she should prioritize being herself before being a mother.

"Alright," Elara replied. Her smile was as warm as the morning sun.

…

After breakfast, Elara drove Bambi to kindergarten and spotted the Fisher family's top-of-the-line Cullinan.

Beau hopped out of the car with his backpack, and Elara quickly averted her gaze.

Beau bounded over to Bambi, waving a paper bag in his hand. "Look! Niamh bought me wax bottle candy!"

He pulled out one shaped like a bear's head and proudly showed it off. "This one's pistachio raspberry flavor!"

Bambi remained unfazed. "Mommy says eating too much candy causes cavities, and wax bottle candy is unhealthy."

Beau stuck out his tongue and made a face. "I have a new mommy now! The old one can't boss me around anymore!"

He added while pouting smugly, "Niamh told me to share these candies with the other kids—except for you, you fat pig!"

Bambi was built sturdy and strong, standing in stark contrast to the naturally frail and skinny Beau.

In the past, Elara had taught Beau not to copy other kids and call Bambi names, but now Beau had become completely unruly.

Bambi gripped the straps of her backpack tightly, and her eyes turned red. "Beau, if you keep acting like this, Mommy really won't want you anymore!"

"I'm the one who doesn't want her anymore! Who needs a mommy who only makes pig food?" Beau shouted as he ran into the schoolyard with his paper bag in hand.

Bambi fumingly picked up a small stone pedestal near the school gate while glaring at Beau's retreating figure with gritted teeth.

In the end, she put the pedestal back down.

As she patted her chest to calm down, Bambi reminded herself, "Girls shouldn't act like this. I need to stay patient!"

…

When Harvey returned to his office and noticed a neatly arranged three-tier insulated lunchbox on his desk, a smirk tugged at his lips.

It was just as he expected. No matter how strained things got between them, Elara would always prepare lunch and send it to his office.

Just then, his phone rang, and he answered it.

"Harvey, are you having lunch right now? Is the food I made for you any good?" On the other end of the line was Niamh's voice.

"You made the lunch?" His eyes darkened with a trace of irritation he hadn't even realized was there.

"Of course! Are you surprised? It's my first time cooking for you, and I even cut my fingers several times! Cooking is such a girly thing—it's really not for me!"

After her complaint, she added cheerfully, "So, you'd better treasure this lunch. I'm never doing this again!"

Harvey's voice was flat as he replied, "Got it. I'm going to get busy now."

"Hey, don't forget to take bathroom breaks while you're working hard, buddy! Don't overwork your kidneys!" Niamh added.

Afterward, Harvey hung up and glanced at the lunchbox again, feeling no desire to open it.

He then called in his secretary, Cyrus Oakes, and asked, "Did my wife bring lunch today?"

"No, Mrs. Fisher hasn't been to the office today," Cyrus replied.

A cold, detached expression settled over Harvey's chiseled features.

He instructed Cyrus, "Finish this lunch for me. If my wife comes with lunch later, tell her I've already eaten and to take her lunchbox home."

Cyrus swallowed nervously. He took the lunchbox without question and left the office. Meanwhile, Harvey waited until the afternoon, but Elara never showed up with lunch.

His phone vibrated on the table in the middle of a meeting. It was Elara, and he had declined her call three times in a row.

She knew better than to call him during work hours. It was one of his unspoken rules.

Moments later, her phone call lit up his phone again. Annoyed, he answered in an icy tone, "I've already eaten. There's no need for you to bring lunch."

"Harvey Fisher, I'm at the courthouse. Where are you?"

He was stunned, and only then did he remember her words from yesterday about meeting him at the courthouse at 3:00 pm today.

Was she actually being serious about this?

An inexplicable frustration surged through him. "Elara Jones, enough's enough! Stop bringing up divorce every chance you get!"

Her voice came through the line, calm and resolute as she said, "I'll wait for you until the courthouse closes."

Her determination infuriated him. "Who even are you without me? Do you really think the Jones family will welcome back their daughter who was lost for 18 years, just to freeload off of them?"

The conference room fell silent, and the executives barely dared to breathe.

Elara's voice remained cool like a tranquil lake as she continued, "Harvey, I simply won't be Mrs. Fisher anymore after leaving you. I just want to go back to being Elara Jones.

"If the Jones family won't have me, I'll revert to my original name. Being with you is just exhausting. I've been the only one putting in effort to love you and to love our son…"

Elara then let out a faint laugh before adding, "I'm convinced there's no path in this world more torturous and treacherous than our marriage."