Chapter 10 Divorce

Ivanka could not hold back her sobs. "I... I am sorry," she said in a shaky voice.

"It's too late to apologize now! Besides, it's not like your apology is going to bring him back, is it? We don't need your apology, Ivanka. All he ever wanted was to see Bruce before he passed away, but you couldn't even bring him back. Bruce is very unfortunate to have a wife like you!

The old man's biggest dream was to see his great-grandchild. It has been three years since you were married and you still haven't gotten pregnant! I regret letting you marry Bruce!"

Ivanka slumped to the ground, crying. The old man was gone now and he was never coming back. There was no one to support her or play chess with her whenever she was stressed.

"Why are you crying? There is no point in crying now, is there? Your tears aren't going to bring him back to life, right? I shouldn't have let you into our family! I shouldn't have let Bruce marry you!" Ivanka's mother-in-law yelled.

Ivanka brushed her tears away and asked, "Can I at least look at Grandpa?"

Her mother-in-law cast a cold glance at her and hissed, "In your dreams, Ivanka. You are a curse! Do you really think that I would let you see him? Moreover, it is not like he is your grandfather. He is Bruce's grandpa. What makes you think that you have the right to see him?"

Ivanka grabbed her mother-in-law's leg and begged, "I just want to see him for one last time! Just one last glance... Please!"

Her mother-in-law kicked her away and roared, "Get the hell out of here, Ivanka!"

Those words hurt Ivanka more than she thought they would. However, she figured that it would be pointless to try to talk to her mother-in-law about it. Clenching her shirt, she slowly made her way upstairs. "When Bruce comes home tonight, I am going to ask him to divorce you," her mother-in-law yelled from downstairs.

Bruce only came home after midnight that day. Ivanka was curled up on her bed when she heard the sound of the main door opening and her mother-in-law's loud voice accusing Bruce.

Marley Sun was Bruce's mother. She was a very strong-willed and mean woman. When the Xu Group was in trouble, she flew alone to the United States and brought back a big investment, even though she was seven months pregnant at that time. Marley was the one who had brought the Xu Group to the current glorious state, so Bruce never dared to defy her.

Ivanka's room door was slightly ajar, and through that small gap, she could hear Marley shouting at Bruce. Bruce had drunk a lot. Even though his cheeks were flushed, his eyes were clear. He was very sober.

"It has been three years since you got married to Ivanka, Bruce. And she still hasn't gotten pregnant! I only asked you to marry her because I thought that she would be good for our family. But she isn't carrying your child in her womb and that makes me wonder if your relationship with her is any good at all. Since nothing is good about your marriage, I would like you to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow and get a divorce," Marley said in a sullen tone, glancing at Ivanka's room upstairs.

Tears welled up in Ivanka's eyes, but she covered her mouth and forced herself not to cry. Would she be divorced?

Was that what her life had come to now? Thinking of that, she suddenly felt a strong sense of hatred towards Liam. Why did he save her life when she wanted to end it so badly? She gently closed the door, making sure not to make any sound, curled up on the bed, pulled the blanket over her head, and cried.

At the same time, Marley looked at Bruce and said in a firm voice, "I have made the necessary arrangements for you to divorce her. You need to be at the Civil Affairs Bureau at exactly nine o' clock tomorrow morning. All the assets will be split according to the agreement."

Bruce took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He then took slow drags of the smoke and said, "I am not going to divorce her, Mom."

Marley stood up immediately, looked at him in disbelief, and roared, "What the hell did you just say?" Bruce let out another puff of smoke and said, "I am not going to divorce her, and you should stop asking me to."

"You don't even love her, Bruce! What do you have to lose by divorcing her? She can't even give you a son and it's already been three years! Don't expect our family to accept her as our own if she doesn't give you a child," Marley hissed.

Bruce stubbed his cigarette, stood up, and said coldly, "You want a child, right? Fine! I will get her pregnant tonight and you can have your grandchild in ten months."

With that, Bruce walked upstairs. Ivanka had been crying for so long that she fell asleep.

Bruce entered their room and saw her curled up on the bed, sleeping. He walked to their bed, sat on it, and looked at her. Her eyes were swollen and her eye lashes were still stuck together from the dried up tears. A single pearl of tear hung from the corner of Ivanka's eye.

Seeing her, Bruce felt a slight pain in his heart. He reached his hand and wiped the tear away. Ivanka turned over in her sleep and her wounded wrist was now out of the blanket that covered the rest of her body. Bruce saw her wrist and sighed. With a frown, he tucked her in.

Bruce was pitying her. If Ivanka had seen him in such a state, she would have been shocked. He was having mixed feelings. His heart was caught up in a sense of hatred, reluctance, and helplessness.

He remembered Ivanka calling him and telling him that she had been kidnapped, but he still could not figure out how she had escaped. Bruce tried to brush the hair off her forehead, but Ivanka pushed his hand away, while trembling in her sleep.

Upon seeing that, Bruce's expression darkened.

Ivanka was having a nightmare of all those horrible things that Liam did to her. She broke into a cold sweat and tried to escape from someone's grip like she was being strangled in her sleep. However, Liam's hands were getting tighter and tighter around her neck, choking her.

"No..." she cried out in her sleep. Ivanka finally woke up from her nightmare and saw Bruce sitting next to her.

Bruce's expression changed all of a sudden. His originally gentle and comforting gaze turned into an icy stare as he looked at Ivanka and said with a sneer, "Grandpa has passed away and yet, you're comfortably sleeping."

Ivanka immediately sat up. She looked at Bruce and tried to explain, but she could not find the right words.

Bruce looked at her with disappointment and said, "Didn't you say that you were kidnapped? How did you escape, safe and sound?

I have had enough of your lies. I believed you once, I am not going to make the same mistake again."

Thinking of the past, Ivanka felt like someone was pushing a knife through her heart. No one had believed her that time even though she was telling the truth, and when Bruce saw that scene, he almost broke down. Ever since that day, Bruce hated her and never believed a word she said.

"It was really funny that you called me. Didn't you already know that I wasn't going to believe anything you said?"

Ivanka looked into his eyes, feeling speechless. Her eyes turned red, but she forced herself not to cry.