Chapter 27: The price of arrogance

"Mr. Vale." Mr. Green scrambled after Soren and blocked his way. "I’ll cut ties with them. I’ll divorce my wife. Please save my company."

Soren had heard enough. He didn’t want to waste any more time on him.

"This is your mess. Handle it on your own. Don’t trouble me or my family."

He strode away, with Elowen following him closely beside him.

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Green cried out behind them. "You want to divorce me?"

Mr. Green turned toward her. A fierce, cutting intensity settled in his eyes.

"You caused this mess. Because of you, the company is collapsing. I don’t want to spend another second with you. This marriage is over."

"No. You can’t do this to me." She clasped his leg. Her tears came without restraint.

He kicked her hand away. "You should have thought about that before you messed with the wrong person."

"I am sorry. I know my mistake. Please forgive me."

He snorted bitterly. "Forgiving you won’t solve my problems. Go back to your father’s place. There is no need to return to my house. I’ll send the divorce papers."

With that, he stormed away.

Mrs. Green remained on the floor, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed harder.

Children and teachers watched them in silence from the other side of the corridor.

"Mom, get up," Natalie urged. "Let’s go. People are watching us."

But Mrs. Green didn’t move. Her world had collapsed around her.

"Finished... Everything is finished."

As they came out of the school, Soren put Seraphina in the backseat. He touched her face gently.

When he thought of how his daughter had been assaulted, his features drew tight.

The images of his daughter being beaten flashed through his mind.

’I swear I’ll make them pay for every drop of tear my daughter shed.’

He swallowed his anger and forced a calm tone as he spoke. "I’ll take you to the hospital."

"Daddy, I am fine," Seraphina said slowly. "I don’t need to go to the hospital."

"You are not fine. You are going to the hospital."

Now that the adrenaline from the confrontation had faded, his worry was becoming impossible to suppress.

Elowen watched him persuading Seraphina. A complicated emotion stirred inside her.

This man had neglected them for years. Because of his absence, Seraphina’s classmates had assumed she had no father. She had been bullied because Soren had never shown up to school.

In many ways, this had started with him.

Yet watching him protect their daughter and worry over every single scratch on her skin stirred the emotions she had been trying to bury.

’Has he really changed?’ The question surfaced again.

But another part of her resisted that thought. She couldn’t simply trust him because he had been kind for a few days.

Seven years of neglect had left wounds that couldn’t disappear soon. Whatever love she had for him had been buried beneath disappointment, heartbreak, and loneliness.

Elowen could see that he was trying. She just wasn’t ready to believe that this change would last.

’What if I let my guard down, only to end up hurt the same way?’

Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.

His touch brought her out of her thoughts.

"Why are you zoning out?" Soren leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, "Thinking about me?"

Elowen’s cheeks flushed red. "I-I..." she faltered. "I wasn’t thinking about you. I was..."

"Yes, yes... You weren’t thinking about me at all." His eyes betrayed the smile he was trying to suppress. "You were only wondering why I suddenly showed up to school. Whether I’ve really changed or not."

Elowen’s breath stumbled. "How did you know?" she blurted.

She quickly bit her tongue, realizing she shouldn’t have asked that.

He quirked his lips with a teasing smile. "Isn’t that obvious? You can see I’ve changed and that I’m trying hard to win you back. But you are stubborn enough to admit it."

Elowen’s heart fluttered, refusing to settle. She stumbled backward.

His strong arm wrapped around her waist. The next moment, he pulled her in closer, and her whole body crashed onto his chest.

"Soren..." she breathed. "Sera is here..."

He cocked his head slightly. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips as he looked at her red cheeks.

He could clearly see how affected she was by his closeness.

"What is going on in that brain of yours?" he teased. "I only protected you from falling."

She stiffened. Mortified, her face grew even hotter. She stepped back instantly and freed herself from his arms.

"I wasn’t..."

Her phone rang, saving her from further embarrassment.

Vera’s name blinked on the screen.

"I need to take this." She walked a little away as she answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Elowen, where are you?" Vera asked anxiously. "I heard you left the office in a hurry. Is everything okay?"

Elowen inhaled a slow breath to calm her nerves. "I came to Sera’s school. She was bullied?"

"Bullied? Is she alright?"

"She is fine. Just some scratches. Soren is here too."

"Your husband? He came?" Vera sounded surprised.

Elowen glanced back at Soren, who was behind the wheel, his attention on her.

"Yes, he came and helped us."

"Really?" Vera seemed doubtful. "Are you sure you haven’t mistaken someone else for your husband?"

"Vera..." Despite herself, a small smile tugged at Elowen’s lips. "I’ll talk to you later. We are taking Sera to the hospital."

"Alright, take care of her. By the way, I packed your design drawings. I’ll drop them off at your place."

"Thank you, Vera."

Ending the call, Elowen walked back to the car and settled in the passenger seat.

"Finished talking?" Soren asked. "Who was it?"

"Vera," Elowen replied shortly and turned outside.

He didn’t ask anything else. He started the engine and drove away.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Tahlia’s phone lit up with a series of messages.

Several photographs of Soren with Elowen and Seraphina coming out of the school and getting into the car appeared on the screen.

"What is Soren doing with them?" she muttered as she scrolled through the photographs.

There was a text message beneath them.

’Mr. Vale came to his daughter’s school.’

"Seriously?"

Tahlia’s surprise deepened.

She had seen Soren leave the office, cancelling all the meetings for the day. Curious about where he was going, she had sent someone to follow him. But she had never expected him to go to Seraphina’s school.

Resentment began to coil inside her.

"It must be Elowen. She must have manipulated him again."

Her patience began to fray.

"Back then, she somehow managed to make Grandfather convince Soren to marry her. But that old man is no longer alive. This marriage should have ended already. Yet she is clinging to him."

A deeper fear lurked beneath that anger.

’What if Soren really falls in love with Elowen?’

The recent change in his behavior toward her added to her fear.

"I can’t let them stay together. I have to do something."