Chapter 53 Mom, Please Don’t Leave Me
Daisy instinctively raised her hand to touch her face, then remembered it was still swollen.
"It's fine." She let out a laugh. "This is the authorization contract from Black Group. Take a look. Moving forward, we can utilize this patent royalty-free, and Black Group will also withdraw from competing in this field."
"Even though we lost the patent, at least we've recovered some of our losses."
Ethan didn't look at the contract. He just stared at her face, his pupils seeming to flicker. "I didn't ask about the contract. I asked about your face."
Daisy had no choice but to admit: "I did it to myself."
Ethan's brow furrowed. "Did Vincent force you?"
"Maybe I forced him," she replied flatly. "He only demanded that I apologize to her. I chose to escalate it."
"Then why did you hit yourself so hard?"
Daisy touched her face, indifferent. "It doesn't matter. One day, I'll make her pay it back double."
At the same time, it was to teach herself a lesson. That's what she told herself.
Ethan sighed, pulled open a drawer, retrieved a medicinal ointment and handed it to her. "You've been through a lot."
"I was thinking... why don't you take a few days off?"
Daisy nodded. "I've been working non-stop for over a month. I really could use a rest, and I happen to have some personal matters to handle."
She turned to leave, but paused at the office door, looking back over her shoulder.. "I suspect there'sa mole in the company working for Vanessa."
Ethan had his suspicions too. From the moment he appointed Daisy as technical consultant, and with all the rumors spreading, it seemed like someone was deliberately targeting Daisy.
He just never knew who was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Since Daisy mentioned Vanessa, he would follow that lead.
Meanwhile, at Black Group headquarters.
Vincent sat in his office, looking at the sunset outside the window, not moving for a long time.
The scene from earlier kept replaying in his mind.
Daisy standing in Vanessa's office, slapping herself over and over. Her face red and swollen, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. How could she be so stubborn? To mutilate herself just to secure a win for Ethan Reed's company?
Then, at the wrong moment, what she said this morning flashed through his mind.
"Don't you want a divorce? Don't you want to marry her? I'm telling you, as long as I don't get my work back, I won't sign! I won't divorce you! And Vanessa will will remain nothing but the other woman!"
At the time, he thought she was just speaking in anger, but now he suddenly wasn't sure.
What if she really hated him, hated him so much that she'd rather torture herself like this to get revenge on him?
Vincent closed his eyes, wearily pressing his temples. Just then, the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up to hear the frantic voice of the estate butler.
"Mr. Black, please come home immediately. The house is in chaos!"
Vincent hung up and immediately drove home.
As his car wrenched to a halt in the villa's circular driveway, the sound of hysterical, heart-wrenching shrieks echoed through the heavy oak doors. To be honest, if you didn't know better, you'd think someone had moved a slaughterhouse here.
Vincent's chest tightened. He shoved the doors open and stepped into a disaster zone.
Sofa cushions thrown on the floor, the vase on the coffee table knocked over, water all over the ground.
And Daisy's large suitcase was sprawled open on the floor, clothes and personal items haphazardly overflowing.
The household staff stood paralyzed in the periphery, terrified to intervene.
In the center of the wreckage sat six-year-old Luna, kicking her feet and screaming herself hoarse.
And Daisy stood in front of her, no expression on her face.
"I don't want to! I don't want to!" Luna cried and shouted, "Mommy, don't go. I promise I'll never make you angry again. Don't go..."
Daisy didn't move, just looked down at her.
Vincent quickly walked over and picked up his daughter.
"Luna, what's wrong? Tell Daddy."
When Luna saw her father, she cried even harder.
She hugged Vincent's neck, buried her little face in his shoulder, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
"Daddy... Mommy is so mean. I saw Mommy's face was hurt, and I tried to hug her, but she ignored me! Does she not want me anymore?"
Vincent patted her back soothingly, shooting Daisy a glare laced with heavy accusation.
Daisy stood there, one side of her face still showing purple bruises, her hair was disheveled, but her eyes were frighteningly calm.
Vincent couldn't help but say: "What are you doing? You're leaving?"
Daisy looked at him. "Yes, I've already drafted the divorce agreement. It's on the desk in your study."
"I want absolutely nothing. Not a single cent of your property. And I am leaving Luna in your full custody. I only ask that you sign it quickly."
With that, she crouched down and beganmethodically folding her scattered clothes back into the suitcase, one by one.
"Mommy!" Luna struggled out of Vincent's arms, ran over and hugged Daisy's leg tightly. "Mommy, don't go! What did I do wrong? Why do you keep ignoring me? Don't you love me anymore?"
Daisy's hands froze over the luggage.
Looking at her little face red from crying, and those eyes filled with fear, no matter how many times she saw it, her heart would soften.
This child was raised by her own hands, once her entire hope and everything she lived for.
But it was this very treasure, this child she held above all else, who had stolen her life's work and handed it directly to Vanessa.
Actually, a year or two ago, she had stopped feeling sad that Vincent didn't have her in his heart, but Luna...
Daisy knew Luna was just a naive six-year-old. She knew the child had been easily manipulated by a venomous woman.
Yet, the betrayal still felt like battery acid poured directly over her heart, peeling her skin and corroding her bones.
Daisy closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were still calm.
"Luna, you have Daddy, and you have Vanessa to keep you company, but Mommy has nothing."
Luna's hands trembled. Remembering what Vanessa had told her, tears of grievance immediately flowed down.
"So you don't love me at all! You're a bad mommy, and I never want to talk to you again!"
Vincent sighed and picked up his daughter who was crying herself into near unconsciousness.
"Luna, Mommy will always love you. It's just... it's been a very hard day. Go back to your room first and let Daddy talk to Mommy, okay?"
Luna nodded between sobs.
incent handed her off to a terrified maid, instructing her to take the child upstairs.
Then Vincent sat down, looked at Daisy, and the first thing he said was: "Does your face still hurt?"
Daisy paused, genuinely stunned by the question, before giving a slight shake of her head.
Vincent sighed. "I'm relieved it doesn't hurt. You know, I only told you to apologize, not that you had to hurt yourself like this."
"And you definitely shouldn't take it out on Luna because of this."
Daisy just looked at him calmly. "I'm not taking it out on her. She's my daughter. No matter what, I won't blame her."
"I just..." She smiled bitterly. "I just want to protect myself."
"And I refuse to stay here and let Vanessa use my own flesh and blood as a weapon to destroy me again."