Chapter 130
Time passed in silence until Carter spoke again.
“Whatever the case, whatever happened between me and Kelly is in the past now. She doesn’t have much time left. There’s no point in talking about this anymore. Don’t you want Theo to have a complete family?”
He didn’t deny it-that was admission enough.
Sharon hadn’t expected it, not like this. In the end, she’d still become Kelly’s replacement, just by another name.
How pathetic, she thought. On all those sleepless nights-nights when Carter had ignored her, forgotten her-she’d still clung to memories of how he had once protected her, stood up for her, been kind to her.
She’d comforted herself, told herself lies to get through it. She had convinced herself that he had, at some point, truly cared.
But now even those fragments of warmth felt like a joke.
She said, “Because Kelly doesn’t have long to live, because she can’t be Theo’s mom forever or your wife forever, that’s why you haven’t brought up divorce yet, isn’t it?”
If Kelly had a long life ahead of her, she knew exactly what would’ve happened-this father and son would’ve tossed her aside without hesitation.
She was nothing more than a fallback. A second-best option.
Carter’s patience snapped. “Sharon, can you stop being so unreasonable?”
“If you think I’m unreasonable,” she replied coolly, “then just divorce me.”
It was hard to believe that just a month ago, she had been agonizing over him and Kelly, losing sleep every night.
Even when she saw them hold that “mock wedding” in the name of making up for past regrets, she’d endured it.
She believed she couldn’t live without Carter-the man who had once given her a sense of home-and she couldn’t live without Theo, the child she had nearly died bringing into the world.
She had even convinced herself that it didn’t matter whether he loved her or not. At least being with him would give Theo the
best life, the best education.
For their child, she was willing to sacrifice anything, even her pride.
She’d once stooped low enough to count the days, secretly wishing-viciously-that Kelly would die sooner.
She had convinced herself that if Kelly was gone, everything would return to the way it was.
But now?
Now, she felt nothing. Nothing but disgust.
Sharon let out a soft laugh. Her delicate features were touched with a trace of icy arrogance.
“You all think I’ve been bullying Kelly, don’t you?” Her voice was light, almost amused. “If you won’t divorce me, then she’s in for a real miserable time.”
Carter froze, just slightly.
He had never seen this side of her.
Suddenly, she felt like a stranger..
1/2
They’d been married for five years. Their child was no longer little. But when he thought about it, he didn’t feel like he really knew her at all.
Beyond her beauty and gentleness, beyond being a good wife and mother, she had always been-well, bland. Like a glass of warm water. Colorless. Predictable.
Aside from her family background, she checked all the boxes he needed in a wife. Not that he ever needed someone from an influential family to secure his standing.
ཡར་འཌ་ཕ་ཆ
Even when Kelly had first come back, Sharon’s grace and composure had satisfied him.
But lately, she had become more and more… unlike herself.
He was beginning to realize he had never truly understood Sharon.
Carter said, his tone still carrying that same unshakable authority, “I won’t agree to a divorce. You can forget about it.”
Sharon responded casually, “Doesn’t Kelly still have six months left to live? But if I keep bullying her like this… maybe she’ll
have far less time than that.”
A thin layer of frost settled over Carter’s already cold features.
“Sharon,” he said, his voice dangerously low, “I know you’ve been wronged by a lot of things that happened in the past. So everything you’ve done recently, I’ve let them slide.”
2/2
