Our Anniversary, You Chose Her – I Chose Divorce

Judith Pierce watched her back as she practically fled, her face unreadable. She turned, walked to the study, knocked twice, and went straight in.

”What happened last night must be thoroughly investigated.” She looked at the father and son, her tone icy. ”We can’t allow someone to be wrongly accused.”

Walker Grant asked, ”Mom, what did you two talk about?”

Judith Pierce’s eyes flickered for a moment. ”She’s agreed not to get a divorce, for now.”

Walker Grant’s eyes lit up. ”Really?”

Judith Pierce said, ”Like I said, it’s temporary. Whether she brings it up again will depend on you.”

Walker Grant stepped forward and gave Judith Pierce a hug. ”Mom, you’re the best.”

With that, he left immediately. He had the guest list from the previous night and needed to visit the homes of the few children who were around Noah Grant’s age.

Judith Pierce brushed herself off. ”That boy... He’s a grown man, but still so impulsive.”

Marcus Grant looked at her. ”What exactly did you say to Chloe?”

Judith Pierce closed the study door, walked over to a chair, and sat down. ”Those two aren’t a good match,” she said. ”If they’re going to split up, then so be it. But before they divorce, we need to find a suitable marriage alliance for Walker. I will absolutely not allow him and Sunny Reed to have some ambiguous relationship.”

Marcus Grant’s brow furrowed. ”If Walker finds out, he’ll never agree to it.”

”He will agree,” Judith Pierce said, her tone supremely confident. ”If Chloe is helping him pick a future wife, do you really think there’s any hope for them to last?”

Marcus Grant frowned at her. After a long pause, he finally said, ”We never should have agreed to them getting married in the first place...”

...

When Chloe Reed got home, she stepped out of the elevator and saw Iris Yates squatting by her door.

She blinked. ”What are you doing here?”

”How could you not tell me after what happened last night?” Iris Yates shot to her feet and pulled her into a hug. ”My poor Chloe. You’ve been treated so unfairly.”

Chloe Reed opened the door and pulled her inside, mainly because Iris Yates had been squatting for so long her legs had gone numb.

Once they were on the sofa, Chloe Reed said, ”I already confessed. How can you be so sure I’m the one who’s been wronged?”

”Now you’re just making me mad!” Iris Yates’s expression turned serious. ”We grew up together. Do you think I don’t know what kind of person you are?! You can’t stand Sunny Reed; you wouldn’t even give her kid a second look, so how could you possibly kick him? You only confessed because you wanted to force Walker Grant to divorce you, didn’t you?”

A lump formed in Chloe Reed’s throat. She sniffled. ”Iris, why are you so good to me?”

’She understands me. She aches for me.’

’But what about my own parents?’

’All they see, all they care about, is Sunny Reed.’

’They don’t care at all whether I’ve been wronged.’

Iris Yates hugged her tighter. ”Damn that Walker Grant. If he’d just agreed to the divorce sooner, you wouldn’t have had to resort to this. When have you ever let yourself be treated so poorly?”

Tears began to stream down Chloe Reed’s face. The overwhelming sense of injustice and sorrow became too much to suppress.

She felt even more miserable, especially after her conversation with Judith Pierce earlier that day.

But she’d only managed a few sobs when her phone started ringing. She pulled it out and saw it was a call from the voice acting company.

She wiped her face with her hand and answered the phone. ”Hello?”

”Miss Reed? Do you remember me? You auditioned at our company a while ago. Your voice and expressive range are a perfect fit for the character, and we’d like to formally invite you to work with us. When might you be free to discuss the contract details?”