“Dad, this is something I should do. After all, Genevieve has been with our family for so many years, and she has always taken special care of me since I was little. I ought to see her off, even if it’s just to give her an umbrella as a token of my meager efforts.”
Aurora’s words were particularly meaningful; only those who knew of her past hardships could understand what she meant by care.
“Alright, you go then. I thought Zachary would take her to the hotel, but I scolded them just now only to stop them from making any more pleas to stay, not to forbid them from seeing her off.
It’s so late, and it’s pouring rain outside. If anything happens to Genevieve, who would be responsible?” Though Magnus seemed stern, he was fundamentally a good person.
Fortunately, Genevieve had made a fundamental mistake this time. Had it been a lesser error, she might have managed to change his mind with a few tricks.
Aurora was relieved she hadn’t immediately told Magnus about Genevieve’s past deeds upon returning. Even if he had believed her, Genevieve would have gradually made amends.
With her incremental pushing, Genevieve’s chances of returning to the Montgomery family were now as difficult as reaching heaven.
“Okay, Dad, I’ll go ahead then. Let me use your car keys, and I’ll take her to the hotel.”
“Sure, go ahead.”
Magnus handed the keys to Aurora, who opened an umbrella and left.
Genevieve dragged her suitcase alone in the heavy rain, turning back to look at the place she had lived for so many years.
When she first arrived, she was full of longing, like Cinderella who had married a prince, no longer needing to worry about life’s struggles and able to have everything without effort.
Back then, Ivy and Zachary had clung to her, tugging at her skirt excitedly asking, “Mom, is that our home now?”
“Yes, that’s our home, where you and Zach will live from now on,” Genevieve replied, stroking their heads.
“Wow, our home is so beautiful, like a castle in a fairy tale. Mom, can I live there forever?”
“Of course, you can call him ‘Dad’ now. This is our home.”
“Yay!” The two children happily ran towards the house.
The grand scene of their arrival contrasted sharply with the present, where she left alone under the torrential rain.
In this villa area, catching a taxi was harder than scaling the heavens. Genevieve cursed Magnus’s mercilessness internally while drawing her arms close.
She should never have acted on a whim; wearing more clothes would have been better as now she was both cold and miserable, especially when the wind blew, making her shiver.
This villa area had no shelter from the rain, and Genevieve knew she had to leave quickly to find a place to stay.
A car horn sounded, and headlights shone from behind her, blinding her.
She covered her eyes with her hand, peering through the gaps between her fingers, she saw it was Magnus’s car. All her anger dissipated, thinking Magnus had come for her.
In her mind, a scene straight out of a drama unfolded where the heroine leaves in a huff, and the hero drives after her.
Genevieve thought that as long as Magnus came for her, she could forgive and forget the past, and they could reconcile.
The car stopped behind her, but because the windshield was covered in raindrops and the wipers couldn’t keep up, she couldn’t see who was inside.
The car door opened, and Genevieve rushed forward eagerly, exclaiming, “Magnus, I knew you couldn’t bear to leave me alone…”
“Genevieve, what nonsense are you talking about? Please take a good look at who I am,” came Aurora’s cool voice.
Hearing Aurora’s voice, Genevieve’s face changed drastically, her eyes chilling, “Why is it you? Where is Magnus, why didn’t he come?”
Genevieve, still not giving up, glanced inside once more and realized that it was indeed only Aurora alone; not even Zachary or Ivy were there.
“How could it not be me, Genevieve? Are you disappointed? My father now despises you; he would never come to see you off. What surprises me is your dear daughter and son, whom you’ve toiled so hard to raise, yet in the end, they don’t even wish to bid you farewell. Tsk, tsk, I really feel for you, all that money you earned through hard work saved your son, and after all that, not a word of thanks from him, and to be kicked out of the Montgomery family, how pitiful indeed.”
Aurora never mocked anyone like this in front of others; kicking someone when they were down was not something she usually enjoyed.
But with this woman, who had torn her family apart and repeatedly tried to have her killed, Aurora made an exception.
Seeing her in such a wretched state truly delighted Aurora, a happiness greater than any big deal she had ever clinched before.
In this world, she wanted nothing more than to see Genevieve fall back into the dust.
“They are my children; it is only right and natural for a parent to do anything for their children. I chose this willingly, it has nothing to do with them, and they need not know. As for their absence, it’s because they fear being kicked out of the Montgomery family; you can’t blame them. Are you happy now?” Genevieve said coldly.
“They haven’t done anything wrong, merely being scolded by dad, and yet you abandon them, I begin to doubt whether they are really yours. After all, what kind of polite children can someone like you raise? As for being happy, of course, I am,” Aurora smiled.
“If you came here to mock me, you’ve got what you wanted. I’ve been kicked out of the Montgomery family, you’ve achieved your goal,” Genevieve looked at the young face in front of her and regretted not having killed her earlier, thus leaving behind such a scourge.
“Achieve my goal? You underestimate me too much. I’ve always said that my goal was to have all three of you expelled from the Montgomery family, how could just you leaving be enough?” Aurora gave a seductive smile.
Genevieve, catching the implication in her words, suddenly became nervous, “Ivy and Zach are just a bit spoiled and willful, take your grievances out on me, leave them be, they are innocent!”
“Innocent? A child who has been pricking me with a compass since they were little is indeed very innocent.”
“Fine, even if you hold a grudge against them, being expelled from the Montgomery family is my own fault, but they are different, they have done nothing wrong, your father would never be so foolish as to drive them away,” Genevieve said bitterly.
“Who says they haven’t done anything wrong? Their very birth was a mistake, Genevieve, do I need to spell it out for you?” Aurora’s smile turned devilish.
A sense of unease amplified inside Genevieve, “I, I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“It’s okay if you don’t understand, I can remind you, my sister and brother don’t look like my father at all.”