CHAPTER 136: CHAPTER 136: TELLING DAMIEN LANCASTER THAT SOPHIE IS HIS CHILD

Ivy Summers stared deeply at him.

Damien Lancaster remained silent, as if making an agonizing decision. After a long while, he said, "No."

There were no past arguments; the hospital room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The two of them appeared unnaturally calm.

Ivy Summers, devoid of any emotion, said, "Get the lawyer, let’s sign the divorce agreement, and then go to court to file for divorce."

Filing for divorce in court only takes one day.

Going to the civil affairs bureau requires a thirty-day cooling-off period.

Ivy was determined to go to court, clearly unwilling to wait another second.

Damien Lancaster raised his head, opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

If Sophie hadn’t been found, this demand would have been at the cost of the child’s life, and refusing it would seem absurd.

His heart contracted with pain, and an indescribable emotion burst from the depths, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Is it really that urgent?"

"Urgent? This opportunity was bought with Sophie’s life; do you think I’m in a hurry?"

One sentence, like a heavy punch, slammed hard into Damien’s chest, constantly reminding him that it was his fault Sophie was in danger.

He had personally delivered her to the kidnappers, leading to her death.

It took a long while before Damien’s voice returned, "Alright... I agree with you."

There was no reason to refuse; he had promised Sophie and couldn’t go back on his word.

But his heart ached more than it did whenever Ivy brought up divorce.

Because he knew that this time, he was truly going to lose Ivy Summers.

Damien took a deep breath, "We’ll file for divorce in a few days. Finding Sophie is the priority."

Ivy Summers looked at him quietly, "The Lancaster Family has always wanted to know if I had a child back then, right?"

Damien’s gaze tightened; a sense of foreboding sprang up at the bottom of his heart upon hearing Ivy’s words.

"Yes."

Ivy said, "But you personally traded it for another child."

A roar echoed in Damien’s ears, as Ivy’s voice continued, "Haven’t you always wanted your biological child?"

"Now there’s none."

Ivy looked quietly at Damien, watching his incredulous expression. She asked, "Isn’t it laughable?"

The child you’ve longed for was sent away by your own hands — how does it feel? Is it laughable?

As she posed this question, Ivy’s heart bled, yet her expression was exceedingly cold, like a robot devoid of emotion.

Damien shrunk back, looking at Ivy who wanted to see him in anguish. He shook his head in disbelief, "It can’t be, you’re saying this out of anger, right? You want to make me suffer, feel more guilty, so you’re saying this, right?"

Ivy wanted to laugh, and she did, her laughter echoing audibly.

But as she laughed, tears kept spilling from her eyes, impossible to wipe away completely.

"Damien Lancaster, do you not believe, or are you too afraid to believe?"

There’s just a single character difference between the two, yet it implies two completely different things.

"You’re lying!" The hospital room door was suddenly thrown open.

Seraphina Kennedy strode in, her face, usually well-maintained without a wrinkle, now twisted with anger, "Sophie cannot be a Lancaster. We had a paternity test, Ivy Summers. Your resentment doesn’t justify deceiving us with such lies."

Ivy Summers coldly laughed, "Does thinking this way make you feel better? If so, then keep thinking that way."

Ivy’s words were enough to drive Seraphina Kennedy, who had been searching for the Lancaster child, mad. Seraphina, emotionally agitated, stepped forward, grabbed Ivy’s shoulders, and stared at her with bulging eyes, "Ivy Summers, you tell me the truth, you’re deceiving us, right? Sophie isn’t really a Lancaster, right?"

Ivy pulled her mouth into a cold smile and stopped speaking.

Seraphina was nearly hysterical, gripping her shoulders, shaking her vigorously, "Speak, say something, say Sophie’s not a Lancaster, right?"

If Sophie were a Lancaster, doesn’t that mean they... that they killed their own flesh and blood for a foster child?

Seraphina desperately wanted a negative answer.

Damien knew Ivy said this partly out of spite and revenge.

He needed a definite answer.

Damien’s voice was icy, "I will bring Sophie back and do another paternity test."

Ivy shut her eyes with a bitter smile. When she didn’t tell them, they doubted her relentlessly. Now, having told them, they refused to believe.

"Get the lawyer and sign the divorce agreement." Ivy spoke once more, not willing to waste another second.

"Let’s not divorce yet. First, explain about the child. If there is one, it belongs with our Lancaster family." Seraphina remained unwilling to let go of the topic of the child.

Hearing her still daring to ask about the child, Ivy’s eyes hardened. She threw off the covers, got out of bed, picked up a small knife from the nearby fruit plate, and pointed it at Seraphina as she approached her.

"Child, you still want the child? Does a Lancaster child have a chance of survival? Tell me again you want the child, say it, say it!"

Seraphina stepped back repeatedly in fear, her words becoming incoherent, "You... stay calm... this... I... the child was ours originally, you have no right to hide it..."

Ivy wielded the knife erratically. Damien stepped forward and tightly grasped Ivy’s wrist, "Calm down."

Ivy struggled to suppress the pressure building within, her bloodshot eyes looking at Damien, "Get the lawyer here, immediately!"

Damien forcibly removed the knife from her hand. Her excitement had been such that the blade had cut her fingers.

Damien saw this, his brows tightened, and he called a nurse to bandage her. During the bandaging, Damien phoned the lawyer.

Seraphina, still shocked by the scene, stood frozen. Damien reminded her to leave. Only then did she react and hurriedly left.

The lawyer arrived quickly.

The divorce agreement, previously drafted, wasted no time. Ivy swiftly signed her name on it.

Seeing Ivy’s desperate rush, Damien lowered his eyebrows heavily.

After signing, Ivy slammed the divorce papers in front of Damien.

Ivy’s aura was ice-cold, even scaring the lawyer standing to the side into breathing lightly.

Damien looked down at the divorce agreement before him, realizing finally that they had come to this point.

Picking up the pen, his heart resisted the idea of signing, but at this moment he had no reason not to.

Because it was what he had promised Sophie.

The three words "Damien Lancaster," when signed, felt as if they had drained all his strength.