What She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 580

She had always assumed the 'amicable divorce' clause had been added entirely for her sake. Now, she realized it wasn't about her at all. Finnian had given Kaia an out, giving her the freedom to walk away whenever she wanted.

From the very beginning, Finnian had completely respected Kaia. If he didn't care about her, he never would have married her. If he truly didn't love her, why would they have slept together?

Noelle let out a hollow, agonizing laugh. She realized she was the one who had been performing a one-woman show this entire time.

From the moment Finnian met Kaia, to their decision to marry, to his obsessive fear that she loved someone else—she had arrogantly assumed Finnian was keeping his distance from Kaia because he was still hopelessly in love with Noelle.

Now it was glaringly obvious. Finnian only held back because he believed Kaia's heart belonged to another man. He was too afraid to invest more of his own feelings. But the truth was, he had always loved her. His love was just heavily restrained and tainted by doubt, cautiously reaching out only to pull back.

And now?

Noelle closed her eyes as hot tears squeezed through her lashes. If Kaia truly had been secretly in love with him all along, then Finnian's years of insecurity had just been completely wiped away. That deep, suppressed love he had buried for so long was about to break loose like a stampede.

She had lost. She had lost absolutely everything.

What did she know about true love and sacrifice? She didn't possess an ounce of it. How could she expect Kaia to be any different?

From the very start, she had projected her own toxic traits onto Kaia, assuming Kaia was just as greedy and calculating, treating love as a transactional business deal.

Wealthy families were supposed to be ruthless, always prioritizing profit over emotion. Wasn't that how it worked?

Pearl walked in carrying a tray of food. Seeing her daughter's bloodshot eyes, she rushed over in a panic. "Noelle, what happened? Why are you crying like this? Is the baby okay?"

Noelle kept her eyes shut and rolled over, turning her back to her mother. "No. The baby is fine," she croaked.

"Then what's wrong? Did the Sanders family come by?" Pearl asked, her heart breaking for her daughter.

"Exactly! He was so good to me before. I really thought he loved me. But the second he found out I was pregnant with his brother's baby, he turned completely cold." Noelle shut her eyes, the pain twisting her insides.

"Men are all scum. They love playing games, but the second you demand a commitment, they run for the hills. You can never rely on a man," Pearl spat viciously. "Noelle, why don't we just cut ties with them? Come back home with me. The family business is picking up. We might not be as rich as the Sanders, but we live a damn good life."

"No!" The second Noelle heard the suggestion of going back to her roots, she jolted upright. "I am not going back there. That's your home, not mine."

"But I'm your mother!"

Noelle dropped her head, drowning in a suffocating wave of despair. She used to be the golden girl, the one everyone looked up to. Going back to her old life would be like a swan descending into a mud pit.

"The old hag wants me to sign a contract to give up all custody of my baby. If I have to do that, I'm making my own demands." Noelle was never one to put romance above survival anyway. Now that she knew Finnian's affection was completely gone, she immediately started calculating her next move to build her own nest egg.

"What kind of demands?" Pearl asked.