CHAPTER 135: CHAPTER 135: AFTER THE DIVORCE, HER LIFE SHINES BRIGHT

’Uncle, my only request is that you agree to divorce the pretty aunt and set her free.

You have trapped the pretty aunt, and she is very unhappy.

I have seen how dazzling she is on the auction stage, and I hope her future can always be bright and brilliant, but with you, she can’t even be happy.’

Reading these words, Ivy Summers felt a dull pain in her chest, so intense that she didn’t dare take a deep breath.

Tears once again surged, and Ivy pressed the paper hard against her chest, a suppressed sob escaping her throat.

Sophie must have made Damien Lancaster promise something before she left, and she only left willingly after Damien agreed.

And Sophie’s only request was for Damien to divorce her, to let her go.

Even at such a dangerous moment, Sophie was thinking about her, thinking about her...

Ivy pressed hard against her heart, feeling as if someone was repeatedly stabbing her with a knife.

Ivy coughed violently, a mouthful of blood spurting from her throat.

The scene startled the nurse next to her, who immediately called for the doctor: "Doctor, the patient in bed 308 has coughed up blood."

Coughing up blood!

"Ivy!"

Ella Morgan shouted and rushed into the ward.

Upon hearing that Ivy had coughed up blood, Damien Lancaster’s heart was struck with an intense pain, and he quickly entered the ward.

At this moment, Ivy lay painfully beside the bed, a large mouthful of blood spilling from her mouth, her face as pale as a sheet of white paper.

Seeing this scene, Damien’s world plunged into an eerie silence, and he didn’t dare to step forward.

The doctor rushed in and said to him, "Sir, please step outside first!"

Ella cried out, "Ivy, Ivy, hang in there."

As the door closed, Damien only heard Ella’s anguished shouts from inside:

"Ivy!"

With a sudden "thud,"

Damien’s knee hit the cold floor heavily without warning.

"Bro!" Having never seen Damien look so despondent, Zachary Lancaster’s eyes widened, and he reached out to pull him up.

Damien didn’t move, keeping his head down, his eyes rimmed with red, and in an extremely pained voice, he said, "It’s my fault...I harmed them..."

Annelise hid behind them, watching the adults in front, and she quietly called Rachel Shaw.

"Auntie Shaw, I’ve done as you said. The bad woman is seriously injured now, and Sophie is dead. Does that mean I’m the only child of the Lancaster Family now?"

Rachel Shaw praised her: "That’s right, you did well. From now on, you’ll be the only child of the Lancaster Family. But remember, you promised Auntie to keep the fake kidnapping a secret, okay?"

"Don’t worry, Auntie Shaw, I won’t tell anyone."

"How are things over there now? Is that Ivy Summers in despair?"

Rachel’s voice was filled with delight. Although Ivy had been rescued, seeing her being beaten so badly on the surveillance footage brought her immense satisfaction.

And that dead kid, Sophie’s death, had dealt a heavy blow to Ivy, which was incredibly gratifying.

"Hmm, they’re all very sad, and even Dad is very sad."

"Damien?" Rachel’s voice turned cold.

Hearing that Damien was grieving for Ivy made her extremely displeased.

But it didn’t matter. A few days of sadness would pass.

This incident would surely drive an irreparable wedge between Ivy and Damien, and she would return to the country sooner or later.

"I understand, just stay put and be smart if you want to stay with the Lancaster Family. Report everything to me."

"I understand, Auntie Shaw." Annelise hung up the phone, a wicked smile curling on her lips.

...

Ivy’s bleeding was caused by emotional distress, and though it wasn’t life-threatening, the doctor repeatedly emphasized the need to be more mindful of her emotions and to avoid agitation.

Ella thanked the doctor, tears continuously streaming down her face. How had things turned out like this in less than a month since she’d left?

Night fell.

Ivy still hadn’t woken up. Ella went out to buy dinner, giving Damien the chance to finally enter Ivy’s hospital room.

He walked in silently, and the person in the room lay quietly as well, so weak it seemed she was devoid of any vitality.

Ivy’s wounds had been treated, and the glaring bloodstains on the floor had been cleared, yet Damien still felt a heavy scent of blood. Bowing his head, he saw Ivy covered in blood, his own hands stained heavily with blood as well.

Damien frowned tightly, and with a blink, the bloodstains vanished entirely.

His gaze deepened, and he stiffly pulled over a chair, sitting beside Ivy to hold her cold hand tightly in his.

Damien regretted it, regretting that he endangered Ivy and Sophie to save a stranger.

Ivy was gravely injured, Sophie’s life was uncertain, and it was all his fault, all his fault...

Damien lowered his head, resting his hand on his forehead, unable to hold back the tears that fell.

"Sir..." Standing at the door, Julian Jacobs knocked softly, avoiding interruption unless it was important because just a moment ago, he’d seen Damien’s shoulders trembling slightly.

Was Damien crying for Ivy?

Seeing Damien standing there with the critical illness notice trembling uncontrollably outside the emergency room last time had already left Julian deeply stunned.

Perhaps Damien cared about Ivy more than imagined.

Julian tiptoed in, "Sir, the helicopter that took off yesterday has disintegrated and crashed, with no survivors."

"Understood." Damien replied calmly, as if he’d known all along.

Once again, this demeanor of Damien left Julian’s heart shaken.

Julian was well aware that when those people threatened Damien, their fate was already sealed.

However, Julian hadn’t expected such a tragically devastating end like the helicopter crashing with none spared.

The moment the helicopter exploded in the sky, it was truly obliterated, with not even a trace left.

Those people paid a painful price for their actions.

"Additionally, sir, the group that took your wife and Miss Sophie afterwards isn’t the same as the first group of kidnappers. The only surviving member we caught last night is still under interrogation."

"Don’t let him die too easily. We need to extract something useful."

"Yes." Damien Lancaster never lacked methods of torment; even the toughest of men would spill everything they knew in his hands.

"There’s one more thing... we still haven’t found Sophie." Julian Jacobs said, lowering his head unconsciously.

Damien Lancaster was silent for a long time before Julian heard him say, "Keep searching."

"Yes."

Julian didn’t disturb him further. He was about to leave quietly when Damien spoke, "There’s one more thing."

"Please, go ahead."

"The last call the man on the cliff received was the direct cause of him jumping off. Find out who made that call. It’s important. Handle it yourself; don’t delegate it to your subordinates."

"Understood."

Julian left, and the room returned to silence. Damien Lancaster held Ivy Summers’s hand against his face.

Ivy’s wide sleeve slipped down her arm, revealing the glaring whip marks.

The whip marks extended from her shoulder to her forearm, and there were many more on her body. Damien Lancaster couldn’t imagine how much pain Ivy must have been in at the time.

His heart wrenched with pain. Damien tightly held Ivy’s hand and kissed it tenderly, his hot tears falling.

At this moment, the hand in his grasp moved slightly.

As Damien lowered his gaze, he felt the woman pull her hand back with force.

Looking up, Ivy Summers had already opened her eyes.

"Ivy?" Damien immediately stood up.

Ivy Summers drew back her hand with disgust, her eyes blankly staring ahead, "Get out."

Ivy’s voice was devoid of warmth. She wasn’t even willing to give him a glance.

Damien acted as if he hadn’t heard, his hoarse voice tenderly asking, "Does the wound still hurt? I’ll call the doctor for you."

"I don’t want to see you. Didn’t you understand when I told you to get out?"

"You can be angry with me. Once you’re better, you can hit me or scold me, but don’t be hard on yourself." Damien pressed the call button on the bedside.

Ivy’s cold gaze fell on Damien, her eyes full of hatred.

Damien had no doubt that if Ivy had the strength right now and a knife in her hand, she would unhesitatingly stab it into his chest.

"Sophie hasn’t been found yet, has she?"

Damien was startled, his response was heavy, "No."

Ivy gave a slight tug at her lips, "When you sent Sophie, did you ever think that she’s still just a five-year-old child? That she could be in danger? That her life also matters?"

Damien’s face tightened, offering no explanation, no defense, "I did."

He had thought about it, but he still went ahead.

Because he believed he could save Sophie, he was confident.

But no matter how skilled someone is, there are moments of miscalculation before the unknown.

Clearly, Damien was too confident. He miscalculated.

His confidence was the direct cause of the incident.

Ivy opened her mouth, wanting to lash out at him, to curse him harshly, but at this moment, she didn’t even have the energy to curse.

So tired.

Really so tired.

"Did you read the note Sophie left for you?" Ivy suddenly asked.

"..."

Ivy’s pale lips parted slightly, silent tears falling from the corners of her eyes, her voice eerily calm, "Take a look."

See how ridiculous you are.

Damien’s gaze fell on the blood-stained note on the table...

This note was something Sophie left for him before she left. Perhaps even the child had foreseen that she might not return, so she wrote it in advance.

Thinking of this, Damien’s heart ached further. He clenched his jaw, reaching for the note, feeling the dried blood and writing upon contact, burning.

He was always unsure of what Sophie might ask.

But now, he knew!

Damien looked at the few words, reading them repeatedly, but no matter how he looked, the key message of the note was two words: "divorce"!

Uncle, please divorce the pretty auntie.

The pretty auntie can’t even be happy with you. Let her go.

Every word felt like a dagger fiercely stabbing into Damien’s chest.

Even a child on the sidelines could see how miserable Ivy was with him, urging him to let her go!

Damien felt his eyes heat up, clutching the note tightly.

"Did you see clearly?" Ivy’s hoarse, dry voice asked without emotion.

"You promised Sophie you’d agree to one thing, which made her leave willingly, didn’t you?"

Damien nodded painfully, "Yes."

Ivy’s lips curled slightly.

It felt so pathetic.

Their marriage was so evident and unbearable even a child understood.

After struggling for so long, their marriage was now ending with Sophie’s life.

Ivy coughed softly, a metallic taste rising in her throat once again.

But she swallowed it back, a scathing smile forming on her lips.

"Will you break your promise?" Ivy looked up at him, continuing to ask.