Chapter 173: Chapter 173: I Will Make the World Despise You
Summer Lancaster didn’t rush to tidy up the room. Instead, she lay down on the bed, drew the curtains, and slept in the sunless dark until evening. When she woke up, there was a message on her phone—a termination notice. "Due to excessive absences, the company has, after deliberation, decided to terminate your position." ’What a ridiculous reason,’ Summer Lancaster thought. She tossed her phone aside and fell back onto the bed. ’Excessive absences? They should have just written, "The President doesn’t like you, so you’re fired!" That would have been more honest!’
He was an emperor at the pinnacle of the world, someone who never had to consider anyone else’s feelings. As long as he willed it, someone would carry it out for him. Right now, she was like prey waiting to be captured. Or rather, she was already in his cage, with no control over her own fate.
Her fate was not her own.
Summer Lancaster slept until the early hours of the morning. In all that time, she hadn’t eaten a single bite or drunk a single drop of water, but she felt neither hunger nor any discomfort.
Once a person becomes numb, all physical sensations gradually fade away. But in the end, nothing can withstand the torment of time.
When she was lucid, she felt grateful that she was still truly alive in this world. But the sad part was that the world was too deceitful; once your heart was pierced, you no longer wanted to believe.
Summer Lancaster got up and turned on every light in the house. Then she took out her meager luggage, wiped down the closet, and neatly arranged her clothes inside. Hazy memories seemed to flood her mind again. Before, her clothes had always been kept with his. Back then, she never felt like she had too few clothes, because his alone were enough to fill the closet. But now, with only her own clothes, there were so, so few—at least for a woman!
She then cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room. She scrubbed every corner until it was spotless. She didn’t dare to stop, so she just kept wiping, afraid that if she paused, she would start thinking about those things again and get trapped in a dead end from which she could never escape.
At some point, her phone had automatically shut down, but Summer Lancaster didn’t care. She had no one she needed to contact anyway.
By morning, Summer Lancaster felt no fatigue at all. She sat on the sofa with a vacant look in her eyes and closed them. ’Could this all just be a nightmare?’ she thought. ’Nightmares always end. If this were a dream, she would forgive Kenneth Yates for everything he’d done. Oh, if only this were a dream!’
Her eyes snapped open. Everything before her was unfamiliar. An unfamiliar scent filled the air around her, starkly proving just how foolish her thoughts were. The dream was over. This was reality!
Summer Lancaster picked up her phone from the bed, as lonely as she was, and pressed the power button, but the screen didn’t light up. Only then did she remember that the battery had been low since yesterday. She took out the charger and plugged it in.
’Now that I’m jobless, I still have to survive.’ Summer Lancaster took out her laptop, went to a job recruitment website, and decided to find a new job. The entertainment headline popped up on her computer. The man who had hurt her yesterday was in the news again. Someone had published those photos. Summer Lancaster only gave it a cursory glance. ’I need to learn to ignore things that have nothing to do with me from now on.’
Summer Lancaster found many companies and submitted numerous resumes. With her qualifications and work experience, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a stable job. When Summer Lancaster turned her phone on, she discovered she had many missed calls, all from Serena Monroe. It must be something urgent, so Summer immediately called her back.
When Serena Monroe saw Summer Lancaster’s name flashing on her phone, she was so overjoyed that she cried out, causing her staff to look over at her. But she didn’t care.
"Where were you yesterday? I kept calling, but it wouldn’t go through!" Serena Monroe’s lips curled into a smirk as she crossed her legs. Her gaze swept over everyone in the room, and they quickly looked away. After all, she was the director.
"Sorry about that. My phone died yesterday, and I only just realized it this morning." Summer Lancaster gave a bitter smile. ’No matter what, your friends will always be by your side, won’t they? But a lover will leave sooner or later, whether it’s because the love is gone or for some other reason.’
"Do you know what rumors were flying around the office yesterday? Out of thin air, everyone started saying you were dumped by President Yates, and they were describing it in vivid detail! You need to come back and shut them up. It’ll stop them from buzzing in my ear like flies all day. It’s so annoying!" Serena Monroe was upset. She had stood up for Summer Lancaster, but people always argued with her and even ridiculed her. It was time they got a taste of their own medicine.
Summer Lancaster’s smile froze on her face. She had expected the news to spread, given how pathetic and flustered she had looked yesterday, but she hadn’t thought it would be this fast. She opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. She closed it again, trying to organize her thoughts.
"It’s... all true!"
"What?!" Serena Monroe shot to her feet, shouting. As she put her legs down, she accidentally knocked over her coffee, but she paid it no mind.
Summer Lancaster felt that since it was already a fact, there was no need to make a big fuss. She should try her best to act like nothing was wrong, to be as detached as possible. She didn’t want anyone’s pity, nor did she want to become a laughingstock.
’What’s lost is lost. If it could have been salvaged, things wouldn’t have ended up like this.’
"Why are you so surprised?" Summer Lancaster’s laugh came through the phone, but Serena Monroe could hear the sorrow and helplessness in it. ’She can’t even manage a real laugh, so why is she pretending to be fine?’
’The sound of her laugh was worse than crying!’
"Didn’t you say it yourself? Being a wealthy man’s wife isn’t easy. I’m just another case study—a failed one!" Summer Lancaster said lightly, as if it hadn’t happened to her at all.
"You don’t have to pretend to be strong with me. You obviously want to cry, you want to complain to someone, you want to say what you’re really feeling! No matter how nonchalant you act, you can’t hide the loneliness in your voice. Summer, talk to me. What exactly happened?" Serena Monroe’s eyes dimmed as she sat back down and swiveled her chair 180 degrees to face the sky.
Now she understood how unpredictable life was. A couple who was showing off their love just yesterday could fall apart over something today.
Summer Lancaster’s smile gradually contorted, her lips twisting as she began to sob. "I don’t know... what he found out. I just had one meal with Caleb Bell, and he just... blew up. He said he wants a divorce, and he insulted me so horribly... I think... I think we’re over..." A tear fell, tracing a path down her cheek to her chin, where it lingered for a long moment before dropping with a soft SPLAT onto her lap.
Serena Monroe frowned. "I don’t really get the affairs of the rich and powerful, but don’t be too sad. President Yates is all over the entertainment news again today. Maybe he’s just had a change of heart. Wasn’t he always changing women before? There are plenty of good men in the world. Him breaking up with you is his biggest loss. You’ll find someone better. Believe me, Summer. You’re such a good person; God will definitely look out for you."
"You always know what to say. I’ll take your good wishes to heart. I’ll leave the past behind and build a better future. Aren’t you busy with work? You should get back to it. I’m an unemployed bum now. No one’s supporting me, so I have to go find a job." Summer Lancaster wiped away her tears and let out a couple of laughs.
"Okay, okay. As long as you’re all right. Just remember to keep your phone on. I’ll call you!"
"Got it!"
Summer Lancaster hung up and lay on the bed, at a complete loss. She was nowhere near as strong as she appeared on the surface. How could she just let go of a love that was carved into her very bones? Summer Lancaster raised her right hand. The sparkling diamond ring was still on her ring finger. The scene of him proposing to her that day flashed before her eyes—so close it seemed she could touch it, but the moment she reached out, it would shatter like a reflection in water, rippling into nothingness.
The phone started buzzing again. Summer Lancaster picked it up, and the name on the screen—Kenneth Yates—dazzled her eyes. While she was hesitating whether to answer, she accidentally hit the accept button. Unprepared to face him, Summer Lancaster panicked.
Even now, if he said just one word telling her to come back, she would pack her bags and return to the Veridian Community without a second thought. She still clung to that fantasy. But this phone call would shatter it completely.
"Summer Lancaster!" A voice, utterly devoid of warmth, came through the receiver. "I never thought you could be so despicable. Are you trying to mislead the public now? Let me tell you, it’s useless. Even if you release photos to make the public think I’m the one who cheated, do you think your own actions can be hidden so well? I will expose you. I’ll make everyone despise you. The betrayer in a wealthy family—their sins are remembered by the world forever."
CLICK! Before Summer Lancaster could even react, Kenneth Yates had hung up, giving her no chance to argue.
Summer Lancaster remained frozen in that position for a long time, fresh tears of bewilderment streaming down her face. ’Does he think I’m the one who released those photos online? That my goal was to smear his name, so that if we divorce, he’ll be seen as the cheater, and I’ll be blameless??’
’How could he think that? I would never do something like that! At first, I thought he had released them himself to pressure me into a quick divorce. Now, there’s not a shred of trust left between us.’
Summer Lancaster gave a bitter laugh. From the moment he’d said those words, perhaps nothing was left of his feelings for her but resentment.
’It’s time to go out and see the world that I haven’t been able to keep up with. Every single day is different, always changing... just like his heart.’ Summer Lancaster took off "Heart’s Desire" and placed it on the nightstand. There was no "heart’s desire" left now, so the ring’s meaning had vanished. Even its radiance seemed to have dimmed.
’I should find a clear, sunny day to return the ring to him. Just like that sunny day when she gave him the champagne roses. I wonder if there will ever be a sky like that again, a scene like that again, or people like that again.’
If there were, she would rather be a spectator. Whether it was happiness or sorrow, she would just watch quietly from the sidelines, unwilling to take part. The wounds in her heart would probably never let her return to that innocent time, to that state of mind.
The ring lay there, lonely. It no longer represented sweetness and happiness, but something abandoned, destined to remain that way until the end of time.
