Chapter 6
Marcus and Aaron’s appearance was just a minor episode in my peaceful life.
I didn’t take it to heart at first.
However, I never expected Marcus to actually buy the house next door and move in.
Aaron, this child who had been spoiled since birth, even started learning to please me like Jayla did.
Every morning, Jayla would get up early to tend the sheep, and before leaving, she’d always prepare water for me to take to work.
Aaron, on the other hand, would prepare my favorite juice bright and early.
He’d wait at my front door with the bottle, staring longingly through the fence, terrified of missing me.
As a result, Jayla would chase him with Max until he nearly ran out of his shoes.
Aaron was terrified of dogs.
“Don’t you dare compete with me for Mom!” Jayla would shout at him triumphantly.
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“She’s my mom! I’m her biological child!” Aaron would retort stubbornly, scared to death but refusing to back down.
“Then why would she rather keep me, a foundling, than you? You should really reflect on that!” Jayla would fire back mercilessly.
Aaron would be left teary–eyed and helpless.
So Aaron and Jayla would bicker all day long, while Marcus’s attention was entirely focused on me.
He seemed to think that as long as he humbled himself and pursued me properly, I would definitely forgive him and get back together with him.
So when I came home, I’d see the ridiculous sight of Marcus wearing an apron, cooking in the kitchen.
The dining table would be covered with dishes he’d already prepared.
Seeing me enter, Marcus would flash a pleasing smile. “Honey, you’re home! Come eat.”
I looked at him calmly and suddenly smiled.
This smile gave Marcus some hope. “Have you forgiven me?”
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At that moment, Jayla glared at him and said angrily, “Mom’s allergic to eggs. She also hates bell peppers and carrots. So she can’t eat anything you made!”
A little girl who had only spent three years with me knew my preferences clearly.
But Marcus, the husband who claimed to love me, had no idea.
“I… but there were always… on the table before…” Marcus stood there like a child who’d made a mistake, dazed and at a loss.
I said softly, “That was because you all liked them.”
In the past, because they liked those things, I didn’t mind.
But now, I only wanted to live for myself.
Back in the bedroom, I changed into comfortable clothes, planning to cook something for myself.
The next second, the door was pushed open.
Aaron walked in carefully, holding a plate of peeled shrimp.
He had obviously grown quite a bit taller, and his features carried some resemblance to Marcus, like a miniature version of
him.
He said, “Mom, Dad and I peeled these shrimp by hand. I’m
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sorry we disappointed you again.”
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Aaron was still a child, and I didn’t want to be too harsh with him, so I took the shrimp and casually set it aside.
But Aaron didn’t leave. His gaze fell on the ceramic mug I’d made for Jayla on the dresser, painted with portraits of the two of us, like a real mother and daughter.
He blinked and suddenly started crying.
He cried silently, but tears kept streaming down his face.
I was somewhat surprised, suddenly remembering Marcus’s earlier words about “having someone hit me.”
An ominous feeling welled up in my heart.
I asked, “After I left, was Sienna mean to you?”
Aaron nodded, then shook his head.
I gently wiped away his tears with a clean towel.
Only then did he tell me the truth in broken sentences: “She was only nice to me in front of other people. But behind their backs, she’d hit me and deliberately hurt me. That day when Dad was on a business trip, I accidentally fell into the pool, and she just stood there watching without helping me. When I told Grandma and Aunt, they didn’t believe me and said I had bad genes and
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loved to lie.”
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“Later, I checked the surveillance footage. Aaron wasn’t lying, so
I kicked Sienna out.” Marcus had somehow entered the room. He stood in the doorway, his tall figure blocking the light, yet his limbs seemed awkward and restless.
His voice carried deep guilt: “I’m sorry. I thought she was still the same person from when we were kids. I never imagined that during those years abroad, she’d done so many terrible things. She even tried to kill Aaron to marry me, and she drugged me. How could I have hurt you for such a woman? I…”
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“Enough.” I interrupted him, my expression calm. “The fact that you hurt me has already happened. You’re saying this now only because you’ve discovered that Sienna isn’t as good as you imagined. But what if she really had been a good girl? Would you still apologize for hurting me? Would you still feel guilty?”
Marcus was stunned.
I smiled and shook my head. “You wouldn’t. Not only would you not apologize, you’d actually think divorcing me was the right thing to do. Because from beginning to end, you never truly respected me.
“Marcus, you never saw me as a person worthy of respect.”
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