“But do you know why those two divorced? Yvonne played Derek like a fool. She had been married abroad before, to some foreign tycoon. She came back to the country after losing a lawsuit against her stepson and not getting any money!”
“When Mrs. White found out, she was shaking with anger. She slapped those photos right in Derek’s face without a word. You should have seen
Derek’s face – it was so dark you could wring water from it” f
“She had already been pulling a lot of stunts after getting married, and her relationship with Derek was growing cold. Now that this came out, Derek had divorce papers drawn up the very next day.”
“He’s divorcing so decisively now. I remember back then Derek was willing to give up his family fortune to be with her. Now they’re divorcing after just a year of marriage. Thinking about his own behavior back then, he must feel like a complete idiot.”
I suddenly remembered when Derek had mentioned to me that “Yvonne had changed.”
I just found it funny.
Yvonne probably hadn’t changed. She just didn’t match Derek’s imagination anymore.
As the novelty wore off, true feelings slowly emerged.
Apart from work–related interactions, I had no further contact with Derek. I even chose to selectively ignore the emails or friend requests he
sent.
He’s good at falling in love with a perfect imaginary person.
It used to be Yvonne, and now it’s probably me.
Let him be. I have my own brand new life now.
As for Derek, to me now, he’s nothing more than stale wine, not worth mentioning.
It wasn’t until Tessa was preparing to get married that I returned to Harbor City after many years.
Returning with me was my daughter, Lily.
My husband is a foreign national of Chinese descent. He was on a scientific expedition to Antarctica when I returned, otherwise he would have accompanied me to attend the wedding.
After catching up with Tessa, Lily said she wanted to go play in the children’s playground at a nearby mall. Thinking she had no playmates in the country, I nodded and took her there.
Lily was clearly very excited, almost running the whole way there. Chasing after her in high heels was quite tiring for me.
In a moment of carelessness, Lily collided with someone around a corner.
I hurriedly caught up to check on Lily’s condition and also apologize:
12:56 PM
د
“I’m so sorry, the child doesn’t know any better. Are you alright?”
“Aria?”
That person sounded surprised and familiar. I looked up.
Derek.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure it was him until I took a closer look.
I suddenly remembered that this mall seemed to be under the White name, so it wasn’t strange for him to appear here. Whether in posture or demeanor, Derek was very different from before, looking much more haggard and dejected. From a distance, he gave off the powerless feeling of a 35–year–old facing a midlife layoff.
A far cry from the vibrant person in my memories.
Derek’s face showed a hint of delight as he curved his lips into a smile:
“Long time no see. Is this…”
“My daughter, Lily.”
We looked into each other’s eyes, but this time I didn’t hear his thoughts again.
“I’d heard you got married, but I didn’t expect your daughter to be so big already!
Lily spoke before I could:
“I’m sorry, uncle. I bumped into you.”
Derek’s expression froze for a moment, but he eventually reached out to pat Lily’s head, bending down to speak to her with a smile:
“It’s alright. Lily, remember not to run so fast next time. Manager Wang, could you take Lily to play in the children’s playground over there for a bit? Aria, there’s a new café that just opened on the second floor. They have your favorite Robusta coffee. Would you like to catch up?”
I nodded and gave Lily a few instructions.
Actually, before I came back, that big mouth Tessa had already told me about Derek’s current situation in great detail.
The Yvonne incident had a huge impact on Derek. The White family later turned to support his cousin’s rise to power instead.
As for Derek, he could only be awkwardly sidelined by the White family.
The former golden boy had now become a marginalized figure.
