Chapter 64 Going to Get a Divorce
Sloane's POV
My hands and feet turned ice cold, my blood seeming to freeze. I could only grip my phone, frozen in place, unable to utter a single word.
"Why so quiet now? Did I hit the nail on the head? Nothing to say?" Aeneas's tone grew increasingly harsh. "I told you long ago—women like you who crawl out of the slums carry that cheap greed in your bones! You think taking a few photos will change anything? Let me tell you, as long as I'm alive, you'll never set foot in the Montclair family's door again!"
Before I could react, my phone was suddenly yanked from my hand with great force.
Jared had appeared at some point. He snatched my phone away, his face dark as a storm cloud.
"Father," he said into the receiver, his voice cold as ice, "Are you done?"
Aeneas on the other end clearly hadn't expected him to answer. After a brief pause, his fury intensified. "Jared! How dare you speak to me this way over that woman? Has she brainwashed you or something! I'm ordering you—break it off with her immediately and come home right now!"
"I'm not coming back," Jared's tone showed no sign of backing down, instead becoming even firmer. "And take back what you just said. Apologize to Sloane."
"Apologize? Me apologize to her? Have you lost your mind!" Aeneas's voice rose with rage. "I will never allow this shameless woman to ruin our family's reputation!"
"Then you'll just have to see what matters more—your reputation or your son." With that, Jared hung up without mercy.
The entire space fell deathly silent.
I looked at his tense jawline and the anger still lingering in his eyes. In the desolate ruins of my heart, not even a ripple stirred.
"You should go back and explain things to your father," I said calmly, my voice like still, lifeless water.
He didn't answer immediately, just turned around, those unfathomable dark eyes locked onto me as if trying to see right through me.
The room's light fell on his face, illuminating the complex emotions churning in his eyes—anger, regret, and something else I couldn't quite read... heartache.
After a long while, he finally found his voice, hoarse as he asked me a completely unrelated question.
"All these years... have you suffered a lot?"
Suffered?
Those two words caught me off guard and cut deep.
Not Aeneas's insults, not Keira's madness, but this question—three years too late—that instantly broke through my defenses.
All the bitterness, unwillingness, and despair I'd forcibly suppressed, wrapped layer upon layer in coldness and indifference, came flooding out in that moment, breaking through the dam.
I couldn't hold on anymore.
Tears poured from my eyes without warning, my vision instantly blurring.
I didn't want to show weakness in front of him, but my body surrendered before my mind could stop it.
I covered my face, trying to hide this pathetic scene, but sobs still escaped uncontrollably through my fingers.
I didn't explain. I couldn't explain.
The days and nights of these three years, the bitterness I'd swallowed alone, the loneliness of waiting for dawn in that cold villa—how could words ever capture it all?
A warm hand covered mine, gently pulling my hands away from my face.
Jared's usually stern face now showed unprecedented panic and clumsy helplessness.
He pulled me into his arms, holding me tight, his embrace solid as an unbreakable wall.
"I'm sorry," his low, hoarse voice sounded above my head, over and over, heavy with remorse. "Sloane, I'm sorry... it's all my fault."
His apology was like a key, completely opening the floodgates of my emotions.
I couldn't control myself anymore. I buried my face in his warm chest and cried out loud.
All the grievances I'd accumulated for so long poured out in that moment, as if emptying my entire being.
He said nothing more, just held me, letting my tears soak his expensive shirt.
Those hands that always controlled everything were now clumsily, carefully stroking my back, offering comfort with a tentative gentleness.
I don't know how long I cried. Only when my throat began to ache and burn did I gradually stop.
My body went limp from the emotional exhaustion, softly leaning against him.
Above the ruins in my heart, the frost of reason began to form again.
I gently pushed him away, stepping back from his embrace, creating a safe distance.
The light in his eyes dimmed, as if afraid I would say something he couldn't bear to hear.
I raised my head, meeting his complicated gaze, and said in a voice hoarse and broken from crying, yet calm and clear. "Jared, let's end this sooner rather than later."
His body stiffened violently, the pain churning in his eyes almost drowning him.
Jared looked at me, his lips moving as if to speak, but not a single word came out.
I looked at him, seeing the struggle in his eyes, but also seeing his father's contempt, Keira's madness, Arthur's hostility...
All those suffocating entanglements that wouldn't let go.
"Let me go," I said softly, with a trace of pleading exhaustion. "And let yourself go too."
This sentence was like the last straw, crushing all his resolve.
He stared at me intently, as if trying to carve my image into his bones.
After a long silence, the light in his eyes gradually extinguished, finally turning into silent ashes.
"Okay."
One word, squeezed from his throat, heavy as a sigh.
The next day, we met at the entrance to City Hall.
The autumn sunlight carried a hint of chill, the air filled with a desolate feeling.
Neither of us spoke, walking side by side in silence, like two prisoners heading to the gallows.
The waiting number was cold in my palm. I watched the numbers jumping on the electronic screen, feeling not the relief I'd expected, but only a numb emptiness.
Just then, my phone rang sharply, cutting through the deathly silence.
It was Lila.
I frowned and answered.
"Sloane! Get to the hospital now!" As soon as the call connected, Lila's voice, frantic and distorted, came through. "Director Aria's been in an accident!"
My brain went "buzz," completely blank.
My blood froze instantly, my hands and feet cold as if pulled from an ice cellar.
"What... what happened to her?" I heard my own voice trembling.
"The director's car broke down on the way to the city for supplies, and she got rear-ended by a truck! She's badly hurt, she's in the ICU now, still unconscious!"
The phone slipped from my trembling hands and crashed heavily to the ground.