Seeing she was leaving, Kaden Xavier chased after her and shoved the box back into her hand. "Wren, please, let me explain..."

"Explain what?" Wren Wynter spun around, her eyes red. "Explain how you spent a fortune on another woman at the auction? Explain how you let her hang on your arm in front of everyone? Kaden Xavier! Can you just stop pestering me!"

She clutched the box, looking at the one-hundred-million-dollar hot potato in her hand, feeling the profound irony of it all.

For the past three years, similar humiliations had occurred again and again.

And now that they were divorced, he was still humiliating her like this!

Rage surged in her heart.

Wren Wynter raised her arm, and the exquisite velvet box carved an arc through the air, sailing over the fence in front of the auction house and landing in the garden bushes behind it. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"You!" Kaden Xavier’s pupils contracted.

Wren Wynter looked at him coldly. "When you find it, then I’ll consider talking to you."

With that, she refused to look at him again, turning and walking away quickly.

Shaun Quinn and the others immediately followed, forming a protective circle around her.

Kaden Xavier stood frozen, his gaze shifting from Wren Wynter to the dense thicket of bushes.

"Kaden..." Seraphina Sutton began cautiously. "Did I say something wrong just now...?"

Kaden Xavier’s brow furrowed in annoyance, his tone laced with impatience. "No."

He took off his suit jacket, tossed it to Seraphina Sutton, unfastened his cufflinks, rolled up his sleeves, and headed straight for the bushes.

"Kaden! What are you doing?" Seraphina Sutton exclaimed in shock.

"Looking for the necklace."

"Are you crazy? It’s full of thorns in there! It’s just a necklace. If it’s lost, it’s lost. We can just buy another one..."

"This one is different," Kaden Xavier cut her off, his voice firm. "She said that when I find it, she’ll come home with me."

’He had to bring her home.’

Seraphina Sutton watched as Kaden Xavier walked into the bushes without hesitation. She watched as branches snagged and tore his expensive shirt, and as thorns scratched bloody marks onto his slender fingers. Jealousy and resentment threatened to swallow her whole.

’Why?’

’Why, even after leaving, does Wren Wynter’s ghost still haunt him?’

Wren Wynter returned to the hotel, completely exhausted.

Ho-ran Park handed her a glass of warm water and said gently, "Get some rest. We still have the final conference session tomorrow."

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Wren Wynter took the glass, managing a faint smile.

Shaun Quinn stood by the window, silently gazing outside.

After a long while, he finally spoke. "If he really finds it, what are you going to do?"

Wren Wynter shook her head. "I don’t know."

She truly didn’t know.

Kaden Xavier’s actions today had been completely unexpected. She had no idea what he was trying to do.

The final day of the academic conference ended uneventfully.

Wren Wynter submitted her conference paper and exchanged insights with several international experts, finding the experience quite rewarding.

Julian Hawthorne was very pleased with her performance and offered some rare praise.

Their flight home was the next morning.

The next day, the group prepared to return to their country.

After a ten-hour flight, the plane landed at The Capital International Airport.

When Wren Wynter was returning from the restroom, she saw Shaun Quinn in the distance, surrounded by several men in sharp suits.

The men were respectful in their demeanor, but their tone was firm, as if they were demanding something of Shaun Quinn.

Shaun Quinn’s expression was grim, his silver-white hair looking somewhat disheveled under the airport lights.

As Wren Wynter drew closer, she heard one of the men say in a low voice, "Young Master, the Old Man said that if you refuse to return, he can’t guarantee that your ’little junior sister’ here will be able to live peacefully in The Capital."

Shaun Quinn’s gaze instantly turned ice-cold. "You dare touch her and see what happens."

"Of course we wouldn’t dare. But you know the Old Man’s methods, Young Master. Why cause such a rift with the family over a woman?"

Wren Wynter, Ho-ran Park, and the others were completely baffled.

Only Julian Hawthorne walked over to Shaun Quinn and gently patted his shoulder.

"Go back and see him. Your grandfather must miss you very much."

Shaun Quinn quickly reined in his emotions, regaining his usual composure. "But... I don’t want to."

"Sigh. Grudges between a grandson and his grandfather shouldn’t last overnight. He had no choice back then. You have to understand him."

He fell silent for a moment, then turned to look back at Wren Wynter.

"I understand."

’For Wren Wynter’s sake, he couldn’t afford to willfully refuse to go back.’

’Otherwise, he really couldn’t guarantee what his grandfather might do.’

"I’ll go back with you."

"This way, Young Master."

Shaun Quinn nodded. He glanced back at Wren Wynter one last time, as if to burn her image into his memory, before following the men into a car and disappearing into the flow of traffic.

"Professor, what about Second Senior Brother...?"

"When he’s ready to talk about it, he’ll tell you."

"Okay."

Wren Wynter collected herself, then hailed a cab to Crystal Nash’s house.

The moment the taxi stopped, Wren Wynter saw a black car parked by the roadside.

Wren Wynter recognized it at a glance as Kaden Xavier’s car.

Wren Wynter frowned. ’What’s he doing here?’

She turned, planning to pretend she hadn’t seen it and take another route.

But things rarely go as planned.

The car door opened, and Kaden Xavier stepped out.

He was wearing a gray suit and looked somewhat weary, as if he had rushed over straight from the airport.

"Wren," he said, walking up to her. "We need to talk."

Wren Wynter stopped and looked at him quietly. "Kaden Xavier, I thought I made myself perfectly clear back in Valeria."

"Stop this nonsense and come home with me."

"What home? Do we even have a home?"

Wren Wynter’s expression didn’t change, her voice ice-cold.

"Wren, how long are you going to keep this up? What more do you want?" Kaden Xavier was running out of patience.

Wren Wynter didn’t spare him another glance.

She walked around him and continued on her way.

Kaden Xavier grabbed her arm, his grip so tight it made her frown. "Wren, what will it take for you to come back?"

Wren Wynter forcefully shook his hand off, spun around, and said, word by word, "I want you to let go. I want you to disappear from my life. I want you to never show up again. Kaden Xavier, can you do that?"

Kaden Xavier froze on the spot, his face ashen.

Wren Wynter watched the color drain from his face.

She suddenly laughed, her smile dripping with sarcasm. "Kaden Xavier, do you still not get it? We’re already divorced."

Kaden Xavier frowned, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.

"When did we get divorced? Wren, I told you, I don’t agree to a divorce."

Seeing his denial, Wren Wynter’s face turned cold, a hint of anger showing between her brows.

She pointed past Kaden Xavier and growled, "Get out. I don’t want to see you."

"Wren..."

DING—

Just then, Kaden Xavier’s phone suddenly rang.

He answered, his tone harsh. "What is it? Spit it out!"

"Mr. Xavier, this is bad! They found out about Miss Sutton’s pregnancy!"

Assistant Lynch’s voice came through the phone. Kaden Xavier’s expression shifted slightly as he instinctively looked at Wren Wynter.

’The only people who knew about Seraphina Sutton’s pregnancy were him, Seraphina herself, and Wren Wynter.’

’Seraphina Sutton certainly wouldn’t be stupid enough to report herself, which left only Wren Wynter.’

Wren Wynter met his suspicious gaze and found it laughable.

’See? When it comes to anything involving Seraphina Sutton, he suspects me first.’

’The man who was just begging her to come home with him was now staring at her as if he were interrogating a criminal.’

"Okay, I’m on my way."

Kaden Xavier hung up the phone and approached Wren Wynter, his voice tinged with suspicion.

"Was it you?"

"No."

Although she had been prepared for it, hearing Kaden Xavier ask her directly still sent a barely perceptible pang of pain through her heart.

’He didn’t believe her.’

Kaden Xavier’s eyes were fixed on Wren Wynter.

Wren Wynter didn’t look away. The two of them held each other’s gaze for a long moment.

In the end, he was the one to look away, deciding to trust Wren Wynter this one time.

’She had been in Eldoria for the past few days; she didn’t have the opportunity.’

’Then who could it be?’

Kaden Xavier left without another word.

Wren Wynter stared at his retreating back, then lowered her head and, after a long moment, let out a deep sigh.

To prevent Seraphina Sutton from pinning this on her, she decided to head to the company.

She had no desire to be falsely accused of snitching.

—

The Airline Company.

Kaden Xavier arrived, looking travel-worn, and found several managers escorting Seraphina Sutton out of an office.

Seeing Kaden Xavier, Seraphina Sutton’s eyes immediately welled with tears. She walked over to him and threw her arms around him.

"Kaden, you’re finally here."

Kaden Xavier stiffened at her embrace and awkwardly pulled her away.

"What’s going on?"

"We received a report that Flight Attendant Seraphina Sutton participated in a flight while pregnant. According to aviation regulations, we are required to terminate her employment."