In the Montgomery family villa, the atmosphere had grown markedly strange with the arrival of John Walsh. Magnus almost thought she had deliberately brought a man to provoke him. The couple was inseparably close; every gesture and word seemed to irritate him.
However, it was unlikely they were pretending. No matter how one might feign their actions, the eyes filled with love cannot lie. This man was deeply in love with her mother, Aurora was sure of it; his eyes held only her mother. That look was familiar to her; it was the way Julian often gazed at her.
“John, it looks like you and Tina are very much in love. The children you would have together must be beautiful,” Aurora mused, considering she was already married and might have had younger siblings by now. When Aurora broached this subject, Magnus clenched his fists tightly. Despite the years that had passed, his primary concern remained Victoria. Tina calmly responded, “We don’t really like children, so we don’t have any.”
They didn’t like children? Aurora felt as if her heart had been pricked by a needle. Was it because she did not like children that she had stayed away all these years? But memories of her childhood flashed before her eyes-her mother’s red-rimmed eyes from worry when she had a fever, always by her side. She had been so gentle and caring; how could she now claim to dislike children?
The woman before her still bore Victoria’s face, but Aurora suddenly felt she was a stranger, as if she had never truly understood her. Could it be that the gentle mother was just a figment of her past, and this cold person was the real her?
John Walsh caught Aurora’s crestfallen look and said, “I think if we had children, they would be as lovely and sensible as Aurora.”
He intended to lighten the mood, but the atmosphere only grew heavier when Ivy and Genevieve entered the room. Both sides fell into a brief silence. Genevieve and Ivy had not expected anyone but Magnus to be at the villa. Having lived with Magnus’s temper for years, they were prepared for a long ordeal with him.
They were shocked to find not only Aurora but also that woman here! Upon seeing Tina, flames danced in Genevieve’s eyes; she blamed her ousting entirely on her. Magnus and Aurora were also stunned. Why had this woman returned? They had driven her out, thinking that would be the end of it, and had not bothered to change the locks. Clearly, they had underestimated Genevieve’s thick skin, which was much thicker than they had imagined!
Tina was also surprised to see Genevieve return. This woman had no shame, and John Walsh simply sized up the woman who had bullied Victoria time and again.
“What are you doing here?”
Magnus frowned deeply at their arrival.
“Dad, we haven’t taken anything. We’ve come back to collect our things,” Ivy quickly interjected, sensing the tension on both sides. Seeing Victoria, all of Genevieve’s reason seemed to vanish, “Why is she here?”
She walked in as if she still owned the place, looking at Victoria as one might look at a homewrecker.
“She is my guest, specifically invited. You may take your things, but do it now and leave,” Magnus was deeply displeased with Genevieve’s tone.
“Dad, it’s almost dinner time, and we haven’t eaten yet…”
After everything that had happened, Ivy had grown up quickly. Just a few days away from the Montgomery family, she felt she had endured enough cold words and mockery. She did not want to live like that any longer.
No matter what, she was determined to return to the Montgomery family and continue living under their halo. Thus, she had to keep her cool and not make Magnus dislike her, although she now realized it was already too late; the situation was set.
“I told you, I’m not your dad. Stop calling me that, pack your things, and leave. I haven’t prepared dinner for you.”
Magnus had never found these two so annoying before.
“Magnus, I’ve been with you for twenty years, giving you my heart and soul, and this is how you treat me!”
Genevieve felt increasingly wronged the more she thought about it. She had given him her whole heart, only to find that he still held Victoria in his heart.
“The moment I left, you couldn’t wait to welcome her in. What am I to you?”
Aurora couldn’t stand her tone, “Genevieve, can you have a little shame? You’re old enough to know better than to make a fool of yourself here. Do I need to remind everyone who it was that schemed to destroy my family years ago? You deceived all of us for twenty years. We didn’t press charges against you for fraud, giving you a way out, and you still dare to come back here, thinking we are easy to bully?”
Genevieve ignored Aurora’s words. Her eyes fell on Victoria, who was drinking, and with a swift motion, she knocked over Victoria’s wine glass.
“Since you’ve already left, why come back? How shameless can you be? Now he is my husband!”
Is it that every mistress who becomes official forgets what they once did, looking angrily at the original wife?
Seeing the furious Genevieve, Tina remembered how she herself had felt in those days.
“Are you done?”
she said indifferently.
Genevieve thought Tina would be angry and confront her, but instead, she just calmly looked her in the eye, her gaze unfluctuating. To her, Genevieve seemed like a mad lion, or a raging clown, in stark contrast to her own calm demeanor.
“If you’re done, could you pour me another drink, please?”
Tina asked emotionlessly, as if the whole affair had nothing to do with her.
“In your dreams! Don’t think that just by acting like this, men will like you. Let me tell you, you will always be a loser in my eyes!”
Genevieve felt as if she had punched cotton. She would have preferred Victoria to rise and quarrel with her, rather than being so coldly indifferent now, highlighting her own disgrace.
“Sorry, Mrs. Montgomery, I think you’re mistaken about something. I have nothing to do with Mr. Montgomery.”
Every time Tina uttered the words ‘Mrs. Montgomery,’ Genevieve felt she was being mocked, knowing she had been driven out.
“If you weren’t trying to take advantage when he was vulnerable, why are you here now? You bitch, can’t you just…”
Genevieve was so angry she lost her words.
“Slap.”
Tina, expressionless, slapped her face.
“Mr. Montgomery, I didn’t expect your wife to have such a filthy mouth. It truly is a disgrace to the Montgomery family.”
Genevieve had always considered Tina a defeated foe. Now, suddenly slapped by Tina, she was stunned for a moment, then crazily lunged at Tina’s face.
Tina was quickly pulled back; John Walsh, who had always been smiling, now had eyes full of frost.
“If you want to go mad, please do it outside. No one here will entertain you.”
He pushed forcefully, sending Genevieve crashing to the floor, her back smashing into the coffee table.
“Mom, are you alright?”
Ivy’s plan was ruined, and she hadn’t expected Genevieve to lose control like this. Her plan to return to the Montgomery family not only failed but also brought her great humiliation.