Chapter 5
After the storm passed in Eldoria, a man in a black suit sat in first class. He carried an air of elegant detachment and wore a simple ring on his ring finger. He asked, “Is the signal back yet?”
“We need about another hour before it’s restored,” his assistant, Galen Hawthorne, replied. “The messages we sent earlier to Mrs. Fenwick still haven’t been answered.”
Lucien hummed in acknowledgment.
His flight landed at 5:30 pm. As soon as the phone signal returned, he called the Juniville estate immediately.
The staff there told him that Calista hadn’t been home for an entire week, and no one could reach her. Lucien tried calling from Galen’s phone, but it still went unanswered.
Usually, Calista would pick up his calls right away. Lucien felt a growing sense of unease, somehow.
On the drive back to the Fenwick estate, his expression was as dark as storm clouds, and the atmosphere in the car was suffocating. Galen had never seen him like this before.
When he arrived home, Lucien discovered just how much had changed while he was away. Walking into the entrance hall, he noticed an empty chair at the dining table where someone should have been sitting.
Andrea approached him, clutching a blonde doll. “Welcome home.”
Lucien nodded and removed his suit jacket, his expression cold as he pulled out a chair and sat. His gaze cut sharply and dangerously as it landed on Lydia. “Where’s Calista?”
“Mrs. Fen—Ms. Marchand is gone,” Lydia replied.
Ms. Marchand? The title caught Lucien off guard.
For three years, everyone had called her “Mrs. Fenwick”. She was his wife. So, what was this “Ms. Marchand” nonsense?
Lucien’s voice dropped to an icy tone, and a chilling atmosphere filled the entire hall. “Lydia, you’ve been with the Fenwick family long enough to know that there’s no ‘Ms. Marchand’ here.”
Serena spoke up then. “Lydia, bring him that document. Let him see for himself.”
“Yes, Mrs. Fenwick Senior.”
Lydia handed Lucien a document. The moment he saw it, his heart skipped a beat. The bad feeling he’d been having grew stronger, along with an unfamiliar emotion spreading through his chest.
He forced that feeling down and pulled out the papers. Lucien’s brow furrowed deeply. He was staring at the words “Divorce Agreement” in bold letters.
Calista’s signature was there on the final page, written in the careful script he remembered from her letters.
“How many times is she going to pull this stunt?” Lucien tossed the document aside dismissively. “Call her. I want to see her within half an hour.”
Even now, Lucien thought that this was all just another game. After all, Calista had threatened him with divorce at least ten times before. He simply didn’t believe that it was real.
But everyone else knew that this time, Calista meant it. She was really gone. Only Lucien remained trapped in his own delusion.
Andrea sat in Calista’s chair and served Lucien his favorite dish. “She’s really gone this time, Lucien.”
“That’s not your seat. Get up.”
Andrea’s grip tightened on her doll, and her face went rigid. Even she was startled by Lucien’s tone.
“Lucien!” Andrea bit her lip pitifully, her tears threatening to spill.
“I said, get up!”
Andrea threw down her utensils and ran upstairs, crying. Lucien then turned to the woman sitting at the head of the table and said, “I need an explanation.”
His dark, unfathomable eyes narrowed. Just then, the front door opened.
“Thank you.” An unexpected voice rang out.
A maid helped Ophelia with her umbrella as she walked in, wearing a sharp business suit and carrying documents. “Mrs. Fenwick Senior, Lucien, I’m sorry to interrupt at this hour. I have some urgent work that needs your signature.”
Ophelia placed the files in front of Lucien, but he didn’t even glance at her.
“It’s about the overseas tech company’s patent development project. They’ve agreed to give us five years of usage rights.”
Serena watched everything unfold. She picked up her cane and slowly stood up. No one had touched the food on the table.
She said, “You should ask Cali herself for an explanation. You may be an excellent boss to your employees, but you were never a good husband to her. I approved the divorce because… she’s not suited to be Mrs. Fenwick.”
Serena paused thoughtfully, her gaze settling on Ophelia. She then turned and headed upstairs with Lydia’s help, not looking back once.
After a long moment, Ophelia pieced together what had happened from the fragments of conversation she’d overheard. She realized that Calista was divorcing Lucien!
Her gaze grew tender and longing as she looked at him. She’d thought that this day would never come!
Lucien flipped the table over with a loud crash. Ophelia stumbled backward, her heart racing at the sight of him like this. She hadn’t expected such an explosive reaction from him.
They’d grown up together, and in all that time, Lucien had never been one to show his emotions openly. He was always composed, decisive, and controlled. Even his closest friends rarely saw him lose his temper like this.
Even when he was angry, he would never do something as extreme as flipping a table.
“Lucien…” Ophelia reached for his arm cautiously.
“Isn’t it better that Calista’s gone? Like Mrs. Fenwick Senior said, she was never right for you.” There was a quiet caution in her voice, hardly louder than a whisper.
She noticed the cut on his palm where the shards of the broken dishes had injured him, and her heart clenched. At that moment, Lucien radiated a cold, dangerous energy.
