The Year I Was the Other Woman To Myself novel Chapter 814

Marico's temper flared, and he shoved her away hard.

"Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to destroy yourself?"

"Destroy myself?" Lola ground her teeth. "What the hell are you talking about? I've been destroyed for years! I'm nothing but a rotten piece of meat, and so are you!"

"I'm not the same. I... I don't want to live like that anymore." The words shocked Marico as soon as they left his mouth. When had he started thinking this way?

He had spent years believing he was worthless, perfectly content to rot away in the gutter. But somewhere along the line, he had actually started wanting a real life.

Lola froze, staring at him in stunned silence for a long time. Finally, she shook her head and let out a bitter laugh.

"Marico, you've changed."

"I guess I have," Marico admitted, unable to deny it.

"Just because you got married and adopted a kid? You used to say women and children were nothing but trouble. Now you think they're your salvation?"

Her words hit him hard. He realized it was true—he had only started to change after meeting Natalie and Kristin.

Saturday morning, Penelope Laurier woke up to find the house completely empty, except for Julian.

Julian was eating breakfast. When he saw her coming down the stairs, he shook his head and let out a dramatic sigh.

Penelope raised an eyebrow. "Where are they?"

"Dad suggested we go to the beach for the weekend. You agreed at first, but then you started an argument with him last night and said you weren't going. So he and Hubert stuck to the original plan and left without you."

Penelope's eyes narrowed. "Hubert is a traitor!"

She had been giving Theodore the silent treatment because of his sudden obsession with gaming, but he showed zero remorse. Both kids had been firmly on her side, yet her youngest son had just defected.

Penelope was speechless. "It's bad enough he's addicted to video games, but now he's doing meet-and-greets? He's getting more immature by the day."

"That's not the point." Julian pointed at the chat window. The teammate had sent three emojis after agreeing to the trip. "Would a grown man send shy, blushing emojis like this?"

Penelope stared at the screen. The emojis were undeniably flirtatious.

"So you're saying his teammate is a woman?"

Julian patted his chest confidently. "Trust my instincts. I'm rarely wrong."

Penelope took a deep breath. If the teammate was a woman, she was definitely going to crash this little beach trip.

"Mom, you need to be on your guard. Dad is incredibly handsome. Naturally, women will try everything to seduce him. You have to stay vigilant." Julian pushed a plate of breakfast toward her. "Eat up. As soon as you're done, we're driving to the beach to keep an eye on him!"