Chasing After My Beloved Wife novel Chapter 38

"What's there to say? She has been holding me back for more than three years. Do you want her to continue wasting my time?"

Joye pursed her lips when she heard Shawn’s casual tone. The tears in her eyes threatened to fall, but she blinked hard to hold them back.

“Just bear with it for ten more days, then. I wish you happiness,” She managed eventually. Then, she turned to Baird and said, “Grandpa, I have something else to do, so I'll go first."

She turned around and strode away the moment before her tears fell but sensed something ice-cold hitting the back of her hand.

"B

stard!"

Upon seeing Joye leaving, Baird raised his cane and hit Shawn’s thigh viciously. "Shawn, sooner or later you’ll regret this!"

"Dad, why don’t you understand? Joye’s determined to divorce Shawn, so why did you hit him? In my opinion, we should approve of the divorce!"

Xaria pulled Shawn toward her protectively. She thought grimly, “I don’t care if Joye wants a divorce or not, but she can never take the Richard Group's shares away!”

"I'm going to beat this brat!"

Baird struck Shawn with his cane again, but Shawn was unmoving, his cold face and thin lips tensing. “She’s the one determined to divorce me, so why would I regret it?”

Suddenly, Shawn’s phone rang in his pocket, and Baird stopped. "Is it Joye?"

Shawn answered the call, and before he could speak, Dalton's childish voice came from the speakers. "Dad, I miss you so much. When will you come back to see me?"

Everyone's face fell upon hearing Dalton’s voice. Shawn turn to look at the red-eyed Baird, and the corner of his mouth quirked as he replied, "I’ll be back soon."

"You bastard! I'll beat you to death!"

Baird was furious. He swung his cane down on Shawn once again, but the latter grabbed it at once. "She’s the one who wants a divorce, so she should be the one who’ll regret it!"

With a straight face, he turned around and walked out of the villa, ignoring Baird.

……

"Mom, will Dad really come to see me after I call him? Will he really not abandon me?"

Meanwhile, in the villa, Dalton hugged the huge toy bear he got from Shawn, as he looked up and asked Vivian with uncertainty.

With a smile, Vivian pulled him into her arms and gently stroked the soft hair on the top of his head. "Be a good boy, Dalton. How could Dad not want you? Trust me, he’ll come back."

"But I haven't seen Dad for more than a day already. And it was so noisy on the phone just now. Is Dad fighting with someone?"

Dalton frowned and began doubting Shawn as a good example to him. He thought in confusion, “My teacher said that a child who fights is bad. But Dad fought with someone, so is he a bad person?”

The smile on the corners of Vivian's lips deepened as if she had already anticipated the reaction of the Richard family. She sneered, “It seems like Baird is still protecting Joye as usual.”

However, she was no longer the woman she was three years ago. This time, no one could stop her from getting what she wanted.

"Mom, when Dad comes back, can we tell him not to fight again?"

Dalton’s voice pulled Vivian back to reality, and she smiled and kissed his soft little face. "Dalton, tell me, are you happy to have Dad beside you?"

"Yes, I'm happy. As long as I see him every day, I’ll feel very happy."

Dalton was only a child, after all. The troubles he had earlier immediately disappeared, and there was a joyful glint in his eyes.

"That's right. We will be happy as long as he’s with us. So you and I must do our best to secure this happiness, no matter what it takes. Understand?"

Dalton tilted his little head. Although he did not quite understand Vivian, he still nodded heavily. "I’ll definitely make Dad stay with you and me forever."

"You’re such a good boy, Dalton."

A gentle smile appeared on Vivian’s face again, but this time, there was a gloomy coldness in her eyes and she gloated, “Joye, although the place you held in Shawn's heart is more significant than I expected, it doesn't matter. Eventually, I’ll force you to a dead end.”

Shawn drove his Rolls-Royce very slowly. It was as if he was reluctant to return to Vivian and Dalton’s side.

Turning off the car engine, he lifted his head and stared at the villa not far away. Instead of going in, he stayed in the car. He rolled down the window and lit a cigarette but did not smoke. He waited until the cigarette burned down completely.

One by one, the lights in the villa went out as the night grew darker and darker. Finally, he got out of the car.

He gently pushed the door open and noticed the wall light in the living room was still on. Vivian sat quietly on the sofa as if waiting for her lover to come home. When she heard the noise, she turned her head and stood up. "I was worried that you would never come in."

Shawn was stunned for a moment. Then, he looked up at the closed door upstairs and asked, "Is Dalton asleep?"

"He could not hold on anymore, so he fell asleep. He even reminded me to tell him when you come back while he was half-asleep."

"Shawn, have Dalton and I have made things difficult for you? I have already called the media companies to clarify that everything is just a huge misunderstanding and requested them to remove all the related news reports. As long as you’re willing, I’ll leave with Dalton. I’ll completely erase our traces, and we’ll never interfere with your life anymore."

"Stop thinking nonsense. I’ll handle everything." Shawn took a deep breath and slightly frowned. "I'll go check on Dalton first."

Shawn went upstairs and turned on the table lamp on the bedstand. At that moment, a soft light illuminated the dark bedroom. Dalton was sleeping soundly on the small bed with his tiny face buried in his little hands, his mouth slightly opened.

His cute appearance immediately dispelled the frustration in Shawn's heart. Shawn sat down by the bed and caressed his soft little face with his slender fingers. "I'm sorry for making you wait for so long."

Dalton turned over and kicked the quilt aside, then continued to sleep.

Shawn gently wiped the sweat off Dalton’s temples, and a soft strand of hair stuck to his finger during the process. He was about to throw it into the trash can, but he stopped himself.

Staring at the sleeping Dalton on the bed, he lowered his head and glanced at the strand of hair in his hand. There was a flash of hesitation in his eyes, and finally, he slipped the hair into his wallet.

At the same time, in the living room, Vivian was still sitting on the sofa in the same position as before but with a phone in her hand. She could see everything happening in Dalton's bedroom on the small screen.

A gentle smile appeared on her face. “Shawn, since you've decided to give up on Joye, I'll help you.”

She sneered, “Then, I'll take back my position from her.”

When Joye returned to the apartment, Janina, who was about to fall asleep, stood up from the sofa. "Why did you come back so late? Where were you? Joye, did you cry?"

Janina grabbed her arm and stared at Joye’s red-rimmed eyes in shock. "What's wrong with you? I know you, Joye. You don’t cry easily!"

"Janina, do you think marrying Shawn was a mistake from the very beginning?"

She loved him for so many years, and look what she got from her marriage of more than three years?

"What's wrong? What happened? Tell me. Your parents, Quill, and I will always support you no matter what."

Janina was confused, but she could tell that she must have missed something important.

After Janina mentioned her dead family, Joye completely broke down. She crouched on one side of the sofa, her trembling body curled up into a ball as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Janina, they are all gone. They are all gone!"

She had lost her closest kin, and soon, she would lose her husband, whom she had been longing for and in love with for many years.