Chapter 70: Contractual Catastrophes Finished
Remember to bring your prenuptial agreement with Easton, Sophia wanted to scrutinize exactly what her son had stipulated and how outrageous it was. Ellis bolted upright in bed. She was dead set on divorcing him. Couldn’t Carly and Sophia leave me alone?
“Mom, that agreement…” She didn’t have a paper copy. She could show Sophia the digital one, but that felt a bit odd.
“Let’s just settle this, don’t forget,” Sophia insisted, then hung up abruptly. The disconnect tone reminded Ellis that Sophia had made up her mind, and she had no room to refuse. A headache began to form at her temples, and she irritably brushed back the hair that had fallen across her forehead. Driven by her avoidance instinct, she intentionally dawdled until it was dark before leaving the house.
On the way, Sophia called twice, questioning where she was and if she was making excuses not to come. Is my reputation really that bad? Ellis began to doubt her own reliability. Before arriving at Sophia’s home, she used her phone as a mirror several times to adjust her facial expression, ensuring she didn’t look completely desolate.
Upon seeing Sophia, Ellis immediately flashed a perfect eight-toothed smile and sweetly greeted, “Mom.” The next moment, catching sight of the figure behind Sophia, her smile vanished within seconds. Sophia and Easton witnessed a swift change of face. Sophia instinctively looked back at her son, her tone slightly irate: “You know.”
Ellis had always meticulously worked to win her mother-in-law’s favor, charming Sophia every time they met. Easton was well aware of this, but this was the first time he’d seen Ellis’s smile drop so quickly upon seeing him. It seemed her smile vanished the moment she saw him. She wasn’t playing her usual cards, and her thoughts were more opaque than ever, which puzzled him more than before. Easton subtly lifted his chin, hands casually in his pockets, as if he hadn’t noticed someone standing not too far in front of him.
If asked who she least wanted to see right now, Ellis would definitely blurt out Easton’s name. Just looking at him made her sick to her stomach. Of course, in front of Sophia, she couldn’t show her true feelings. So, she put on a smile again and chose to ignore Easton.
Sophia gestured for Easton and Ellis to sit on either side of her, placing herself in the middle to mediate. Pretending not to understand Sophia’s hint, Ellis sat as far away as possible. If it weren’t inappropriate, she would sit in the farthest corner, as far from Easton as possible.
“Bring out your prenuptial agreement,” Sophia extended her hand towards Ellis.
“I didn’t bring it,” Ellis said, somewhat embarrassed. She was set on divorcing Easton, and the prenup didn’t need to be passed around, so she thought it unnecessary to send Sophia the digital version.
“You didn’t bring it, Easton didn’t either,” Sophia said sternly. “What are you two playing at?”
“The agreement was signed voluntarily by me and Ellis, and it has been notarized, holding legal force,” Easton paused, glancing at Ellis who sat upright but defensively. “Mom, seeing the agreement won’t change anything.”
Sophia had insisted he come here yesterday, and again today, with the discussion always revolving around money, which he detested.
“Ellis, did you sign it willingly?” Honestly, Sophia didn’t need Ellis’s answer; she knew no one would be foolish enough to sign an agreement that offered them no benefits.
“I did it willingly,” Ellis responded.
“Easton didn’t force you?” Sophia couldn’t believe Ellis would be so naive.
Ellis had intended to completely ignore Easton, but unfortunately, a peripheral glance at him and seeing his “dare you lie” cold expression made her lips purse.
“He didn’t force me,” she admitted honestly. “The prenup was his condition for marrying me. I agreed to sign it. It was indeed voluntary, no doubt about it.”
“What’s the difference from being forced?” Sophia frowned deeply. “Easton, that’s too much!”
“Mom, when you pressured me to marry someone I didn’t love, why didn’t you say that was too much?” Easton’s lips curled slightly, his indifferent gaze landing on Ellis. “To be my wife, some sacrifices are necessary; no one can have everything go their way.”
Even though she no longer loved Easton, hearing him openly and publicly declare his lack of love still dropped a stone into the calm lake of her heart, rippling with sadness. Ellis couldn’t grasp Sophia’s clear intentions for today, but it felt like she came just to be humiliated—time and again humiliated by Easton.
“Nonsense!” Sophia angrily threw a pillow from beside her at her son. “Weren’t you and Ellis dating before you got married? How did it become a forced marriage?”
“That wasn’t a real relationship,” Easton corrected Sophia.
Ellis didn’t want to listen to this mother-son exchange; even if they didn’t mean to insult her, their words still stung. She forcefully steered the conversation back. “Mom, let me make myself clear today. No matter how you or Aunt try to stop me, I am definitely divorcing Easton, and I don’t care if I leave with nothing.”