Chapter 5
Williams, who was usually calm and composed, began to panic. He reached out to grab my hand, but I moved away.
Perhaps it never crossed his mind that I would refuse his touch one day, he was in disbelief.
His voice trembled slightly as he tried to suppress his anger.
“Christelle, have you really thought this through?
“If you divorce me, I’ll have custody of James, and you won’t see him ever again!”
I looked down but remained unbothered.
“Fine. Once Leia becomes his mother, he won’t want to see me anyway.”
To my surprise, James burst into tears and threw himself into my arms.
“No, mom. I just didn’t like how you were controlling me. I don’t want Miss Leia to be my mother.”
I hesitated for a long time: After all, he was my child. I gently wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
He cried in anguish in my embrace and clutched onto my sleeves tightly. He feared that if he let go, I would disappear.
It had been a long time since he last leaned on me. He had refused my touch for a while.
“Mom, I’m all grown up. Stop hugging me. It’s annoying,” he said in the past.
Yet, he would hug Leia affectionately.
It hurt me at first, but over time, I grew numb and refused to let it bring me down.
There had been a time when he really loved me.
When he first learned to speak, I was the first person he called out to.
When he took his first few wobbly steps, he tumbled into my arms.
Williams disliked me and preferred to stay at work rather than come home. During those days, James acted as my support system.
In the past, he would sweetly call me “Mom” and say that I was his favorite person.
His eyes would shine with love. But then, Lela returned,
There were days when Williams would be busy. Initially, James would refuse to go with Leia whenever she came to pick him.
However, as time went by, Leia started buying him the toys that he wanted. I could not afford them, and he began to change.
Eventually, he stopped looking at me lovingly.
I guessed that it was time to part ways because Williams dragged James away.
He was still crying when they left. Back when I showered him with affection, even a single tear from him
+26 BONUS
Chapter 5
would break my heart.
Yet, I felt nothing at this moment. In fact, I even found his crying a little annoying.
It was not that I did not love him anymore; I just did not want to give him all my love again.
On the day I was discharged, Williams and James came to pick me up.
In all the years that I was married to him, he never picked me up. He did not even show up after I gave birth to James.
I still remembered how cold it had been that day. It was drizzling when I was discharged.
I was carrying the newly born James in one arm and my bag of clothes in the other.
I gave Williams a call and asked if he could pick me up
However, he sounded rather impatient on the phone.
“Christelle, don’t you have legs? You need someone to pick you up, even though it’s such a short distance? You’re being dramatic.”
I
ht that was just how he was as a person, but later, I saw how he doted on Leia
That was when I realized that he was not cold; he just did not love me.
I held Lucas’s hand, and we headed home together..
I had already found a place online before my discharge.
It was a small two–bedroom apartment, which was cozy and well–furnished.
Williams dropped us off at the lobby downstairs.
As I got out of the car, he grabbed my wrist abruptly.
“Christelle, are you sure about this?”
He looked at me with an anticipation that I could not quite understand.
I stared directly into his eyes and nodded calmly.
In an instant, his anticipation vanished, and he returned to his indifferent self.
