Chapter 4
I put away the divorce agreement and took out the financial statement. "I have no interest in your money now that we're divorced, so just repay me the money I contributed to the family during our marriage.
"I believe that you, being from a prominent family, wouldn't withhold money from countryside folk like us, Mr. Gunning."
Holden laughed out of sheer rage. "You're really something, Raelynn!"
He then turned to the butler and said, "Hurry up and give Raelynn her money back!"
It was then that the butler, looking completely distressed, stammered, "Gunning Group's business has been stagnant in recent years; the funds allocated for household expenditures were drawn entirely from Ms. Stewart's wedding gifts, Mr. Gunning. There's honestly no money left for Ms. Stewart at the moment."
Holden froze in astonishment, as if he didn't know such a thing was happening. He refused to back down, though, so he snapped, "You can rest assured that the Gunning family isn't so broke that we can't come up with your measly sum of money!"
I nodded in acknowledgment before saying, "You're a man of your word, so of course you'll return the five million dollars and the various properties I used to subsidize this household.
"I've already verified everything with my lawyer, and the exact figures are stated in the documents. You can just pay me the equivalent value, Mr. Gunning."
Holden's face instantly twisted in embarrassment, his eyes filled with shock. He had not expected that so much of my money had actually been used for the household. He went through a myriad of expressions before he took the document and walked away in silence.
He returned all the money to me by evening, asking, "What else are you dissatisfied with?"
I stated calmly, "You and I are completely over once we're divorced, so we'll stay out of each other's lives and never see each other again."
Holden thought I was going to try to hold onto him, but instead, I just cut him off completely. "You ought to know that nobody likes a woman who plays hard to get, Raelynn. I didn't realize before that you had sacrificed so much for this household; I'll apologize for it since it was my mistake.
"If you give in to me right now, we can still go back to the way things were; otherwise, if you walk away and regret it later, I won't take you back even if I feel bad for you, Raelynn."
I scoffed inwardly, thinking that he would never be able to see me back down in this life. I didn't respond to him, simply instructing Maddie to put the money away.
Charles suddenly rushed into the room and threw himself into Holden's arms, a look of panic crossing his face. "Is Mom really divorcing you, Dad? Is she really leaving our family?"
Holden intentionally spoke louder, obviously making sure I could hear him. "Your mother is just throwing a tantrum. She's from the countryside, so if she really gets a divorce, she'll be too ashamed to face her poor relatives.
"You and Sierra are still young. What kind of mother could bear to abandon her own flesh and blood? She'll be back in a few days, bowing her head to admit she was wrong and begging me to take her back."
I couldn't be bothered to explain and turned to leave. They were both relieved when they became increasingly convinced that I was just throwing a fit. They even reassigned the household staff who had been taking care of me to another post.
"Mrs. Gu—" Maddie abruptly stopped herself after recalling something. She then continued, "Ms. Stewart, the chauffeur Mr. Stewart sent for you will arrive tomorrow morning to pick you up."
I responded offhandedly while throwing out all the things I couldn't take with me. They were all love letters Holden wrote me, alongside the clothing for the children spanning from their birth to their present age of six years old, which I had personally crafted for countless days and nights.
It was already dawn by the time I took care of everything, and the chauffeur Dad sent over was already waiting for me. I held onto the divorce agreement and the property deeds and departed silently without causing the slightest stir.
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