Revenge Against My Ex-husband

"Irene, you're back!" shouted Maisy. She was standing in a remote corner, watching the engagement ceremony in disdain when she noticed Irene. She ran towards Irene immediately. "Where have you been for all these years? Why haven't you come back to check on me?" Maisy's voice choked.

Irene saw Maisy; and she, too, ran over excitedly. She stretched out her arms and hugged Maisy. When Irene was just a wisp of a girl, Maisy worked as a servant in the Cook family. She had always been very good to Irene.

Deborah and Margaret also came over. When they saw Irene, Margaret's first thought was that Irene was here to stir up trouble. She stood in front of Irene with an aggressive front. "Why did you come?" Irene let go of Maisy and squinted at Margaret. "Excuse me, who are you in the Cook family?"

"I..." Margaret's face turned red. The contempt on Irene's face agitated her. "Well, Lily's my daughter-in-law, and this is her home!"

"Oh? It's not yours, then. What makes you qualified to ask me what I'm here for?" Irene retorted unceremoniously. She turned to look at Deborah and asked with a smirk, "Isn't that right, Mrs. Cook?" Deborah gave Irene an awkward smile. She knew that things would not go so smoothly with Irene's presence. Irene definitely had no good intentions for visiting them at this time. Fortunately, the ceremony was over. Immediately, she chirruped, "Irene, let's talk inside!"

"Why are you inviting her in? Just have someone to get her out of here!" Margaret barked despite being in such a joyous ceremony. She was used to demanding things her way. Irene did not have money, power, nor authority. Margaret was not afraid of offending Irene.

Irene sneered. "Since when did an outsider get to make decisions in this house? Don't tell me that Mr. Cook is looking for a new Mrs. Cook again? Madam Deborah, it seems like you should keep an eye on Mr. Cook. He's certainly very charming. Perhaps someone would covet your place in this family!"

Even fools could tell that Irene was insulting Margaret. Margaret did not expect Irene to insinuate that she had a string or two with Steven. Irene was really rude in Margaret's eyes. The latter huffed and was about to retort when Irene looked at Deborah. "Mrs. Cook, is my room ready?"

Deborah tried to put a smile on her face. "We've always kept your room for you."

"It's not the smallest, darkest, and the most humid room, is it?" Irene taunted.

"No, it's the largest one that gets plenty of sunlight," Deborah said.

"Good." Irene was satisfied. She told Maisy, "Maisy, please send my luggage that's with Mr. Cook upstairs. Thank you very much!"

It was only then that Margaret realized Steven was on the side, looking at them with Irene's luggage in hand. She asked, "What's going on?"

Steven cast her a cold gaze with a dark expression. He saw every instance Margaret acted towards Irene a while ago. How dared she speak to Irene in that tone in front of so many guests? He could imagine how arrogant she would be when no one was around.

How much torture did Irene had suffered in the past? He ignored Margaret's question and Maisy's attempt to take Irene's luggage. He held it himself and went into the house.

Edric and Lily approached in their direction. Edric looked at Irene with an unreadable expression. What did Irene want to achieve by coming here? He thought of what she stammered out that night. She had told him, "If you call off the engagement with Lily, I'll consider getting back together with you."

He did not believe her. He thought that everything she said was for revenge and hung up the phone. She called again and again, yet he chose to reject all her calls. Eventually, he switched off his phone.

He thought that she came to mess things up when he first noticed her. However, when he saw her grinning and clapping her hands, he knew that it was different from what he expected. Irene looked at him and Lily with a mocking smile as she squealed, "Congratulations, Miss Cook. Your wish came true! I wish you both to have a child as soon as possible, and many more children in the future!"

Lily was hesitant on what to say. Smirking, Edric replied, "Thank you, Miss Nelson."

"You're welcome! It's what I should do!" Irene beamed. "Go on. I'll go upstairs and take a look at my room. I'll be taking a nap too!"

Edric, Lily, Deborah, and Margaret all felt uneasy at the sight of Irene entering the house nonchalantly. Deborah and Lily wore smiles on their faces, but their hearts were in a mess. They did not believe that Irene would stay put on such an occasion.

Margaret was the most oblivious among the four. She was exasperated when she saw Irene being so arrogant. She cut to the chase and questioned sharply, "Mrs. Cook, what on earth is going on?" "Let's talk about it later. We should arrange the guests to go to the hotel now!" Deborah forced a smile. Although there were not many people in the yard who came to attend the engagement party, it was definitely not the right place to discuss such a topic.

Most importantly, Deborah did not want to even bring this up, for it was related to a shameful past of hers. After Myra's passing, Steven took on his new position in Alsburg City. She and Lily went together with him. No one knew that Steven had once married Myra prior to Deborah. She had lived all these years as if she was his first, only, and legal wife. If anyone knew that she had apparently been his mistress before she married him, she would certainly be shamed.

The party was not as joyful as it seemed. While Steven returned to the event, he did not look as gleeful as he did in the morning. His attitude towards Margaret also became rather chilly.

The party finally ended. After greeting the guests goodbye, Margaret mentioned Irene again. Steven replied calmly, "Irene is my daughter; my ex-wife gave birth to her."

Margaret paled in an instant. If Edric was not the one who happened to catch her at the side, she would have fallen to the ground from the shock. "How could this be?"

Wasn't Irene from a poor family? How did she suddenly become Steven's daughter? Margaret was dumbstruck.

She was certain that Steven was aware of Edric and Irene's marriage in Alsburg City. Deborah and Lily also knew very well that Margaret was the one who forced Irene to divorce and leave the Myers family without any alimony. Why did Steven agree for Lily, his second daughter, and Edric to be engaged?

"Why couldn't it be?" Steven glimpsed at Margaret with annoyance. "I'll excuse myself. Irene hasn't had dinner yet."

With that, he strode out at once. Deborah asked Margaret to take a seat. Only at that moment could Margaret finally take a breather. She glanced at Deborah and hissed, "What happened?"

Deborah sighed. "It's a long story. Irene was Steven and his ex-wife, Myra Nelson's daughter. There were some misunderstandings at that time, and Myra left home with Irene. Later, an accident happened and Myra passed away. Her younger brother, Thomas blamed Steven for Myra's death. He hated Steven a lot, thus he took Irene away and changed her name. We've been looking for Irene for many years, and we finally identified news about her recently."

Deborah was fantastic at spinning lies. Deborah was definitely to be blamed for Myra's, but she glossed over her passing as a simple motor vehicle accident. Irene had left because she was angered that Deborah took Lily and occupied Myra's place in the family. Despite so, Deborah twisted it into Thomas taking Irene away. She even lied that they only found Irene recently.

Of course, Deborah would never tell the truth, for she knew that Steven would not let their scandal see the light of day. For his reputation, he would never admit that he had an affair with Deborah while he was married to Myra.

Edric felt rather uncomfortable when he heard Deborah's reply. He got up and went out to smoke. Seeing him leave, Deborah gave Lily a look, and Lily immediately followed him.

Edric stood outside and lit a cigarette irritatedly. Uneasiness enshrouded him as he looked at Margaret and Deborah. One was snobbish and the other was full of lies. Both of them were indeed a good match. Thinking of the mockery in Irene's eyes, his heart sank.

Lily walked to his side and spoke, "Aunt Margaret didn't know that I got pregnant for Irene, and my mother didn't want anyone to know about this. Thus, she lied to Aunt Margaret. Please don't blame my mother for it..."

Lily defended Deborah, "Back then, my mother... was indeed in the wrong. But, it's not like I have a choice. After all, she gave birth to me and raised me up. I can't hate her no matter what."

Her words hit Edric right in the heart. He also had qualms about Margaret, but Margaret was his mother. He could not disobey her nor abandon her.

"If you find it difficult to live in such a family, you can cancel all of this. I won't blame you," Lily added.

Edric looked at her pitiful appearance and forced a smile. "Don't overthink it."

Margaret was not stupid. She did not believe in Deborah's words. Irene and Myra definitely did not leave home due to a misunderstanding. Lily and Irene were of the same age. That so-called misunderstanding should be related to Deborah herself; the latter was probably Steven's mistress at that time.

Besides, she did not believe Steven and Deborah were unaware of what happened between Irene and Edric. Since Steven knew that Margaret abused Irene and was still willing to have Lily married Edric, it was clear that he took a fancy to the money of the Myers family.

At first, Margaret was shocked and worried that the marriage between Lily and Edric would be canceled. However, right then, her thoughts changed. She felt flustered with a hint of contempt. She had searched high and low for Edric's perfect partner. Why did she end up choosing Lily, who was just a mistress' daughter?

Nevertheless, Lily was still better than Irene. Just the thought of Irene's unyielding attitude made Margaret boil in anger. Lily was gentle, kind, and sensible. She would never go against Margaret like Irene did. Experienced in the pretense and the deceit of the corporate world, Margaret knew how to laugh the matter off, thereby leaving Deborah some dignity. "I see. So, what happened between Edric and Lily?" "Actually, Steven and I were also in a dilemma about Lily and Edric. Steven once told Irene about it as he was worried that Irene would disagree with it. But to our surprise, Irene was pretty open about it. She didn't object to the relationship between Edric and Lily. Since Irene was okay with it, and Edric and Lily are in love with each other, Steven and I can't possibly separate the lovebirds. Well, can we?" Deborah said.

Deborah was clever with her talking. She beat around the bush before she finally came up with an excuse that Irene did not object to the marriage. All these were meant to indicate that Deborah did not want to call off the engagement. Margaret chuckled and said, "I think the same. Since Edric and Lily have fallen for each other, how can we parents stop them?"

Deborah nodded. "Edric and Lily should not feel guilty towards Irene too. Let bygones be bygones!"

"Yes! Let bygones be bygones. We should always look to the future!" Margaret parroted.

"By the way, since I've told you my past, I've nothing to hide anymore anyway. There's another thing that I have to tell you," Deborah added.

Deborah was an observant person. Since Irene had returned rightfully as Steven's daughter, it was impossible for her and Edric to avoid meeting each other. To prevent any unnecessary situations, Deborah had to make preparations in advance.

"What is it?" Margaret asked.

"It's about the urban construction project last time. It wasn't that Steven didn't want to help, but it was Irene who requested him to do so. Steven felt guilty towards her, so he agreed with her request," Deborah explained.

"I see." Margaret nodded in understanding as her hatred for Irene increased tenfold. If it was not for Irene, the Myers Group would not have lost such a huge project.

"But don't you worry. Steven has already done his part to do right by her. Such a thing won't happen again," Deborah affirmed.

Margaret hummed in agreement. She knew what Deborah meant. Now that things had come to this point, there was no use to argue about the rights and wrongs. She stood up and spoke, "It's getting late. I'll ask Edric to send you guys home!"