After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 10: Is She Their Biological Daughter?
Claire Mercer watched the proud, smug Gavin Sinclair with a cold expression and said,
"Since when is whether someone has been divorced the standard for judging if they’re a good person?"
"What, are divorced women somehow inferior?"
"Besides, Gavin Sinclair, you’re the one who blatantly cheated during our marriage. How do you have the nerve to say something like that?"
"If you have any conscience left, for the sake of the two years I spent taking care of you with all my heart, please just finalize the divorce proceedings as soon as possible."
Hearing her words and seeing her resolute attitude, Gavin Sinclair felt a tightness in his chest.
He’d thought her bringing up divorce was just a tactic, a way to get his affection and concern.
But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.
Even after he’d brought up her family, she still chose to divorce him.
Just a few days ago, she had been so gentle and caring toward him, her eyes shining with tenderness whenever she looked at him.
But now, the way she looked at him was so cold, so calm.
A calm without the slightest ripple, as if she were looking at a complete stranger.
’How can a person change so quickly?’
’Was it just because he left her for dead at the scene of the car accident?’
’She must still be jealous. She must be angry because she thinks I cheated with Scarlett Jewel.’
He tried to explain, "Actually, Scarlett and I..."
But Claire Mercer had no desire to hear it, raising a hand to cut him off.
"I no longer care what’s going on between you and Scarlett Jewel."
"I’m giving you three more days to sign. If you don’t, I’ll take legal action."
"At that point, I’m afraid your affair with Scarlett Jewel won’t be a secret anymore. You’d better think it over carefully."
"That’s all. I’m tired. See yourself out."
With that, Claire Mercer ignored Gavin Sinclair and turned to go upstairs.
Claire Mercer had drunk too much the previous night, tossing and turning until four or five in the morning before finally falling asleep.
It was only eight in the morning now. She was exhausted and her head ached; she didn’t want to think about these troubles any longer.
After getting out of the shower, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t transferred the money to that super handsome guy yet.
She took out her phone, accepted his friend request, and then transferred 60,000 yuan to him.
The note read: ’For your trouble. Thank you for taking care of me last night.’
Adrian Sutton looked at the 60,000 yuan Claire Mercer had transferred and let out a low, doting laugh.
Claire had finally accepted his friend request. He’d been clutching his phone ever since she left, waiting for her to approve it.
Now they were finally friends on WeChat. He had finally, legitimately, gotten her contact information.
’And she’d even sent him money. My dear Claire is so generous.’
That sixty thousand was more than half a year’s salary for most working-class people.
’But I’m the one who should be giving Claire money, how did it end up the other way around?’
’But it doesn’t matter. Everything I own will be Claire’s in the future anyway.’
He decided to deposit this sixty thousand yuan into a separate bank account. Because it came from Claire, it was incredibly meaningful.
*
Claire Mercer slept until just after three in the afternoon.
Only after waking up did she see that her mother, Judith Caldwell, had called her several times.
’Could they have heard about the situation with Gavin Sinclair and called to interrogate me?’
With a sliver of doubt, she called Judith Caldwell back.
As soon as the call connected, Judith Caldwell questioned her sharply.
"You’ve gotten too big for your britches, haven’t you? Not even answering my calls."
"I was asleep this afternoon..."
At that, Judith Caldwell unleashed a torrent of insults and belittling remarks on Claire Mercer.
"Are you a pig? What are you doing sleeping in the middle of the afternoon instead of making food for Gavin?"
"We had you marry into the Sinclair Family to serve them, not to enjoy life. You need to remember your place."
"No wonder the Sinclair Family has been so lukewarm toward the Mercer Family these past two years. They haven’t even been willing to help us with our business. It turns out you’re the problem."
"I don’t even know why I raised you. You haven’t made a single contribution to this family."
Claire Mercer said nothing, letting Judith Caldwell relentlessly tear into her.
She had long grown accustomed to her mother’s vitriol over the years.
Only when Judith Caldwell had finally finished her tirade did she get to the point.
"The day after tomorrow, the family is hosting a very important banquet. Remember to bring Sinclair back with you."
"What banquet?"
’An important one?’
Claire Mercer ran through the dates in her head. No one in their family had a birthday the day after tomorrow.
"Why are you asking so many questions? You’ll find out when the time comes. Just remember to bring Sinclair with you..."
"He’s not free."
’We’re about to get divorced, why would I bring him?’
"Is he not free, or is he just unwilling to come back with you?"
"You can’t even handle one man. Tell me, what good are you?"
After muttering a few more curses, Judith Caldwell finally hung up.
Claire Mercer put down her phone and suddenly let out a cold laugh.
She’d been in a car accident, and not a single person from her family had called to see how she was, let alone visit her in the hospital.
Every time they called, it was either to tell her to grovel and please the Sinclair Family or to curse at and belittle her...
’Do parents like this really exist in the world?’
’Sometimes she even suspected she wasn’t their biological daughter at all.’
*
The next day, Claire Mercer rummaged through her closet and discovered she had pathetically few clothes.
Aside from a few sets of casual loungewear, she barely had any outfits for going out, let alone a gown for a banquet.
She was struck by the realization that in her two years of caring for Gavin Sinclair, she had turned herself into a complete and utter nanny.
Ethan Grant and the others were right. She really had been Gavin Sinclair’s simp.
She had given up everything to care for him while he was paralyzed, but in the end, she was left with nothing...
This was the ultimate fate of a simp.
’How tragic was that?’
Thankfully, her awakening hadn’t come too late.
She immediately called Roxanne Peyton and Stella Thorne to go shopping. She had to at least wear a decent gown to the banquet, right?
To celebrate their best friend’s imminent escape from a scumbag and her return to single life, the two of them went absolutely wild in the mall.
They bought a mountain of clothes, shoes, bags, and skincare products from all the major brands, all of it for Claire Mercer.
"I invited you guys out shopping, but you’re the ones bleeding money..."
Stella Thorne declared heroically, "I’d spend anything for my bestie."
"Exactly," Roxanne Peyton chimed in. "Enough with the nonsense. Come on, let’s go get your gown."
"Roxanne knew that you haven’t kept any decent clothes at home these past two years to protect that bastard’s pride."
"When she got your family’s invitation yesterday, she immediately ordered a gown for you from Madame Aveline. I guarantee you’ll blow everyone away at the banquet tomorrow."
Gavin Sinclair’s legs were paralyzed, and he had been in a wheelchair for the past two years.
He had a fragile ego and was obsessed with his image, so he refused to attend any of Rhonia’s banquets. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
To accommodate his feelings, Claire Mercer naturally hadn’t prepared any gowns for herself either.
"It’s just not the latest model from the newest season, so you’ll have to make do," Roxanne Peyton said with some regret.
"Make do my ass." Claire Mercer’s eyes reddened, moved by her two friends. A warmth spread through her heart.
Her love life and family life were a mess, but she had two best friends who truly cared for her.
"But do you have any idea what kind of banquet your family is holding tomorrow? I heard all the prominent families in Rhonia received an invitation."
Claire Mercer shook her head, feeling even more bewildered.
’What on earth is happening tomorrow? Why make such a big fuss?’
"Stop thinking about it. Whatever banquet it is, we’ll find out tomorrow, won’t we? Come on, I’ll take you to get a new hairstyle."
"That’s right. A brand-new life starts from the top."
And so, the three of them went to the most high-end styling studio in Rhonia.
Unexpectedly, they ran into Cynthia Sinclair in the VIP lounge. She seemed to be waiting for someone.
The moment Cynthia Sinclair saw her, she snorted and gave her a huge eye-roll.
She was still stewing over what had happened at the club the night before last, and the more she thought about it over the past two days, the angrier she got.
’To think that she, the grand princess of the Sinclair Family, had been humiliated by some low-class male model...’
’If she weren’t worried about Claire Mercer snitching to her family, she would have taught them a lesson.’
"Claire Mercer, what are you doing here?"
"Shouldn’t you be at home making dinner for my brother right now? How do you have time to come here and get your hair done?"
"What, are you planning to go out and find..."
"Find what?" Claire Mercer interrupted her with a smile.
Cynthia Sinclair almost blurted out the two words "male model," but she caught the threat in Claire Mercer’s eyes.
She remembered that Claire Mercer knew that one secret of hers that could never be revealed, and she immediately shut her mouth.
If her family found out about that secret, she’d be skinned alive, if not worse.
Besides, if her mother found out she didn’t come home late at night and went to a bar to find a male model instead, she’d probably get another earful.
