Threats From Her Mother

By the time Diane woke up in the morning and freshened up, her drenched clothes from yesterday which had already been dried and ironed sat neatly at the foot of her bed.

Although nothing was surprising about the hospitality, she still thought to thank Christian for taking her in when he did not have to, but she had to learn from the housekeeper who made breakfast for her that he and the other man from yesterday had already left for a business trip.

Diane felt her little joy disappear. "Do you know when he will be coming back?" she inquired.

The housekeeper who doubled as a cook looked clueless. "I'm not always informed about his schedule."

With her response, Diane came to understand something. The housekeeper was not in when she came over the previous night but suddenly appearing this morning meant that she was the reason.

Diane stopped talking and sat down on the stool at the kitchen island to eat while the housekeeper busied herself with cleaning. Diane had only managed to take a few bites of her toast when she got a call from home.

"Where are you? Come back home this instant!" The angry female voice from the other end instructed before a beeping sound followed suit.

Diane swallowed a lump and turned to the housekeeper to ask, "How can I leave Skyville?" She was no longer in the mood to continue eating.

***

Diane first went to the hospital to pick up her car before driving to her parent's mansion to honour her mother's command.

A deep sigh fell off her lips as her car pulled up in the driveway. There was always trouble in paradise bringing her back home; today, Phillip was the reason she was there.

She at least knew that much given his threats a few days back.

Diane stepped inside the house and had her coat taken by the butler before she was directed to the patio where her parents were sitting and chatting over tea.

"Dad, Mum," she greeted her parents as she walked over to their table.

"You are here." Her father, Dr. Brown welcomed her with a smile and gestured for her to take the seat across from him. On the other hand, her mother didn't even look her way.

Diane did not take her reaction to heart as she was already long used to it. She went ahead to pull out a chair for herself and settled in it.

"Have you had breakfast?" Dr. Brown asked as a servant brought an extra tea set to their table. He grabbed the white porcelain kettle and poured some tea into the cup before passing it to Diane.

"Thank you, Dad. I already had something to it before coming over," Diane replied even though she couldn't feel the food she had eaten over an hour ago. It was a miracle that she hadn't thrown up yet.

She looked her mother's way and saw her holding her teacup with her neatly manicured fingers.

Celine was stunning and carried an aura of elegance with her. She made a simple thing like drinking tea seem like pure art. Just like her husband who looked younger than his actual age, it was evident with her clear skin how much she put into caring for herself.

Celine continued to ignore Diane's existence until she saw her bringing the rims of the teacup to her lips. It was only then that she decided to taunt her.

"Gerald called this morning," she spoke slowly while taking her time to add some honey to her green tea before stirring it with a teaspoon. "He said you two are getting a divorce, and as a matter of fact, you filed for it."

Diane put her teacup down on the table and released a sigh before glancing at her mother who fussed over her tea like it was the most important in the world to her.

"Yes, I did," she admitted. "I filed for divorce because Gerald's not been faithful, and given that we are both tired of making things work, I thought it right that we part ways."

Celine brought her teacup to her lips and peered at her from it. "Are you trying to tell us that you are leaving your marriage because your husband cheated?"

Diane did not answer that question. To her mother, cheating was not a deal breaker but to her, it was. They were not the same people and besides, their marriages were different.

"When your father cheated on me, did I divorce him?" Celine did not forget to glance at the man sitting next to her as if to score some points before her gaze strayed back to her.

Diane and her father exchanged glances. Hearing her suddenly mention the past so casually just like the way she was drinking her tea was appalling.

Diane looked between her parents who looked nothing like the first ten years of their marriage. They could tolerate each other now because they have long passed that hurdle.

Dr. Brown cleared his throat and said to Diane, "Although you have already filed for a divorce, I would have advised you not to leave your husband because he cheated. You can always forgive him and work things out."

Immediately, Diane shook her head. "It's not only that. He doesn't love me anymore, and he doesn't care about me. We are worse than housemates. We are like strangers sharing a flat."

What was the use of staying married to a man who did not love her or respect their union? There was no way she would ever go back to him, not after his sudden display of wickedness.

"And you didn't think you could discuss with us before taking that step?" Celine fired as she squinted her gaze. The fake lashes she added to her natural lashes flapped a few times as she shook in anger.

Without waiting for Diane to speak, she asked in a higher tempo, "He also mentioned you owed him tons of money. How did that happen?"

That scum of a bastard mentioned it after all. Diane felt her spirit leave her body. She was so afraid of mentioning the problem with the prenup but now that she was asked about it, she can't remain mute.

She hadn't any choice.

"There is a problem with the prenup," she confessed as she slowly met her parents' gazes.

Her father frowned. "What kind of problem?"

Diane took a deep breath before revealing the fraud with the prenup and everything her lawyer found out about it.

"… Before our wedding, Gerald already transferred his entire assets to his sister so now, I have to split my assets with him according to the agreement in the prenup. But I have been trying to…"

Diane did not get to complete her sentence when a resounding slap landed on her left cheek.

She had been so busy talking that she didn't realize when her mother rose to her feet and raised her hand.

Dane's lips parted as her hand reached out to the side of her face that had already formed a palm print. She was in both pain and shock as she felt her ears vibrate from the collision.

"Celine!" Dr. Brown was stunned and he quickly grabbed her hand to pull her back to her seat.

He understood his wife's anger as he was equally upset about the issues with the prenup, but hitting a grown-up was considered going too far.

On the other hand, Celine was still fuming in rage. She pointed a finger at Diane whose eyes were already brimming with tears from the hot slap.

"If you were smart, how can your husband not love you? Also, you should have checked first before blindly filing for divorce. Look at the mess you have caused! Do you think I will watch you give out half of me and your father's hard work to a thief?!"

Celine tapped her fingers on the table and glared daggers at her. "After today, don't come back here if you don't resolve this issue!" she threatened.