7-Year Marriage Empty, I Chose My Dream Life

Chapter 4

My alcoholic father died in a car accident and left me a massive compensation payout.

And the house I had once desperately wanted to escape from had somehow become my only shelter.

Watching my lonely figure walk away, Christian pressed his lips together and instinctively stepped forward.

But Amber grabbed his arm.

Her face was pale as she told him she suddenly didn't feel well.

Probably low blood sugar.

Christian hesitated for a moment. In the end, he didn't come after me.

Instead, he turned toward a nearby vending machine.

The day my lawyer finished drafting the divorce agreement, I happened to receive a call from Christian.

His voice sounded urgent.

"Our son is sick. Come to the family estate before five."

Before I could ask anything else, he had already hung up.

I printed the divorce papers myself, feeling strangely relieved.

When I arrived at the Hale residence, I discovered the entire Hale family was there.

They were in the middle of a family dinner, and my son was sitting right between Christian and Amber.

To an outsider, they looked like the perfect family of three.

Tears stung my eyes as I walked over to the son I hadn't seen in so long. I gently touched his cheek and softly asked what was wrong.

The little boy looked almost identical to Christian, like a miniature version of him.

But the moment my hand touched him, he slapped it away with visible disgust.

Then he stared at me warily before instinctively looking toward Amber for help.

A sharp pain twisted through my chest.

Amber immediately pulled him into her arms with practiced tenderness and spoke in that innocent, cloying tone of hers.

"Leo Hale isn't sick. Clara, have you been taking too many sleeping pills? Are you getting confused?"

The second she finished speaking, everyone in the room looked at me with unconcealed disdain.

I knew they had always mocked me behind my back.

Especially Audrey Hale.

She had never believed I was good enough for her brother.

Back then, she constantly made things difficult for me, but for Christian's sake, I always chose to endure it.

Unfortunately for them, this time I had no intention of putting up with it anymore.