<b>Chapter </b><b>2</b>
<b>“</b><b>You </b>don’t need to know,” Walter snapped, initationcing his icy <b>re</b>. He then added, “I’ve ensured you’re financially secure. The vi is yours. There’s a <b>one</b><b>–</b>time child support payment of 20 million dors, and then monthly…”
Before Walter could finish, ra cut him off. “I want nothing but Marlie” This was her first–ever interruption, a bold departure from her usual reticence<b>. </b>The room suddenly chilled with tension. The dim, cold light cast ghostly shadows.
Marlic Colon, their two–year–old daughter, was the subject of this standoff.
ra had nearly lost her life giving birth to Marlie, leading toplications that made future pregnancies nearly impossible. Despite that, Walter never
even considered the possibility of another child.
“You think you can afford to take care of her?” Walter sneered with mockery.
ra smiled, a mix of defiance and determination lighting her face. “That’s my concern, Mr. Colon. <b>Just </b>agree, and I’ll sign immediately.”
Faging divorce, she no longer addressed Walter with <b>any </b>endearment.
ra’s smile left Walter momentarily taken aback. Without makeup, her beauty was undeniable: bright eyes, a radiant smile, and skin so delicate it seemed to glow. Her waist was so slender it could be encircled with <b>a </b>single hand.
But then, his gaze turned icy, thinking, ‘She dares speak to me like this?‘
ra added her condition to the agreement and crossed out the child support use, signing her name with a bold stroke.
She rose, approached him with the document, and said with <b>a </b>veiled struggle, “As you wish. I’ve wanted this divorce for a long time.”
Suppressing the pain that threatened to overwhelm her, ra continued, “Marlie means nothing to you. Let me have <b>her</b><b>.</b>”
Walter’s brief nce at the divorce papers was followed by a cold, scrutinizing
zing look at ra.
Seeing her apparent relief instead of sorrow, he questioned, “You’ve wanted a divorce for this long?”
ra, feigning indifference, stressed<b>, </b><b>“</b>I only want Marlie.”
Ater a moment of silence, Walter coldly conceded, “Fine”
He then picked up his bespoke suit and left the vi with decisive steps.
Watching his retreating figure, ra’s strength ebbed away, and she copsed to the floor, a painful realization dawning on her. ‘He is resolute. He doesn’t <b>even </b>want his daughter‘
Thoughts of Marlie intensified her pain. She was born prematurely and fragile <b>and </b>had spent her earliest <b>years </b>fighting for her life. Despite surviving a perilous heart surgery, Marlie hadn’t <b>spoken </b>a word. Though tests showed her hearing and vocal cords were normal, doctors suspected autism. No wonder Walter discarded Marlie without a second thought.
The Colon family held significant status in Zwingenrath, with Walter at the helm of the Colon Group, dominating wealth rankings and wielding considerable influence<b>.</b>
ra bitterly mused, “What am I, then? incapable of bearing more children, with a daughter diagnosed with autism, I am nothing but a burden to the <b>Colon </b>name. Deemed worthless, we are fit <b>only </b>to <b>be </b>abandoned.”
Wed, <b>29 </b><b>May</b>Original from N?velDrama.Org.