<
Helpless, I ran to Hudson Johnson’s office, only to be stopped by security. “Mr. Johnson said you can’t enter.”
The security ignored my desperate pleas, repeating Hudson Johnson’s words. In the commotion, my umbrella was stomped on and broken by them.
After standing in the rain for an hour, Hudson Johnson finally showed up. His brows furrowed as he felt the chill outside, immediately turning back to wrap Ye Jin Xuan’s coat tighter around her, speaking softly, “It’s cold outside, don’t catch a cold.”
At that time, I couldn’t care less about their intimacy. Biting my pale lips, I hoarsely spoke, “Hudson Johnson, Stella’s sick. She’s clingy and wants her dad. Please go see her, I’m begging you.”
He turned a deaf ear, sneering, “Avery, is this act supposed to be meaningful? I told you, I’m not falling for it.”
“If you’re sick, get treated. I’m not a doctor; why should I go?”
Hudson Johnson seemed to remember something, his face turning red. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, remorse flickering in his eyes. “Avery, I think I might have been wrong…
But it’s too late. Mason Carter appeared on the balcony with Stella, watching me closely like a supervisor. Stella cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Mommy, hurry back!”
“And don’t talk to strangers!”
“Okay.” I nodded, opened my umbrella, and went upstairs without hesitation.
Hearing his daughter call him a stranger made Hudson Johnson’s vision go black, almost collapsing. But his life or death had nothing to do with me anymore.
However, Hudson Johnson didn’t seem to think so. Like an unkillable cockroach, Hudson Johnson began appearing frequently near my home.
He even found Stella’s kindergarten parent group chat, pretending to be a doting father, asking about her daily life.
Coincidentally, the kindergarten had a fall outing planned for Sunday. I took Stella to the meeting point, ready to see her off on the bus, when
someone called out to me.
Turning around, I saw it was Hudson Johnson! He handed Stella a brand–new lunchbox, speaking gently, “Stella, Daddy was wrong before. Daddy made delicious food for you. Can you forgive Daddy?”
Stella, not quite processing, instinctively accepted the lunchbox. Seeing her take it, Hudson Johnson finally relaxed.
I quietly observed his exposed wrist. It was bright red, with a few glaring blisters scattered across.
Noticing my gaze on his hand, Hudson Johnson awkwardly pulled down his sleeve to cover the injury, giving a shy smile. “It’s nothing, it doesn’t hurt. First time cooking, getting hurt is inevitable.”
It’s hilarious that Hudson Johnson thought I cared.
I laughed, the curve of my lips growing wider. A teacher nearby smiled enviously, “Stella is so lucky to have such loving parents.”
I interrupted, “Lucky?”
“Trying cooking for the first time and giving it to Stella. Is she a test subject?”
With that, I took the lunchbox from Stella’s hands and dumped its contents onto the ground without hesitation. The mix of food and sauce splattered messily, the scene both chaotic and disgusting.
Hudson Johnson’s eyes reddened as he looked at the mess. “Avery, I spent five hours making that!”
“Oh,” I nodded, calmly asking, “So what?”
“Just because you put in effort, doesn’t mean we have to accept it.”
I watched as Stella boarded the bus, then stopped the teacher from following. “Teacher, please remove Stella’s father from the group chat.”
11:20 AM
<
“Soon, he won’t be Stella’s father anymore.”
“Avery!” Hudson Johnson turned to me in panic, shocked. “I’m Stella’s dad. That’s an unchangeable fact!”
I sneered, “Did you think about being her dad when you kicked Stella?”
“Did you think about being her dad when you left her alone with gastritis in the hospital?”
“On your birthday, when she made you a cake with her own hands, and you tossed it to a stray dog, did you think about being her dad?”
Faced with my accusations, Hudson Johnson was speechless, his lips trembling. His face turned pale, and suddenly, he slapped himself.
“I am guilty.”
Hudson Johnson looked at Stella on the bus, shouting with tears in his voice, “Stella, Daddy is guilty. Daddy knows he was wrong!”
But Stella didn’t hear. She didn’t even lift her eyes, smiling and waving at me through the window, mouthing, “Goodbye, Mommy!”
“On your birthday, when she made you a cake and you threw it to a stray dog, did it ever cross your mind that you are her father?”
Confronted with this question, Hudson Johnson was left speechless. His lips quivered, and his face turned pale. After a moment, he suddenly slapped himself. “I am guilty.”
Hudson Johnson looked up at Stella sitting on the school bus and shouted with a trembling voice, “Stella, Daddy is sorry. Daddy knows he was
wrong!”
Unfortunately, Stella didn’t hear him. Without even lifting her eyes, she waved to me through the bus window, mouthing, “Goodbye, Mom!”
The teacher was also taken aback by my questions and, with a stern look at Hudson Johnson, decisively removed him from the class. “Mr. Johnson, Stella is such an obedient child. Losing her is your loss. Her voice was cold, and without acknowledging Hudson Johnson’s pleas, she
boarded the bus.
I intended to leave too, but he grabbed my arm. Hudson Johnson looked paler than ever, clinging to me desperately as if I were his last hope,
his voice shaky. “Avery, don’t go!”
I glanced at him, taking in his sweaty face with a cold detachment. “Hudson Johnson, the court summons will arrive tomorrow. Even if you refuse to sign, I have other ways to divorce you.”
He was stunned, his eyes turning red. “Avery, is it because of Mason Carter? Ever since he returned, you’ve been insisting on a divorce. Have you never forgotten him?”
Seeing the anger on his face, I gritted my teeth and slapped him. “Hudson Johnson, you can doubt many things, but you have no right to doubt my love for you!” Even though it was Hudson Johnson who pursued me first, I agreed because I loved him! When he pulled me out of the water, I
decided he was the one for me.
Hudson Johnson’s suspicion turned my seven years of affection to nothing, making me feel like a fool. I could no longer suppress my anger, “Hudson Johnson, you were the one who cheated first. You were the one who abandoned Stella and me!”
“What right do you have to question me now?”
Furious, I laughed bitterly. So it was true. I looked at the dazed Hudson Johnson one last time, then turned and left without another word. In the following days, I didn’t see Hudson Johnson again. He kept changing numbers, trying different ways to contact me, apologizing.
Until Mason Carter took me to the hospital for a follow–up. When our eyes met, Hudson Johnson quickly withdrew his hand from Scarlett’s. He hurried to me, trying to explain, “Scarlett is pregnant, and she suddenly had stomach pains today. As her boss…
I interrupted him, “No need to explain. Who you accompany is none of my business, and I don’t care at all.”
Hearing this, Hudson Johnson opened his mouth, then closed it dejectedly, a hint of pleading in his eyes. Scarlett appeared, grabbing Hudson Johnson’s arm with a sweet voice, “Avery, I’m so glad you’re not mad! I’ve been getting clumsier lately, so I had to ask Brother Hudson to accompany me. Please don’t let me and Brother Hudson cause a rift between you.”
Though she spoke this way, I clearly saw the pride in Scarlett’s eyes. Looking at her obvious pregnancy, I smiled faintly, “Anyway, Hudson Johnson and I are getting divorced. Congratulations in advance on becoming Mrs. Shen.”
<
Mason Carter seized the opportunity to say, “Yes, it seems the Shen family is about to welcome a new addition. Congratulations to Mr.
Johnson.”
Unexpectedly, Hudson Johnson suddenly broke free from Scarlett’s arm, his face darker than ever. “Scarlett, what nonsense are you talking
about!”
After scolding Scarlett, he looked at me in panic, hurriedly explaining, “Avery, believe me, I didn’t accompany her on purpose. Don’t believe her
nonsense.”
But seeing my cold gaze, Hudson Johnson’s eyes slowly turned red, and he couldn’t help but ask, “Avery, are you really not angry at all? Do you really not care about me anymore?”
I looked at him steadily, nodding calmly. “Yes, I don’t care at all.” He can be with whoever he wants.
Back home, Stella, shocked, handed me the phone. To my surprise, Hudson Johnson had started broadcasting a confession to me! He stood by the lake where he once saved me, a banner behind him covered with my name. He knelt on one knee, looking at the camera with fiery eyes, saying passionately, “Avery, I know you’re watching. I was wrong before. I’ve already fired Scarlett. Please give me another chance. Can we start over?”
Fireworks exploded in the sky behind him. A year ago, on my birthday, I had wished for a day when the sky would be filled with fireworks just for me. I never thought that when this day came, all I felt was irony and absurdity. I turned off the phone, pushing away Stella and Mason Carter’s curious heads, “Don’t worry. I won’t agree to him.”
However, netizens praised Hudson Johnson’s grand gesture, shouting “True love forever” and tagging my account, pressuring me to respond
to him.
Scarlett also took the opportunity to start streaming, looking tearful and pitifully complaining, “Because of Avery, Brother Hudson fired me. It’s all my fault that I made her unhappy” “Avery, please forgive me. I really need this job.” Saying this, she even slapped herself a few times.
Meanwhile, countless malicious curses flooded my private messages. “What does Brother Hudson even like about this old woman?” “Don’t be ungrateful. It’s your honor that Brother Hudson confessed to you. Don’t be so shameless.”
I just laughed coldly, raising my hand to release the surveillance footage from the furniture store I just received. And I added, “This honor is yours if you want it.”
As soon as the video was released, the situation reversed immediately. Hudson Johnson was directly fired from the company. When he saw that Scarlett had deliberately fallen and falsely accused Stella and me, his eyes turned bloodshot, gritting his teeth and silently chanting
Scarlett’s name.
My phone buzzed again with private messages. This time, it was netizens feeling sorry for my experience, apologizing to me and advising me to move on and get out of the trouble.
It was just a simple inquiry, yet I heard a woman’s sobbing on the other end. “While pretending to be wronged and asking me to take responsibility for the baby in her belly, Hudson Johnson kicked open the door and stormed in, slapping her.”
“Scarlett, Avery is my bottom line, and Stella is my weakness. How dare you frame them and make them suffer? You deserve to die!”
The two of them cursed each other in the streaming room and even got into a fight, eventually being reported to the police by netizens and
taken to the station.
The dramatic show of the streamer hooking up with the assistant and then turning against each other quickly became a trending topic. Hudson Johnson was fired from the company. During the fight, Scarlett’s child was also miscarried. For a time, both of them were infamous, receiving a flood of insults.
Although pardoned by Scarlett, Hudson Johnson avoided prison time but was still forced to marry her under threat. Unfortunately, Scarlett’s dream of getting rich overnight shattered when she saw Hudson Johnson’s bank account. Because of the scandal, Hudson Johnson not only didn’t make money, but he also lost millions in breach–of–contract fines.
The next time I heard about them was at my wedding. A mutual friend sighed, “Hudson Johnson, that fool, is tightly bound by Scarlett, with no freedom. He wanted to find you last time, but Scarlett found out, and they had a fight. Hudson Johnson accidentally killed Scarlett!”
After saying this, he realized the occasion was inappropriate and covered his mouth. I didn’t mind, looking at Mason Carter, whose eyes were full of me. He smiled, already understanding the words I hadn’t spoken, “Avery, the days ahead will be full of sunshine.”
The neAL LITIC
freedom. He wanted to find you last time, but Scarlett found out, and they had a fight. Hudson Johnson accidentally killeu
After saying this, he realized the occasion was inappropriate and covered his mouth. I didn’t mind, looking at Mason Carter, whose eyes were full of me. He smiled, already understanding the words I hadn’t spoken, “Avery, the days ahead will be full of sunshine.”
I nodded. I don’t know where Stella came running from, clinging to my leg and chiming in, “Yes” “Mom has a new life, and I have a new dad.” “Life will be happy from now on.”
