Chapter 48 Carefully Selected One’s Own Retribution

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Carefully Selected One’s Own Retribution

When Sophie Winslow arrived at the registry office, she looked at the two halls. The marriage registration area was practically empty, while the divorce area was packed to the brim.

She suddenly felt a bizarre sense of excitement, like a gambler who had just placed her final bet and taken her hands off the table.

Inside the hall, some couples were red in the face, arguing fiercely. Others sat side by side without a word, their silence doing nothing to mask their mutual hatred. And some looked utterly dead inside, their faces showing nothing but the anticipation of impending relief.

What about her and Julian Sterling? How would they be?

Sophie found her answer in barely a second.

They would be so calm that they wouldn’t look like a married couple at all. They would look more like friends with benefits parting ways.

Seven years of purely physical relations, without a single drop of love mixed in.

The thought made Sophie let out an inappropriate laugh. It was mostly out of self-deprecation.

The fiercely arguing couples around her all turned to look at her as if she were crazy.

Sophie composed herself a little. "Sorry, my husband is cheating on me with a married woman. I was just so angry I laughed."

The women who had just been quarreling nonstop immediately cast her looks of profound empathy and indignation.

"You’re so young and pretty. Is your husband completely blind?" a woman who was there to get her divorce certificate asked in astonishment.

Sophie nodded. "I think so too."

"Men are all the same garbage. They’d think a pile of dog crap outside smells like a five-star meal!"

Sophie agreed again. "And you couldn’t stop him from eating it even if you tried."

"These heartless bastards will rot from the inside out sooner or later!" The women cursed, growing more fired up by the second.

The men, who had previously been silent, couldn’t tolerate these thinly veiled insults any longer. They immediately stood up with ferocious expressions and snapped back.

Once again, the hall erupted into a flurry of curses involving everyone’s ancestors and family trees.

Sophie watched the scene quietly.

After so many years of marriage, it actually ended in such a tragic and bitter way.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to feel sorrowful, or to rejoice that they were freeing each other from an ocean of suffering.

She checked the time. It was almost ten o’clock, and there was still no reply from Julian.

Sophie called him again. Julian still didn’t answer.

Sophie had gone through a lot of trouble to get this appointment number. If Julian didn’t show up, her efforts would be completely wasted.

With no other choice, she stood up and walked to the counter. "Excuse me, what time do you get off work today? Can we get the certificate on the same day?"

The staff member turned to look at her. "No. If you submit the application today, there is a one-month cooling-off period. You can only get the certificate after a month."

Sophie instantly felt a lump form in her throat.

For the first time, she wanted to curse this damn regulation.

So, Julian had stood her up because he knew they wouldn’t be able to get the divorce certificate today?

Sophie was out of ideas. She walked out of the registry office, looking utterly crestfallen.

She had thought they could get the certificate right away and never have to cross paths again. She had been far too idealistic.

Sophie still felt a surge of indignation.

If Julian knew it couldn’t be done today, why didn’t he tell her? Did he just have to leave her hanging?

Her chest felt tight with pent-up frustration. She took a few deep breaths before taking out her phone to hail a ride back to the hospital.

While waiting for the car, Sophie absentmindedly scrolled through Instagram. After just a few swipes, she saw a post from Finn Lockwood.

[Julian’s days of suffering are finally coming to an end. He’s treating us to a few bottles of good wine tonight to celebrate properly!]

The accompanying photo was of a hospital ward.

Sophie’s throat went dry. Her breathing faltered for a moment.

Julian had left her hanging here all alone, yet he was busy preparing to celebrate their impending divorce with his friends and Stella Sutton?

Celebrating so grandly in front of Stella felt like serving up Sophie’s scars, hidden humiliations, and pain on a silver platter for them to joke about in private.

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, suppressing the nausea welling up in her stomach.

The cold wind was biting, yet she was so angry that she laughed.

Julian really was more impatient to draw a line between them than she had imagined.

The car pulled up, interrupting her flooding emotions. She locked her phone screen, wrapped her coat tightly around herself, and got in.

At the end of the day, no matter how much she wanted to get the certificate right this second, she still had to wait for the cooling-off period to end.

Sophie could only head back to the hospital for now.

Lydia was already awake. She had just gotten a shot in her behind, and her big eyes were still welling with tears. The moment she saw Sophie, she opened her arms. "Mommy, where did you go?"

Sophie walked over and hugged her. "Mommy went to fight a battle."

"Did Mommy win?"

Sophie hesitated for a second before finally smiling. "Almost."

Lydia didn’t understand what she meant, so she just unwrapped another lollipop and started eating.

Ivy Hawthorne sensed something was wrong and asked with a look.

Sophie shook her head. "Couldn’t get it done. There’s a cooling-off period."

"The saying that a scourge lives for a thousand years really isn’t a lie," Ivy grumbled. "Why don’t they have a marriage cooling-off period? Think of how many people that would save from jumping into a fiery pit."

They hadn’t been able to keep Lydia’s accident a secret from Hector Caldwell. Just as they finished with Lydia’s discharge procedures, Mr. Caldwell rushed over.

Seeing the bandages on Lydia’s head made the old man fume with anger, but he couldn’t bear to scold the little girl for sneaking over here.

He could only direct his anger at Sophie. "Look at the piece of trash you chose to marry!"

He had already learned the whole story from start to finish. Even as an outsider, he felt a chilling, infuriating sense of outrage!

Sophie didn’t dare make a sound.

"My wife and I will take care of Lydia for now. The child has a weak constitution, and after going through all this—getting frightened, running a fever, and suffering a physical injury—she needs a good period of rest!"

Sophie knew that Mr. Caldwell doted on Lydia the most. Any bump or scrape the girl suffered was no different from carving a piece of flesh from the old man’s heart.

"Okay..." How could Sophie dare to disagree?

Hector Caldwell had mostly settled down in Kingsford. He lived in a state-assigned villa district with top-tier privacy and security, so Sophie felt relatively at ease.

Besides, she hadn’t bought a house of her own yet. She wasn’t in a hurry to drag Lydia around with her while she was still unsettled.

Ivy scratched her head. "This whole thing is my fault. I was too careless..."

Mr. Caldwell snorted coldly. "Why are you taking the blame? If you ask me, it’s a certain someone who’s completely heartless!"

"Grandpa, who are you mad at?" Lydia craned her neck curiously.

Mr. Caldwell shot a glance at Sophie, his words pointed. "A scumbag. When you grow up, Lydia, you have to keep your eyes peeled. Don’t be like your mother, carefully handpicking her own retribution."

Sophie was speechless. She silently begged him to stop scolding her.

Lydia blinked, her words shocking everyone. "My daddy?"

Sophie choked on her words. Lydia was simply too smart and observant.

She froze for a moment, wanting to deny it. "No..."

Lydia turned to look at her and said with complete seriousness, "Mommy, you don’t need to explain. My daddy is dead. I know."

"...Oh, right," Sophie said.

Indeed, his being alive was no different from being dead. He was completely useless and would occasionally pull a jump scare from beyond the grave, which was just disgusting.

After the discharge procedures were completed, Mr. Caldwell carried Lydia into the car. He insisted on doing everything for her personally.

Not daring to provoke the old man, Sophie and Ivy scurried around like frightened quails the whole time.

Mr. Caldwell had wanted to give Sophie a few more words of advice, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the hospital lobby entrance.

A tall, upright figure walked out, carrying a chubby toddler with one arm.

Behind him, Stella Sutton was smiling so widely her eyes curved into crescents. "Julian, you spoil Seth too much. He asks you to carry him, and you actually do it."

Sophie’s back stiffened, and she instinctively turned to look.

People truly were slaves to their emotions.

She knew full well that taking even one more look would only bring her misery, yet she couldn’t stop herself from seeking out a heart-wrenching outcome. She needed that sharp pang of pain to constantly remind her to cut her losses and move on.

Julian’s handsome, refined features were tinged with a very faint trace of a smile. It looked as though a glacier was melting.

He looked incredibly attractive when he smiled. But in all their years of marriage, he had been exceedingly stingy with such expressions when it came to her.

Julian walked in front, holding Seth, while Stella chatted and laughed with Finn Lockwood beside him.

Sophie spaced out for a moment.

She hadn’t expected Julian to be so good at taking care of a child. The gentleness and joy in his eyes weren’t fake.

He liked kids.

His attentiveness toward the child almost made her think he would make a good father.

Julian raised his eyes and spotted Sophie and the others.

Stella had just begun to frown when she saw Mr. Caldwell and immediately masked her displeasure. She took a few steps forward. "Mr. Caldwell, why are you at the hospital? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Mr. Caldwell is a doctor himself. Does he need your hypocritical concern?" Ivy sneered.

The smile on Stella’s lips faded.

The people around Sophie were just like her—unpresentable and lacking class. Stella didn’t even want to stoop to her level to argue.

She tried to exchange a few more pleasantries with Hector Caldwell, but the old man kept his icy gaze fixed entirely on Julian.

"You bastard!"

Sophie truly hadn’t expected the old man to be this enraged. He was actually cursing him out in public.

Given Julian’s status, no one had ever disrespected him so blatantly.

Even Stella’s expression changed at this remark. She couldn’t understand how they had offended Mr. Caldwell. She hurriedly looked at Julian.

Julian didn’t show any displeasure. He set Seth down on the ground and was just about to say something.

The car window next to Mr. Caldwell rolled down.

The little girl inside was bundled up tightly, wearing a mask and a hat with only a pair of beautiful, large dark eyes exposed. She stared straight in Sophie’s direction, reached out a hand toward her, and suddenly called out.

"Mommy?"