Chapter 39 After the Divorce, Strangers Once More
"All right, lass, since you've made up your mind, Xavier respects your choice."
Xavier extended a trembling hand and pointed to a cabinet not far away. "Bottom drawer on the right—there's a safe in there. Fetch it for me."
"Okay." Jessica walked over, carefully extracted the safe from the cabinet, and carried it to Xavier.
"Do you remember the combination, Xavier?"
"It's Grandma's birthday," Xavier answered.
"Grandma?" Jessica felt unfamiliar with the term; that memory was a blank for her. She had joined The Walton Family after Grandma had already passed away from illness.
"Gabriel will remember it. Go have him open it," Xavier's aged voice reminded.
"Okay, thank you, Xavier." With the safe in her arms and a heart full of unease, Jessica stepped out the door.
It was deserted outside. It seemed Gabriel had already left. Just as Jessica was about to call him, a wave of nausea swept over her.
After throwing up, she felt utterly drained, barely able to muster any strength at all. Clutching the safe, she staggered back to her room and collapsed on the sofa. She took out her phone and dialed Gabriel’s number, but the line was busy.
She put the phone down, staring blankly at the safe before her when a shameful thought suddenly crossed her mind.
What if...? What if she told Gabriel that Xavier didn't agree to their divorce? Or if she claimed she hadn't gotten the documents—wouldn't that mean they wouldn't have to divorce?
If Diana, in a fit of rage, left this place... Wouldn't he and she be able to return to the past, to the time when no one intruded on their moments together? And when the baby was born, wouldn't they become the happiest family of three?
It was at this moment that the door suddenly opened. Jessica quickly hid the safe behind her. Gabriel, dressed sharply in a suit, walked over and stood before her.
"Are you finished talking?" he asked, his voice deep and devoid of any inflection.
Jessica caught the smell of smoke on him and involuntarily frowned. "Did you smoke?"
"Yeah, just a bit. How did it go with Xavier, did he agree?" Gabriel asked.
"No." She shook her head almost reflexively.
"I'll talk to Xavier." Gabriel turned to head to Xavier’s room.
“Hold on.” Jessica stopped him. “Do you regret marrying me?”
"No regrets," he replied coolly, his tone as even as it always was. "It was the right choice at the time."
But his eyes told a different story, deep and still like a secluded pond. Jessica felt like she could never truly see through him.
“After the divorce, can we still see each other, maybe grab a meal together, be like old friends?” she asked earnestly, gazing into his eyes.
Gabriel reached out, softly tousling her hair. “What’s with all these worries? Just because we’re no longer husband and wife doesn't change that you're still Xavier's cherished granddaughter, you're always going to be part of the Walton family.”
“The Walton family?” she asked, bewildered.
“Yeah. Xavier intended to take you in as his granddaughter, but then you married me, becoming his granddaughter-in-law. Divorce won’t stop us from sharing a table at family gatherings, or from chatting. As for friends…” He hesitated, then continued, “I can't see you just as a friend.”
Jessica's heart clenched, only to hear him add, “Think of yourself more like a sister, someone I can look out for and protect.”
A sister? Huh…
Not in a million years had Jessica imagined that after two years of marriage, what she’d end up with was a “sister” title.
Cruel irony - that's what it felt like. Gabriel, this is cold-hearted.
She never desired to be just any friend of his, and she loathed this so-called “sister” label. The thought was ludicrous, utterly ironic.
“There’s no need, Gabriel. After the divorce, I hope it’s as if we’ve never met. Next time we cross paths, let’s be strangers,” Jessica managed to say, biting back a searing pain in her chest.
To her, being a stranger was far better than any “sister.” As for friends, she couldn’t be less interested.
One simply cannot be friends with someone they’ve truly loved.
“Do we have to be this cold-hearted, Jessica? Even if we divorce, you're still Xavier's beloved granddaughter,” Gabriel said, his eyebrows knitting together in concern.
Jessica chuckled, “As you said, that's between me and Xavier. I'll handle it separately. Of course, I’ll always be his granddaughter, but you and I are done.”
“As for being a sister, forget it. If I were Diana, I wouldn’t want my ex-wife playing the sister role either.” With that, Jessica pulled out a suitcase with a combination lock from behind her and handed it to Gabriel.
“What’s this?” he asked.
"Xavier didn't quite agree, but he respected my decision. All our documents are in that safe, and Xavier mentioned the combination is Grandma's birthday. You know the answer," she said.
Gabriel took the safe, his mood visibly sinking. Grandma's birthday—how could he forget? It was the day she passed, which also happened to be her celebration of life.
To him, Xavier's grandmother embodied devotion, a lifetime of love. Together with her husband, a united front at any function, especially in their later years when her health started to wane, Xavier never let go of her hand.
As a young man, Xavier built his empire from scratch, and she was right there with him, through the rigorous dawn-to-dusk grind.
Eventually, the fruits of their labor ripened; their lives took a turn for the better.
But their comfort was short-lived; soon she was diagnosed with a myriad of illnesses, some chronic, all of them agonizing.
As a child, he often heard Xavier warn, "Behave yourself with Granny, don’t you dare upset her, or there’ll be hell to pay."
That threat was real.
He remembered once, overwhelmed with exhaustion, he dozed off on her lap for hours on a rainy day when her rheumatism flared up, causing her unbearable pain. But to avoid disturbing his sleep, she silently endured for hours.
For an entire month afterward, her legs hurt her, moaning through the nights unable to find rest. Xavier’s punishment the next day was severe; he stood for a whole day with no food. It was the first time he experienced such discipline from Xavier. No one dared intervene until Grandma found out, and got angry, and that put an end to it.
Back then, he was too young to understand. But now, he fully grasped the depth of his grandmother’s love, yet she had long since departed.
Seeing Gabriel's eyes rimmed red, Jessica expressed her concern. "What’s wrong? I've never heard you mention Grandma before. Is something bothering you?"
"We avoid talking about her to spare Xavier the pain, so no one in the family brings it up," he replied.
With that, Jessica didn't dare to ask further.
Glancing at the safe, she inquired, "Do you remember the code, then? If you do, go ahead and open it!"
