The Faded Past Cannot Be Chased

Bella cautiously shifted her gaze toward me.

But I saw right through the look in her eyes, concealed beneath was smugness and provocation.

Caelan shot me a cold glance and said indifferently, “Ignore her. She’ll never have a say in my affairs.”

If this had been in the past, I would’ve lost my temper, argued with him, reminded him of the child at home and told him not to be so disgraceful.

But now, I merely smiled faintly and asked him, “You’re right. It’s your first time visiting the girl’s family, do you know what to bring? Do you need me to help you prepare anything?”

My response clearly caught him off guard. Caelan’s face darkened visibly and he gritted his teeth as he spat, “Jane, how shameless can you be? You really had the nerve to ask that?”

Any other wife, faced with something like this, would’ve caused a huge scene.

Only I remained calm from beginning to end.

“Caelan, I actually think Jane makes a good point. It’s your first time visiting my family. I don’t want them to make things difficult for you,”

Bella pouted and whined playfully. Caelan couldn’t resist and he helplessly pinched her cheek, then turned to me with a cold face and said, “Fine. Since you’re so eager, I’ll leave it to you.”

I chuckled softly and nodded.

After all, with their happy union approaching, it would make it easier for me to get a divorce.

The only problem was I had never prepared gifts of this sort before.

Once I started looking into it, I realized how much of a headache it actually was.

As I stared at the suggestions online, my gaze became unfocused for a moment.

I couldn’t help but think back to three years ago.

Back then, my mother, as my only family, had just been diagnosed with severe kidney failure. I had no money, so I worked every odd job I could find to pay for her treatment.

One time, I was working at a hotel and happened to encounter Caelan, who had clearly been drugged.

I originally wanted to call an ambulance and get him to the hospital. But instead, he pulled me into the room.

I struggled and fought back with everything I had, but I still couldn’t escape.

I had thought about calling the police, reporting him. But before I could report him to the police, his mother showed up.

She said that if I agreed to marry Caelan, she would cover all of my mother’s medical expenses, including future treatments.

And if I gave birth to a child, she’d give me 150 thousand dollars with no upper limit.

At first, I thought it was an absurd and ridiculous offer. But not long after, I found out I was pregnant.

In the end, I couldn’t resist the overwhelming temptation. I agreed and signed the prenuptial agreement.

However, Caelan was completely against it. He shouted and raged, saying he’d rather pay me off and have me disappear.

My mother-in-law was furious and kept pressuring him until he finally agreed to marry me.

So when we got married, there was no ceremony, no warmth at all. And even when my mother relapsed and eventually passed away, he never once went to see her.

Thinking about the past made my mind drift, my expression momentarily distant.

But the sound at the door quickly pulled me back.

By the time I came to, Caelan was already standing in front of me, his face dark and stormy.

He clearly wasn’t in a good mood, his whole body radiated a cold, oppressive anger. Especially when he saw the search bar on the computer screen.

I thought he was upset because the gifts I’d chosen looked cheap and might embarrass him. So I softly said, “If you think these things are too low-class, I can choose something else…”

Before I could finish my sentence, I was suddenly yanked to my feet.

His grip tightened painfully around my slender wrist and I couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath from the pain.

“Jane, what the hell are you thinking?” he snapped. “Bella is already at my parents house bonding with Theo and you’re here worrying about other things? Do you even realize that Theo is already calling her ‘Mom’?”

Hearing that, I felt no ripple in my heart.

After our divorce, it was no surprise that he would marry Bella. She had every reason to bond with Theo early on and there was nothing wrong with that.