That evening, after I returned home, my father cooked an entire table of food for me.

But just as I picked up my fork, my phone rang.

“Vanessa, you’ve really grown some nerve, haven’t you? Running away from home now?”

Adrian’s roar made my ear ache.

“Get back here and make dinner. Evan is hungry.

“You think I’m going to coax you just because you’re throwing a tantrum? Don’t push your luck.”

My father heard him and snatched the phone from my hand, furious.

“Adrian, do you have any idea who you’re talking to?

“Apologize to my daughter right now and fire that woman, or I’ll bankrupt Cole Group within three days. Try me.”

Adrian went quiet for two seconds, then sneered.

“Playing rich now? Vanessa, did you hire some actor to scare me?

“You want more money, don’t you? Fine. I’ll raise your monthly allowance to eight hundred dollars. That should be enough.

“Now get back here, take care of the kid, and stop getting in the way of my work.”

Eight hundred dollars.

Listening to his self-righteous tone, I almost laughed.

Sophie could casually post a diamond necklace Adrian had flown to Switzerland to bid on.

But when the rice cooker at home broke and I wanted to buy an ordinary replacement for three hundred dollars, he frowned and told me the old one could still be fixed.

Whenever I argued, he blamed me.

“Stop comparing yourself to her. Sophie helps me close deals. You just sit at home and eat for free.”

I leaned toward the phone and said coldly, “Adrian, eight hundred dollars is exactly what you’re worth.”

Then I hung up before he could start yelling again.

My father stroked my hair to comfort me, and my eyes instantly burned. All the grievances I had swallowed for years finally spilled out.

After I told him, piece by piece, what I had endured over the past decade, his face darkened with rage. He picked up his phone and called his secretary.

“Notify every supplier, upstream and downstream. Anyone who works with Adrian Cole is making an enemy of Sterling Group.”

“And especially,” my father added with a cold laugh, “that subsidiary of his preparing for IPO, J-Tech Holdings. I want it shut down immediately. Personally.”

I was still listening to him give instructions when my phone rang again.

It was Adrian.

His voice was hoarse with exhaustion and anger.

“Vanessa, who the hell was that actor pretending to be your father? Why was J-Tech’s listing application rejected?”

I gave a faint laugh, didn’t answer, and blocked him.

So my father worked fast.

Good.

That saved me the trouble.

That same day, my father hired the city’s top divorce attorney and sent Adrian the divorce papers.

Since coming home, I no longer had to get up at four every morning to make breakfast for Adrian and Evan. I no longer had to clean until my back ached, or bargain over a few dollars’ worth of groceries.

Over the next two weeks, Adrian changed numbers again and again to call and text me.

I blocked every one.

One day, my father took me shopping, and we ran into Adrian, Sophie, and Evan.

Evan trailed behind Sophie in tiny steps, all ten fingers hooked through four or five luxury shopping bags.

He said carefully, “Ms. Blake, I’m hungry.”

Sophie stopped at once. She turned to Adrian with tears already shining in her eyes and tugged at his sleeve.

“Adrian, I haven’t even been shopping that long. Why is Evan already acting up?

“Did I do something wrong? Is that why he’s trying to make things difficult for me?”

Adrian was frowning at his phone. When he heard her, he glared at Evan.

“Can’t you see I’m busy? The company is about to collapse. Can you be more mature and stop causing trouble for Sophie?”

Evan’s little face flushed red, tears gathering in his eyes.

His small hands clenched the hem of his shirt. His lips trembled as if he wanted to run to me but didn’t dare.

My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag, and my heart twisted.

Before, whenever Evan was hungry, I always kept warm oatmeal in a thermos for him.

But in the next second, I remembered him calling the police over an egg. I remembered the way he had cursed me.

That small ache of pity went cold.

Wasn’t this exactly what he had wanted?

I turned to leave, but a timid voice came from behind me.

“Mom…”

The moment Evan spoke, Adrian jerked his head around.

The next second, he charged toward me like an enraged animal, phone clenched in his hand, eyes bloodshot.

He had barely reached the entrance before a staff member stepped in front of him.

“Good evening, sir. This is a VIP lounge. Non-members are not permitted inside.”

Adrian’s temper exploded.

He pointed at me and shouted, “I’m looking for my wife. Who are you to stop me?”

“Vanessa! You won’t come home, you won’t answer my calls, and now after a few days away, you think you’re too good for us?”

His wife.

How ridiculous.

He had the nerve to call me that while shopping with another woman.

I didn’t bother answering and turned to leave, but Sophie’s gaze swept over me.

The next second, she covered her mouth and took half a step back, putting on a shocked expression.

“Vanessa? No wonder you’ve been hiding and refusing to come home. Did you find yourself a rich man?”

Then she turned to Adrian, eyes red as she shook his arm.

“Mr. Cole, you’ve been looking for her like crazy these past few days. You could barely focus on the company.

“How could she be so heartless? And now she’s deliberately humiliating us by keeping us out of a place like this.”

Adrian had already been furious after being stopped at the door. After Sophie said that, the veins at his temples bulged.

He pointed at me and cursed.

“Vanessa, I knew you didn’t have the backbone to make it on your own.

“What else can you do besides rely on men?

“You acted sweet and obedient in front of me, but now your true colors are showing, aren’t they? You greedy little bitch.”

Evan suddenly broke free from Sophie’s hand and ran to the lounge entrance. He clutched the doorframe and cried.

“Mom, do you not want me anymore? I’ll listen to you from now on, okay?”

The moment Evan finished speaking, the area went silent.

Then countless stares landed on me. Some curious. Some contemptuous.

“That poor child. How can a mother just walk away?”

“She must really have found a rich man. She doesn’t even care about her own son anymore.”

Looking at the wounded expressions on Adrian’s and Evan’s faces, I suddenly let out a low laugh.

Adrian had always been like this.

He could betray me, spend money on Sophie, take her shopping, buy her villas and sports cars.

But I was supposed to stay nameless behind him forever, loyal and grateful like a dog.

The moment I stopped pleasing him, he turned hysterical and accused me instead.

At this point, I didn’t want to say another word to any of them.

I tried to leave, but Adrian refused to let it go. He stepped forward and grabbed my wrist, his eyes full of arrogant charity.

“Come home with me. I can forgive your tantrum and your little affair this time, but don’t push your luck.

“That rich man only wants you because you’re still young. Once he gets bored, you won’t even have a place to cry.”

I yanked my hand free.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Sophie immediately moved closer.

“Mr. Cole, look at her. Now that she has someone backing her up, she’s forgotten everything you’ve done for her.

“Your company is in trouble, and she’s out here enjoying herself with another man. Maybe she’s been waiting for you to go bankrupt.”

That sentence lit the fuse.

Adrian raised his hand to slap me.

I instinctively shut my eyes, but the pain never came.

At some point, my father had stepped in front of me and caught Adrian’s wrist.

“You lay a hand on someone from the Sterling family and think you’ll walk away from it?”

Then he turned to his secretary.

“Freeze Cole Group’s assets. Now.”