Hearts Remember What Minds Try To Forget by Rex Wilder 35

It was Liam! 

He saw Ethan looking like he was about to eat someone alive, and then saw Sophia, a total mess, sprawled on the floor. Instinctively, he rushed over, his little fists furiously pummeling Ethan’s leg, wailing: 

“Bad Daddy! You hit Mommy! You’re a bad Daddy! I hate you! I hate you!” 

The child’s sharp cries and frantic hitting were like pouring gasoline on the fire for Ethan’s nerves, which were already frayed to breaking point by rage and regret. 

Because of this bastard, this bastard Sophia tricked him into having, he misunderstood me and hurt me again and again! 

His rage hit its peak instantly. He lifted his foot and kicked Liam! 

“Ah-!” A short, sharp scream. Liam’s body was instantly sent flying several feet, landing motionless on the floor. 

“Liam!!!” Sophia shrieked, a gut–wrenching cry, scrambling over to clutch her child. 

“What’s going on? What’s all the noise about now?” Robert and Margaret rushed downstairs, drawn by the commotion, only to witness this shocking scene. 

“Ethan! Are you insane?!” Margaret shrieked, shoving Ethan, who was still standing there, chest heaving violently. Her gaze, filled with anguish, fell upon her grandson in Sophia’s arms, his life hanging in the balance. 

“Ethan! Are 

you 

insane?! That’s 

your own 

son! How could you 

hit him that hard? Are you trying to kill him?!” 

Robert’s face was also livid, trembling with rage as he pointed at Ethan. “You bastard! You’ve completely lost it! Is this about Ella? For a woman, you’d lay hands on your own flesh and blood?! You animal!” 

“Kill him?” Ethan let out a cold laugh, a sound ripped from his throat, his eyes like those of a bloodthirsty beast. 

“Mom, you’re damn right. I want to kill him! The biggest regret of my life is not killing that bastard when he was still in the womb!” 

The word “bastard” hit Robert and Margaret like a lightning bolt, stunning them completely. 

Margaret’s wails choked in her throat. Her eyes wide, she stared at Ethan, disbelieving, her voice trembling: 

“You… what nonsense are you spewing! Liam, he…” 

“I’m not talking nonsense.” Ethan’s gaze swept coldly over a pale Sophia and the unconscious Liam in her arms. 

“She just said it herself. When her attempt to drug me failed, she found a guy who looked a bit like me and got pregnant with this bastard! To get back into the Wilson family, she deliberately put the kid in a house with too much formaldehyde so he’d get leukemia. That was her play for sympathy, her ticket back into the Wilson family! That’s the Wilson bloodline you’ve all been dreaming of!” 

Margaret looked like she’d been hit by lightning. Her body swayed, and she stared disbelievingly at the unconscious Liam, then whipped her head to the trembling Sophia.“Sophia… Is what Ethan said true?! Is it true?!” 

Sophia was shaking like a leaf, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word. She just clutched the child in her arms, terrified. Seeing Sophia’s silent admission, Margaret was livid. All her doting affection instantly morphed into a furious sense of betrayal. 

“My sweetie, the grandchild I’ve longed for! The sweetie I held in my palm! He’s a bastard?! You bitch, you’ve dragged the Wilson family’s name through the mud!” 

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She raised her hand to slap Sophia, but froze when she saw Sophia’s slightly bulging belly. A flicker of hope reignited in her eyes. 

“What about the one in your belly? Is that at least a Wilson heir?” 

Hearing Margaret’s words, Sophia instantly snapped back to reality, a desperate hope flaring in her eyes! 

Yes! There was still the baby in her belly! She still had the baby in her belly! 

She immediately looked at Margaret, crying out: 

“Mom! Liam… what happened with Liam, I was forced! I just made a huge mistake!” Sophia clutched her lower abdomen tightly with both hands, as if clinging to her last hope. 

“But! But the baby in my belly! This one, he’s definitely Ethan’s! His flesh and blood! Mom! This baby is a Wilson, your real grandson!” 

Hearing Sophia’s words, Margaret instantly looked like she’d found a lifeline. Her face lit up again. She quickly said, 

“It’s fine, it’s fine, as long as this one is real! My family still has a grandson!” 

Watching the scene unfold, Ethan just felt it was utterly absurd and ridiculous. 

His mother, upon learning that a grandson she’d doted on for so long was a fake, didn’t immediately get angry at Sophia’s deception and malice. Instead, she rushed to confirm the paternity of the baby in Sophia’s belly, as if as long as this child was real, all the past lies and harm could be forgiven. 

His heart turned ice–cold, leaving only endless mockery and desolation. 

All for a bastard! 

He compromised again and again, hurting me over and over until I finally left, completely disillusioned! 

Overwhelming regret and guilt, like countless icy hands, squeezed his heart so tight he could barely breathe. 

“Ella… it’s my fault… all my fault…” he murmured, lost in thought, the tsunami of guilt and regret swallowing him whole. His heart felt like it was being ripped apart by a giant hand, the pain making it impossible to breathe. 

Just then, his eyes landed on the envelope. 

Right! The package! The one Ella sent him. 

He grabbed onto it like a drowning man, practically stumbling as he lunged forward, his hands trembling as he picked up the envelope. He ripped open the seal, desperate. 

There was no love letter, no gift, nothing he’d imagined inside. 

Only a brand new, bright red little booklet. 

On the cover, three silver–embossed words seared his eyes like hot irons:“Divorce Decree. 

He flipped it open violently, the inner pages clearly stating: 

[Holder: Ethan] 

His last shred of hope shattered instantly. He felt something explode in his brain, his vision went black, and his tall frame swayed before collapsing with a heavy thud onto his knees. 

Memory fragments flashed through his mind. He recalled asking Ella remorsefully if there was anything she wanted after the auction that day. Ella handed him a document, but before he could even look at it, Sophia’s call rushed him, and he signed his name without 

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even glancing at it. 

It was him! He was the one who personally let me go from his world! 

He clutched the Divorce Decree tightly, his knuckles white, hot tears splattering onto the pages, spreading dark, wet stains. 

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“Ella…” A broken sob, like a dying animal, tore from his violently trembling lips, filled with unbearable despair and devastating regret.