All Chapters of You Had This Divorce Coming: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Gideon's decisiveness and willingness to take responsibility had been the foundation on which Lucille built everything.For five years, Lucille had followed him, loved him, defended him, and looked up to him. He had been the fixed point around which her entire life revolved.Now that the truth was laid bare, she finally understood. What she had believed was responsibility, what she had believed was integrity, had all stemmed from a single reckless, angry decision.He had never loved her. He had only used her as an emotional crutch, a lifeline to pull himself out of heartbreak.Lucille slowly raised her eyes. Her voice came out rough. "So what you mean is, he loved you. And because you married someone else, he married me out of spite?"She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it confirmed.Rayne smirked. Her tone carried both smugness and authority. "Of course. He's treasured me since we were kids. The day Otto and I got our marriage license, Giddy had red eyes when he

Lucille pressed a hand to her aching lower back. Her whole body trembled, but she smiled coldly.She took two steps forward, then collapsed. Darkness rushed up and swallowed everything.…Gideon took Rayne back to her room.Not long after, his mother, Elaine Greenfeld, arrived with a thermos of fish soup.The moment she walked in, she smiled."Rayne, are you feeling any better? I had the kitchen make fish soup just for—" She broke off mid-sentence. "What happened to your face? Why is it so swollen?"She had just noticed the red finger marks across Rayne's cheeks.Alarmed, she hurried over and cupped her face to take a closer look. "Were you hit? Who did this? Tell me right now. I'll deal with it."Rayne had only just stopped crying, but her eyes filled again. "Aunt Elaine…"She glanced at Gideon with wounded eyes, and Elaine understood at once.Elaine turned and fixed her son with a sharp glare. "Was it Lucille?"Gideon instinctively tried to cover for her. "Mom, it wasn't—

Gwen read the room and nodded. "I'll be right outside. Call me if you need anything."She pulled the door shut behind her.Elaine lifted her chin. "Madam Greenfeld? You have a lot of nerve, addressing me like that."Lucille held her gaze. The years ran through her mind—every effort to please this woman, every moment met with nothing but cold contempt.In the past, no matter what Elaine said or did, Lucille had still called her Mother and bent herself into whatever shape was required. But she thought of the day Lily was born: Elaine walked into the delivery room, saw a daughter, and turned away without a word. Lucille could not produce the word Mother anymore."You told me years ago not to call you Mother. Now that I've stopped, you're offended?"Elaine sputtered, then her face darkened. "What kind of tone is that to take with me, Lucille?"Lucille had no interest in prolonging this. "You heard the recording. Rayne admitted in her own words that she still has feelings for Gideon.

Lucille stepped toward Elaine. Her eyes carried a sharpness that had not been there before. "What do I have to be afraid of? We're getting divorced. None of that matters anymore."The cold smile remained on her face. "Go ahead. Tell Gideon that Lucille was after his money from the start. Tell him that now she has given him a daughter, she intends to collect everything owed to her and the child, with interest. I would say the same thing to his face."Elaine stared at her, looking her up and down as though she were a stranger. 'This is the same woman who spent five years swallowing every slight without complaint. Childbirth has changed her this much?'In the doorway, a tall shadow stood motionless.Gideon had heard every word. He watched with something close to disbelief in his eyes. The woman he had known—composed, indifferent to luxury, never once asking him for anything—could not be the same person speaking now.'Something must have happened to her. Something serious,' he thought

Several seconds passed before Gideon found his voice. The calm had left it entirely. "No. My daughter is not taking your surname."Lucille let out a short, humorless laugh. The storm inside her had gone quiet, leaving something flat and clear behind."Oh, so you do remember she's your daughter. How many times have you held Rayne's son? A hundred? More? And Lily, from the day she was born until now, has seen her father exactly once. Is she something shameful? Some child who doesn't deserve a father?" she demanded.Her eyes filled. She had not planned to cry. She never cried over things that happened to her. She was built to solve problems, not mourn them. But anything that touched her daughter was different. That, she could not contain.Lily was the child she had nearly died bringing into the world at 30, after everything. The thought of that baby being overlooked by her own father was a pain with no bottom."She isn't… I didn't…" Gideon stopped.Something crossed his face that sh