The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 140

**Chapter 140**

“Exactly!” Oliver Lopez erupted, his voice slicing through the thick tension that enveloped the room like a storm cloud. “Do you truly believe we’re oblivious to the scandal that’s brewing between you and Hannah King? Let me be clear: you need to sever all ties with her immediately. Remove her from our company and reinstate Lydia as our executive assistant—where she rightfully belongs.”

Mars stood there, tall and unyielding, taking in the unmistakable contempt etched on Oliver’s face and the worried frown of Mrs. Lopez. An unexpected laugh bubbled up from within him—a sound that felt oddly out of place in the midst of this brewing storm.

“So, Hannah disgusts you? What about your own daughter?” he shot back, sarcasm dripping from his words like poison.

“She climbed into her own brother-in-law’s bed,” Oliver fired back, his face reddening with indignation. “As her parents, doesn’t that make you feel even a hint of sickness? Don’t you bear any responsibility for this mess?”

The air grew heavy with tension as the words hung there, a leaden weight that shocked both Oliver and Mrs. Lopez into a stunned silence. They had never expected Mars to be so brutally honest, so raw in his rebuke.

Until this moment, an unspoken understanding had lingered between them. They had never explicitly stated which daughter he was married to, treating him as merely an extension of their family. They had assumed Mars understood their intentions, never suspecting that their leniency would become a weapon for him to wield against them.

If Mars hadn’t desired both sisters, would they have ever reached such a compromise? Now, he was insinuating that his entanglement with Lydia was somehow their fault? That they had coerced him into this affair?

Oliver’s thoughts spiraled back to the collapse of his relationship with Autumn, all because of Lydia and Mars. Autumn had developed a spine, treating him more like a stranger than a father. With Mars adopting this defiant attitude, he felt utterly defeated on every front.

“What are you even talking about? You were the one who pursued Lydia first! Why are you pretending she was the one who seduced you?” Oliver’s voice trembled with barely contained rage, the frustration pouring out of him like a broken dam.

Mrs. Lopez, her maternal instincts flaring, interjected, “Our Lydia was willing to be your mistress, enduring the shadows for years, and now you’re trying to shift the blame onto her? Mars, do you even possess a heart?”

Mars scoffed, his disdain palpable. “And has she not benefited enough from me?”

“You claim I pursued her?” His piercing gaze landed on Lydia, whose trembling eyelashes betrayed her act of feigning unconsciousness. His eyes reflected nothing but contempt and revulsion.

Once love had withered away, Mars had morphed into a heartless butcher, each word a sharp arrow piercing through the fragile facade of the Lopez family.

“Then who was it that texted me late at night, claiming she was back and needed me to pick her up?” he continued, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Does she not have a father? A mother? Or was she too broke to call an Uber? A single man and a single woman, alone at night, and she asks me for a ride. She was practically wearing nothing, and the moment she saw me, she flung herself into my arms, sobbing about how lonely she felt without me. And you’re telling me I pursued her?”

“Every time I had a date with Autumn, Lydia had to show up, using ‘being close to her sister’ as an excuse to wedge herself between us. If she was genuinely so close to Autumn, would she have been shamelessly getting intimate with me in a bathroom? Is that what ‘being close to her sister’ means? Sharing her husband?”

“Lydia, are you going to keep up this charade? You really think I won’t expose all your dirty secrets?”

The act was over. Lydia let out a piercing scream and lunged at Mars like a wild animal, kicking and punching in a frenzy.

Caught off guard by her sudden aggression, Mars absorbed a few of her blows before regaining his composure.

“Enough!” he barked, grabbing Lydia’s wrists and pushing her back forcefully.

She stumbled and fell into her mother’s arms, staring at Mars in disbelief before unleashing a gut-wrenching wail that echoed through the room.

Mars’s head spun with frustration. He looked at Lydia, his expression a mix of disgust and irritation. “Alright, cut out the whole cry-scream-and-threaten routine. Do you honestly believe people will coddle you indefinitely?”

“I’ve already made up my mind. Hannah is the new executive assistant. No amount of drama will alter that decision.”

“And don’t you dare blame me for being ruthless. You should know perfectly well how the Lopez Group managed to secure the Mistveil Corporation project in the first place.”

At the mention of that project, a flicker of anxiety crossed Lydia’s eyes. It had been a colossal mistake, one her father had scolded her for mercilessly.

Fortunately, it had turned out to be a blessing in disguise, revitalizing the Lopez Group; otherwise, her father would have never let her off the hook.

Lydia’s fury simmered beneath the surface, but she lacked the courage to argue back.

As she watched Mars prepare to leave, she clenched her teeth and demanded, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll spill everything to Autumn?”

Mars froze momentarily, the weight of her words hanging in the air like a dark cloud.

After a tense pause, he turned back to face them, his eyes gleaming with undisguised mockery.

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