Chapter 4
It took me a whole day to pack up all my things.
When the movers arrived, our parents showed up too.
They had no idea what had happened between us and just kept urging me to reconsider.
“Emilia, it’s normal for couples to quarrel. How did things get so bad that you’re moving out?” Mila Degnan, Dylan’s mother, took my hand and pleaded anxiously.
I didn’t answer, just directed the movers to load the boxes onto the truck.
Just then, the door opened.
Dylan was back.
He was still holding Mandy’s hand.
The room fell silent instantly. Everyone’s gaze fixed on the two of them, with expressions varying widely.
Mila’s voice trembled. “Dylan, you… Have you done something to wrong Emilia?”
Dylan’s father, Harvey Degnan, had a face livid with anger. “You fool! Who is this woman?”
Dylan didn’t answer them.
He looked at the piles of boxes filling the room, then finally turned his eyes to me.
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Chapter 4
“Where are you moving to?”
He was so calm, so rational, accepting my departure with complete
composure.
No explanations, no attempts to hold me back.
He’d even had the audacity to bring Mandy into our home.
I said calmly, “I’m moving back to my own place.”
Dylan nodded.
“Alright. I’ll come see you in a few days.”
Then he pulled Mandy forward and introduced her to everyone.
“This is Mandy. She’s a victim in a case I’m handling. She just got discharged from the hospital and has nowhere to go. She needs someone to take care of her for the time being.”
He introduced her so openly and unreservedly that our questioning suddenly seemed like an unreasonable fuss.
Mandy looked timidly at Dylan’s parents and whispered, “Hello, Sir Degnan, Madam Degnan. I’m sorry for troubling you. Mr. Degnan is my savior. He said….. he could take me in temporarily. ”
Mila looked at me with a grim expression, then glanced at Mandy, as if she wanted to say something.
I didn’t want to watch this ridiculous drama any longer.
“I’m leaving.”
“Wait.”
Mandy suddenly spoke up. She looked at me, her eyes glinting with an
Chapter 4
emotion I couldn’t decipher.
“Emilia, let’s have a meal together. Just as a welcome for me.”
A sharp, clear sound echoed through the living room.
My mother, who’d somehow rushed over, had slapped Mandy across the
face.
Everyone froze.
My mother’s eyes were red as she pointed at Dylan, her voice trembling.
“I know my daughter better than anyone! For you, she turned down an offer from Stanford to stay here with you! For you, she used to be a spoiled young lady who never lifted a finger, but she made soup for you. and washed your clothes!
“Seven years! Seven whole years! Do you think she’d leave if her heart hadn’t been truly shattered?
“Now you bring another woman into your home, humiliating my daughter! My daughter won’t say it, so I’ll say it for her!”
My mother’s words were like a knife, cutting through all my pretense.
Mandy covered her face, tears streaming down.
Dylan pulled her protectively behind him, his face darkening to the extreme. “Emilia! How long are you going to keep this up? Do you really need elders to fight your battles for you?”
I couldn’t hold back any longer. I rushed up and slapped him hard across the face.
The pent–up frustration in my chest finally eased–just a little.
I took out the lab report from my bag–the one that should have been
Chapter 4
given to him long ago–and threw it in his face.
“Dylan, take a look at this.”
He picked it up in confusion and flipped it open.
In the next second, his pupils contracted sharply.
“You… you’re pregnant?”
Yeah, but I already scheduled an abortion.
