Chapter 3 Where Have You Been

On the next day, Joey had a quick breakfast and went straight to the company. Because of the party last night, he had to postpone two meetings, those of which were scheduled today.

Looking at the phone in his hand, Joey frowned in annoyance. "Deal with this," he said to his secretary as he handed his phone to her. It was a message from Lois's lawyer. Apparently, the lawyer wanted to talk to him about the divorce. But right now, Joey had more important matters to attend to.

Having been busy for a whole day, Joey had a bad temper. Therefore, he cancelled his date with Sally Lu and drove home tiredly.

Meanwhile, Lois casually looked around the apartment with a sigh. Although it was a bit small, it had a certain charm about it. There was a bedroom, a living room, kitchen, and even a balcony. Still, there wasn't enough room for her and a small five-year-old girl.

She had only paid for a two-month stay here. By then, she assumed that she and Joey had finally come into terms with the divorce.

'I really need to look for a new place,' she thought. There was no way she was going to let Maggie stay in such a shabby place.

As she sat at the table, Lois started to come up with what her plan would be after she and Joey finally get the divorce.

All of a sudden, her phone rang in her pocket.

"Hello," she greeted.

Joey's frustrated voice came through. "Where have you been?"

Although Lois couldn't see his expression, she knew that he had his face twisted into a mask of anger. Even before, he had always been unfriendly towards her.

"It's late. Where have you ran off to?" he hissed.

Blinking her eyes, Lois forced back her tears. "Has the lawyer contacted you? Since I've already asked for a divorce, there's no need to live together."

There was no reply, and she could only hear Joey's husky breathing. "I've found some place else to stay until this whole thing is over," she continued. "When it's done, I'll go pick up Maggie and that's that."

"That's not for you to decide! You'd better come back right now!"

"Joey, please calm down."

But Joey was burning with so much anger. It turned out that she had already arranged everything. Yesterday, she announced the divorce at a party. Now she had packed her luggage and ran away from home. She also found a lawyer to negotiate with him about the divorce! How dare she!

And she also wanted to take the child away? 'After spending my money and wasting my time, she wants to leave and take my daughter away?! And then what? She'll find some unknown man to act as Maggie's father?! Does she really think that she'll get some kind of happiness ever after?'

At that moment, Joey thought about the midnight snacks Lois used to make for him, the nice, warm breakfasts and even the simple treats she prepared when he was working overtime. Reminiscing these, he gritted his teeth and decided that there was no chance he was going to agree to this divorce. 'Why should I let another man benefit from my wife?'

"It's not up to you to decide the divorce," Joey snarled. "Don't think that you can do whatever you want. More importantly, don't ever think that I'll just let you have Maggie. You chose this life. You married into the Gu family. Whether you're dead or alive, there's no going back from that! Don't even think about it."

Lois looked down at the wedding ring on the coffee table. 'This is just ridiculous,' she thought bitterly. Swallowing the bitterness in her heart, she tried to stay as calm as possible. "What about Sally Lu? Huh?" she finally said.

Joey was shocked and angry. Just when he was about to bark back at her, Lois had already hung up the phone.

Looking down on his phone, Joey got even more infuriated.

With a sigh, Lois looked at the wedding ring in front of her. Joey used to wear the ring all the time, until that woman had thrown it in the trash.

She could still remember it as if it was yesterday -- standing at the street corner, she saw Sally Lu get in Joey's car. Although it was a warm April morning, a chill had ran up her body at the sight of the two.

She wasn't able to move until the car drove away from her sight. There were no tears in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to be desperate and afraid.

As she stumbled along the street, something shiny caught her eye.

It was Joey's wedding ring, tossed beside a rubbish bin. Holding back her tears, she gritted her teeth and swallowed the bitterness.

She would never forget the feeling of being trampled on for nothing, as if all her efforts and love over the years were in vain. It was much worse than dying a miserable death.

She was determined to take off her wedding ring as well. Before that happened, Lois had a sense of pride in her, and thought that Sally Lu was as irrelevant as an ant. But given the current situation, it was so humiliating for her.

In truth, Lois could bear it that he didn't love her. Actually, she still really loved him. What she couldn't bear was the thought of the possibility that Maggie might get hurt. She would rather divorce him than risk that.

There was no regret in her heart since she was the one who asked for this. For her, there was nothing more important that her daughter. Lois couldn't help but think she owed Maggie a life where there weren't any hardships or heartbreak.

Thinking of the soft little girl, Lois felt a bit sorry. Usually, Joey was busy with work and other social activities, so the child was not close to him. She didn't know if Maggie was sad if she was not around her right now.

Thinking of her daughter's lovely appearance and soft voice, Lois's heart ached as her eyes started to water.

She only hoped that Joey could cooperate with the lawyer she got and end the relationship between the two as soon as possible. The sooner everything got settled, the sooner she could reunite with Maggie.

At the same time, in the villa of the Gu family, Joey's face was ghastly pale.

Maggie held the stuffed toy in her arms and looked at him timidly. She wanted to go upstairs, but she was afraid of angering her father. However, staying down here with him made her afraid as well. If she made him unhappy, she worried that he would surely beat her.

Maggie stood at the corner of the sofa, her eyes wide with fear, as if she was face to face with a big bad wolf.

As Joey looked at her, he remembered how Lois had said that he couldn't take care of their daughter. It was true that the child was not close with him. It went without saying that Maggie was unwilling to live with just Joey.

"Why are you hiding there! Do you think that I'm going to hurt you?"

It never occurred to Joey he should talk to children in a soft voice. Hearing his booming voice, Maggie was even more scared to approach him.

Looking at the little girl's trembling face, Joey got even more infuriated. On one hand, his wife wanted to divorce him and take their child away with her. On the other hand, his daughter couldn't even bear to be around him! He was restless but had no way to vent his anger.

"Is this what your mother taught you? You can't even call me daddy! No one at your school would want to play with someone like you!"

...

Looking at the fierce expression on Joey's face, Maggie was so scared that she burst into tears. The servants around Joey were afraid of him as well, and didn't dare to come forward.

"Mom...I want my mom. Mom..." The little girl held her stuffed toy tightly and sobbed.

Joey opened his mouth and was about to scold her again. But seeing the little girl cry even harder, he sighed and strode forward to pick her up.

"I want my mommy..."