After Five Years of Lies, I Left the Family and Made Them Regret It Chapter 05

After Five Years of Lies, I Left the Family and Made Them Regret It Chapter 05

The birthday song started up again inside.

I forced myself through the pain in my left leg and made my way into the elevator.

When I got back to the apartment, I signed the divorce papers and placed my wedding ring on the

final page.

I packed only a few clothes, my passport, my documents, and my painkillers.

At 11:40 that night, I boarded a flight to Toronto.

The plane was taxiing towards the runway when Adrian finally sent me a message.

“Come back when you’ve got this tantrum out of your system.”

“Your parents were angry. They didn’t mean it. After all these years, they’re not really going to turn

you away.”

I didn’t reply.

I switched off my phone and removed the SIM card

They all thought I’d only left in a fit of anger.

Not one of them realised I truly had no intention of ever going back to that family.

The next morning, Adrian finally returned to the apartment.

He had expected to find me sitting in the living room, waiting for him like I always had.

Maybe my eyes would be swollen from crying.

Maybe I would demand to know why he had lied to me.

But in his mind, all he had to do was hold me and promise that Serena and Noah would never appear in front of me again, and eventually, I would stay.

After all, as far as he was concerned, I had no Bennett blood, no family influence of my own, and for the past five years, I had often needed to hold on to his arm just to get downstairs.

Where else could I possibly go?

But when he opened the door, the apartment was completely silent.

The flat shoes I wore most often were gone from beside the front door.

The signed divorce papers were sitting on the coffee table, with my wedding ring resting on the

final page.

Adrian stared at them for several seconds, and his expression hardened.

“Evelyn Bennett, have you quite finished with this nonsense?”

No one answered.

He searched every room before finally stopping in front of the wardrobe.

Most of my clothes were still there.

He seemed to relax slightly.

He took out his phone and sent me another message.

“You’re leaving all your clothes behind as well?”

“Come back and talk to me. We can forget yesterday ever happened.”

The messages wouldn’t go through.

Only then did Adrian’s hand go still.

He pulled open the bedside drawer.

My passport was gone.

So were my documents and the painkillers I regularly took.

The only thing left was a blister pack of expired pills.

The back of the packaging was covered in dates.

Every single one marked a day Adrian had promised to come with me to a follow–up appointment,

only to cancel at the last minute.

Once, he told me there was an emergency family council meeting

In reality, he had been in Montreal celebrating Noah’s first birthday.

Another time, he claimed his father had suddenly fallen ill.

But in the photos, Adrian was holding Noah in the show at Mont–Tremblant, building a snowman

with him.

He had never really looked at those dates before.

Every time he came home, I told him the doctor said my recovery was going reasonably well.

And Adrian had simply believed me.

His phone suddenly rang.

It wasn’t me.

It was my lawyer.

“Mr Moretti, Ms Bennett has asked me to deal with the divorce. She won’t meet you in private, and

she neither needs nor wants your protection.”

Adrian objected at once.

“She can’t cope on her own, not with her leg.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“She travelled to Toronto on her own yesterday and managed perfectly well. She has an injured leg. Mr Moretti. She’s perfectly capable of living independently.”

The call ended

Adrian stood in the bedroom for a long time

Before long, Noah’s laughter came from outside

Serena entered the apartment with Noah and my parents

Several movers followed behind them with their luggage

Mum soled

‘Evelyn’s only cross Let Serena and Noah stay here for now. Once Evelyn comes back and sees

we’ve kept a place for her, she’ll come round

Holding Noah in her arms, Serena headed towards the nursery.

“Noah’s always wanted to see the room Daddy got ready for him.”

The moment her hand touched the doorknob, Adrian abruptly pressed a hand against the door,

stopping her.

The crib I had chosen myself was still inside that room.

Faded star stickers still clung to the walls.