Chapter 4

Harvey had already hung up on the other end of the line.

Elara got back into her car, pressed the accelerator, and sped out of the parking space. She didn't notice the black sports car trailing her like a shadow.

…

The scenery on both sides of the road blurred into streaks as the car raced past. The silver Volvo streaked across the asphalt like lightning.

Elara's dark eyes fixed firmly on the road ahead. It had been a long time since she had driven this fast. The rush of adrenaline surged in sync with the speedometer needle climbing to its peak.

She overtook three flashy sports cars in quick succession, leaving their drivers shouting in surprise.

"Whoa! Who the hell was that?"

Someone in another car instructed while speaking through a Bluetooth earpiece, "Get me the details on that license plate."

The modified sports cars were left far behind one at a time. Elara didn't ease off the accelerator even on the winding curves of the mountain road.

The group of young thrill-seekers heard a voice report through their earpieces.

"I found it! That car belongs to the Jones family!"

Another voice questioned, "The Jones family? Could it be Niamh behind the wheel?"

"Niamh? Is she really that good? She must've been holding back whenever she raced with us!"

The silver Volvo wound its way up the mountain road, climbing higher with every curve. Only a sleek black Ferrari managed to stay on her tail.

Theodore smirked as a stray lock of hair fell across his brow. He had seen Elara in her prime before.

She had been a prodigy, entering the junior program at Hawke University at the age of 14. She won three consecutive gold medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad competition.

Then, she passed the FASC exams at 19, earning her racing license and breaking into the top ten of the World Rally Championship.

Her life had been a journey of brilliance, accompanied by applause and accolades.

However, she chose to drop out in the third year of her doctoral program, dedicating herself entirely to family life as a full-time wife in a wealthy household.

Since then, her car had been fitted with a child seat, and her speedometer had never exceeded 40 miles per hour.

The tires screeched against the road, emitting a piercing sound. Smoke rose as the silver Volvo came to an abrupt stop.

Theodore's Ferrari sped past her, leaving him to glimpse the stationary Volvo with Elara inside from his rearview mirror.

Elara swiped her phone screen inside her car, and the voice of Bambi's homeroom teacher came through the car's audio system.

"Mrs. Fisher, could you please come to the school as soon as possible? Beau brought wax bottle candies today and shared them with the other students. Several of them have stomachaches now!"

Elara was still recovering from the adrenaline of her high-speed drive, and she took a deep breath before saying, "Ms. Jenkins, I'm no longer Beau's guardian.

"If anything happens at school, please contact his father. There's no need to call me anymore."

She brushed a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her voice was resolute and unwavering as she added, "He's no longer my responsibility."

"What?" Bridget Jenkins was shocked, but the incident at the kindergarten required Elara to address it immediately.

"Beau said the wax bottle candies he brought were from you. Several children choked on the beeswax, and the consequences could have been disastrous if we hadn't acted quickly!

"Now, some of the children's mothers are here. Mrs. Fisher, you need to come to the kindergarten and give them an explanation!"

Beau and Bambi attended an elite bilingual kindergarten, where every child came from a wealthy or influential family.

While Bridget was speaking, Elara could hear the angry voices of other women on the other end of the line.

"Did you reach Mrs. Fisher? How could she let her son bring something like this to school?"

"My child is so young, he didn't know he had to spit out the beeswax! His throat is scratched and bleeding now!"

Elara calmly asked, "May I speak with my daughter, Bambi?"

"Of course. Please hold on."

"Mommy!" Bambi's soft, childlike voice came through the phone.

Elara asked her, "Bambi, did you eat any of the wax bottle candies?"

"Beau called me a fat piggy, and he gave the candies to all the other kids but me."

Elara exhaled slightly in relief. "Do you know who gave Beau the wax bottle candies?"

"It was Aunt Niamh."

Elara had already suspected it was her. Harvey always defended Niamh, and Beau had learned to follow his lead.

Before Bambi could finish speaking, Beau's angry shouting came through the phone, "The wax bottle candies were from Mommy! Not from Niamh!"

"Beau! You're lying!"

"Shut up! Ahh!"

Elara couldn't tell what was happening on the other end of the call, but Beau's cries of pain soon reached her ears.

Bridget's voice followed as she yelled out, "Bambi! Stop hitting Beau!"

Hearing that it wasn't her daughter who was bullied, Elara hung up the call and immediately dialed Mary's number.

"Mary, I just got a call from Beau's homeroom teacher. She said the wax bottle candies Beau brought were very popular with the other kids. The teacher hopes you can bring some more to the school right now."

"What? Wax bottle candies?" Mary sounded completely confused, but Elara ended the call after giving her instructions without waiting for a response.

Mary recalled overhearing from the driver, Oliver Ortega, that they had run into Niamh on the way to drop Beau off at school earlier.

Acting on this, she went to confirm with Oliver and learned that the wax bottle candies were indeed from Niamh.

Mary promptly called Niamh. "Ms. Niamh, where did you buy those wax bottle candies? Beau's classmates really liked them, and his teacher asked me to bring more to the school."

Niamh's heart lit up with excitement. She thought this was a good opportunity to present herself as Beau's new mom in front of others.

"I'll handle this! Let me buy some more and deliver them to the kindergarten myself. There's no need to trouble yourself with this."

Mary readily agreed. "Alright, thank you so much."

…

Elara rested one hand on the steering wheel, and her index finger tapped it lightly. At that moment, someone knocked on the car window.

She rolled it down, and a well-sculpted hand with long fingers held out a business card to her.

The sleek black card that was embossed in gold read, "Theodore Snapp. Partner at Polaris Law Firm."

"If you need divorce advice, feel free to call me," he said.

Elara accepted the card. "Mr. Snapp, you're a top-tier lawyer in the city. Your fees are far too high for me."

Theodore tucked one hand into his trouser pocket. His suit was sharp, but he wore no tie, and his open collar exposed a glimpse of his sculpted neckline.

"I can waive the fee."

Elara smiled faintly. "I don't have anything else to offer you, either."

"Five years ago, you quit your PhD program halfway through and told my father you were leaving to have a kid.

"The old man's health has been getting worse lately. If you can find the time to visit him, I'll handle your case for free," he said.

Theodore's father, Tobias Snapp, had once been the dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science at Capitol University and Elara's PhD advisor.

When she first enrolled at Hawke University, Tobias often hovered around her, encouraging her to grow quickly so she could apply for his doctoral program.

Later, Tobias treated her like a workhorse when she began her doctoral program at Capitol University, constantly pushing her to accelerate her progress.

He frequently warned her that international sanctions on universities could happen at any time, making their research endeavors even more challenging.

Elara then juggled her commitments between Capitol University and the Fisher family. As Mrs. Fisher, she was enrolled in cooking, flower arranging, and art appreciation classes to mold her into a perfect socialite wife. Balancing her career and academics became an impossible task.

The year she became pregnant, a serious complication led her to request withdrawal from the program.

"I can't face him," she admitted. The memory of it all was still raw. She couldn't forget the look in Tobias's eyes.

There had been no anger, or reproach—just a quiet disappointment. He had turned away without a word back then, unwilling to speak to her further.

Theodore leaned one hand against the car door as he lowered his gaze to look at Elara, who was confined in the narrow interior of her car.

"When you're young, loving someone is never a mistake. When you're older, letting go isn't wrong either. There's still someone waiting for you—someone who will be there if you have the courage to start over."