Meridel’s POV

I hit my head so hard I nearly blacked out, but at last, my niece’s innocence was cleared.

Milton drove me home and locked the door behind me.

“Schandra needs rest. You should stay home for the next few days and reflect on yourself.”

I didn’t resist. Instead, I used the time to quietly pack my things.

Thirty years—too many traces of me lingered in this villa.

It took three full days to sort through everything, and whatever I didn’t need, I set aflame.

When the fire reached the framed X-ray film, a message buzzed on my phone—my withdrawal request had been approved. The funds would be in my bank in three days.

At the same time, I heard Milton’s voice behind me. There was a faint tremor in it.

“Why are you burning that?”

That X-ray captured the moment of our first meeting.

Back then, his car sped by, splashing me with dirty water. I chased after him, and in the chaos, he broke a leg. That was the scan from that day.

When we married, he said we had fought before we knew each other, and this X-ray would serve as our eternal keepsake.

But now, he had changed, and things like this had lost their meaning.

“I felt like burning it. That’s all. No reason,” I said flatly.

His face darkened. He seemed about to speak, but Schandra, who had come back with him, cut in at just the right moment.

“Milton, my wound hurts…”

Milton turned instantly to tend to her.

I lifted my eyes and met the wary stares of our children.

The sight was nothing but ironic.

Stepping past them without a word, I headed upstairs. For once, Milton explained.

“Schandra’s injured. It’s inconvenient for her to be alone at home, so she’ll stay here for a few days. Once she recovers, she’ll leave.”

I only murmured a noncommittal, “Mm.”

Something in that tone obviously set him off. He snapped, “I told you—Schandra is only staying temporarily. Why the long face? Who are you trying to show it to?!”

Honestly, I didn’t get him.

Before, when he and Schandra flaunted their closeness, I raised hell, and he grew furious.

Now that they put on this ‘deep sibling affection’ act, and I didn’t react at all, he was still not happy.

I couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

Schandra tugged at his sleeve, her voice sweet but barbed as she turned to me.

“Meridel, my brother and I have lived together since we were young. I’m used to having him around. Now that I’m all alone, he worries about me, so he asked me to stay a few days. Surely, you won’t take issue with that, will you?”

I replied coldly. “Stay as long as you want. It has nothing to do with me.”

That made Milton’s expression grow even darker.

Schandra forced a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s good to hear,” she said, though her gaze flashed with hatred.

It was clear she had no intention of leaving in just a few days.

The next morning, I slept until the sun was high before I finally got up.

Schandra was in the living room, cracking sunflower seeds. I glanced at her—just one glance—before fury surged straight to the crown of my head.

“Hey! Who told you you could use that plate as a trash bin?!”

The plate in front of her, the one she was tossing shells into, was no ordinary dish. It was a piece my mother had handcrafted for me.

When my parents died, I polished it every single day, treating it like a treasure. No one else was ever allowed to touch it.

But now, Schandra—that criminal—was using it as a garbage dish?!

She even lifted it lightly, casually saying, “I know it’s your precious keepsake. That’s why I made sure to use it—to ruin it on purpose.”

The next second, she let her fingers slip.

“Don’t—”

Meridel’s POV

I was a step too slow; the plate fell to the floor and shattered into pieces!

I crouched down, trying to piece the fragments back together.

Even just then, Schandra casually smashed a teacup, too.

“The belongings of the dead don’t belong in this villa. That’s just creepy!”

My whole body trembled with rage. I snatched up a shard of porcelain and slashed it toward her face.

That made her let out a piercing scream. “Ahhh!”

Her cry drew Milton and our children rushing in. Before I could say a word, Schandra was already playing the victim.

“Milton, save me! I only asked one question about your marriage, and she tried to kill me!”

His face darkened, then he hit me hard.

“Meridel! How can you be so cruel?! What has Schandra ever done to you that you can’t bear to let her exist?”

Finally, he snatched up the divorce papers.

“Fine! You wanted a divorce, didn’t you? I’ll give it to you then!”

He signed his name with a furious stroke, then flung the papers at my face.

“From now on, in this villa, Schandra gets to have the final say!”

My own children glared at me, their voices filled with outrage.

“All this just for a few broken plates? To lash out at Aunt Schandra like that—you’ve really gone mad!”

“Let’s see what you’ll do if we smash the rest of this junk!”

The two of them grabbed the dishes and hurled them one after another, shattering the entire set.

The sharp, brittle sounds pierced me like a dull knife, slicing my heart into pieces.

After venting, the three of them clustered around Schandra, fussing over her injuries, dabbing ointment on her cuts—while I lay among the shards, bloodied and ignored.

Wiping away my tears, I picked up the divorce papers and tucked them safely away. Then, I rose quietly and returned to my room.

The next morning, when I opened the door, I saw the four of them already dressed to the nines.

Emerson scowled the moment his eyes landed on me.

“You and Dad are divorced already. Don’t bother coming to our coming-of-age party. You’ll just embarrass us.”

Enid, her arm linked with Schandra’s, sneered.

“With Aunt Schandra by our side, we don’t need some washed-up old woman like you tagging along.”

Their coming-of-age party was something I had prepared for an entire year.

I had crafted gifts with my own hands, pushing myself until my stomach illness relapsed.

I had written them letters, so many that they stacked as thick as a book.

I had walked miles upon miles, wearing out two pairs of shoes, just to pray for their future.

Yet now, I wasn’t even allowed the right to attend.

My thirty years of devotion were swept aside by a single lie from Schandra.

I guessed it was not bad at all. Today was the day I had planned to leave anyway.

Emerson and Enid eagerly ushered Schandra out the door, afraid I might insist on coming.

Milton lingered behind, casting me a look of disgust.

“You look so unpresentable. You really don’t suit attending today’s party.”

I didn’t argue. Instead, I went back to my room, picked up the gifts I had prepared, and held them out to him.

“Pass these to them for me for their party.”

It was my last act of tenderness as their mother.

Milton frowned, studying me closely.

“You’re acting strange today.”

If this had been the old me, being replaced by another woman, I would have made sure no one in this villa had peace.

But now, I was calm. I accepted it all as if none of it mattered anymore.

That unsettled him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Schandra’s voice called from outside.

He gave me one last glance before saying coldly, “We’ll be back early. Have dinner ready, and wait for us.”

Even at this point, he was still bossing around.

But I was no longer the housewife orbiting around their needs.

After they left, I called the delivery guy.

“Tonight, send it here and hand it to Milton.”

Before leaving, I had also prepared a “gift” for my ex-husband.

Then, I erased my fingerprint and face data from the lock system, placed the spare emergency key in the entryway cabinet, and dragged my suitcase toward the door.

Without looking back, I walked away from the place I had lived in for thirty years.

On the way to the airport, I received a message: my niece’s husband had returned early from his assignment.

A faint smile lifted the corners of my lips.

The plane rose through the clouds, and the familiar state shrank, smaller and smaller, fading into the distance.

At last, my suffering had come to an end.

But theirs… theirs was only just beginning.