The Woman From Hell

I looked closely at him. "Can you stop being so childish? Don’t mention things like that again." He would almost always bring this up every time we met.

How could we go back to how things were? Not only was I not able to leave with him because I had a family of my own now, but he had also returned to the Schumans. He had duties and responsibilities of his own, so how could he just leave anytime he wanted?

In the world of adults, there was no such thing as having the freedom to leave without a single burden.

"Is it so hard to separate from Theo? Are you going to stay with him forever?" He took out a cigarette but did not light it up. He just held it between his fingers and gently played with it.

Speechless, I said, "We're husband and wife, so it's only right for me to stay with him forever. Leaving with you is the unusual thing to do, alright? Tyler, although I'm trying to treat you like family and am no longer afraid of you or reject you as I used to, can you please act more like a normal person when you show u p in front of me?"

Every time I saw him, he was either asking me to go back with him or he would be fighting with Theo. I was always stuck in the middle.

"I can guarantee...” He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and swept his gaze across my belly. He paused before putting the lighter back into his pocket and continued to play with the cigarette. He said confidently, "...that you'll soon come and beg me to take you away.”

"Hah!" I looked at him, feeling speechless. "You’re too confident. My baby will soon be born. Do you think I'll take the baby away from Theo and let them grow up i n a single-parent family without a father?"

"You will, and I’m sure of that," he said with unmistakable certainty.

"Tyler, don't you call yourself my brother? Have you seen brothers constantly encouraging their sister to get a divorce? You're putting me in a difficult position, do you know that?” I was so furious that I roared in exhaustion.

"Leave him. Only by leaving him will you be happy. As long as you leave him, I'll let you date anyone and will also help you out after that.” He looked serious. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

However, I was extremely angry. I was wasting my breath talking to him for so long. He simply could not listen to reason and I began to grow irritated. "That’s i t. I'm tired and want to go back and rest!"

After saying that, I looked away and walked in.

When I entered the house, I was not surprised to see that a pastry box had been tossed into the trash. It must have been inside the gift box Tyler brought. The desserts in it were ruined. It looked like a kid had deliberately trashed it.

Theo's childishness was quite terrifying sometimes, and his destructive ability was even stronger than a kid's. 1

I inadvertently caught a glimpse of a glistening silver item beside the pastry box. Out of curiosity, I went over to take a look. My heart throbbed with great excitement as tears involuntarily gushed out of my eyes.

"Why is that useless ring making you so touched?” Theo's mocking voice rang out from the side.

Well yeah, the Grants were in the jewelry business and had seen all kinds of jewelry. This was just scrap paper to him.

I ignored him and picked up the ring, looking at it in a daze.

This was the birthday present I got when I turned ten, and it was also the first ever birthday present I had received.

I remembered that wearing silver jewelry was a popular thing to do in class at the time. Almost everyone was wearing all sorts of necklaces, bracelets, and rings.

I was a kid like everyone else and yearned to own one myself, but I knew that Mom was having a hard time providing for the family. Hence, I was afraid to ask her for one. Therefore, I would go to town every afternoon after school to collect scraps, planning to save up to get myself silver jewelry.

On one rainy day, I tried to pick up a mineral water bottle from a muddy pond and accidentally fell into it. I almost drowned. Amid Mom's beating and threats, I finally told her the truth of why I was collecting scraps.

Mom hugged me and cried after hearing the truth. She blamed herself for not being capable enough to provide the best for her daughter.

I apologized while sobbing, telling her that I was not sensible enough and did not want any of these things anymore.

The next night, Mom came home with a large pile of cardboard boxes and explained that she had accepted a job folding boxes. It would earn her ten cents per box. She would be able to buy me a birthday gift after some time.

I was delighted to hear that and helped Mom fold the boxes as well. Tyler had always been rebellious and refused to speak to us. However, he surprisingly took the initiative to help out every day after dinner without a single complaint.