Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Back from the Dead

"Ex-wife?" Yvonne Sutton was taken aback.

Mrs. Sutton, however, was quite frank, not shying away from the topic at all.

"When we made our relationship official, he actually hadn’t divorced yet."

"Huh?"

Mrs. Sutton smiled. "But I didn’t wreck their marriage. Their relationship had already fallen apart by then. It was just that his ex-wife was pregnant, and he had to shoulder his responsibility."

’And that doesn’t count as wrecking their marriage?’

"But during that time, I got pregnant too. I had a chat with his ex-wife, and she didn’t love him anymore either. So, rather than suffering through it, it was better to let go early and save each other the torment."

"So his ex-wife gave birth to the child and raised her all by herself?"

"Mhm. The condition she set for the divorce was that we had to leave Aethelgard and never appear in her life again."

She hadn’t expected Mrs. Sutton to share such a private matter with her and was momentarily at a loss for words.

"But you really do look so much like his ex-wife. The first time I saw you, I almost thought she’d come to find us." Mrs. Sutton smiled again at this. "But that’s impossible. His ex-wife is already dead."

A thought struck Yvonne Sutton, and her blood ran cold.

Her uncle and aunt often used to say to her: "You look so much like your mother. Sometimes, for a moment, we mistake you for her."

"That ex-wife... what was her name?" As soon as Yvonne asked, she felt how strange the question was.

Sure enough, Mrs. Sutton also found it strange, her gaze lifting from her painting canvas to look at her.

"What?"

"N-nothing."

She said it was nothing, but the seed of suspicion had already been planted and was now growing wildly.

Her mother had told her that her father had passed away before she was even born, but her mother had never once taken her to visit his grave. After her mother died, her uncle and aunt had her buried alone.

She had asked them why her mother wasn’t buried with her father, and because of that question, her uncle had actually hugged her and cried.

After that, she never mentioned her father again. ’He must have done something unforgivable,’ she guessed, ’which is why Mom never took me to his grave and why my aunt and uncle hate him.’

But she had never considered that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t actually dead—just dead to her mother.

"Oh, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Sutton said, looking past her.

"You didn’t eat much tonight. I boiled some dumplings for you."

That voice...

Yvonne’s heart suddenly clenched. She slowly turned to look behind her, just as Mr. Sutton looked at her. His brow furrowed at first, but when he saw her shocked and suspicious expression, he began to grow flustered.

"The dumplings are fresh. Eat them while they’re hot. I-I’ll be going now." Mr. Sutton set down the dumplings and turned to leave.

Yvonne pursed her lips, then suddenly looked at Mrs. Sutton and asked, "Was the ex-wife’s name Serena Shaw?"

At these words, Mrs. Sutton froze in astonishment, and Mr. Sutton stopped in his tracks. Both of them stared at her.

Yvonne smiled. "Of course I look like my mother."

Mrs. Sutton was so shocked she couldn’t even hold her paintbrush, which slipped through her fingers and fell. "Are you saying you’re Serena Shaw’s daughter?"

"Yes," Yvonne said, her smile vanishing.

"How could you be here? You..."

"I need to talk to you alone," Mr. Sutton interrupted his wife. He gave Yvonne a long, hard look before walking outside.

Yvonne was actually curious what he wanted to talk to her about, so she stood up. Noticing Wyatt Shaw looking over with concern, she shook her head at him reassuringly.

Across from the night market was a small basketball court—though calling it a court was a stretch. It was really just two basketball hoops, their bases weighed down by a large rock.

There were no fading lights from the night market here, so the darkness was thick and heavy.

They sat with the large rock between them, one facing east, the other west, as if separated by a mountain peak.

Yvonne’s mind was still reeling. She had spoken her mother’s name on a sudden whim, truly believing she was overthinking things. How could it be possible? Her dead father was alive—it was too absurd.

But it was true. And now, her emotions were still in a turbulent storm, refusing to calm down.

"The first moment I saw you, I knew it was you," Mr. Sutton said.

"Because I look like my mother?"

"After your mother passed away, I went to see you. It was just a glimpse from afar, but I’ve always remembered it. It’s etched deep in my mind."

"But you never showed yourself."

"I made a promise to your mother."

"My mother was already dead by then."

"Do you hate me?"

"I wouldn’t say that. In my heart, my father has been dead for a long time. He was then, he is now, and he always will be."

Hearing her words, Mr. Sutton let out a visible sigh of relief.

"I thought you had come looking for me on purpose."

Yvonne frowned. "Is that why you looked at me like that? And even threw me out of your house?"

"My life is very peaceful now, and I like it this way. I don’t want anyone to disrupt it. I hope you can understand."

"Chester Sutton, you make me sick! You cheated on my mother while she was pregnant, divorced her before I was even born, and then hid away in this small town to live your so-called happy life! She can brazenly claim she wasn’t a homewrecker because your marriage was already ’broken,’ and you can say your life is good now and you don’t want me to disturb it. You two really are two of a kind! Equally despicable, shameless, and filthy!"

With that, Yvonne stood up and turned to leave.

Chester Sutton stood up as well. "If you were me, you would have done the same," he said in a heavy voice. "The past is in the past. Protecting one’s current family and life—that’s the wise thing to do, isn’t it?"

"I’m not you, and I would never do something so disgusting!"

"Regardless of what you think, I hope you can leave town as soon as possible. Let’s just pretend we, father and daughter, never met."

"Ha! You... How can you even say that..."

Yvonne was trembling with rage. He actually had the nerve to try and run her off.

"Do you own this town?" Wyatt Shaw came running over, pulling Yvonne into his arms before turning to glare coldly at Chester Sutton.

"Who are you?" Chester Sutton asked.

"I’m her husband!"

"So she’s already married. That’s good. With someone to take care of her, I can finally be at ease."

"No. Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to feel ’at ease’?"

Chester Sutton’s face hardened. "I am her father, which makes me your father-in-law!"

"Bullshit! My father-in-law is clearly dead! What, did you crawl out of your grave? Decided to stop being a man and be a ghost instead? A scumbag ghost?"

"You!" Chester Sutton was so livid he couldn’t hide it. "Yvonne, this is the man you married? He has no manners whatsoever!"

"Manners?" Wyatt Shaw sneered. "Why the fuck should I show manners to a cheating scumbag? Or should we talk about the difference between a human and an animal?"

Chester Sutton was practically stupefied with rage. His face dark, he adjusted his glasses and then strode away.

"Chester Sutton, I won’t disturb your life, but you must disappear from mine!" Yvonne shouted, fighting back her nausea.

"Fine. So be it."

After Chester Sutton left, Yvonne threw herself into Wyatt Shaw’s arms.

Wyatt held her, his heart aching for her, and was just about to offer words of comfort when he heard her begin to laugh.