My Family Made a Group Chat Without Me, I Rose Above Them Chapter 04

My Family Made a Group Chat Without Me, I Rose Above Them Chapter 04

I looked at him with a humorless smile.

“So you finally dropped the act?”

Impatient, Ethan slapped the divorce papers onto the table.

“This is the last time.”

My heart went frighteningly still.

I knew it was over.

I took out a pen and pushed it toward him.

“Sign.”

He didn’t take it. He let out a cold laugh.

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re only acting so fearless because you have Leo to fall back on.”

I said nothing and didn’t look at him.

I didn’t want either of them anymore, not him and not my son.

The next day, I went to the office to resign. My belongings were scattered across the hallway.

My notebook, my mug, the pothos I’d kept alive for three years. Footprints marked the folders.

The receptionist was huddled in a corner, afraid to look at me.

Behind the glass wall, Sophie was sitting at my desk, surrounded by laughing coworkers. Someone called her “the boss’s wife.”

When she saw me, she stood and walked over.

“Sis, you’re here. Ethan said you didn’t want the job anymore, so I’m taking over for you.”

Just then, Mom and Ryan came in carrying lunch.

Sophie hurried over to take it from them.

“Food made by family is the only food that matters. Takeout is garbage.”

Standing in the hallway, I remembered something from years ago. Three days after my miscarriage, I came back to work. The clear chicken broth I’d ordered had onions and cilantro in it. The doctor had told me not to eat either.

I ate two bites, threw it away, and went hungry all afternoon.

That same day, Mom had asked in the group what soup Sophie wanted and simmered a whole pot to deliver to her apartment.

That was when Mom and Ryan finally noticed me.

Ryan’s face darkened.

“You ran off yesterday without warning. Who were you trying to punish by doing that?”

Mom sighed and walked over.

“Did you leave because we didn’t have anything you liked? Next time, just tell me what you want on the menu, and I’ll make it.”

Sophie looked down at the insulated bag in her hands, then walked over and held it out to me.

“Sis, you should eat this. I’ll order takeout later.”

Ryan frowned.

“Mom brought that for you.”

Sophie insisted on pressing it into my hands. Before my fingers touched the bag, she suddenly let go. The entire bowl of soup spilled over her, and hot broth ran down the front of her shirt.

She screamed.

Ethan happened to walk in at that moment. When he saw what had happened, he lunged at me from behind, shoved me away, and pulled Sophie into his arms.

The back of my head struck the corner of the table. My vision went black for a second as something warm ran down my neck.

Without even looking back, he carried Sophie toward the elevator.

Ryan chased after them. As he passed me, he spat,

“What is wrong with you? What did she ever do to you that you’d throw soup on her?”

Mom didn’t even turn around.

“If you’re angry, take it out on me. Why are you lashing out at her?”

I pushed myself upright against the table. Blood was still running from the back of my head, and my hand came away covered in it.

The coworkers around me lowered their heads and scattered. Someone clicked their tongue. Someone else whispered, “Serves her right.”

I went to my desk and opened my computer, planning to copy the core project files I’d spent a year and a half working on.

The folder was empty. The recycle bin had been emptied too.

Sophie hadn’t signed out of iMessage. A voice message popped up on the screen.

My finger hovered for a second before I tapped it.

Leo’s voice came through.

“Mom hurt Aunt Sophie this time. I’m never calling her Mom again.”

Then Ethan’s voice.

“She isn’t his mom in the first place.”

Then Ryan.

“After Nora miscarried and couldn’t get pregnant again, they used IVF. The egg came from Sophie.”

My fingers began to shake.

I gripped the mouse until my knuckles turned white.

No wonder Sophie always crouched down to whisper to Leo. No wonder Leo said, “Aunt Sophie is gentler than my real mom.” No wonder Ethan was always telling me to be more understanding of the child.

They’d been paving the way all along, turning Sophie into Leo’s biological mother and me into the woman who “wasn’t his mother in the first place.”

I was the replacement.

The young receptionist walked over carrying a cardboard box and set it carefully by my feet.

“Nora… HR said your resignation has already been processed. You don’t need to sign anything.”

I glanced down at the box. The pothos tilted crookedly inside it, its broken leaves drooping over the edge.

I bent down to straighten it. Blood from the back of my head fell onto the cardboard, spreading into a small dark stain.

I carried the box out.

The sun was glaring, and the reflection off the glass curtain wall stabbed at my eyes. I stood in that white glare, cold all over.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I’d had saved for a long time.

“I accept the overseas position. I’m joining you.”