Mr. Hawthorne, Your Wife Wants a Divorce Again-Chapter 1088: The Farmer and the Snake

In the middle of the night, Ann Vaughn woke up from a nightmare, instinctively looking to her side, only to remember that Cyrus Hawthorne wasn’t there, fine beads of sweat trickling down her smooth, fair forehead.

Ann Vaughn wiped her face, biting her lip hard to let the pain stimulate her senses, slowly extracting herself from the quagmire dream, the emptiness in her eyes gradually brightening.

It was only then that she saw Little Dumpling sleeping soundly next to her.

He was sleeping so sweetly, his soft, adorable little face flushed red, a porcelain doll carved from powder and jade, making one feel joyful just by looking at him.

"Mommy, cover me..." Little Dumpling mumbled in his sleep, his little hand expertly grabbing the blanket beside him, covering Ann Vaughn, patting twice contentedly before continuing to sleep.

Ann Vaughn’s heart almost melted.

Unable to resist, she kissed Little Dumpling’s soft cheeks, took the blanket and covered his accidentally exposed tender belly, dispelling the shadows in her eyes completely.

Suddenly, the phone on the table vibrated.

Ann Vaughn took the phone to the bathroom, lowering her voice: "Hello?"

"Annie," Eli Sheridan’s voice was slightly weary as he exhaled lightly, "The matter’s resolved, Micah Hawthorne has been escorted back to prison, the trial is the day after tomorrow."

Ann Vaughn, who should be overjoyed at this moment, couldn’t focus on that, hurriedly asking, "Brother, are you hurt? You sound really tired."

Sister-obsessed people are easily satisfied, Eli Sheridan suddenly felt all physical discomfort disappear, his mind comforted greatly.

"No injuries, don’t worry."

Ann Vaughn breathed a sigh of relief, only then curiously asking Eli Sheridan for more details.

The development of things was completely beyond Ann Vaughn’s expectations.

The scene she had anticipated where Micah Hawthorne desperately resisted and refused to be captured hadn’t happened.

Eli Sheridan found Micah Hawthorne at Shuhua Vaughn’s grave.

He knelt before Paige Sherman’s tombstone, looking at the photo of the gentle woman, word by word asking, "If I hadn’t impulsively broken off our engagement years ago, would everything be different now?"

"If everything could start over, wouldn’t that be great?"

Knowing full well no one would answer him, Micah Hawthorne stubbornly asked, his lips chapped.

Finally he asked, "Did you ever love me back then?"

Eli Sheridan walked step by step behind him, looking at Micah Hawthorne’s face worn by time, no longer showing the slightest hint of former pride and spiritedness.

The way he knelt before his mother’s grave, he seemed very much like a clown.

A hypocritical clown.

Eli Sheridan spoke coldly, interrupting Micah Hawthorne’s self-indulgent fantasy: "Is putting on a show at my mother’s empty grave fun for you? Why not go underground and personally ask if my mother is willing to forgive a disgraceful ingrate."

This world has never lacked examples of the farmer and the snake.

Years ago, Micah Hawthorne’s father’s poor business decisions led to the company’s overnight burden of millions in debt, selling off properties and borrowing everywhere was merely a drop in the bucket, unable to prevent bankruptcy.

They say when wealthy, distant relatives abound; when impoverished, no one cares. After news of the Hawthorne family’s debt spread, not a single bank was willing to loan them money, and those relatives turned a blind eye, not caring a bit about past ties.

At this time, what saved the Hawthorne family was precisely a small action they had taken years before.

Sending Micah Hawthorne to the kindergarten where Paige Sherman was, ordering him to establish a good relationship with her.

Micah Hawthorne succeeded.

When the Hawthorne family was on the brink of bankruptcy, Micah Hawthorne unhesitatingly knelt before Paige Sherman, begging her to help the Hawthorne family, promising to repay her with anything in return.

Years of acquaintance made Paige Sherman couldn’t reject his plea, worrying her parents wouldn’t agree, so she devised a temporary solution—

To pretend to be a couple with Micah Hawthorne.

This way, for the sake of their daughter’s future happiness, Old Master Vaughn and Old Mrs. Vaughn would undoubtedly help the Hawthorne family through its crisis.

But what did the Hawthorne family do after they overcame the crisis?

Taking advantage of Paige Sherman’s childhood acquaintance with Micah Hawthorne, they coaxed and deceived her into unintentionally accepting a token of engagement.

Exploiting the Vaughn family’s influence to endlessly reap benefits, clinging to the Vaughn family like leeches, refusing to let go.

By the time the Vaughn family noticed something amiss, rumors had already spread throughout Marinia, everyone knowing Paige Sherman was Micah Hawthorne’s fiancée, and the Vaughn family and Hawthorne family were to be in-laws.

This era was different from today, reputation was extremely important, being embroiled by the Hawthorne family even if the Vaughn family later annulled the engagement, the damage to Paige Sherman’s reputation was irreversible, impossible to change.

Even so, Paige Sherman couldn’t bear the Hawthorne family’s greed anymore, proposed annulling the engagement.

Unexpectedly, the Hawthorne family was even more ruthless, the next day Micah Hawthorne publicly announced the annulment with Paige Sherman.

The top socialite in Marinia was thus turned into the city’s laughingstock, pointed and judged by everyone.

The Hawthorne family thought that even without the Vaughn family, they could thrive in Marinia, didn’t need to cling to "selling the son for glory" to remain attached to the Vaughn family and Paige Sherman.

They kicked away ruthlessly when the time came.

And what awaited them next was an abyss darker than before the bankruptcy...

"You’re not worthy." Eli Sheridan stepped on Micah Hawthorne’s hypocritical and ugly face, the print of his leather shoe heavy on his face, gaze fierce and wild like a beast, "Consider yourself lucky, I’m not killing today."

Whether it was Eli Sheridan’s words touching Micah Hawthorne’s wounds, he closed his eyes, giving up the struggle, as if he had fallen into complete despair.

After hearing all this, Ann Vaughn only felt Micah Hawthorne was quite laughable.

Did he really think Paige Sherman proposed pretending to be a couple, helping his family through its crisis, because she had feelings for him?

His face is so thick, it couldn’t fit into a stainless steel basin.

Not chatting for long, Eli Sheridan hung up the phone to rest.

Ann Vaughn put down her phone, lying on the bed staring at the ceiling for a while, gradually feeling drowsy too.

...

After being discharged, Ann Vaughn’s daily life returned to normal.

Fortunately, Vaughn Clinic always has a rule of limiting appointment numbers, busy as she was, she could still manage.

But whenever her phone made any sound, she would instinctively rush over and pick it up, eagerly opening it.

Seeing that it wasn’t a message from Cyrus Hawthorne, the light in her eyes would dim again.

Could he be in danger...

Ann Vaughn walked out of the lab, frowning as she took out her phone, just typing when she heard someone puzzled, "Didn’t the manager say he’d be back in half an hour? It’s been a whole morning; could something have happened?"

"Can’t reach him by phone, no reply to messages, should we go out and look?"

Suddenly, Ann Vaughn lifted her head, recalling what Sherry said that day in the clinic, not knowing what she was thinking, she turned and walked outside.

At this moment, her phone vibrated.