Over the next few days, Cedric seemed to be more available than ever. He spent every waking hour by Eden's side as if he were trying to find out if she had caught on to anything yet.

Meanwhile, Eden’s behavior was otherwise ordinary. There was nothing implying any kind of disturbance.

Cedric knew Eden’s personality. She was not the type to suffer idly. Naturally, she would not be so calm if she had heard something.

With that in mind, his worries slowly subsided.

Soon, the New Year rolled around.

Since Eden was an orphan, the question of whose parents’ house to visit for New Year's was not necessary.

On New Year's Eve, Cedric took her and Mateo back to his parents' home for a family dinner to usher in the new year.

Cedric suddenly stiffened the moment he entered the house. Eden was puzzled by his reaction and peeked inside only to see Amelie.

She was sitting in the living room next to Cedric’s mother.

“Amelie!”

Mateo was overjoyed to see her. He immediately shrugged off Eden's hand to run to Amelie.

“Please stay! Spend the New Year's with Daddy and me. We want you here!”

Cedric’s mother greeted them kindly, “Oh, you all came just in time! This here is Ms. Hepburn. She’s a posture coach. Since it's so late, I told her to stay for dinner.

“The more people, the merrier, after all! I’m sure you young people will have something to talk about.”

Mrs. Rivers did not notice the way Cedric's face turned pale and continued to shower Amelie with compliments. Eden stayed silent the entire time, but could not deny that she found Mrs. Rivers’ reaction very amusing.

Mrs. Rivers had always looked down on her because of her lowly background and occupation.

Upon learning about Cedric’s new girlfriend, she eagerly invited the lady to their house to spend New Year’s without even bothering to find a suitable justification for it.

During dinner, Mateo pushed Eden away and positioned himself between Cedric and Amelie. They began to chatter away.

Mrs. Rivers was very attentive and made sure Amelie had enough to eat. She restlessly encouraged her to spend the New Year's with them while also urging her to share toasts with Cedric.

Finally, she successfully convinced her to stay the night by claiming that she treated Amelie as her own daughter.

The entire time, she hardly spared a glance at Eden.

With that, Amelie spent the night at the house.

While Eden and Cedric were watching Mateo play with firecrackers on the first floor, she put on a lacy nightgown and passed by them five times.

She claimed she was getting water from the kitchen each time. Furthermore, she would make a point of slowing down and greeting them daintily.

Eden did not react, but Cedric's breathing grew heavier as time went on. His eyes were glued to his phone the entire time while he typed furiously on the keyboard.

Eden glanced at the screen with a wry look that was well concealed in the dark of the night.

Around midnight, Cedric's phone rang several times.

He could not resist the temptation and proceeded to read the messages.

After fixing an intense look on the screen for what seemed like ages, he took a few deep breaths and suppressed the lustful look in his eyes. Then, he set aside his phone and shut his eyes to sleep.

Half an hour later, he turned over for the fifth time and opened his eyes.

He took a look at Eden and observed the steady pace of her breathing. Then, he sighed and slowly got up to tiptoe out of the room.

As soon as he stepped outside, Eden heard someone whispering. She opened her eyes; she was, after all, wide awake the entire time.

“What are you doing here?”

“I missed you. I was waiting for you to come out.”

“Are you crazy? Aren't you afraid of getting caught?”

“Isn’t this what your mother wanted?”

“Quiet, don’t wake Eden. Where’s your room?”

After some more rustling and murmuring, the sound of a pair of footsteps slowly faded into the distance.

He was in such a hurry to go that he barely even shut the bedroom door.

There was a deathly still look in Eden’s eyes. She resigned and stepped out of the bed to close the door.

Before Eden managed to close the door, she heard the muffled moan of a woman.

“Keep it down!” Cedric hissed while covering her mouth.

“What's there to be scared of? Everyone's asleep, it’s more exciting like this.

“Besides, don't you like it when I scream?”

This seemed to be good enough to convince Cedric, who no longer protested.

Eden stole a glance down the hallway and realized that Cedric, in his haste, hadn’t even properly closed the door in Amelie's room.

She effortlessly spotted Cedric.

Cedric’s face was flushed red. It was a complete departure from his usual cold demeanor.

Then, she looked at Amelie, who was pinned under him. There was a mix of tenderness and passion in her eyes.

The look in Cedric’s eyes was exactly the same as the one he used to reserve for Eden.

It had been ages since Cedric looked at her so longingly and intently.

It was at this point that Eden had to accept that Cedric still had the capacity for love in him, only it was no longer for her.

She was convinced her heart had completely expired, but now it started to beat and twitch again.

A terrible, throbbing pain shot through her chest. She had forgotten how suffocating this pain could be; it was choking the breath out of her.

All along, she thought she was immune. However, witnessing his infidelity in person was another degree of pain.

Finally, she blinked away the tears and looked away before closing the door and burrowing under the covers.

Despite her best attempts, she could still hear faint sounds slipping through the cracks underneath the door. She was not sure whether to attribute it to her sensitive hearing or if it was simply because the couple was getting too loud.

Each sound they made pierced into her ears.

The next morning, she went downstairs with an extremely ashen face.

Cedric approached her and asked cautiously, “Did you sleep well last night? Was the fireworks too loud?”

She was in no mood to go through the song and dance with him. All she did was shake her head and comment disinterestedly, “No, I went to bed early and had a nightmare.”

Cedric was relieved by how nonchalant she sounded.

Suddenly, the guilt and unease of his unscrupulous actions from the previous night caught up to him. He did not want to stick around any longer and immediately announced he was taking Eden and Mateo home.

Eden did not object since staying any longer would likely make her lose more sleep. Her scalp was tingling, and all she wanted was to get some rest.

Before they left, Amelie suddenly put a hand over her mouth and then alertly clutched her stomach.

All the color drained out of her face while she cried out, “Agh! My stomach hurts, it hurts so bad…

“It's coming in waves… Oh my god! I… I’m bleeding…”

Cedric frowned. A thought suddenly came to him and stirred up a mix of emotion in his eyes. Then, he shoved a set of keys into Eden's hand before rushing forward to carry Amelie in his arms.

“Eden, why don’t you drive home first? Be careful.

“I’ll take Amelie to the hospital and be right back.”

With that, he carried Amelie straight to the garage. Meanwhile, Mateo trailed behind them without needing to be told to follow.

Eden gripped the car keys tightly with a cynical glint in her eyes. She deemed that if she drove home in this state, she was more likely to get into an accident than not.

With that, she set the keys aside and hailed a taxi home to catch up on sleep.

Then, she was rudely awakened by Mateo screaming at her. Her body felt sore all over as well.

“Did you know Amelie is pregnant?!

“She’s having twins! I won't be Daddy's only child anymore! Then I’ll have nothing left!

“Can't you just divorce Daddy and leave already? If you leave, Daddy will come home! Amelie told me she'll treat me like her own son. That way, I’ll be the eldest son and still get to keep everything for myself!

“Stop being so selfish, Mom! You know nobody likes you, so why do you keep clinging to Daddy anyway? Leave for my sake, won’t you?!”

Mateo's voice was sharp and piercing. He made his point very quickly and decisively to Eden.

It was not difficult for her to connect the dots and understand what Amelie’s stomachache was about.

Twins.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Mom!

“I’m going to throw myself off the building if you don’t leave. You want to try me? Daddy is going to hate you, and Granny is going to chase you out!”

Eden was stunned into silence for several seconds. Then, Mateo dropped his toy hammer and ran to the balcony, where he hovered one leg over the ledge with only one hand gripping the railing. His face was contorted with rage and hate.

Eden suddenly lost the strength to speak. She stared at Mateo, who was threatening to end his life just to get rid of her, and felt swept over by a wave of exhaustion and lethargy.

After a long silence, she finally spoke, “Fine, I'll go.”

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

She never planned to stay anyway.

Thereafter, Cedric wore a smile on his face everywhere he went. His usual menacing aura had melted away due to sheer joy.

It was no surprise that any man would be glad to have a few more children.

He was home less often than before, but whenever he did come home, he would bear countless gifts. He would prattle on and on about the things he would do for Eden, even though he never intended to fulfill them, all just to make up for his guilt.

Eden neither exposed him nor played into it.

After a long wait, she finally received a call from a staff member at the orphanage.

“The paperwork for the handover of the orphanage is sorted out. You can start working any time now. When would you like to come in?”

Eden sat on the couch and thought for a moment before answering, “Tomorrow.”

Suddenly, Cedric’s voice came out of nowhere, “What’s tomorrow, Eden? Are you going to be busy?”

He approached and habitually pulled her into his arms.

“Nothing important, just meeting a friend.”

Cedric noted with a nod and was just about to speak when his phone rang. After he answered the call, the look in his eyes shifted dramatically.

After hanging up, he hastily left behind instructions while preparing to leave.

“Eden, there’s something I need to attend to at the office tonight. Make sure you get some rest.

“I’ll be back as soon as I’m done. Once I come back, I’ll take you on a trip, alright? It’ll be just the two of us.”

With that, he turned and left.

He was home for less than five minutes before being called away by Amelie. It went to show how possessive she was.

Eden kept a calm composure until Cedric was out of the house. Then, she slowly got up and started to pack her luggage.

The same night, a package arrived.

She opened it, which contained two divorce certificates.

When she held them in her hands, she felt a heavy, sinking feeling. A month ago, when she first decided to file for divorce, the fact still stung her. Now that it had been finalized and while looking at the certificates, she felt nothing but relief.

The past month had been incredibly tiring. At last, she could get away from all this chaos, leave everything behind quietly, and do something meaningful for once.

Then, she called over Mateo, who had been sulking and ignoring her the entire time. She proceeded to show him the divorce certificates with what seemed like sweet relief.

“Mateo, this is what you wanted.

“Your father and I are divorced, and your father has full custody of you. Amelie will be your new mother soon.”

Mateo had been spewing curses and insults at her for so long. He must be glad to finally get what he wanted.

However, he seemed completely taken aback.

Eden smiled faintly and interpreted his reaction as him being struck silly with joy.

Then, she handed him the divorce certificate and said, “Why don’t you hand this present to your father?

“From now on, you two are free from me.”

With that, she saw no reason to stick around. After carefully putting away her divorce certificate, she dragged her already packed luggage and left the house.

She got into the car and drove away.