Golden Cage Mommy Mutiny (Elyse) novel Chapter 70

Chapter 8

Seven years had passed, and the woman who once sold flowers on street corners had transformed

completely.

Nora now wore flawless makeup and designer clothes. The gentle curve of her stomach made her seem even more regal, as if she’d finally bloomed into the flower Adrian had so carefully cultivated.

He’d tended to her well–too well, perhaps.

Yet behind the polish in Nora’s eyes, there was always a flicker of exhaustion that no luxury could hide.

She poured a box of cash onto my counter, her tone cold and imperious. “Lillian, you really have no shame,” she said.

“You’ve been divorced from Adrian for years. Stop clinging to him.”

“I understand–you don’t want to lose the title of Mrs. Vale. But you lost. Admit it with dignity.”

“Out of respect for the help you once gave me, I’ll help you this one last time.” She pushed a stack of papers toward me. “This is more than enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life.”

“Take the money and disappear. Don’t ever show up in front of Adrian again.”

Her voice was pitched just a little too high–arrogance straining to mask unease.

I stayed quiet for a beat, then slapped her across the face.

“This is for what you owe me.”

Another strike landed hard. “This one’s for the child who never got to live.”

A third followed. “And this–this is for the classmates whose chances you stole.”

By the time my wrist began to ache, I’d struck her nearly eight times.

I rubbed my hand and said calmly, “Now we’re even Don’t appear in front of me again, and tell your husband to stop harassing me.”

Years of kneading dough had given me more strength than she expected.

For a long second, Nora just stood there, stunned. Then she shrieked, wild and trembling.

“Harassing you? Lillian, look at yourself! Do you really think Adrian Vale–Professor Vale–would waste a thought on someone like you?”

“He’s a respected scholar. Women would kill for his attention!”

“Even if you stripped naked in front of him, he wouldn’t look twice. He loves me–only me!”

Chapter 8

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If that were true, she wouldn’t have come here in the first place.

The desperation in her words told its own story.

For all her jewels and polished manners, life hadn’t been as blissful as she wanted the world to

believe.

Because a man who’s once tasted infidelity never forgets its thrill.

He’d betrayed me for her; one day he’d betray her for someone else.

Adrian was never devoted to any single flower.

He loved the act of tending, of pruning, of control–the process of reshaping something fragile into

what he wanted it to be.

His fascination was never with beauty, but with dominance.

For the longest time, I couldn’t understand why life with him had felt so unbearable.

Then one morning, as I watched Stella kneading dough with an easy smile, it struck me all at once.

I had never wanted the life Adrian built for me.

I didn’t want his control over every breath, every choice.

I wasn’t brilliant enough to thrive under academic pressure, nor graceful enough to survive in his

elite social circle.

The world of “Professor Vale’s wife” was a cage dressed up as privilege.

Maybe, in the eyes of society, I truly wasn’t worthy of him.

But the man I once loved wasn’t the celebrated genius everyone envied.

He was just the boy who once looked at me like I was his whole world–and meant it.

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