Chapter 03
Lilian sat down in her chair, looking at Gabriel in front of her, and she couldn't understand a single word that came out of his mouth, but it didn't take long before she finally heard him.
“Ms. Arbex, you just need to sign here!” Gabriel pushed the paper toward her and pointed to the part she needed to sign, and Lilian picked up the pen, but before writing her name on the paper, her hand stopped when something crossed her mind.
"Ms. Arbex, regarding the alimony, the president will transfer it directly to your account. Also, the house you currently live in will be given to you as compensation, in addition to receiving some company shares in your name.“ Gabriel explained a few more things.
”Okay. Please send all the money to this account." Lilian wrote down her bank account number, which she had never accessed after marrying Ethan.
When he saw the account, he was a little surprised. After all, it was an account at a bank known only to tycoons. How did she have an account there?
“Also, I want you to sell all the shares Ethan gave me and transfer them to this account!” Lilian instructed. “Also, you can sell the house. I have no interest in living there!”
Lilian would never be alone in the house that belonged to the couple, because she would always remember him if she stayed there, and her mother-in-law's house was right next door. How could she survive in that place?
“But, ma'am, that house is a Legrand family heirloom!” Gabriel was surprised that the woman wanted to sell the house.
“Yes. So what? Didn't he give me the house?”
“But are you sure you want to sell that house, ma'am?”
“Yes, but sell it after I move out!” Lilian replied, and immediately signed the document without hesitation. “And, Mr. Monteiro, you can go now and tell him that if he ever sees me, to ignore me, because I'll do the same.”
Lilian looked away from Gabriel because she didn't want this man to witness her sadness, and also because she wanted Gabriela to tell Ethan that she agreed to the divorce.
The moment Lilian heard the door finally close, all the resistance she had shown Gabriel suddenly disappeared, her shoulders slumped, and tears began to stream down her face.
After crying for a while, Lilian felt her eyes burn because there were no more tears left to shed, and now she just wanted to go to sleep somewhere, and maybe after a long sleep, she could forget everything.
But as she got up from where she was sitting, she felt her head spin and her vision darken, and with difficulty, she left that room, but when she reached the main entrance, she couldn't help but smile bitterly as she looked up at the sky.
The sky seemed to share the same feeling as her heart, dark with the rumble of thunder, and she saw no one walking outside, nor any taxis parked in front of the building, as if they had avoided the heavy rain that was about to hit the city.
Under the dark and gloomy sky, Lilian walked along the sidewalk under the dim light of the street lamps. She didn't care when others looked at her strangely—as if they were watching a woman wandering in the rain, her hair and dress wet.
She just wanted to walk and beg for the rain to wash away the traces of Ethan and his damn family from her mind, and amid her chaotic thoughts, Lilian began to think about her future.
Should she go back to her family?
That question lingered in her mind, but the thought of her parents scolding her as usual for not being pregnant drove her away, and she couldn't go back there.
After several steps and minutes, Lilian finally stopped at an intersection, and her mind began to go blank, as if a dark fog enveloped her thoughts, and a slight smile appeared when she saw a red light.
Before her head hit the wet asphalt, her eyes slowly opened, and she saw the light approaching and suddenly stop not far from her.
A headlight. Tires screeching. And then, darkness.
“Why did you stop!?” Lilian muttered before the darkness consumed her.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw a middle-aged man in a white coat standing next to her bed, and realized she was in the hospital.
She looked around and was shocked to realize she was in the emergency room, and many hospital beds were lined up near hers, but only a few were occupied. She couldn't remember what had happened to her, and the last thing she remembered was walking in the rain.
“Doctor, why am I here?” Lilian asked the doctor.
“Miss Arbex, you're finally awake!” the doctor greeted her kindly, and two nurses beside him also smiled at her. “You had a collapse, probably due to stress and hypothermia. But you'll be fine.”
Lilian smiled slightly at them and began to remember what had happened before she walked in the rain.
Ethan!
Just thinking about him reopened the wound in her heart, and the pain that had disappeared in the heavy rain began to torment her again. Suddenly, Lilian felt suffocated, remembering what had happened in the restaurant, and her chest felt heavy and her breathing was labored.
Slowly, she raised her hand to rub her chest, relieving the pressure and distracting her thoughts, but the more she tried, the more vivid the image of Ethan became, and as she struggled to breathe, she noticed the doctor quickly instructing the nurse to administer oxygen to help her breathe normally. She interrupted them.
“D-Doctor, there's no need. I'm... fine!” Lilian said breathlessly. She felt suffocated, not because anything had happened to her chest, but because she remembered the pain Ethan had caused her.
It was still hard for Lilian to believe that her status had changed so quickly. In the morning, she was married; at night, she was divorced. The pain and disappointment she felt lingered. How could she explain this to others, especially her family? Just thinking about it made her chest hurt even more.