The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 118: Why Should She Suffer for His Mistakes?

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Why Should She Suffer for His Mistakes?

Chapter 118: Why Should She Bear the Consequences of His Mistakes?

"Aunt Evelynn, look at my new hair clip." Melissa took off her hair clip to show it to Rachel Royce.

It was a pink diamond hair clip, clearly a custom designer piece.

Rachel Royce smiled. "It’s very pretty. Anything looks good on Melissa!"

Melissa said happily, "Daddy designed it for me."

Rachel Royce was taken aback for a moment. ’Tristan Sterling designed it? I never thought he could do design work.’

"Melissa, how about Auntie comes to pick you up this weekend?"

Melissa was incredibly excited. "Okay! I wish tomorrow was the weekend."

Rachel Royce watched her daughter with a gentle gaze.

After finishing the call with Melissa, Rachel Royce calmed down and spent some time on her work for the financial weekly, reviewing related reports and making a few work calls.

Once she got busy, she didn’t have the mental energy to think about other things.

That evening, David suddenly showed up, bringing her dinner.

"Hello."

Rachel Royce was momentarily startled, then reached out to take it. "Thank you."

"Before you returned to the country, we made a deal. If I came to Kingsland, you would definitely treat me to a meal. You haven’t forgotten, have you, Evelynn!" David said.

A faint smile touched Rachel Royce’s lips. "I haven’t forgotten."

It was indeed something they had arranged beforehand.

David said, "Alright then, see you in Kingsland."

Rachel Royce didn’t ask any further questions. She just hummed in agreement and said, "Okay."

David didn’t ask about her and Tristan Sterling either. "Well, you should eat. I won’t disturb you."

「The next morning at nine o’clock.」

The cruise ship was docked at the pier.

As Rachel Royce and Julian Jennings disembarked, they ran into Tristan Sterling and Claire Ainsworth.

Rachel Royce saw him.

Tristan Sterling didn’t even spare her a glance, as if she didn’t exist in his eyes at all. He led Claire Ainsworth away without a word.

Rachel Royce averted her gaze.

"Let’s go," Julian Jennings said.

Their driver was already waiting in the parking lot with the car.

The two of them got into the car.

The drive back to Kingsland would take at least two hours.

"Professor, what did you decide about the collaboration with Hector Ainsworth?" Rachel Royce asked.

Julian Jennings replied, "We’ve reached a preliminary cooperation agreement. Hector Ainsworth was indeed very sincere. Rowan needs MK’s resources, and with Suzanne Sullivan and the Ainsworth Family at odds, it’s not a bad idea to get a piece of the pie. Great profits often come with great risks."

Rachel Royce knew that Suzanne Sullivan had previously tried to intercept one of Rowan’s trade projects. Julian Jennings had never forgotten it. Although Suzanne ultimately failed, she had still caused considerable losses.

Hector Ainsworth had approached Julian Jennings precisely because he knew this.

"I will explain the specific details of the cooperation agreement at the senior management meeting this afternoon."

By the time they got back to the company, it was already noon.

They had lunch at the company.

Back in the office, Rachel Royce quickly immersed herself in her work.

Joanna Sutton came by to chat for a bit before they discussed some work-related issues.

「At three in the afternoon.」

An impromptu meeting of the board’s senior management was held, and Rachel Royce attended.

The meeting lasted nearly three hours.

Besides discussing the collaboration with Hector Ainsworth, they also addressed issues with other projects.

In the end, the collaboration with Hector Ainsworth was confirmed.

One very important reason for this was that Hector Ainsworth had an overseas fund project that Rowan needed, which could also compensate for their shortcomings in the competition against Cedarwood.

After the meeting ended, a few of the senior managers arranged to have dinner together that evening.

Rachel Royce did not attend the dinner.

"You still haven’t fully recovered. Go home and get some rest tonight," Julian Jennings advised her.

Rachel Royce replied, "I know."

「Back home.」

Wendy Royce, Florence Preston, and Peter Preston were all waiting for her. Thomas Sterling was there as well.

"You’re back," Thomas Sterling said, then asked with concern, "Why do you look so worn out? Is work exhausting you?"

Rachel Royce smiled. "A little."

Florence Preston said, "It’s the weekend. Mom will make you some nice, restorative food."

"Mm, okay."

As they were sitting in the living room and chatting casually after dinner,

Wendy Royce asked about Rachel Royce’s divorce. He knew that she had already filed a lawsuit with the court.

Rachel Royce told her parents the truth.

"I’m meeting with Lawyer Walsh tomorrow to discuss the specifics." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Hearing this, Wendy Royce frowned. "What exactly is Tristan Sterling playing at? He was the one who brought up divorce in the first place, and after all these years, he still hasn’t finalized it with you."

After Peter Preston’s company completed two major projects last year, they had the money ready to pay Tristan Sterling back.

Peter Preston had approached Tristan Sterling, but Tristan had only one thing to say: "Have Rachel Royce come talk to me herself!"

But Rachel Royce had no desire to see Tristan Sterling again. Since he refused to sign the papers, she decided to file a lawsuit directly with the court.

But now, the court hearing had been postponed again.

As long as Tristan Sterling wanted to interfere, even if the hearing went smoothly, the judge would most likely not grant the divorce.

But everyone knew that Tristan Sterling wasn’t refusing to divorce Rachel Royce because he had feelings for her.

A gloomy atmosphere fell over the living room.

Thomas Sterling suddenly said, "His reluctance to divorce you, Rachel, might also be because of Melissa."

Rachel Royce froze, looking at Thomas Sterling.

Thomas Sterling said, "If you two aren’t divorced, then as far as Melissa is concerned, she still has a complete family."

"What kind of complete family is that? If he really cared about Melissa, if he really wanted what’s best for her, why would he still be entangled with other women? By not divorcing, he makes it seem like Rachel abandoned her daughter. He’s just trying to shift the blame onto Rachel to ease his own guilt about letting Melissa down. In the end, Tristan Sterling is just selfish and hypocritical."

"Why should Rachel have to bear the consequences of his mistakes?"

Florence Preston was fuming.

Thomas Sterling said nothing more.

’What Miss Preston had said was not wrong.’

Peter Preston then asked Thomas Sterling, "What does the Sterling Family think about Tristan’s divorce?"

Thomas Sterling replied helplessly, "When it comes to things he wants to do, the Sterling Family can’t do anything about him. I haven’t heard my grandparents or my second aunt mention anything about his divorce."

In other words, no one in the Sterling Family could truly control Tristan Sterling.

"Alright, since things with him have already reached the point of a divorce lawsuit, it’s obviously not going to be easy. I’ll meet with Lawyer Walsh tomorrow and we’ll see what he says."

’Or maybe I should go talk to him in person again.’

「The next day.」

Rachel Royce received a call from Julian Jennings. A lawyer he knew who specialized in divorce cases happened to be coming to Kingsland around this time, and he asked if she wanted to meet him.

He had been the only ethnically Chinese lawyer on the legal team for the sensational ten-billion-US-dollar divorce case that rocked America three years ago. In the end, he helped the wife secure a settlement of nearly four billion US dollars.

In the past two years, he had taken on many major divorce cases in the country, with a win rate of over ninety percent.

"Since it has come to this, my advice is to assemble a more professional legal team. That might be your only hope."

Rachel Royce had never before considered needing a whole legal team to handle her divorce.

She didn’t want any of Tristan Sterling’s assets, and since the Sterling Family and Tristan Sterling doted on Melissa, she hadn’t thought of fighting for custody either.

But now, seeing Tristan Sterling’s attitude, relying solely on Lawyer Walsh would clearly not be enough.