Chapter 16 The Card She Left Behind
Xavier held a card between his fingers.
It was the one Becky had left behind.
The night of their divorce, when he came home, the housekeeper handed it to him and said Becky had already moved out.
He leaned back in his office chair and called Lilian.
Lilian’s cheerful voice came through the phone.
“Xavier, it’s been so long since you called me. Why don’t you come home for dinner tonight? I’ll have the kitchen make all your favorite dishes.”
Now that Xavier and Becky were divorced, Lilian was thrilled.
She told everyone her son was single again.
Everyone knew she never liked Becky as a daughter-in-law. Behind the scenes, she was already working on introducing him to other women – daughters of friends or relatives.
Even if he was divorced, Xavier was still the most sought-after man in Dracovia.
Xavier said, “No, I’ve got a dinner meeting tonight.”
Lilian sounded a little disappointed.
Her son was so busy she barely got to see him all year.
“Alright, just don’t drink too much.”
“Mm.”
After a moment, Xavier asked, “Mom, has Becky contacted you recently?”
“Why are you suddenly asking about her?”
“I’m just asking.”
“No, she hasn’t. Ever since the divorce, I’m guessing she sees us as enemies. Probably resents us, too. Forget her. We raised her, did our part, now she’s on her own. She was never really ours anyway. She never saw us as family or showed any gratitude.”
“Mom, she doesn’t owe us anything.”
Xavier’s tone turned cold.
Lilian paused, not wanting to upset him over Becky.
She quickly changed the subject. “Alright, let’s not talk about her. Why don’t you move back home? Then
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your dad and I could see you more often.”
“No. It’s more convenient at Westview Pavilion.”
Lilian still wanted to chat, but Xavier rushed to end the call.
He sat holding his phone, deep in thought.
If Becky hadn’t gone back to the Bolton family, then where did she go?
Was she staying with Sharon?
How was she doing?
With the new year approaching, how would she spend it?
Xavier opened Becky’s Whatsapp chat, typed something, then deleted it. He tossed his phone aside and picked up a document to read.
Becky suddenly remembered the baby supplies she’d bought and called the maternity store.
They sent someone over with the items.
She wasn’t planning to look for work before the new year there wasn’t any point.
She stayed home sorting baby things.
—
The apartment was tiny. No matter how she tried to organize it, the stuff still piled up everywhere.
Especially the crib and stroller. They took up so much space. She’d let the saleslady talk her into buying three strollers, saying each one was for a different stage.
At the time, she just swiped Xavier’s card without a second thought.
Only now did she realize there was nowhere to put them.
On New Year’s Eve, Sharon called her. “Come over and spend New Year’s with us.”
Becky hesitated. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
“What’s not okay? Get your butt over here, I’m waiting. My parents cooked a ton of good food.”
As soon as Becky heard “good food,” she got ready and headed out. She stopped by the fruit shop and bought a box of fruit for Barry and Mary.
The money she had now came from selling a few of her bags.
They weren’t designer, so they didn’t fetch much. Altogether, she got about thirty thousand yuan enough to get by for a while.
She didn’t want to spend it on a cab.
–
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は
She walked to the bus stop and waited.
Ding.
A message popped up on her phone.
It was from Xavier.
“Where are you?”
Becky ignored it and shoved her phone back into her coat pocket.
At the Bolton residence.
Xavier stared at his phone.
Yvonne leaned over. “Bro, what are you looking at?”
She caught a glimpse of his chat screen.
Xavier turned the screen away before she could see who it was.
“You’re chatting with Yulia, aren’t you?”
Xavier replied, “No.”
“I don’t believe you. The only one who can make you space out like this is Yulia.”
“Yvonne, stop bothering me.”
“Why are you being so mean to me? I’m your sister. Can’t you be nice to me?”
Xavier was getting a headache. He stood up and headed upstairs.
Yvonne stormed off to the yard to find Lilian.
“Mom! Xavier is being awful!”
Lilian was watering the flowers and turned around. “What now?”
“He’s so mean to me. He treats Becky better than he treats me!”
“Why bring her up again?”
“I didn’t want to! But every time I think about how good he was to Becky, I get mad. I’m his real sister, but whenever I fought with Becky, he always took her side.”
That was the root of her long-standing hatred for Becky.
Lilian said, “Alright, Becky has nothing to do with our family anymore. Your brother won’t take her side again. And stop bothering him – he’s tired from work and finally has a couple of days off.”
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Still upset, Yvonne pulled up Becky’s Whatsapp and sent her a full screen of knife and bomb emojis.
Becky glanced at them and replied with a single word:
“Dumbass.”
DETAJU
