Chapter 159 You Can't Outplay him
As they got to Norman's car, Aurelia still hadn't said if she was going to divorce or not. Norman hesitated, not pulling out the photo album like she asked.
Seeing his hesitation, Aurelia said, "Give me my mom's album."
Norman, hands on his hips, replied, "Tell me if you're divorcing him or not first. Your mom's gone, and I need to look out for you. I can't just watch your life was ruined. You should finalize the divorce tomorrow. Trust me. I'll find you a better guy!"
Aurelia looked at him, sweet-talking her into a divorce, pretending to be a caring dad. It was so ironic. Norman's most patient display of fatherly love was just to deceive her for his other daughter and steal a man form her!
Whether it was her dad or her husband, they both always chose Chelsea. Aurelia was used to feeling abandoned.
She always told herself that if she don't care, everything else was no big deal. She tried not to care, but the truth was, she did. She'd just become numb to it.
Facing Norman's coaxing, she thought about how Chelsea grew up surrounded by fatherly love, even getting help from him to chase a man. When Aurelia was young and asked to go to an amusement park as a family, Norman never took her. She yearned for fatherly love and envied classmates whose dads came to parent-teacher meetings. At school family sports events, only Brenda showed up.
Her classmates thought she didn't have a dad and came from a single-parent family. Sometimes, she wished she did, so she wouldn't have expectations and fewer disappointments. She wouldn't have to face the pain of being abandoned and blamed by the closest person to her.
Norman took out his phone to find the contact info of the "great guy" he mentioned. "Aurelia, unblock me, and I'll send you his contact. You two can chat online first. Young people need to meet several people to find the right one. You can't focused on just one man."
Aurelia, fed up, asked, "Can you give me the album first?"
Norman, being sly, knew Aurelia was only talking to him because of the photo album. He wasn't going to give it up easily; it was his bargaining chip.
"Aurelia, add this guy first. Dad needs to make sure you're settled," Norman insisted.
Aurelia, out of patience, still didn't want to unblock Norman. "Show me his QR code, and I'll scan it," she said.
Norman felt a bit embarrassed but quickly found the marketing manager's QR code and showed it to Aurelia.
She scanned it, and the acceptance was quick.
Norman smiled. "You two will get along well. This guy is reliable, talented, and quite outstanding in my company. Trust your dad's judgment. I won't harm my daughter. The one who wants to be Norman's son-in-law can't be an ordinary person!"
Aurelia had enough. "Do you have the album or not?" she asked.
Norman pursed his lips. "No rush. We've finally met, so I need to give you some advice. Promise me you'll handle the divorce with Nathaniel tomorrow."
He said it without giving anything away, like he genuinely cared about her happiness. It almost made Aurelia feel like she had someone on her side.
She glanced at the time, worried Reed might wake up and not find her there. She'd already been outside for over half an hour. If she didn't give Norman a clear answer today, he might not hand over the album.
"I promise! Now give me the album. I'm running out my time," Aurelia insisted.
Norman's eyes lit up with a smile. His eyes looked just like Chelsea's, which made her feel sick.
He opened the car door, finally pulling out the precious album and handing it to her. But before he did, he took out a photo of young Brenda and put it back in the car.
"Here you go! Remember to finalize the divorce tomorrow. If I hadn't hidden it in the car, Maria would have thrown it out. You should be thankful I had the foresight to keep it safe," Norman said.
Aurelia grabbed the album, clutching it tightly to her chest, afraid he might snatch it back.
As she walked back to the hospital, making sure Norman wasn't following, she opened the album with an excited heart and flipped through the pages.
She saw the boy again in the last few photos, slightly older now, with more defined features.
She studied the photo closely, feeling like she recognized the boy but couldn't quite place him.
Her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. She put the album aside and checked her phone. It was a message from the guy Norman had convinced her to add.
Gary: [Ms. Semona, how do you do? Mr. Thompson told me about your situation. Let me tell you about myself. I have a mortgaged house and a fully paid car in Imperick. My annual income is 60 thousand dollars. Both my parents are retired teachers and can help with raising children. In my free time, I like to visit the library and write. If you find my conditions acceptable, can we arrange a meeting?]
It was a long text followed by a photo.
Wearing rimless glasses, he looked like a refined man, just as Norman had described—handsome and friendly.
Aurelia realized she had unintentionally led someone on while she had only been pretending with Norman.
As she was about to reply, a voice behind her startled her, almost making her drop her phone.
"Do you like this type?" Nathaniel, who had appeared behind her at some point, had undoubtedly seen the chat.
Aurelia quickly put her phone awayin a flustere as if she had done something wrong.
Nathaniel's eyes were inscrutable. His throat rolled lightly, and with an air of authority, he warned, "This kind of man looks harmless but is actually scheming. He's full of evil intentions and has a terrifyingly deep mind. Marcus is an example. You can't outplay them; you won't even know when you've been fooled."
Aurelia clenched her fists. Now calm, she was no longer afraid of him. The marriage was over, and she was free to be friends with whoever she chose. He had no right to interfere.
"It's none of your business."
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
