“Why are you yelling like that? What could possibly be so serious?!”

What kind of news could be worth interrupting him with a call? Probably just another dramatic post fishing for attention.

But the assistant stammered and shouted, “Madam wants to divorce you!”

Stephen’s mind went blank. In the next second, his hand trembled, and the phone nearly slipped from his grasp. He ended the call and frantically opened the social media app. The moment he tapped on my tag, everything went dark.

No. Impossible.

“Victoria loves me so much. How could she possibly want a divorce?!”

Cold sweat drenched him. I had served him for thirty years as if it were duty, loved him for over three decades, confessed again and again like a fool, and poured everything into him until I lost myself. Someone like that, how could she ever leave?

No. It had to be a bluff. As long as he didn’t sign the papers, it wouldn’t count. He hadn’t even rejected me. How could I dare to leave him first?

He forced himself to stop shaking and quickly dialed my number, panic and fury battling in his chest. But the moment he realized he could no longer reach me, only then did it hit him: I had blocked him.

“Victoria, how dare you! I won’t allow this!”

The assistant’s voice had been loud enough that Eleanor heard everything. She was practically beaming. After all her schemes to push me out, she had finally succeeded. In her eyes, how could a woman like me, fat and aging, ever compare?

She stepped off the bed and walked toward Stephen, her voice dripping with fake concern.

“Victoria really is such a good actress. Even now, she’s using these little tricks to get your attention. She’s already old, how is she still so manipulative?”

“Don’t worry, Stephen. She’s just acting out again. She could never actually leave you.”

With her words feeding his pride, Stephen nodded.

“Exactly. That’s how she is, always scheming. And where could she possibly go without me? We have our grandson, she wouldn’t just walk away.”

He forced a smile, still trying to comfort himself, completely unaware that I had long grown cold to them all.

Just then, his son called.

“Dad, did you see Mom’s post on Instagram? What’s with those pictures of you and Aunt Eleanor? How did she even find out? We’ve kept it hidden from her all this time!”

His daughter-in-law added, “Could Mom really be that cruel? Would she actually leave her own grandson?”

His son snapped, “She blocked all our numbers. That’s how ruthless she is!”

Suddenly, the daughter-in-law exclaimed, “Henry’s call still goes through!”

Only the grandson’s number. I had hesitated for a long time but still couldn’t bring myself to block it. So, they had Henry call me right away!

When the video call came through, I was sitting in a gazebo on the lawn, basking in the soft warmth of the sun.

“Quick, call Grandmari…” My son’s voice echoed from the screen as Henry fidgeted nervously, then whispered shyly, “Grandma…”

At that moment, I was feeding little Margaret, Catherine’s daughter, spooning warm oatmeal into her tiny mouth. For once, I wasn’t rushing around taking care of everyone. This time, I was simply enjoying it, genuine warmth, a kind of peace I had never known in the Mortimer household. Beside me were staff personally arranged by Edmund to look after me, not the other way around.

Watching Henry’s timid face on screen, I let out a soft chuckle.

“Little one, you must be mistaken. Your grandma’s name is Eleanor. Be careful not to upset your real grandparents by calling the wrong person.”

I gently wiped the corners of Margaret’s mouth as I said it.

Seeing me holding another child, Henry suddenly burst into tears. “Grandma, you’re not allowed to hold someone else…”

His teary, pouty face tugged at my heart, just for a moment. But I didn’t waver; I couldn’t. Because I knew I could never go back.

My son and daughter-in-law saw me under the sun, gently playing with another child. Arthur’s face twisted with rage.

“Where the hell did you go? You’d abandon your own grandson just to care for someone else’s kid? You’d rather run off than come home?!”

His wife quickly jumped in, forcing a smile.

“Mom, come home. Whatever this misunderstanding is, we can explain everything.”

“We know you’ve got the wrong idea about Dad and Eleanor…”

“Misunderstanding? Do you all really take me for a fool? And don’t you dare forget I’ve been your maid for thirty years. I’m done playing housekeeper for that useless father of yours.”

“My life is finally my own now. I’ve never felt more alive. Like a real person. Why should I crawl back into that suffocating cage to serve a bunch of ungrateful brats?”

When I finished, silence swallowed the call. Don’t think I was always this composed. I used to be fire and brimstone, someone who would break herself just to keep the family whole. But after all those years of being stepped on and being treated like nothing, they still expected me to return like a loyal dog.

Just then, Stephen barged into Arthur’s house, breathless, snatching the phone from his son’s hand and staring into the screen. “Victoria, it’s not what you think, I can explain! I won’t divorce. Please, just come back!”

Disgusting. Too bad he had already signed those divorce papers himself.

By the time he got home and realized he could parade around openly with Eleanor, he’d probably be over the moon.

I swallowed the nausea rising in my throat and forced a cold smile.

“Stephen, those lovely photo albums and your spicy little videos, what, did I Photoshop them? You cheated on me for twenty years, and now you still dare to lie? Who do you think I am?”

“I once loved you, so I let myself be your doormat. But now that love is gone… you’re nothing but garbage I’ve already thrown away.” He looked completely stunned.

“That’s not true. I may have had something with Eleanor, but deep down, I always loved you.”

“Enough. Don’t ruin my breakfast with my darling granddaughter.”

I ended the call. That was enough.

Watching them rage helplessly for the first time, I truly felt a breath of relief. Still, their nerve to lie, to blame me, did leave a bitter aftertaste.

He said he loved me. Was I supposed to believe that? Frustration welled up in my chest, only to fade as I saw Margaret laughing on the lawn.

“Grandma! Grandma!”

Dressed in a floral dress, she ran about with her nanny, her laughter like wind chimes in the breeze. I smiled, an honest, unguarded smile I hadn’t worn in a long time.

See? Life could still be beautiful.

I stayed under the sun with the child for a while. After Margaret was picked up by her father, Edmund arrived. He gently helped me into the wheelchair and pushed me slowly back toward the hospital room. As we passed through the hallway, I caught the hushed voices of nurses whispering.

“President Dalton is like a celebrity, but his taste in women is definitely unique.”

“Shhh! Don’t let them hear you…”

A wave of hot, prickling stares jabbed at my back like needles. I couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. Of course. Edmund was still tall, still striking, unchanged from his youth. And me? I was fat now. Ugly. A joke beside him.

Once we returned to the room, Edmund sensed something was off right away. He helped me onto the sofa and stood before me, his gaze steady.

“In my eyes, you haven’t changed at all. You’re still the same Victoria I fell for. Why bother with what others say?”

I forced a smile. “It’s fine. I don’t care.”

But the flicker of hurt on my face didn’t escape him. His expression darkened.

“I’ll have Catherine fire those nurses.”

I quickly stopped him. “No. Everyone gossips, it’s human nature. They’re just a few young girls, no need to be harsh.”

He let out a sigh. “You’re too kind and too soft-hearted. That’s how you’ve been hurt again and again.”

He looked at me with quiet resolve. “But from now on, I won’t let anyone wrong you again.”