After Seven Empty Chairs, I Took My Daughter and Left Chapter 09

After Seven Empty Chairs, I Took My Daughter and Left Chapter 09

I could no longer bear the sharp-edged praise or Sloane’s victorious posture. Holding the trembling Lily tightly in my arms, I turned to leave.

“Ava, where are you going?” Noah’s voice came from behind me, laced with confusion.

I didn’t look back.

I had just reached the entrance to the exhibition hall when Sloane chased after me and blocked my way.

“Leaving already? Wasn’t it fun?” She raised her phone, the screen facing me. It was a video she had just recorded. In it, Noah looked up at the starry sky, his expression full of deep feeling, but his gaze landed not on me or Lily. It was on Sloane, standing in the corner and directing everything.

She admired the way my face instantly turned pale, and her smile deepened.

“I prepared such a big gift for you, helping you see reality clearly. You should thank me. I’ll send you these videos. Keep them as a memento.”

I looked at her. My throat felt stuffed with cotton soaked in ice water, and my voice was exhausted.

“I’ll be giving him to you soon, Sloane. Is there still any point in doing this?”

“Of course there is.” She put away her phone with a cheerful smile, her tone as light as if she were discussing the weather. “After this, I won’t have the chance to play like this anymore.”

The moment she finished speaking, another door to the exhibition hall was suddenly thrown open. A swarm of reporters with cameras rushed in like sharks scenting blood. Blinding flashes exploded as they surrounded us.

“Mr. Whitaker! What is your relationship with Miss Sloane Carver?”

“Mrs. Whitaker, how do you feel about your husband’s ex-girlfriend planning this ‘family date’?”

“We hear your adoption process with Mr. Whitaker is about to be finalized. Will this affect the outcome?”

Lily was so frightened she burst into sobs, burying her face in my arms. In the chaos, I felt someone shove me violently. My wrist slammed hard against the cold wall, and a wave of sharp pain shot through me.

Just as I was about to lose my balance, I saw Noah charge over.

He didn’t rush toward me and Lily.

Just as he had before, once again, without hesitation, he pulled the panicked, screaming Sloane tightly into his arms and used his own back to block every camera and every shove.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” He comforted Sloane in a voice more tender and firm than any I had ever heard from him.

And I, along with our terrified daughter, was squeezed to the edge of the crowd like an irrelevant bystander.

I watched Sloane lift her head from Noah’s arms, tears shining in her eyes as she questioned him. “Noah, why are you so stupid? Why do you always appear first whenever I’m in danger? Why do you insist on following me no matter how hard I try to push you away?”

Because he loves you.

I answered for him in my heart.

The sharp pain in my wrist tangled with the sensation of my heart breaking. Everything before my eyes began to spin and blur. At last, I could no longer hold on. Still holding Lily, I slowly slid to the floor and lost consciousness.

When I woke again, I was lying in a ward at Massachusetts General. My wrist was in a cast. The doctor said it was a minor fracture.

Sloane was sitting beside my bed with a gilt-edged invitation in her hand. The envelope was the deep navy blue the Whitaker family often used.

“How do you feel?” She set the invitation on the bedside table. “In a week, it will be Noah’s father’s seventieth birthday banquet at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. I imagine you wouldn’t want to miss it.”

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to say a single word.

“Oh, and that day is also when the cooling-off period for your divorce ends and the court judgment officially takes effect.” She announced it as if it were wonderful news, the joy in her voice poorly hidden. “I plan to confess to Noah at the banquet that evening. With such a wonderful gift from me, he’ll be thrilled.”

She stood and looked down at me, hypocritically adding, “By the way, Noah was also slightly injured in the chaos just now. He’s in the VIP ward next door. If you want to spend more time with him during these final few days, I can help you transfer over.”

I finally opened my eyes. My voice was as calm as dead water.

“No need. The person he most wants to see right now is you. And I no longer want to see him.”

Sloane nodded knowingly and left.

During my final days in the hospital, Noah called a few times and sent several texts. I didn’t reply. On the day I was discharged, my lawyer sent a copy of the divorce judgment to my temporary residence.

I returned to the mansion on Beacon Hill. The moving company’s truck was already parked outside. I placed that cold judgment, along with all the evidence of the seven absences—screenshots of texts, printed emails, and photographs of empty chairs—into a deep navy document box.

Carrying my already-packed suitcase, I was about to leave with Lily when I ran straight into Noah, just coming home.

He looked at the moving truck at the door and my luggage, his face a mask of astonishment.

“Ava, where are you going? Today is my father’s birthday. I was about to pick you up for the banquet.”

“I’m moving,” I said without a change in expression, my tone as flat as if I were stating something completely unrelated to me. “I won’t be attending the banquet.”

I handed him the document box.

“This is for you. Consider it a keepsake for the Whitaker family. Wish your father a happy birthday for me.”

With that, I didn’t look at his reaction. Holding Lily’s hand, I walked toward the car waiting by the curb without turning back.

Watching my back, so decisive it was almost cold, Noah’s eyelids twitched. A strange panic seized his heart. Instinctively, he wanted to call out, to tell me to stay, at least until after this important family banquet.

But just as he took a step, his phone rang. It was Sloane.

“Noah, the banquet is about to start. Why aren’t you here yet? I spent ages preparing this party for your father, and I prepared a surprise for you, too… I really can’t wait!”

Her excited voice on the other end made him hesitate. He looked in the direction I had left, then at the document box in his hand. In the end, he started the car.

The deep navy box was tossed casually onto the passenger seat, unopened.

When Noah pushed open the doors to the Fairmont Copley Plaza ballroom, the room glittered with gowns, jewels, and light. Boston’s elite mingled over champagne, the atmosphere lively and splendid.

Seeing him arrive, Sloane, dressed in a custom gown, immediately came forward. Her face was full of unconcealed love and joy.

“Noah, you’re finally here!”

Noah nodded, his gaze gentle. “Mm. Didn’t you say you prepared a surprise for me?”

“You’re going to love this surprise.” Sloane smiled sweetly, then quickly walked onto the stage at the center of the ballroom and picked up the microphone.

Her clear voice echoed through the speakers, filling the hall.

“Welcome, everyone, to Mr. Whitaker’s seventieth birthday party. Today is a very good day, and I have two pieces of wonderful news to announce.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on her. Noah stood below the stage, smiling as he waited for her to continue.

“The first piece of wonderful news,” Sloane said, her eyes locking on Noah, full of feeling and declaration, “is congratulations to Noah. As of today, he is officially single again and can say farewell to the past and welcome a brand-new future.”

She paused, allowing the guests’ whispers to ferment, then dropped the heavier bomb.

“And the second piece of good news is that here, tonight, I will finally tell Noah the feelings I have kept hidden for too long…”