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Then, right in front of him, she opened the thermos, unscrewed the lid, and walked over to the nearest trash can.
“Stop! Don’t do it!”
Josh panicked, thinking she was about to pour the soup out. He lunged toward her.
But Estela calmly tilted the empty thermos to show him.
Nothing came out. It had been empty all along.
Josh’s face turned red with anger. “Mom! How could you be so selfish? You’d rather throw it out than give it to Phoebe? You’re the worst! I hate you!”
Estela gave a faint smile–cool and unreadable. “You hate me? That’s fine. I’m allowed to feel things too. This soup wasn’t meant for you. Just imagining someone I don’t care about drinking it makes me sick.”
His eyes turned glassy with tears. His little chest was rising and falling fast. She’d never spoken to him like this before–it hurt more than he expected.
Then Estela looked at him and asked calmly, “When your dad and I get divorced, who do you want to live with?”
“With Dad, of course! I’d never choose you!” he shouted, without a second thought.
Estela nodded, looking satisfied. “Perfect.”
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Her lawyer had told her the court would consider the child’s preference in the custody agreement.
Now she didn’t need to worry.
His answer was so clear, so firm–it gave her the peace of mind she needed.
She could finally focus on her own life, her own career.
By now, Vance should’ve received the divorce papers.
But Josh couldn’t understand why Estela had changed so much.
‘She used to love Dad so much. There is no way she’ll really go through with a divorce,‘ he thought.
He’d seen it on TV–the kind of story where a wife, neglected by her husband, pretended to leave just to win his attention. Some even used their kids to threaten him.
‘Well, it won’t work this time. I’m not letting her pull that off,‘ he thought.
Feeling confident he’d figured out Estela’s motives, Josh turned away in defiance.
“Mom, Dad is never going to love you the way he loves Phoebe. You should just give up already.”
“And even if you go back to acting like before, I won’t complain about your nagging anymore.”
“But you still owe me an apology for today–you yelled at me!”
He muttered and sulked for a while, but no matter how long he waited, Estela never said a word.
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When he finally turned around, her car had already pulled away from the curb and was halfway down the street.
Josh’s face turned bright red with frustration.
He shouted after the car, as if trying to reclaim some control, “Mom! I’m not going to let you win!”
*****
He dragged his feet back to the hospital room, his mood dark.
Rowena looked up, puzzled. “Didn’t you say you were going to get Mom’s soup? Phoebe’s still waiting. Don’t tell me. you couldn’t get it?”
“No way. I will get it,” Josh snapped, stubborn as ever.
*****
That night, Josh suddenly spiked a fever.
Even in his sleep, he kept mumbling, “Mom. Mom. soup.”
Vance sat silently at his bedside, fatigue etched into his features.
“Mr. Leon,” the secretary said quietly, approaching with hesitation, “we still haven’t been able to reach Mrs. Leon.”
He didn’t need to say more–this was clearly not the first time.
Vance’s dark eyes sharpened with rare anger. “She’s really going to let her pride get in the way of her own child’s health?”
“I underestimated you, Estela.”
*****
Back at her apartment, Estela had just finished reviewing the design
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brief Delia had sent. After confirming the client’s preferences and potential deal–breakers, she finally settled into work mode.
She had a strict habit when designing: total isolation.
Back when she created her first award–winning piece, she’d locked herself in her studio for seven straight days and nights, never stepping outside.
Any distraction from the outside world could completely throw off her creative flow.
Inspiration was fleeting–miss the moment, and it might never come again.
To be safe, she switched her phone to airplane mode.
She didn’t want to accidentally see any gossip headlines about Vance and Phoebe popping up when checking the time and messing with her focus.
Letting go didn’t mean she wasn’t still angry.
She threw herself into the project and stayed fully immersed for three full days.
Even in her dreams, she found herself going over fabric textures and garment cuts.
On the morning of day three, she worked straight through and finally completed the color detailing for the pants and designed the logo placement on the cuffs.
Once she finalized and submitted all the drafts, Delia replied almost instantly.
Delia: [Estela! You are a genius! This is next–level amazing!]
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Seeing that message from Delia, Estela finally let out a breath of relief.
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