He Promised Me Forever, Then Chose Her

Chapter 2 My Son Chose Her

Elara walked slowly to the sink. Then she turned on the tap and scrubbed the spot Adrian had kissed, again and again, until her skin turned red. She found him filthy.

The noise in the bathroom was loud enough to wake Lucas. When she saw her little son standing at the door and still half-asleep, her heart softened.

She picked him up and spoke gently. "Lucas, you're all I have now."

She pinched his cheek lightly. Lucas looked at her without expression. When her gaze dropped, her smile stiffened. The pink plush toy in his arms was something she had never seen before.

"Did Margaret buy that for you?" Elara asked, her heart suddenly racing. "She really should've told me. I would've paid her back."

Lucas snatched the toy back, pouting. "Vivi gave it to me. Don't touch it. You'll make it dirty."

The words hit like a blade. A sharp pain twisted through Elara's chest. She forced a smile, one that looked worse than tears. "Vivi…?"

Vivi was Vivian Hart, the college student Adrian had recently taken in as his third affair.

This time, Elara truly broke. She could not accept that Vivian had already seeped into her life. At some point, without her even noticing, Vivian had met her son. Lucas called her "Vivi" with easy familiarity, and it was obvious he liked her.

Her voice turned cold. "You're not allowed to see her again. She's not a good person."

It was the first time Elara had ever lost her temper with Lucas.

Startled, he burst into tears and ran out, crying as he went, "I want Vivi. I don't want you. I don't want you!"

The words shattered her. Elara wiped her tears and called Margaret Carter.

"For the next few days, pick Lucas up and drop him off at kindergarten. Keep an eye on him. Don't let him meet anyone he shouldn't."

Margaret nodded quickly and took the still-crying child back to his room, trying to calm him down.

But Lucas kept shouting, "I don't want Mommy. I want Vivi!" His cries echoed through the entire Vale Estate.

Elara stood there, overwhelmed with a grief she could not measure. She did not understand what she had done wrong, or why everything had changed.

Tears streamed down her face. This time, she did not hold back. She cried until her whole body shook. She did not sleep at all that night.

Adrian never came home. He was still wrapped in someone else's warmth. Early the next morning, a friend request popped up on Elara's social app.

The username was simply YU.

She accepted it, almost as if she wanted to hurt herself.

The account's posts were vivid and intimate. Half an hour ago, there was a new one. A photo of YU lying in a man's arms, the man beside her still asleep.

YU: Good morning, my sleepyhead.

Vivian's feed revolved almost entirely around Adrian. For the first time, Elara saw what he had been doing these past days.

Last week, he had taken Vivian to the largest amusement park in Arclight City to watch the fireworks.

YU: The fireworks were beautiful, but he was even more beautiful.

It was almost laughable. That very park had been built for Elara. When she was little, she had once written that she wanted to be a princess when she grew up. After Adrian found out, he built her a castle.

Under a sky full of fireworks, he had told her, "This is the dream city I built for you. You can always be my princess."

Now those vows had shattered beyond repair, nothing more than a complete lie. Had he ever said the same words to Vivian?

This week, he was even cooking at Vivian's place. She had posted a photo of his back as he stood in the kitchen.

YU: My stomach hurt today. Luckily, he's here with me.

Elara suddenly remembered the early days of their marriage. Back then, Adrian did not know how to cook. Her health had always been fragile. During pregnancy, her severe reactions worried him constantly.

"Babe, I don't feel at ease leaving your meals to Margaret. From now on, I'll take care of your diet myself."

He learned to cook for her. Every time, his hands came away covered in cuts. Once, he had nearly sliced his finger. The heir of the Vale family, who had grown up surrounded by privilege, learned to cook and do laundry for his young wife.

With a heart full of love, he prepared a table of simple home-cooked dishes. To anyone else, they were ordinary, but to Elara, they warmed her completely.

"If you like it, I'll cook for you for the rest of your life."

He had once carried his heart into her world. Now that heart had rotted in the mud. Elara no longer wanted to pick it up.