A Rainy Night Reunion at My Noodle Cart Chapter 04

A Rainy Night Reunion at My Noodle Cart Chapter 04

I got out of the car carefully, every movement slow and strained.

Ever since my hands and feet were injured, I’d been left with lasting damage, and I couldn’t do heavy work anymore.

On damp, rainy days, the pain seeped straight into my bones.

I dug out a fistful of small bills and coins and held it out to Cameron.

“Thanks for bringing me home,” I said. “This is the fare.”

Cameron stared at me, ice-cold.

“I’m walking you up,” he said.

I shook my head.

“Really, you don’t have to.”

He didn’t argue with me. He just snatched my bag out of my hand and headed upstairs first.

I let out a breath.

Fine, let him.

He just wanted to see how pathetic my life had gotten with his own eyes.

I didn’t care anymore.

After eight flights of stairs, I was panting when I finally unlocked the door.

Under the warm yellow light, a little body came flying at me.

“Mommy.”

I smiled and pinched my daughter’s cheek. “Hey, baby.”

The moment she saw Cameron, she shrank back and hid against my chest.

I stroked her hair and said, “It’s pouring outside, and this gentleman brought Mommy home.”

My daughter nodded, then carefully offered Cameron a handful of candy.

“Thank you, sir.”

Cameron took it with a complicated look, his gaze sliding to me as I hurried to pour water.

“Back on the stairs,” he said, voice tight, “I noticed you were kind of… limping?”

I set the hot water down in front of him with a bitter smile and didn’t answer.

Back then, when Lila nearly lost the baby, Cameron knelt outside her hospital room for a full seven hours, praying for her and for the child in her belly.

She made it, and the baby did too.

After that, Cameron hated me even more, and the way he looked at me turned sharp with suspicion and wariness.

And right then, one of the maids found a USB drive in my jewelry box.

It was filled with core business secrets from the Caldwell Group.

Cameron flew into a rage and slapped me hard across the face.

“You still haven’t hurt Lila enough,” he snarled. “Now you want to take down the Caldwell Group too?”

“Ava, you bitch.”

I covered my swollen cheek, and I couldn’t even force out a single word of defense.

It was a trick a child could see through, yet Cameron couldn’t.

I couldn’t even get near that stuff, so how could I have stolen it to sell?

Cameron finally snapped and filed for divorce, demanding I walk away with nothing.

The day I was thrown out of the Caldwell house, Lila brought people with her, tied me up, dragged me to the fifth floor, and shoved me off the landing with a laugh.

The drugs that forced the marriage, the lie about her almost miscarrying, even the USB drive—every bit of it was her doing.

“Big sis,” she said, smiling, “I’ll never forget how you called me the daughter of a homewrecker.”

“See that?” she said. “You’re pathetic. I played you like a toy, and you couldn’t do a damn thing about it.”

“For the rest of your life, you’ll lose to me.”

It wasn’t a fall high enough to kill me, but it shattered bones all over my body and left me with lasting damage.

A stranger with a kind heart called for help, and after months of recovery, I ended up in this city and built a quiet life.

Even now, I still couldn’t walk fast, and my hands sometimes shook without warning.

None of that mattered anymore.

There was no point dragging it back up.

I held my daughter and sat down, waiting for Cameron to leave on his own.

Instead, something complicated rose in his eyes.

“Come back with me,” he said.

He looked around my bare, shabby little place and spoke through clenched teeth.

“Lately I’ve been dreaming about your mom, and in those dreams she blames me for how I treated you.”

“Even if you’ve done so many things wrong, we grew up together, and I’ll take care of you.”

“But don’t even think about taking Lila’s place.”

I refused politely.

“No, thanks,” I said. “I’m happy with my life now. I’m broke, sure, but at least I don’t have to play games, and I don’t have to be hated.”

It was like I’d jabbed him in a raw nerve, because Cameron shot to his feet.

“So you’re blaming me?” he snapped.

I shook my head with a bleak little smile.

“How could I?” I said. “It’s all in the past. It’s late. You should go.”

Maybe my refusal set him off, because Cameron suddenly yanked my arm and dragged me toward the door.

“Come back with me!”

I clung to the doorframe, fighting with everything I had.

My daughter started wailing, terrified, and ran over to pound her fists against Cameron.

Cameron didn’t even flinch, just kept hauling at me like he’d lost his mind.

I cried as I begged him.

“Cameron, please, let me go,” I sobbed. “Stop coming here and messing with my life. I’m begging you.”

Just as my strength was about to give out, someone grabbed Cameron from behind and ripped him off me, slamming him to the floor.

A familiar voice roared with fury.

“You bastard! Let her go!”