Chapter 66 Forcing Him to Divorce
"Chris, I'm choosing divorce not just because you cheated on me with Cynthia. What I can't accept even more is that you ignored everything I gave to this marriage over three years. I'm not someone who can only be a stay-at-home wife. I chose family because I once loved you, and I gave up my career for that."
Although Joanna felt a dull ache inside, it didn't stop her from seriously expressing her thoughts: "And now, I'm going to pick up everything I left behind, become myself again, and stop being anyone's accessory."
She was Joanna first, and only then would she become someone's wife or mother.
Seeing the seriousness on Joanna's face, Chris vaguely sensed a kind of openness, and that uncomfortable feeling inside him grew stronger.
But at this moment, facing Joanna's calm explanation, he couldn't say anything critical.
Wasn't this what he had expected?
He thought Joanna could only be a housewife with no real contribution or value at home.
Now, Joanna was going to prove her worth to him. So why did he feel lost and panicked?
Chris couldn't figure it out. He had a vague feeling that if he didn't do something to fix this, he would truly lose Joanna forever.
"I... I'm happy for you, but Joanna, remember to come home."
Joanna looked up and smiled with a touch of self-mockery: "Come home to the new home you and Cynthia are building together?"
Chris couldn't find the words. He pressed his lips together and watched Joanna turn and leave.
He wanted to reach out his hand. After raising it several times, he finally let it drop.
His phone kept buzzing with messages. Without looking, Chris knew it was Nicole and Cynthia urging him to come home.
The long corridor of the nursing home felt empty as Chris finally walked in the opposite direction from Joanna...
When he got home, Chris could hear Nicole's cheerful voice playing with her little grandson before he even entered.
He knew that aside from Nicole's dislike of Joanna, his parents genuinely hoped he would have a child soon, even if that child didn't come from Joanna.
Chris raised his hand to rub his aching head and walked into the living room, his leather shoes clicking on the floor.
"Chris! I'm pregnant with your child." Cynthia stood up excitedly at first, but then seeing that Chris's face showed no happiness, she became scared.
She lowered her head and said timidly: "I'm sorry, I don't know why I got pregnant even after taking the pills. Maybe the baby really wants us to be his parents. Chris, please don't be angry with me. If you don't want it, I can get rid of this baby."
Chris frowned and instinctively refused: "No! Whatever method you're planning to use to get rid of this child, it's illegal. Besides, the Coopers can afford to raise a child. I just haven't figured out how to handle things with you and Joanna."
"What's so complicated about that? Joanna's being difficult anyway, making a fuss about divorce. Just give her what she wants!" Nicole said dismissively, pulling Cynthia to sit down.
Although Cynthia appeared calm on the outside, inside she was already looking forward to Chris and Joanna's divorce.
She couldn't wait any longer. If these two kept working things out, they might actually reconcile.
When she went abroad, she was confident Chris would wait for her forever. She never expected to come back and find another woman by his side.
Cynthia couldn't accept it, so she had been scheming to make them divorce.
She had been planning for three months, and Joanna had finally had enough and asked for a divorce, but now Chris didn't want to. How could this be?
This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Now she had even faked a pregnancy. If this still didn't work, then Joanna's existence would become a threat to her!
Neither Chris nor Nicole noticed the vicious look in Cynthia's eyes as they continued arguing about divorcing Joanna.
"Joanna's just angry because I've been close to Cynthia. She feels I've been ignoring her emotional needs, so she's using divorce to force me to focus on her. She knows she was wrong now. She's gone back to work and is doing really well at the hospital."
Chris spoke up for Joanna.
But Nicole didn't believe it at all. "How long are you going to fool yourself with this story? Cynthia already said that Joanna cheated too. Hasn't she been getting close to some guy named Angelo lately?"
Chris's face instantly turned dark, his voice low: "That's a misunderstanding! Joanna's not pregnant. I've seen her medical report."
Although deep down, he still believed that before he found out, Joanna had gotten rid of the baby herself and then made up a fake report to fool him.
But Nicole couldn't know about this.
So Joanna's pregnancy had to be a misunderstanding, and he had to act like he completely trusted Joanna.
Nicole was so angry her chest kept heaving. She rolled her eyes and stopped talking.
Cynthia clenched her fists and asked: "If it's a misunderstanding, why won't Miss Jones explain properly? Chris, do you not want to divorce Miss Jones? Then what about me..."
She murmured softly, her tone sounding like she was about to cry in despair.
Chris's throat felt blocked, and he couldn't speak.
He grabbed a glass of water and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls, then said with pursed lips: "Give me a few days. I'll give you both a satisfactory answer."
Then he turned and went back to his room.
Chris didn't understand why everyone was pressuring him.
Three years ago, Joanna drugged him and used dirty tricks to force him to marry her.
Three years later, Joanna caused all sorts of trouble, big and small, forcing him to divorce her!
And the company, because of all this trouble, had shareholders pressuring him to transform quickly and show results soon.
Now, even Cynthia was using her pregnancy to pressure him to divorce and cut ties with his past with Joanna!
Chris suddenly felt very tired, as if he had always been pushed around by others, and no one had ever cared about his choices.
He lay on the big bed, his arm covering his eyes, exhausted.
No, actually someone had cared.
Chris smiled bitterly. During those three years of marriage, Joanna cared about his preferences. Knowing he liked light flavors, she changed her own eating habits too.
She would take the design plans for their home and ask for his opinion, whether he liked them or not.
She would also ask him about household matters...
It's just that back then, he thought those were just boring annoyances.
Looking back now, they seemed precious.
His eyes reddened under his arm. Chris remained silent for a very long time, unable to ease his tense emotions.
When Joanna left the nursing home, she actually hoped Chris would chase after her. But she leaned against the wall for a long time trying to calm her emotions, and never heard footsteps.
She knew this should be the last time she felt sad.
Not long after she got home, she unexpectedly received a call from Lyle. Since handing the company over to Lyle and maintaining basic trust, Joanna had never asked about it.
But this call was urgent: "Miss Jones, after I took over the company, I checked all the past projects and financial records. Over the past two years, your father has been transferring money out under the name of investing in your brother's education. Although the accountant made the books look fine, after I had someone investigate the amount and where it was sent, I suspect it might be crossing legal boundaries!"