Chapter 26
After finally finding his mother with a lot of effort, Ben was unwilling to leave. He clung tightly to the shop‘ s doorframe and
screamed for his mother with all the desperation his small body could muster.
Wanda couldn’t fathom what this father- and–son duo wanted from her. The peace she had worked so hard to attain was being thoroughly shattered by their intrusion.
Richard understood that Wanda hadn’t yet fully moved on from her past. Even though his instincts screamed to protect her and kee her for himself, he found himself saying to her, “You should talk to them properly.”
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Wanda stood rooted in a daze. There was a
mix of confusion and hesitation in her eyes. She opened her mouth to answer but, in the end, she swallowed her words.
Richard advised her once again, “Talk to them, make everything clear to them. Otherwise, they’ll never give up.”
Deep down, he feared that she might soften up and forgive them. However, he couldn’t bear to see her tormented by these
unresolved issues.
Taking a deep breath, Wanda tried so hard to harden herself for what was to come.
“You‘ re right. I should make it clear. I don’t want anything to do with them anymore.”
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She walked briskly to the door and stared at the tear–streaked face of Ben. The boy had his nose turned red from crying. However, her heart remained unmoved.
“Stop crying. It’s giving me a headache,” she said flatly.
Ben hastily wiped his tears away and sniffled.
“Mommy, I’ll be good, I promise.”
Wanda ignored him and said, “Let’s talk.”
On the way to a nearby café, Ben took advantage of his small size and clung to the hem of Wanda‘ s coat. Every now and then, he would glance up at her face to secretly observing her mood.
When he realized she was not too annoyed.
Ben smiled.
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He thought to himself, Maybe Mommy doesn’t hate me as much as I thought.
At the café, Wanda ordered a Black Forest cake for Beni and told him to sit quietly in his chair. The boy nodded enthusiastically and his eyes sparkled with excitement. “Mommy, I’ll be good.”
Though Wanda’s heart trembled, she did not ruffle his head to praise him like she did before.
Instead, she took a seat across from Eric and
ordered herself an Americano.
“Now. Tell me what you need to say. What d you want from me?” she asked, her tone detached. Her brows knitted slightly as she
looked at him.
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“I’ve completely cut ties with Christina,” said Eric. “I swear, from now on, you’ll be the only woman in my life.”
“I don’t want to hear that,” Wanda interrupted coldly. “What I want to know is
what were you thinking when you
cheated?”
The bitter taste of her Americano coffee seemed to pull her back into those painful memories. She had loved him too deeply, so she had never fully understood what went wrong between them. She had stood in front of the mirror countless nights while questioning herself.
Was it because her body had changed after giving birth? Or maybe the stretch marks on
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her belly were too unsightly? Perhaps she was
too strict with their child, was she too harsh in her parenting?
In those moments, it felt like the man she loved and the child she bore had abandoned
her without hesitation and left her drained
and hollow.
Faking her death had felt like the only way to
escape.
It was only later, after seeing the grandeur of life beyond her small world, that she finally let it go.
Her love and heartache, she realized, weren’t worth mourning over.
As he sat across from her now, Eric was
overcome with regret. The weight of his pas
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mistakes pressed heavily on his chest, making
it hard for him to breathe.
He didn’t dare meet Wanda‘ s eyes, nor could he bring himself to explain the
indecision that had plagued him back then.
