Lahat ng Kabanata ng Divorced, Then Married His Rival: Kabanata 11 - Kabanata 20

Just as the caregiver reached for the door, Wendy's hand shot out and caught his wrist. She didn't know where the strength came from, but she dragged him several feet down the hall, ignoring his yelp of protest, before finally letting go.He rubbed his wrist, glaring. "You out of your mind?"Wendy's expression stayed ice-cold. "Where were you just now?""Why does it matter where I go?" he shot back, contemptuous. "Is that half-dead woman in there even your mother?"Something in Wendy's face went dark. Julian stepped between them before she could respond, eyes narrowed. "You're fired."Only then did the caregiver register that these two might actually be family. His confidence faltered. "I was just messing around. Don't take it so seriously."He didn't particularly enjoy the work, but between the tens of thousands a month watching over Eleanor and a corporate salary of three grand, this job had been worth the indignity."Messing around?" Julian's voice cut cold. "You think you're even

After hearing his subordinate's report, Julian stood gripping his phone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring down at the traffic below, something unreadable settling behind his eyes.With nowhere else to go for the time being, Wendy headed back to the Vance apartment.Sophie looked up from the couch, unimpressed. "Back to stir up more trouble?""Sophie, what did I even do to deserve this much attitude?" Wendy asked, exhausted."You don't know?" Sophie's frown deepened, and seeing the genuine confusion on Wendy's face, she thrust her phone forward."Look for yourself. If it weren't for someone I know tipping me off, this would be all over Ashwood City by now."Wendy scanned the screen, and the color drained from her face.A contact had reached out to Sophie, warning that someone was pushing a story claiming Wendy had secretly met with Nathan because she still had feelings for him and asking whether Sophie wanted it shut down.Sophie had told them to kill it without a second

"What did the hospital say?" Wendy asked, anxious."The attending doctor figured out which medications your mom used to be on. Told us not to worry."Wendy didn't know the first thing about medicine, but she trusted Julian's judgment completely.Yesterday, Nathan had summoned her over and still hadn't produced the records in the end. Hearing this instead felt like a small mercy she found herself smiling the rest of the drive to the showing.Rather than stop at a sales office, they went straight to the community itself.A salesman was already waiting a man in his forties, visibly eager."Mr. Vance, you won't regret this choice," he said, launching immediately into a rundown of every selling point, barely pausing for breath.It was the kind of relentless pitch that made Wendy feel, briefly, like she'd been dropped right back into her Hale-family days.Back when she had no income of her own, she'd had to shop at the kind of stores where staff hovered the second you walked in chattering n

"The help" lit a fire under Sophie instantly. Her face went red. "You're the help! Who even are you? Who let you in my house?""Watch your mouth, kid," Jordan said, flicking her forehead, breezy and insolent as a street thug.Sophie actually flinched. "L-leave, or I'm calling security," she stammered, bravado wavering."Go ahead," Jordan said, unbothered. "Let's see who gets here first them, or me."She shouldered the door open and strolled in like she owned the place.Sophie had never been talked to like this in her life. She was shaking."Jordan, don't," Wendy said, tired.If Sophie actually got scared, Julian wasn't going to let this slide easily.Jordan read her instantly. "Someone this size doesn't scare that easy." She turned to Sophie. "Right, kid?""I'm an adult," Sophie shot back, stung by the "kid" comment.Jordan looked her up and down Sophie barely cleared her shoulder. "Oh? An adult, huh?"Sophie had nothing to say to that.The humiliation was almost physical. She'd have

Back in the living room, Sophie sneezed out of nowhere. She sniffled, wondering idly if someone was talking about her behind her back.She sat up just in time to see Julian stepping out of the room."Brother," she said, a little guilty, "are you two actually moving out? If I promise to stop giving her a hard time, can you just stay?""We were always going to move out eventually," Julian said, unbothered.Sophie didn't follow. "Wait are you seriously abandoning Mom?""Spend more time with her while you can," he said, which only confused her further."...Huh?"He ruffled her hair on his way past. "Don't give your sister-in-law a hard time.""I never gave her a hard time," Sophie said, pouting at his retreating back.Then, muttering to herself: "...Not going forward, anyway."She still wasn't thrilled about the whole second-marriage thing, if she was honest but Wendy didn't seem like a bad person, and her temper was practically bottomless. If there was one black mark against her, it was