Trick Him Into Divorce, Then Flee With His Unknow Kid

Chapter 111: Chapter 111 The Empty Wall of Seven Years

Rose understood.

Between the lines, the message was clear.

She was the ungrateful one.

A cold, humorless laugh escaped her lips.

She didn’t touch the water, nor did she intend to argue with Martha.

There was no point debating with someone who refused to see reason. All it would accomplish was draining her energy and wearing down her patience.

"I’ll unpack my things myself," she said. "You don’t need to worry about it."

She understood the situation perfectly.

Now that Margaret had forcibly moved her back today, there was no way she would be allowed to make a scene and leave again.

If she openly resisted, word would immediately reach Margaret.

That would only provoke her further and give her another excuse to threaten revoking the divorce.

There was no need for direct confrontation.

Some problems were better handled indirectly.

Seeing that Rose wasn’t resisting or insisting on leaving, Martha smiled in relief.

"I’ll have someone carry your things upstairs. You can unpack at your own pace."

She had clearly been worried Rose would refuse.

Turning around, Martha instructed the movers, "Take everything to the master bedroom."

Rose understood the implication and chose not to comment.

Martha was making sure she stayed in the master bedroom.

But even if Margaret could force her back into the villa, could she really monitor what happened between husband and wife twenty-four hours a day?

The movers carried the boxes upstairs.

Rose suddenly asked, "What’s Ryan’s new number?"

A flicker of sadness crossed Martha’s face.

For a married couple not to even know each other’s phone numbers...

It was rare for a marriage to deteriorate this badly after seven years.

Fortunately, Martha did know the number.

Rose sat down in the living room and dialed it.

No matter what, she needed Ryan to return and deal with this situation.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

This time, the call connected.

Someone answered. "Who is this? Ryan is still resting."

Samantha’s voice drifted through the phone, carrying an unmistakable note of satisfaction.

Clearly, the two of them had been together the entire time.

Rose fell silent.

It was only a little after nine in the morning.

Since when had Ryan started sleeping in?

No matter how late he’d gone to bed in the past—even on the rare nights they had been intimate—he always woke up at 5:50 a.m. sharp and exercised for an hour.

He had never slept in when he was with her.

Apparently, when the person beside him was someone he truly cared about, even Ryan would indulge in lingering mornings.

He had even made an exception and allowed Samantha access to his phone.

A trace of sarcasm flashed through Rose’s eyes.

Yet when she spoke, her tone was calm and detached.

"Please tell Ryan to come back as soon as possible. I need to discuss something with him."

The moment Samantha recognized her voice, she didn’t respond.

Instead, she simply hung up.

The entitlement was almost impressive.

Anyone who didn’t know the situation might assume Samantha was the lawful wife while Rose was some clingy mistress refusing to let go.

Rose couldn’t care less whether Samantha passed along the message.

All she could do was go upstairs and begin unpacking.

At least for now, she couldn’t leave.

Until the divorce certificate was safely in her hands, she had to keep a low profile.

It was obvious that Martha was Margaret’s informant.

So Rose didn’t push her luck.

She returned to the master bedroom she had occupied for seven years.

After being away for so long, the room felt strangely unfamiliar.

The bedroom was enormous.

One entire wall had been designed as a custom photo display.

Over seven years, Rose had carefully filled every inch of it.

Wedding photos.

Pictures of Ryan.

Photos of herself.

Memories she had collected one by one.

But now...

Only a handful remained.

The wedding photos had been burned by Mike.

She already knew that.

And all the photos of herself had disappeared as well.

Most likely, Ryan had taken them down and thrown them away.

Surprisingly, she wasn’t shocked.

The day Mike burned the wedding photos and Ryan remained indifferent, she had already realized how insignificant she was in his life.

Still...

That wall represented seven years of hope.

Seven years of effort.

Seven years spent building a future she had believed in.

Rose stood there for a long time, staring at the empty spaces where her photographs had once hung.

Eventually, she drew a silent breath and turned away.

She unpacked only the essentials.

Nothing more.

She intended to leave at a moment’s notice once the divorce was finalized.

This place had long since stopped feeling like home.

She refused to remain a bird trapped in a gilded cage.

Sooner or later, she would fly away from this past.

Away from the prison her younger self had built in the name of love.

*****

Rose thought about the situation for a long time.

She had no intention of letting others dictate her future.

There had to be another solution.

As long as she could prevent Margaret from revoking the divorce, she would still have room to maneuver.

She removed all the important documents from her bag and locked them securely inside her suitcase.

On the way, Diana called.

After hearing the explanation, Diana exploded.

"Isn’t this basically coercion?" She was furious.

"They’re taking advantage of the fact that you don’t have powerful relatives backing you up!"

To put it bluntly, the Knight family looked down on Rose.

They viewed her as someone caught in the middle.

Too insignificant to be taken seriously.

Too powerless to resist.

Her mother had been lying unconscious in a hospital bed for over a decade.

Her grandfather was elderly.

If Rose came from an influential family, would the Knights dare treat her this way?

Rose understood that reality.

But people couldn’t choose the families they were born into.

She didn’t feel ashamed of her family.

Her mother loved her.

Her grandfather loved her.

That was enough.

As for her career...

Diana continued, "G.S. Pharmaceuticals is about to go public."

She counted on her fingers. "You’ve also secured funding for your surgical robot project."

"And once you join the National Center for Biomedical Innovation and obtain an official government position, things will be completely different."

She leaned forward. "Then there’s Ariel’s custody."

"Once that’s settled, you can finally reveal your identity as Aster."

At the mention of that name, Diana’s eyes lit up.

The name Aster carried enormous prestige within the medical community.

To countless students, it was synonymous with genius.

Back then, Rose had nearly entered the National Academy of Medical Sciences.

She had always been regarded as one of the country’s most promising young researchers.

Once that identity became public, even the Knight family would have to think twice before crossing her.

Rose nodded. "For now, Ariel was born under the identity of Aster."

She lowered her eyes. "It isn’t convenient to reveal it publicly yet."

A faint smile appeared on her lips. "But once I get the divorce certificate, there’ll be no reason to hide anymore."

That day would come.

Soon.

And when it did, she would never again allow herself to be controlled by anyone.

Returning to Moon lake Villa was only a temporary compromise.

Nothing more.

*****

That evening, Rose took a shower.

Spring had arrived, and the temperature had already climbed close to seventy degrees Fahrenheit.

Wearing only a lightweight nightgown, she stepped outside.

She wanted to check on the crabapple trees she had planted years ago.

Moon lake Villa had been designed in the style of a European estate.

The grounds were expansive, divided into several private courtyards.

The courtyard connected to the master suite was relatively secluded.

The other courtyards housed Ryan’s private office buildings, where senior executives occasionally gathered for meetings.

The areas were intentionally separated to ensure privacy.

After stepping into the garden, Rose instinctively looked toward the center courtyard.

The last time she had stood there, wedding photos had been burning in the fire pit.

Her gaze lingered.

Just as she pulled her robe tighter around herself, the sound of an approaching engine echoed through the quiet evening.

Rose turned.

A car had entered the estate.

Moments later, she saw a man and a woman walking side by side beneath the garden lights.

Their voices were low.

Intimate.

As though they were sharing secrets meant only for each other.