The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 166

**Chasing Light, Finding Peace by Rohan Verma**

Mars felt an overwhelming surge of frustration crash over him, as if the very foundation of his existence was trembling beneath his feet. The Lopes family, once a mere backdrop to his life, now revealed itself to be a chaotic whirlwind that he had never anticipated.

Suddenly, the exhaustion that clung to Anmum after every family gathering took on a new meaning. Mars had previously dismissed Autumn’s dramatic flair as mere theatrics, believing she thrived on the chaos of her relatives. But now, standing amidst the turmoil, he was beginning to grasp the heavy burden of their dysfunction.

“Mom… Mars, please, stop fighting…”

As the atmosphere thickened with tension, a soft, almost haunting voice broke through the noise—Lydia’s voice, fragile and trembling.

Instantly, Mrs. Lopez snapped back into focus, her maternal instincts ignited. The sight of her daughter, so frail and vulnerable in that hospital bed, pierced her heart like a dagger. “Lydia, sweetheart, what’s the matter? Are you in pain? Should I call for the doctor?”

Lydia shook her head slowly, her gaze drifting past her mother, locking onto Mars with an intensity that sent a shiver down his spine.

“Mars, why did you take so long to get here?”

A sharp pang of guilt stabbed at him. He had promised to be there for her, yet here he was, arriving late when she needed him the most.

His expression twisted into a mix of regret and frustration, the weight of his choices pressing heavily upon him.

He had been so consumed by Hannah’s antics, so caught up in the whirlwind of his own life, that he couldn’t muster the strength to face Lydia in her time of need. Instead, he had sought refuge in a nearby room, grappling with his inner turmoil, trying to gather his thoughts.

After a relentless battle with his emotions, he had resorted to a cold shower, hoping to wash away the chaos swirling within him.

For days, he had been drowning in a sea of responsibilities, his mind a cacophony of thoughts that refused to quiet. The cold water had only amplified his fatigue, and he had intended to take a brief nap—just half an hour—before racing to the hospital. But exhaustion had claimed him, and he slept far longer than he had planned.

By the time he finally roused himself and rushed to the hospital, Mrs. Lopez was already there, her presence a stark reminder of the weight of his absence.

“Something came up at the office. I got held up,” Mars offered, his voice lacking conviction, the excuse sounding feeble even to his own ears.

In the past, Lydia would have accepted his words without question, but today, she was a bubbling cauldron of resentment and anger, feeling trapped with nowhere to direct her emotions. In a moment of defiance, she had Mrs. Lopez hand her the phone, and right there, in front of Mars, she made a call.

Mars stood frozen, bewildered, his eyes wide with unspoken questions as he stared at Lydia.

Her gaze met his, fierce and unwavering, igniting a spark of fear within him. When a voice on the other end of the line said, “Hello?” Lydia spoke directly into the phone, her voice steady yet filled with an undercurrent of tension. “Mr. Wright said something came up at the company that required his immediate attention. Is that correct?”

Mars’s heart plummeted as he stood by the bed, his eyes widening in horror.

The moment he recognized his assistant’s voice echoing from Lydia’s phone, a wave of panic washed over him.

But it wasn’t until Lydia posed her pointed question that the full weight of her intentions crashed down on him.

The embarrassment of being caught in a lie ignited a fiery rage within him.

Without thinking, Mars lunged forward, snatching the phone from Lydia’s grasp and abruptly ending the call, slamming the device onto the floor, where it shattered with a resounding crash.

“Lydia, what the hell are you trying to do?!”

Startled by the sudden outburst, Mrs. Lopez instinctively stepped back, her eyes wide with shock.

But as she noticed the color drain from Lydia’s face, she rushed forward, positioning herself protectively in front of her daughter, like a mother hen shielding her chick from a storm.

“What am I trying to do? You feel guilty, don’t you? Mars Wright, who were you with? Were you with Hannah King? How could you be such a heartless bastard?”

“I’ve been your dirty little secret for so long, even endured hell for you, and this is how you repay me?”

“Do you think I’m as naïve as Autumn?”

Mars had never imagined his deception would unravel so swiftly.

But witnessing Lydia’s hysterical, contorted expression, he suddenly considered that perhaps laying everything bare wasn’t such a terrible idea after all.

In her rage, Lydia appeared monstrous, and the sight of her twisted face churned his stomach.

In terms of professionalism, she paled in comparison to Autumn.

In the bedroom, she was no match for Hannah.

Mars had never anticipated that a girl like Hannah would be so uninhibited, so free.

Given that Lydia fell short in every aspect, he questioned why he had kept her around at all.

His involvement with Lydia had merely been a lingering fixation, a thrill stemming from the taboo of dating his wife’s sister. That was the only reason their relationship had endured this long.

“Medical technology is so advanced now; they can definitely fix you…”

“If that doesn’t work, we can consider plastic surgery! They can reshape bones and minimize scars; what’s a few blemishes?”

Lydia couldn’t hear a word. All she could think about was how her face was ruined and that Mars was betraying her with someone else. A surge of rage coursed through her veins; she wanted to run everyone over with a car.

If she was going to suffer, she would drag them all down with her!

“Doctor! Doctor, quick!”

Mrs. Lopez could no longer contain the chaos and screamed for help from the medical staff.

In no time, Lydia was surrounded by doctors and nurses, their faces a blur of concern and urgency.

Mars and Mrs. Lopez retreated outside the room, Mars’s mind reeling with the image of Lydia’s frantic rage, her face a shattered, grotesque canvas. He couldn’t suppress the urge to gag.

Mrs. Lopez froze, her gaze turning to Mars, her eyes filled with a venomous disdain that cut deeper than any knife.

Mars pretended not to notice and quickly slipped away, using the pretense of needing the restroom as his escape.

Mrs. Lopez had initially intended to inform Mars about Autumn acquiring shares in Cloudbreak Corporation, but now, she was reluctant to utter a single word.

Knowing Autumn, she was certain her daughter would ensure Mars faced the consequences of his infidelity.

Those shares might just prove to be useful.

“Mars Wright,” she muttered under her breath, “I’ll be waiting to see you get what you deserve.”

As the chaos in the hospital room settled, Mars found himself standing on the precipice of his own choices, the weight of his actions pressing down on him like a heavy fog. The confrontation with Lydia had exposed the raw truth of their relationship, revealing the cracks that had long been hidden beneath the surface. In that moment, he felt a mix of relief and dread; the façade he had carefully constructed was crumbling, and with it, the last remnants of his connection to Lydia. The vicious cycle of deceit and betrayal had spiraled out of control, leaving him questioning not only his decisions but also the person he had become. The realization that he had chosen fleeting excitement over genuine love gnawed at him, a bitter reminder that the thrill of the chase often comes at a cost.

Outside the room, Mrs. Lopez’s piercing glare served as a stark reminder of the consequences of his actions. As she seethed with quiet fury, Mars understood that his choices would reverberate far beyond this moment, affecting not only his relationship with Lydia but also his standing within the family he had once hoped to be a part of. The path to redemption seemed obscured by the shadows of his past decisions, and for the first time, he felt the full weight of his responsibilities. In the aftermath of the turmoil, Mars realized that chasing light had led him into darkness, and finding peace would require confronting the very truths he had tried to evade. With a heavy heart, he stepped away from the chaos, determined to seek a way back to himself, even if that meant facing the painful consequences of his actions head-on.

In the next chapter of *Chasing Light, Finding Peace*, readers can expect the tension to escalate as the fallout from Mars’s shocking confrontation with Lydia unfolds. With Lydia’s emotional state spiraling out of control, the hospital scene will likely serve as a backdrop for deeper revelations and confrontations that could change the course of all their lives. Will Lydia’s desperate actions lead to unexpected consequences for Mars? As Mrs. Lopez grapples with her daughter’s turmoil and her own feelings of betrayal, the stakes will rise, forcing her to make choices that could impact not only her family but also the future of Cloudbreak Corporation.

Moreover, Autumn’s impending return from maternity leave looms large over the narrative, adding another layer of complexity. With her newfound shares in the company, Autumn’s power dynamics with Mars could shift dramatically. Will she confront him about his infidelity, or will she use her position to turn the tables? As tensions mount and alliances shift, readers will be left on the edge of their seats, eagerly anticipating how these characters will navigate their tangled relationships. Expect revelations, confrontations, and perhaps a reckoning that could lead to either redemption or ruin for Mars and those entangled in his web of deceit.