CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35: TIMOTHY XAVIER BOUGHT BACK OUR TOKEN OF LOVE

Soon, Jenna dropped me off at The Xavier Manor. She was worried I’d suffer losses and wanted to go in with me.

But I was afraid she’d get dragged into my mess, so I insisted she head back, saying I could handle it myself.

Before leaving, she reminded me, "Make sure you call me later. If I don’t hear from you tonight, I’ll come storming in to save you!"

"Don’t worry."

I smiled at her and watched her leave.

Then, Nanny Lowell pushed me inside.

In the living room, Sophia was sitting on the couch.

When she saw me come in, she stood up and started walking toward me.

From her stance, it was clear she was ready to take out today’s frustrations on me.

Timothy stepped in to stop his mother, saying, "I’ve said this before—say whatever you want, but don’t get physical."

"This little bitch, if I don’t lay a hand on her, she’ll never learn the Xavier rules!"

Sophia was shaking all over, pointing at me as she spat, "She knew exactly what I am to Katherine Sheldon, yet had to embarrass me in front of her! The love token you gave her, she actually took it out and pawned it! All my life, I’ve never lost face like this! It’s because you’re too soft. If this were the old days, she’d be drowned in a pig cage in the river!"

Sophia kept cursing, every word coming from deep within, unmistakably sincere.

It made me understand, on an even deeper level, just how much she hated me.

Once, I’d tried countless times to swallow my grievances, just to repair things between us.

Now, I’m only glad I didn’t bother wasting the effort.

When Timothy heard his mother mention the "love token," his eyes grew dark with displeasure as he questioned me, "Why did you pawn that necklace? Give me a reason."

I wasn’t the least bit guilty. Frankly, I said, "My mom’s hospital was chasing up fees. I didn’t have the money to pay."

Timothy froze, like he hadn’t expected such a simple, perfunctory answer.

His voice dropped, "Why didn’t you ask me if you needed money?"

I pulled out my phone, searching for a while before I found the recording from the day I’d called him.

"I did want to ask you, but that day you were at Disney with your precious daughter. Serena and your mom answered the phone."

I kept it brief, then hit play on the recording.

Over the other end, Sophia’s reply from that day played back: "Treatment fees? That half-dead mother of yours? What’s the point? All the money Timothy spent over the years just went down the drain. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that on Serena and Doris, buying them clothes and jewelry?"

Listening, Timothy’s frown deepened.

And Sophia was clearly looking much less self-righteous than when she’d started.

When the recording finished, I asked flatly, "Anything else? If not, I’ll go back to my room. I’m a bit tired."

With that, I started rolling myself back toward my guest room in my wheelchair.

Sophia’s furious voice faded behind me: "Look at this little bitch—what kind of attitude is that? Timothy, stop dragging your feet. Divorce her soon, let her understand what she’s really worth without you!"

I curled my lips into a cold smile, half-hoping Timothy would just let Sophia have her way.

Once back in my room, I calmed myself, opened my laptop, and went back to updating my novel.

Not even an hour later, someone knocked on my door.

I quickly closed my laptop. "Come in."

Timothy pushed open the door. Looked like he’d already dealt with Sophia.

He pulled up a chair in front of me and sat down. "Sorry, things have been busy lately. I really did forget about your mother’s hospital bills."

I tugged at the corner of my mouth. "Mm. I get it."

He could hear how indifferent I sounded and frowned slightly. "But you have so much jewelry—couldn’t you have sold any other piece in an emergency? Why that jade necklace? You know what it means."

"Oh, I was in a rush and forgot."

I replied casually.

"Tomorrow’s our wedding anniversary. I’ll buy that necklace back for you."

He finished, his dark eyes resting on my face, enunciating each word: "Keep it well. Next time, don’t forget again."

I felt dazed a moment.

So, tomorrow is our fourth wedding anniversary.

His serious, focused expression almost looked like he truly cared about this so-called ’love token’ that was supposed to symbolize our marriage.

But does he really, though?

If he cared, how could he keep hurting me over and over?

To me, that thing has already lost its meaning. Whether he buys it back or not, it makes no difference.

...

Actually, over these past two years, most of Timothy’s ’promises’ to me were nothing but words, quickly forgotten.

I didn’t expect him to act so fast this time, though.

That very night, Ethan called me.

"Well, well, after all these years, your number still hasn’t changed!" Ethan laughed. "Was that just in case I couldn’t reach you?"

I was speechless. "You’re overthinking. What do you want?"

Ethan said, intrigued, "Timothy bought the lavender bead necklace back from me. Guess how much he paid?"

I replied dully, "Don’t care."

Ethan went on anyway, "A hundred million! I made him bleed good for it! And would you believe it, he didn’t even try to haggle."

I hadn’t cared, but hearing the number, I was still a little shocked.

After all, Timothy had originally bought it at auction for ten million. Even though Ethan had bought it back later, there’s no way he paid much more than that.

Never thought Timothy—such a shrewd businessman—would spend so much more to buy back a necklace with no real meaning.

When I said nothing, Ethan clicked his tongue at me. "Moved, huh? Ready to throw yourself at Timothy again?"

"Ethan!"

I snapped, "If that’s all, I’m hanging up!"

Ethan quit teasing and spoke seriously: "Wait, wait! I just wanted to talk about our little secret. Did Serena really have a kid with Timothy?"

I honestly didn’t know what Ethan wanted now that he was back in the country, but I knew perfectly well—between him and Timothy, it was either one or the other, no room for both.

Even though I have no feelings left for Timothy, I didn’t want to be used as Ethan’s weapon against him, either.

"No comment."

I said those two words and hung up.

The news about Timothy buying that top-grade jade necklace from his half-brother, paying a sky-high price, soon made the rounds in the social circle.

Even Jenna heard about it and called to confirm with me personally.

When she heard Timothy really did it, she said, "I really don’t get it anymore. If he cares about you so much, why does he have a mistress and an illegitimate daughter? But if he doesn’t, then why did he let Ethan rip him off and gladly spend a fortune just to get your love token back?"

"Probably just pride."

I said mildly, "After his mom made a fool of herself at the mall, he had to find some way to save face."

Jenna said, "Either way, the necklace ended up back with you. That proves it was meant to be with you. And that jade bead is top-notch; can’t find another like it in the world. Not bad to keep it. I bet he’ll give it to you tomorrow as an anniversary present."

I thought about our wedding anniversaries over the past two years—Timothy had always been perfunctory toward me.

He never skipped a gift, but we’d never even had a candlelit dinner together.

Every year, I’d cook a tableful of dishes myself and sit alone at the dining table, waiting for him until late at night.

When he got home, he wouldn’t even touch the wine, just said the company wore him out, put the gift on the table, and went straight to bed.

Giving gifts had become some sort of "task" or just another box to tick off for Timothy.

I thought maybe this year would be different, but Timothy didn’t come home all night.

Neither Serena nor Doris were home, either.

The scene made me realize nothing would be different this year, either.

At most, he’d come home late, hand me the meaningless "love token," and count that as having marked the day.

But clearly, I was still being too optimistic.

It wasn’t until noon that I saw the familiar lavender jade necklace in Serena’s X post, and realized Timothy letting Ethan "rip him off" had nothing to do with me at all.

Serena posted a bunch of glam shots, the lavender jade necklace on full display, captioned: "A birthday girl must have her lucky color!"

Comments were flooding in underneath:

"Ahhh, you’re oozing youth! When will I get to see the fairy in person?"

"That jade is gorgeous! Only this kind of top jewelry matches your beauty, Serena!"

"Happy birthday, Serena! May happiness come your way!"

"..."

Only then did I know—our wedding anniversary was actually Serena’s birthday.

No wonder Timothy always came home late that day, and said he wasn’t hungry when I asked him to eat something.

Turns out, he’d already eaten out.

Turns out, he was "tired" from spending time with her.

My eyes stung. I remembered the look on Timothy’s face yesterday when he’d spoken to me so seriously, so earnestly.

And I actually believed him, just this once.

Turns out, the meaning of that love token already belonged to him and Serena instead.

I turned off my phone, took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves.

Then I opened my laptop, handled the work the company sent me, and updated my novel at night.

Late at night, I heard the sound of a car pulling into the courtyard.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, I saw Timothy and his little family get out. Serena was touching the necklace on her neck and saying something to him.

Timothy stood in front of her, patiently helping her fix her necklace and hair.

In the moonlight, the two of them were a picture-perfect couple—so charming, so in love—hard to see any filth or disgrace in that scene.

I laughed at myself, closed the curtains, and went on writing my book.

Not long after, Timothy’s cool voice came from outside my room: "Are you asleep?"

I didn’t answer, pretending I was already out, and even turned off the lights.

There was nothing left to say between us.

But still, he stood outside and jiggled the door handle. "Open up. I know you’re awake—the light was on just now."

If I didn’t let him in, he’d just get Nanny Lowell to bring the key.

So I grabbed my cane, impatiently opened the door. "It’s late. What is it?"

Timothy came into my room and set an antique-looking square box on my desk. "Open it and have a look."