The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 157

**Chapter 157**

“What’s this got to do with any of you? Why are you all so obsessed with other people’s family drama?” Lydia’s voice cut through the air, sharp and accusatory.

Lydia had spent her entire life wrapped in the soft, cushioned embrace of privilege, her every whim catered to. She had perfected the art of playing the delicate victim, avoiding direct confrontation with the crowd that had gathered to witness this spectacle.

But now, as she observed this man—this Mars—standing resolutely by Autumn’s side, fiercely protective as if she were the most precious thing in the world, annoyance bubbled within her. “Does our family’s affairs concern you in any way? I suggest you leave, or I will have no choice but to call security,” she declared, her tone dripping with disdain.

Had she maintained her innocent, fragile persona, perhaps some would have felt a twinge of sympathy for her plight.

Yet, as Lydia morphed from a wilting flower into an exasperated queen, the silence among the onlookers shattered.

“Listen to her voice,” someone chimed in, disbelief evident in their tone. “She sounds perfectly fine. How could she possibly be on the verge of disfigurement?”

“Exactly! And just look at that glare she’s throwing. It’s like she wants to devour her sister whole. Does that look like a loving family to you?” another voice echoed, the crowd’s murmurs growing louder and more fervent.

“This is utterly revolting. Did you hear what that older woman said? She’s the stepmother of the pregnant girl. That daughter is probably hers with this man. Oh my god, it’s classic! A stepmother comes in, and the biological father checks out. Just look at how cold-blooded this family is,” someone else added, shaking their head in disbelief.

“I’ve never seen a father force his own pregnant daughter to undergo a skin graft. It’s clear he favors the other one. I bet you that mother-daughter duo are master manipulators. How else could they have that old man wrapped so tightly around their fingers?”

The hospital corridor buzzed with the chaos of a marketplace, with nearly everyone rallying behind Autumn, their voices rising in a chorus of support.

Mars Wright felt as if his head was about to explode. He had believed that once he managed to convince Autumn about the skin graft, it would be a mere bump in the road.

He had even promised himself that since Autumn had been so wronged in this situation, he would find a way to make it up to her in a grand gesture after her surgery.

He swore to himself that he would never again do anything to break her heart like this.

But now, as he listened to the crowd’s accusations, a deep, gnawing sense of guilt enveloped him, tightening around his chest like a vise.

Especially as he watched Autumn fiercely defend her unborn child, his guilt swelled into a tidal wave, crashing over him with relentless force.

In that moment, fear began to seep into his thoughts.

He dreaded the day when the child would be born and Autumn would discover the truth.

Even more terrifying was the thought of facing the woman she would become once she learned everything.

Mars felt utterly adrift, lost in a sea of confusion.

He tried to retrace his mental steps, desperately seeking to understand how they had arrived at this moment.

But no matter how hard he racked his brain, the guilt remained, unyielding and heavy.

“Enough!”

“Get the hell out of here, all of you!”

Oliver Lopez could no longer contain his rage. He pointed a trembling finger directly at Autumn’s face. “Autumn, I raised you all these years. I even handed over the company to you, no strings attached. And instead of gratitude, you’re conspiring with these strangers to humiliate me?”

“Since you’re going to be so uncooperative, let me make this crystal clear: you won’t receive a single cent from the Lopez Group. If you walk out of this hospital room today, you are no longer my daughter.”

Autumn’s eyes widened in shock.

Onlookers assumed she was devastated by her father’s cruel, heartless proclamation.

But only Autumn understood the truth—inside, she was secretly celebrating.

Are you serious? This is the best news I could have hoped for!

Yet, she masked her true feelings, maintaining her facade.

It was all just a performance. Did they really think she couldn’t play the game?

“What did I do wrong?”

After all these years, she could finally voice her truth.

“I’ve spent my entire life tiptoeing around the Lopez household. I never understood why. This is my home too, so why did I feel like a guest?”

“I was terrified to eat too much, afraid you’d all label me a burden and toss me aside.”

“I never dared to ask for money, petrified you’d call me a spendthrift you couldn’t afford. But the truth is, you gave Lydia a ten-thousand-dollar allowance every month, while you wouldn’t even give me a hundred bucks.”

If Autumn hadn’t taken on part-time jobs, she might never have finished her education.

Eventually, she learned to be clever. She began charming her relatives, and with their “supervision,” her treatment at home gradually improved.

Autumn understood that she had earned this better life through her own cunning, so she never let her guard down, never dared to show them her true heart.

But people aren’t made of stone.

The moment Oliver handed over the Lopez Group to her, Autumn had genuinely wavered.

He had given her the family business, just like that. For a fleeting moment, she questioned if she was the cold-hearted one for believing her father favored Lydia.

Only later did she realize her family was merely using her as a workhorse because of her capabilities.

While she toiled tirelessly for the Lopez Group and Cloud Break Corporation, her family was off enjoying vacations and leisure. Lydia claimed to be studying abroad, but in reality, she was living it up in another country.

If Oliver and his wife hadn’t constantly drilled into her head that she needed a “clean” romantic history to marry into wealth, Lydia would have likely become the fallen woman of the international scene.

“If I weren’t pregnant, and you asked me to give Lydia a skin graft, fine. I’d consider it payment for the life you gave me. But I’m pregnant! In your heart, are my baby and I just disposable? Worthless?”

“Forget about me, but why can’t you even spare my unborn child?”

“I’ve already returned the Lopez Group to you. My husband is here, yet he might as well not be. What more do you want from me before you’ll finally let me go?”