Chapter 7 You Have To Get Divorced

The day after, Elmer left the Hayes family's old mansion early in the morning.

After getting up and washing up, Leona received a phone call from Tiana. Upon answering, she noticed that Tiana's tone was angry.

"Are you at home? I have something to discuss with you!"

"I'm still in the Hayes family's old mansion..."

"Then hurry back to the East Lake Villa!" Tiana interrupted with a snort.

Immediately after that, Tiana hung up the phone.

Leona stared at her phone with a stunned expression. She was both happy and worried at the same time.

It was rare for Tiana to contact her. When she finally took the initiative to call her, she didn't show any hints of concern. Judging from the tone of her voice, Leona feared that something bad was about to happen.

After hesitating for a while, she decided to meet her mother. She said goodbye to Alfie and rushed back home.

As soon as she entered the villa, she saw Tiana sitting in the middle of the living room.

She changed her shoes and walked towards Tiana with a smile. "Mother, what's the matter?"

"Did you know that Aurora is pregnant?" Tiana asked, her brows furrowed as she stared daggers at Leona.

Leona paused for a while, then nodded.

In the end, the glimmer of hope turned into wishful thinking.

Leona's mother came to see her not because she missed her, but rather, because of the matter related to her adopted daughter, Aurora. From the way she treated both of them, it seemed that Aurora was more important to Tiana than Leona, her own daughter.

Tiana raised her chin and snapped at Leona. "After some time, Aurora's belly will get larger. But more than that, Elmer doesn't like you! Why can't you let them be together? Why can't you take the initiative to ask Elmer's grandfather to let you get divorced?!"

At that time, it was Alfie who had chosen Leona among all to marry into his family. Now, it was appropriate for Leona to mention the divorce.

After saying that, Tiana stood up and was about to leave. She didn't care an ounce about Leona's feelings.

Ever since Leona was a child, she had always agreed to whatever Tiana told her.

"Mother, I won't divorce him," she heard Leona say behind her.

When she looked back, she saw Leona's face steeled with determination and her fists clenched.

Elmer himself had asked for a divorce, but Leona had disagreed. And she would never agree.

In Leona's eyes, the only thing connecting her to Elmer and the Hayes family was the marriage certificate. She would like to stay with the family since Alfie treated her well, at least.

Whatever happened, she would not agree to a divorce.

Leona's answer clearly annoyed Tiana.

With a deep breath, she tried to keep her anger at bay.

"Why are you so stubborn?" Tiana asked her daughter. "You should return the thing that doesn't belong to you back to its original owner!"

Behind Leona, the door was slightly open, allowing a sliver of light to spill into the room but it couldn't reach her back.

She looked at her mother with extremely disappointed eyes. She had no intention of giving in to her demands. "Mother, your persuasion will never work on me. I'll never get divorced!"

A loud, crisp sound reverberated in the living room.

As soon as Leona finished speaking, Tiana gave her a hard slap across the face!

The slap was so loud that it echoed in the living room and caught the ears of many of the servants. However, none of them dared to step forward. They could only watch coldly on the sideline.

Leona's cheek was burning as a sharp pain radiated from it.

With her hair disheveled, she covered her swollen face.

Her mouth was agape, as she looked at Tiana in disbelief.

She wanted to say something, but no words came out of her lips.

Tiana frowned as she massaged her throbbing palm, as though she regretted having hurt herself in the process.

"You married the man that your sister likes. Now, she's pregnant. How dare you threaten Elmer by taking advantage of Alfie? Shame on you! You're just a temporary placeholder for your sister! Even after a year of being with your husband, you still haven't won his heart. You're so useless! Now that your sister is pregnant with his baby, why won't you leave him? Elmer doesn't love you. You took away your sister's love just because you wanted to be married into the Hayes family. You're so despicable!"

Tiana scolded her nonstop. All her words registered in Leona's mind, hurting her more than a thousand slaps could ever do.

"Did you just say that I took away my sister's man?" Leona asked, her voice trembling.

She didn't do that.

At that time, it was the Hayes family who had appointed her to marry Elmer!

For more than ten years, she had loved Elmer. Despite being married for only a year, her own mother scolded her like she had committed the worst atrocity in the world.

"Yes! It's been a year. If Elmer really likes you, then he should've already gotten you pregnant!"

Tiana went on with her tirade, sparing no thought for Leona's feelings. "Now that your sister is pregnant, it's time for you to divorce Elmer. Get divorced in a month!"

As time passed by, Aurora's belly would get larger and larger. Once people started noticing and she had not yet married Elmer, Aurora would be the laughingstock in other people's eyes!

Tiana stared sharply at Leona, waiting for a response. However, the response never came. Impatiently, she poked Leona's shoulder and asked, "Did you hear me?!"

As if all her strength had just been drained, Leona's body staggered.

When she looked up at Tiana, her eyes were glassy.

Her blank facial expression only served to annoy Tiana even more. She glared at Leona in disgust and hit her hard on the arm.

"Are you pretending to be deaf? I'm asking you!"

Feeling the pain, Leona tightly held the area Tiana had hit and nodded numbly.

"That's what you should do. Don't pretend to be pitiful." Tiana rolled her eyes at her and sneered. "Don't try to complain about it in front of Alfie. It's useless!"

For a second, Leona felt as though all the blood coursing in her veins had solidified. Her entire body shivered.

Who would believe that her own biological mother would treat her like this?

How could Tiana say such hurtful words to her own daughter for the sake of her adopted daughter?

Leona took a deep breath, trying to rein in the tears forming in her eyes.

Unlike Aurora, she was inarticulate and thus wasn't well-liked.

No one in the Barnes family liked her. Her mother resented her, and her father was indifferent towards her. When Aurora came in to the picture, it became even more impossible for her to get any love from her family.

Although she had parents and a sister, she lived as though she was an orphan.

Even so, she still had a longing for family affection. Countless times, even though her mother treated her harshly, she still tried to get some love from her.

Before she went back home to meet her mother, there was a glimmer of hope in her heart. She thought that perhaps today would be the day when her mother would finally show her some love.

But in the end, it turned out to be wishful thinking.

Every time they met, Tiana had always pushed her away.

At this point, Leona might've already been used to it.

With a self-deprecating smile, Leona looked at Tiana with tears bubbling in her eyes.

Tiana shot back with a scornful glare. She had no more intention of further talking with Leona.

Before leaving, Tiana reminded coldly, "You have to divorce Elmer within a month. Otherwise, you'll regret it!"