I was momentarily speechless.

Beverly sneered at my silence and continued, "If it weren't for Ashton, Celeste would've ended up in the hospital. Just what kind of father are you, Mateo?"

Irritated, I snapped, "Fine. She's my daughter alone, not yours. So after the divorce, don't even think about fighting for custody! Celeste will be with me, and you can stay out of our lives."

I felt nothing but immense disappointment toward the woman I had loved for seven years, who now felt like a complete stranger. Whatever we had, it was already over.

Beverly's look of contempt stiffened on her face.

Just then, Ashton walked in, holding Celeste's hand. He casually took her backpack and placed it on the entryway cabinet, his voice calm and soft.

"Mr. Lane's back? What's all this commotion? I'll take Celeste to her room so you two can talk."

With that, he changed his shoes and led Celeste away as if he owned the house.

A cold smirk tugged at my lips. "I've been gone for just over a month, and he's already taken my place in this house. What more do you have to say for yourself, Beverly?"

The memory of lying in a hospital bed and teetering between life and death, while she stayed home enjoying Ashton's company, churned my stomach.

Beverly frowned and lit a cigarette in annoyance. Then, she said, "Think whatever you want. I have nothing to explain. Those with filthy minds see filth everywhere."

At that moment, Ashton reappeared with a disc in hand. He approached me and said gently, "Mr. Lane, don't be angry. This is a recording of Celeste's birthday party. Ms. Mitchell asked me to record it for you in case you couldn't make it back in time."

Ashton paused before adding, "I didn't expect you to be gone so long. It was hard to explain to Celeste—"

"What do you mean I asked you?" Beverly cut him off angrily. "That was your idea! Why are you explaining anything to him? I wasn't the one gallivanting around for a month!"

I let out a derisive laugh and swatted the disc out of Ashton's hand. It clattered to the floor.

"If that's how you feel, then let's get divorced. Celeste will come with me," I said, then headed for my bedroom while ignoring the shock on Beverly's face.

Moments later, the door burst open as she stormed in and bellowed in fury, "I bet you can't wait to run off with your lover! You disappeared for a month and came back demanding a divorce.

"Have you lost your mind, Mateo? Do you think you can take my daughter and start a new life with another woman? Over my dead body!"

I stopped what I was doing and turned to face her indifferently. "Gallivanting around for a month, you said? Beverly, do you have any idea what I've been through? I was—"

"What?" she cut me off impatiently and mocked, "Living it up? Partying? Cheating on me? Don't bother lying. You gave the car I bought you to another woman, didn't you? Do you take me as a fool?

"Or will you tell me it was stolen along with the keys and the credit card? Well, guess what? All the transaction notifications came straight to me!"

Her accusations made me swallow my words. Everything I wanted to say suddenly felt pointless.

There was no love in her eyes as she glared at me, let alone any trace of concern or care. Although I had known for a long time, I had been lying to myself and pretending not to see it.

I chuckled bitterly. Thinking of the past seven years of love and companionship, I laughed until my eyes welled with tears.

When I was in the hospital with little chance of survival, I didn't shed a single tear. Even after multiple surgeries and the pain that followed, I never felt like crying.

I had endured it all by holding on to the hope of seeing my family again. But now, I didn't know why I had bothered.

Beverly glanced at me and looked away as if the sight of me repulsed her.

Ashton stepped forward and tried to place a comforting hand on my shoulder. However, I angrily smacked it away.

Beverly spun on her heels and scowled at me as though I had committed an unforgivable crime.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Ashton has been taking care of Celeste while you were out doing God knows what for over a month! What's with you now? Does either of us owe you something? If you came back just to cause trouble, then don't bother coming back at all!"

Her words were cruel, but my emotions had already been drained.

I nodded numbly and replied, "Once you sign the divorce papers, I'll disappear and stop interfering with your lives. You won't even need to come up with excuses to spend time with him anymore."

Beverly's fury erupted. She grabbed a glass from the table and hurled it to the floor, roaring, "How many times do I have to repeat myself? How long are you going to keep spewing this nonsense?

"You're the one who disappeared for a month! I didn't even say anything about it, yet you're asking for a divorce right when Celeste is starting school. Do you even care about this family, Mateo? What are we to you? When will you stop this madness?

"I'm already overwhelmed with managing the company and taking care of Celeste. Why do you have to come back and make things harder for me?"

I watched expressionlessly and felt nothing but a hollow amusement.

Meanwhile, Ashton feigned helplessness and casually placed an arm around Beverly's shoulder. He said, "Ms. Mitchell, don't be upset. Even though the footage shows it was a woman, Mr. Lane deserves a chance to explain himself."

Then, he turned to me and added with mock patience, "Mr. Lane, how could you give your credit card to a woman you barely know? Those transaction alerts all went straight to Ms. Mitchell. It put me in such an awkward position…"

I despised Ashton. He always pretended to defend me while subtly painting me as the bad guy.

The next second, my fist collided with his face. Ashton let out a pained cry and stumbled back.

In the scuffle, my scarf shifted slightly, exposing a hint of the stitches on my neck.

Beverly's eyes were immediately filled with rage. My heart sank, and I quickly adjusted the scarf to cover the glaring wound.

Beverly stormed toward me and grabbed my wrist in a crushing grip, yelling, "What's on your neck, Mateo? I can't believe you'd stoop this low!

"Sneaking around with some tramp and then coming home with evidence of it. You're disgusting! You even wanted to snatch Celeste from me. Have you no shame?"

Then, she shoved my wrist away with such force that my arm slammed into my face, and blood instantly gushed from my nose.

Ashton rushed out and returned with a tissue, holding it out to me.

"Get lost!" I snarled as I glared at him through the pain on my face. "Drop your stupid act!"

Ashton had investigated the license plate of the car involved in my accident. He must've known it belonged to the perpetrator, yet he chose to hide the truth and smear me instead.

Wiping the blood off my face in frustration, I felt my anger burn hotter.

The commotion must've woken Celeste, who appeared in the hallway.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?"

When she saw Ashton pretentiously bowing his head and wiping his tears, Celeste hurried over to console him. "Don't cry, Mr. Larsen… Dad's mean. He's bullying you. He's the worst!"

My heart broke at her words. I tried to explain myself, but Beverly's sharp voice cut me off.

"Mateo, look at you! Acting like a lunatic in front of Celeste. Do you want the whole world to know my husband's a cheating, lying scumbag?"

Celeste burst into tears, terrified. I hastily reached out to comfort her, but she turned away and ran straight into Ashton's arms, clinging to him like I was some kind of monster.

"Mr. Lane, I know you're upset, but Celeste is just a child. She doesn't understand what's happening. You can't take your anger out on her."

I couldn't take it anymore and bellowed, "Shut up! She couldn't even bear to be apart from me a month ago. If someone hadn't filled her head with lies, she wouldn't be acting this way now!"

"Ashton, you've been meddling in my family for ages, and I let it slide. But you've crossed the line when you used my daughter as your ticket into this house!"

My words only made Celeste cry harder in Ashton's arms. "I don't want a cheating dad! You're gross! You're awful!" she shouted.

Ashton looked panicked, but I caught the glint of triumph in his eyes. Blinded by rage, I lunged at him and grabbed him by the collar.

"You bastard! What lies have you been feeding her?"

Beverly intervened by kicking me hard and shoving me back.

"You're insane!" she yelled.

I staggered back a few steps, and the motion pulled my scarf loose again.

Beverly's gaze was a mix of revulsion and fury, and she said through gritted teeth, "Mateo, wear your scarf right. I don't want to see that disgusting mess again."

Panic surged through me as I hastily covered the marks. However, unbidden memories flashed through my mind.

I recalled whenever Beverly came home late, she would have strange bruises on her neck. And each time Ashton dropped her off, I could sense something ambiguous between them…

"Beverly, who are you to judge me?" I shouted in a trembling voice.

Her face darkened further as she straddled me and grabbed my throat. Her eyes blazed with hatred.

"What, you can't admit what you did? Are you afraid Celeste will learn about your dirty little secrets? You should've known this day would come when you cheated on me!"

I struggled against her, but my body was still weak after getting discharged from the hospital not long ago. Pain tore through me as my freshly healed wounds reopened.

"Was my money not enough for you?" Beverly hissed. "Or was it just more exciting to flaunt your lover and use my credit card to fund your games? You're filthier than I ever imagined."

Ashton chimed in anxiously after calming Celeste, "Ms. Mitchell, please, let's not escalate this further. The credit card has been frozen. Let's focus on resolving the matter at hand."

His words seemed to pull Beverly back. Her grip slackened slightly, but her tone remained ice-cold.

"Mateo, I wish you'd never come back. Why didn't you just die out there? At least then, you wouldn't be polluting the air in my house."

I scoffed and summoned all my strength to shove her away. "So you and Ashton can cozy up here without me? Dream on! The day I take Celeste with me, I wouldn't look at you even if you begged me on your knees!"

After that, I endured the searing pain and climbed to my feet, storming toward Ashton and Celeste.

Celeste was frightened and burst into tears again.

Ashton shielded her nervously. "Mr. Lane, stop! You're scaring her."

I was going mad with rage. I landed another punch on him and yelled, "My daughter is none of your business! Try meddling again, and I'll kill you!"

Beverly ran up and kicked me hard, knocking me to the ground.

My scarf slipped off. At the same time, my phone suddenly rang sharply.

Beverly didn't seem to hear it as her eyes were fixated on the scar on my neck.

When I struggled to reach for the phone, she snatched it away and demanded, "What's this? Your lover can't wait to call? After using my money and sleeping with my man, she sure has the gall to call."

With a sneer, Beverly answered the phone and put it on speaker. A police officer's urgent voice came through, "Mr. Lane? Are you alright? We couldn't reach you earlier and were worried something had happened again…"

Beverly's face instantly turned pale, as if something had suddenly come to mind. In her panic, she hurriedly hung up.