Ethan felt uncomfortable under her gaze.
His eyes moved to the pendant in Sophia’s hand.
He had some impression of that pendant.
The first time he met Olivia, she was holding that pendant.
But Olivia owed Sophia too much.
Ethan spoke flatly: “It’s just a pendant. If Sophia likes it, let her have it.”
Olivia looked at the people before her, feeling they were complete strangers.
“Just a pendant?”
She suddenly laughed.
Her grandmother had been her only family until she was sixteen.
“That was left to me by my grandmother! What right does she have to take it?!”
“She’s your sister!”
Olivia shouted with all her strength: “She’s not!”
Hearing Olivia say this, Frank’s eyes widened in anger.
Olivia didn’t give him a chance to speak.
“Dad, for Sophia’s sake, you sent me away and ruined my future. Now you want to give her my pendant too? You owed your war buddy! I don’t owe anyone anything!”
Back then, Sophia wanted to study medicine abroad while Olivia was about to start college.
There was enough money for both of them to study.
But to give Sophia a better life, Frank gave her double the living expenses.
At that time, Olivia had just passed the art exam.
But Frank told her to stop studying art.
10:16 AM
<
To continue learning to paint, she begged many times.
Frank remained unmoved.
Having his sore spot poked, Frank stood up from the sofa and slapped Olivia hard across the face.
“What are you doing!” Linda pulled Frank back and went to Olivia.
“Olivia, your father didn’t mean it. Be the bigger person and apologize to your father. Let’s put this behind us.”
Linda always tried to smooth things over like this.
Her actions made Olivia feel utterly helpless every time.
“You knew that was from Grandma, why did you give it to Sophia!”
Olivia grabbed Linda’s hands, forcing her to look at her. “Mom, that was from Grandma! I’ve already given up everything else, why do you have
to take away my last memento?”
Linda was at a loss for words.
Sophia spoke up from the side.
“Sis, don’t blame Mom. It’s all my fault. I’ll give it back to you.”
“Nonsense!”
Frank glared at Olivia. “If you dare take back the pendant today, I’ll disown you as my daughter!”
“Olivia, you’re making it very difficult for Mom.”
“Don’t be angry.” Sophia comforted Linda.
“Sis, don’t make Mom and Dad argue. The family’s finally together, let’s keep the peace.”
Sophia came to stand in front of her, blocking the view of the others in the room.
She dangled the pendant, speaking softly so only Olivia could hear.
“If I’d known this was your grandmother’s keepsake, I never would have wanted it.”
“How unlucky.”
With a flick of her fingers, Sophia dropped the pendant on the floor.
The sound of the pendant shattering echoed in Olivia’s ears.
She was speechless for a moment.
Sophia feigned surprise and covered her mouth.
“Oh no, Sis, I didn’t mean to. Why did you push me?”
Olivia crouched down shakily to pick up the broken pieces.
When she stood up, she saw everyone staring at her intently.
Afraid she would do something.
Ethan even stood up to shield Sophia.
<
Ulivia nad originally wanted to make a scene.
But now she was truly exhausted.
She silently put away the pendant fragments and stared at Ethan, enunciating each word clearly.
“Meet me at the civil affairs office on Monday. Let’s get divorced. I’ll set you free. And I wish you two all the best getting back together.”
Ethan felt his heart skip a beat.
Could it be… she found out?
Before anyone could speak, Olivia turned and ran out into the rain.
“Olivia, take an umbrella.
Linda stood in the living room holding an umbrella, but Frank snatched it away.
“What umbrella? This little rain won’t kill her. Look at her, daring to fight with her sister over a broken pendant. Is this the good daughter you raised?”
Linda stood by the door, sighing repeatedly.
Ethan was in a daze for a moment before noticing the small bloodstains where the pendant had shattered.
Just as he was about to go after her, Sophia suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
“Ethan, did I do something wrong? Why does my sister hate me so much?”
Ethan comforted her: “Sophia, it’s not your fault.”
When Ethan looked back, Olivia was already gone.
It was just a small injury, she should be fine.
Thinking this, Ethan helped Sophia back to the living room.
Olivia didn’t get a taxi until over 10 minutes after leaving.
Once in the car, the driver handed her a dry towel.
“Miss, dry yourself off so you don’t catch a cold.”
Olivia took the towel.
“Thank you.”
The driver tried to console her as he drove.
“These days, there’s nothing that can’t be overcome. Just hang in there and it’ll get better.”
The driver’s words made her shed a few tears.
She used to believe that too.
But now she couldn’t hang on anymore.
Just then, her phone vibrated.
It was a message from Mr. Davis.
“Ms. Hayes, I’ve drafted the agreement. Do you have time to meet tomorrow?”
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Davis. Let’s meet tomorrow.”
10:17 AM
>
The phone showed the location – a cafe near her home.
Mr. Davis‘ law office wasn’t in that area.
And tomorrow was Sunday.
It seemed he had added an extra workday for her sake.
She had first asked Mr. Davis to draft divorce papers six months after Sophia returned.
She had gone back and forth, hesitating many times since then.
Mr. Davis understood better than anyone how reluctant she was to let go.
But he was also the one who most often advised her that she needed to let go.
Ethan’s coldness towards her was obvious even to strangers.
She had been too foolish and naive before.
Always thinking that boy who had helped her in her times of need would eventually fall for her.
7
The next day, Olivia received the divorce papers.
Looking at the large words on top,
Olivia felt a bit dazed.
“Ms. Hayes, as you know, there’s a 30–day cooling off period for divorce now. After that, as long as both parties agree, you can finalize the
divorce.”
Olivia nodded and placed the papers on the table.
“Thank you for taking the time to help me on a weekend.”
Mr. Davis sighed and gave a wry smile.
“It’s nothing. If I can help you escape this misery, I’ll have done a good deed.”
Just then, an accusatory voice suddenly sounded behind Olivia.
“Olivia, what are you doing here?”
Olivia turned around to see Ethan and Sophia.
Sophia’s gaze swept over her and Mr. Davis.
“Sis, are you on a date?”
Those words seemed to strike a nerve with Ethan.
He walked over and grabbed Olivia’s wrist.
“So this is why you’re not home on weekends? To come see him?”
No wonder Olivia had talked about divorcing him.
Olivia wrenched her wrist free and turned to apologize to Mr. Davis.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Davis. You can leave first, I need to deal with some family matters.”
<
“You… Sigh. Mr. Davis looked at Ethan. “Mr. Hayes, I’m just Ms. Hayes‘ lawyer.”
With that, Mr. Davis got up and left the cafe.
People around kept glancing their way. Olivia spoke quietly to Ethan.
“Let’s go home and talk. Don’t make a scene here.”
Ethan was about to say something but Olivia cut him off.
“Don’t you care about your reputation, Dr. Hayes?”
They lived near the downtown hospital.
This cafe was often frequented by hospital staff.
Ethan cared a lot about his image/
Hearing Olivia say that, he didn’t speak further.
After returning home, Olivia took out the divorce papers.
“Tomorrow, let’s go to the civil affairs office to get a number and apply for divorce. In a month, you’ll be free.”
Her words didn’t make Ethan happy, but seemed to please Sophia.
However, Ethan first asked Sophia to leave.
“Sophia, go home first. This is between me and my wife.”
Sophia’s expression stiffened momentarily before returning to her gentle demeanor.
“Okay, talk it over with her properly. Don’t let her misunderstand us. Divorce is a big deal, tell her not to be impulsive.”
Olivia laughed coldly.
