Chapter 175
Beyond the Divorce
Waiting for Him to Speak It seemed I had underestimated Stella, and she wasnât as innocent as I thought. Those from ATL Empire were never what they seemed. I once again realized the inexplicable force that had sucked me in.
I pinched my thigh to wake myself up.
My mom had picked up Ava from kindergarten, who ran over to me âouâre so early today, Mommy!
Uncle Ryan bought me a new doll.â
âUncle Ryan?â I was puzzled.
Ryan came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. âI was at the bank earlier and bumped into your mom.
So, I accompanied her to the kindergarten.
My mom joined him from the kitchen and said, âHe also took us to Parkside Plaza, and we went shopping at the supermarket.â
I could tell she liked Ryan from how happy she looked.
âI saw you leaving the office early. Why are you only back now?â Ryan asked.
âWell, I was almost at the kindergarten, but Stella wanted to meet me,â I said, tired.
Ava showed me a new Barbie doll from the latest release. I had a soft spot for Barbies, too. When I was a freshman, Ryan had given me one, though I wasnât sure where it had ended up.
Seeing Ryan in an apron made me feel embarrassed. âMom, why are you making Ryan cook?â
I reached out to take the apron off of him. âAllow me.â
âJust take a nap, and Iâll call you when Iâm done. Iâm not a bad cook, you know,â Ryan said, stepping out of my reach. âLook at how tired you look. Go sleep.â
âUncle Ryan, Iâll nap with my Barbie with my mommy,â Ava said, looking adorable.
I was indeed disoriented as countless images raced through my mind. My limbs were also weak.
âGo take a nap,â my mother said, seeing my glum expression. âWeâll call you when dinnerâs ready.â
Fearing I might pass out, I didnât insist on helping them. When I eventually woke up, it was already eight in the morning.
ched lazily and didnât feel like getting up, but I was confused when I saw daylight through the Why wasnât it dark yet? How long had I been asleep? I rested a while longer and wondered why dinner wasnât ready. I was starving.
I I rolled over and found that my phone was off. When I turned it on, it kept going off with multiple alerts.
Picking it up, I was shocked to see it was already 8.25 a.m. What the hell?
Then I checked the date. It was the 16th!
I scrambled out of bed and quickly washed up. How long had I been asleep? It was the first time Iâve slept that much since discovering Matthewâs infidelity. After some mental math, I realized Iâd been out for a whopping 17 hours!
It seemed my mom had already taken Ava to kindergarten, and the house was quiet. My dad was the only one in the living room, reading the newspaper. I greeted him and went to the dining room, where breakfast was served.
I was starving, so I devoured my meal. My dad walked over and sat across from me. I sensed that he had something to say, which made me feel a bit guilty for some reason.
âWhy are you so hungry?â he asked, gazing at me kindly.
Well, I had only eaten a little yesterday afternoon. Of course I was hungry.
However, I sensed that my dad was leading up to something. I started to feel anxious and waited for him to speak.