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.”