He Took the Pain With Him When He Left Chapter 09

He Took the Pain With Him When He Left Chapter 09

Serena turned on Derek quickly.

She’d thought being the legal wife meant she’d get half of everything Derek owned. But Derek’s shares and properties were already collateral with the Vances. His remaining accounts were frozen.

She cornered me at the hospital, cursing.

“Vivian, how dare you take everything from Derek? I’m his legal wife. The baby I’m carrying is his legitimate child.”

I had security hold her back.

“If you love the title so much, keep it. His debts, the lawsuits, and the compensation that’s coming—you two can sort it all out together as husband and wife.”

Her face went pale.

She went to Derek, demanding he transfer whatever was left to her. Derek told his lawyer the marriage was just a punishment for losing a bet. He told the lawyers that the marriage had only been the price he paid for losing a bet—and that he’d never loved her.

Serena lost it.

To prove she wasn’t the mastermind, she handed over all their chat logs to the police. Not just the bets they’d made on me. It also contained Derek’s complete plan—from arranging the fake registration and forging the documents to using that fake marriage to win the Vance family’s trust.

She’d tried to save herself. Instead, she completed the last piece of

—

evidence.

On the day of the trial, Derek stared at me from across the courtroom.

The judge asked if he pleaded guilty. He said yes.

Before sentencing, he made one request.

“I want to say one more thing to Vivian.”

I didn’t walk over.

He called out from across the room: “Vivian, my only regret is making that bet with Serena three years ago.”

I looked at him calmly.

“You don’t regret hurting me. You regret losing too much.”

He opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

He was convicted of forging official documents, contract fraud, and deliberately concealing material facts. He was sentenced to prison.

Serena was also punished for her role in forging documents and spreading the video.

Leaving the courthouse, the sun was bright.

My father waited on the steps, holding Chuning. She’d been out of the hospital for months now. Her cheeks had finally filled out.

When she saw me, she waved and smiled.

I walked over and lifted her into my arms.

—

Behind me, the van carrying Derek drove away slowly. I didn’t look back.

A year later, Vance Group had fully restructured Hawthorne’s core businesses. Its first project provided legal aid to women who had suffered online harassment and privacy violations.

Someone asked me why I started it.

I looked down at Chuning in my arms.

“Because no one’s most humiliating moment should ever become someone else’s amusement.”

On Chuning’s first birthday, I received a letter from prison.

Derek wrote over ten pages. He said he dreamed every day of June 17th three years ago. In his dreams, he didn’t take Serena’s bet. He took my hand and walked into the real County Clerk’s Office.

He said he would spend the rest of his life making it up to me and our child.

I didn’t finish reading it.

I put the letter back in the envelope and gave it to my assistant to return.

Outside, Chuning was learning to walk, holding onto the railing. She fell on the carpet. She didn’t cry. She got back up.

I walked over and held out my hand.

—

Sunlight fell on us. Warm. Bright.

Derek had bet I wouldn’t find out about the fake certificate. He bet I wouldn’t leave. He bet that no matter what he did, I’d endure it all for the sake of our child and the title of Mrs. Hawthorne.

He won a lot of bets.

But the last one, I didn’t play.

And in the end, he lost me.

—

Chuning grabbed my hand and pulled herself up. She took two wobbly steps toward me, then three, then fell into my arms, laughing.

“Mommy!”

I scooped her up and spun her around. She giggled, her small hands clutching my hair.

“Again! Again!”

I spun her again, and the world blurred into gold and laughter.

My father stood nearby, watching us with a soft smile. “She has your stubbornness.”

“She has yours too, Dad.”

He laughed and walked over, wrapping an arm around both of us.

Later that night, after Chuning was asleep, I sat on the balcony with a cup of tea. The city lights stretched out before me, endless and bright.

My phone buzzed. A message from Elena Crawford.

[The investigation is complete. Derek’s money laundering network has been dismantled. Serena’s family is facing charges. You did it, Vivian.]

I smiled and put my phone down.

Three years ago, I thought my life was over.

But it wasn’t.

It was just beginning.