Sweet Divorce
Chapter 201 You’ve Got Some Nerve Hitting My Girl

Morning the next day.

As the sky lightened, Rita woke to the clamor of her alarm.

She'd cried too fiercely last night. Her eyes were swollen. She shot a look at her phone, switched off the alarm, and checked her missed calls. No missed calls.

Liam hadn't called again or texted her.

Seems like he'd lost patience in her.

Good.

That was good.

Blow after blow to his heartstrings - that should be enough to accept it when she said that she never loved him, right?

Enough to let her go, even hate her... without his weak spot, whatever happened to her or the Brown family, he wouldn't care or be threatened. Thinking of that, Rita's heartache stopped.

She clambered up, rinsed herself up, and went downstairs.

Noah and Amelia were having breakfast right now.

Seeing her come down, Amelia looked at her swollen eyes and frowned. "Did you not sleep well last night, Rita?"

Noticing Amelia was staring at her eyes, Amelia rubbed them awkwardly. "I slept well enough... drank too much water yesterday and bloated up." Walking out of the kitchen, Zoe just so happened to hear Rita's excuse.

Zoe frowned. "What do you mean you drank too much water. You were crying too hard because of your stomachache last night, weren't you?"

"If you've got a stomachache, just say so. What's with the story, kid?" Noah wore a confused expression at the side.

With her lie mercilessly deconstructed by her mother, Rita made a face. "Just didn't want Dad and Grandma to worry is all."

Rita's explanation had Noah even more worried.

Even Amelia was looking at her in a different light now. She was beginning to feel that - even though they didn't get along well earlier - this child was good at heart. Rita didn't know what was going through Amelia's mind at the moment.

She got ready to dig in, but Zoe swapped the cold dish in front of her with a steaming bowl of millet congee. "No cold dishes - have millet congee instead!" Rita chuckled. "A bit strict, are we, Mom?"

"Strict enough that I don't want to see you cry from the pain." Thinking back to how hard Rita had been crying last night, Zoe felt her heart throb.

Forget whether or not Rita was her flesh and blood. They were still family of twenty years.

Under Zoe's supervision, Rita could only watch the others dine on flavorful dishes while she contended herself with bland millet congee.

Why on earth did she say it was a stomachache back then?

Couldn't she have gone with a headache???

Looks like she was reaping the consequences for her lie now.

Because she'd never liked millet congee, with everyone having eaten their fill and returned to their room, there was still over half a bowl in front of her.

"Oh, having breakfast, Zoe?" Rose walked over, sitting casually in front of them. "What a coincidence. Mason and I haven't eaten yet. Do you have any grub left?"

They'd only just fought yesterday, but now Rose was acting like nothing had happened.

Zoe felt awkward about the whole thing, but fixed up the two of them all the same.

While waiting for their food, Rose looked up at Rita, eyes darting, trying to think of a way to soothe their strained relationship from yesterday.

But then she saw the emerald jade ring on Rita's finger and her expression darkened.

Everyone in the Brown family knew that that ring was meant for the Brown heir.

Because there had only been two daughters in this generation, Amelia had always kept it on her ring, originally to decide who would take over the Brown family when the two had gotten married. How... how was this ring on Rita's hand?

Looking at the green ring, Rose's emotions were already boiling over. She played it casual and took a sip of porridge. "Say, that's a pretty ring, Rita. Where'd you buy it?"

At that, Rita looked consciously at her finger.

She'd only just realized that she'd forgotten to take the ring off after Amelia put it on her yesterday.

At Rose's words, Mason, who'd been busying himself with his food, looked curiously at the ring on Rita's finger.

When he'd gotten a good look, he choked mid-swallow. "Why... why's that ring look so much like Mom's?"

Rose kicked him under the table. "That's exactly the ring, stupid."

Mason looked at the ring again. This time, he was completely certain that it was the Brown ancestral ring. He grew so pale and couldn't eat another bite.

Rita couldn't hear what Rose had said next to Mason's ear, but looking at his expression, she understood that it wasn't anything nice.

She touched the ring and said mildly, "I didn't buy it."

"Then?" Mason demanded impatiently.

Seeing the couple staring at the ring, Zoe had had enough. Her reply was straight to the point. "The old lady gave it to her."

There was utter silence in the living room.

Rose and Mason looked at each other, their faces turning green.

The pair know full well what the old lady had meant by that.

Rita was going to inherit the Brown family.

Where were their good times going to go, then?

Rose looked at Mason, who had lowered his head back over his porridge, and threw a spoon at him. "Eat! Eat! All you care about is eating! You're still eating at a time like this?" Mason set his dish down. "Don't get mad, darling."

"How could I not get mad - the Brown family doesn't care about us at all! Gave the family over to a snot-nosed little girl when we weren't looking."

As she complained, Rose sat down on the ground and started bawling.

People who didn't know the truth might have thought that Rita and Zoe had really wronged her somehow.

"How could the old lady play favorites like this? Disregarding her own blood son and granddaughter and handing over the Brown family to some unknown..."

"Shut it!"

Hearing the commotion, Amelia walked out on her cane and shot a cold glare at Rose's tantrum. "One more word, and I'll beat some manners into you." The old woman's glare did intimidate Rose.

But compared to the gleam of money, it wasn't that intimidating. "You can beat me to death if you want, Mom, but I have to say it. Rita's just some bitch spawned by someone who know nothing about, so what..."

Rose got half of her sentence out when Amelia slapped her. "Shut up."

Clutching her reddening cheek, Rose's eyes were full of shock and astonishment.

She'd never thought that Amelia, who'd once disliked Rita so much, was going to be so protective of her at this moment.

She glared at Rita, angry and resentful. "You're hitting me for an outsider, Mom?"

"You're getting off easy." Amelia looked at Rose, thoroughly done with her. She rolled her eyes and glared at Mason, seething, "Take this useless spouse of yours and scram. Quit making trouble here." She'd only just managed to get Rita to take the ring, and she wasn't about to let all her effort go to waste because of these two's shenanigans.

But the more Amelia protected Rita, the more enraged Rose grew.

Thoroughly humiliated, Rose stopped forward and took it out on Rita with a slap of her own. "What kind of drug did you slip the old lady, bitch? She can't tell what's what now, you... agh-"

Before the blow could connect, Rose found herself kicked to the ground.

Coming out from outside, Liam reached out with his large hands and guarded Rita in his arms.

Glaring at Rose curled up on the ground in an agonized ball, killing intent welled up in his eyes. "I can't even bear to hurt a hair on her head, and you've got the nerve to hit her?!" Seems like someone had had enough of living!