Ex-Lover as My Divorce Lawyer? This Train Wreck Just Got Scorching! - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

In his silence, Sophia laughed mockingly and turned to leave the rooftop.
She knew Ethan couldn't choose.
Even knowing Mia was his daughter, so what? He had another daughter.
Sophia returned to the ward where Mia was still unconscious from anesthesia.
Mr. Reed, not one for words, had red-rimmed eyes. When she entered, Mrs. Reed quickly wiped away her tears.
"How did your talk go?"
"Nothing worth discussing." Sophia was coldly indifferent. With Mia's condition at stake, she had no energy for anyone else.
"What about Mia? Is she really Ethan's child?"
Mrs. Reed's concern carried a hint of reproach. Though not often present in Sophia's life, she knew her daughter wasn't promiscuous.
But if Mia was truly Ethan's, it seemed to confirm Sophia's infidelity.
Calculating the timeline, Sophia hadn't yet divorced Nathan then.
"After discovering Nathan's affair, I argued with him and went to a bar. I drank too much."
"Ethan only knew I planned to terminate the pregnancy. He didn't know the child was his, nor that I kept it."
Even as Sophia explained to her parents, she instinctively softened Ethan's image.
He simply didn't know—it wasn't that he didn't believe.
At least this way, it wouldn't hurt Mia.
Another long silence followed before Mrs. Reed sighed: "So that's why you didn't tell Nathan?"
Sophia nodded.
Nathan had personally set her up, thinking she would change her mind.
But he hadn't anticipated her pregnancy.
She couldn't terminate this child, nor could she stay married to Nathan.
"It wasn't his child anyway, so what difference would it make if he knew?"
Once divorced, they should each live their own lives.
"I'll stay with Mia tonight. You two go home and rest."
Mr. Reed had just opened his mouth when Sophia preempted him: "Get a good night's rest so you can relieve me tomorrow."
"If we all collapse from exhaustion, who will take care of Mia?"
Sophia successfully convinced her parents to return home.
Alone at the hospital, she watched her still-unconscious daughter through the glass, tears flowing again.
When Mia was younger, she once developed pneumonia from an undetected fever.
She had been unconscious for days.
Back then, Sophia had stood outside the ward just like this, watching her.
She often felt that since becoming a mother, her tear ducts had become more active.
She exhaled deeply, silently wiping away her tears.
That evening, Mia was transferred to a regular ward.
Sophia's tightly-wound nerves finally loosened a bit.
She rested her head on the edge of the bed and dozed off without realizing it.
The day's events haunted her mind, twisting her dreams into grotesque nightmares.
Ethan suddenly appeared in her dream, fighting her for Mia's custody.
Mia cried out for her mother but was still dragged away by Ethan.
"No!"
Sophia jolted awake, instinctively checking the hospital bed to confirm Mia hadn't been taken away.
She stood up to calm herself when she suddenly heard Mia's voice.
"Mommy."
Sophia turned immediately to see Mia looking at her with open eyes.
"You're awake." She rushed over, afraid of hurting Mia, not daring to hold her hand.
She just leaned on the bed edge, asking: "Does anything hurt? Tell Mommy, and I'll call the doctor right away."
"Not hurt, just dizzy."
Mia blinked gently, her face pale and bloodless, breaking Sophia's heart.
The doctor had said dizziness was normal, so she didn't immediately call for medical help.
Sophia's lips trembled, unable to speak for a long time.
Mia smiled at her: "Mia naughty, Mommy worried."
Sophia shook her head, her hand hovering gently over her daughter's hair.
"Mia, Jamie said you fell because she pushed you. Do you remember how you fell?"
"Jamie didn't push Mia. Mia fell by herself."
Sophia nodded, not pursuing the details of the fall but instead asking: "Once Mia gets better, Mommy will find you a new school. Okay?"
She wanted to keep Mia away from Ethan—as far away as possible.
Mia blinked, saying nothing.
Sophia felt both relieved and distressed—Mia always listened to her, always took her side.
Even in dreams, Mia would never leave her for Ethan.
She had the world's best daughter—a gift from heaven.
Sophia held back tears, about to tell Mia to go back to sleep.
Suddenly, Mia said: "Mommy, I just dreamed about Daddy."
Sophia froze instantly. Since Mia's birth, she had never mentioned 'Daddy' in front of her. And Mia had never asked about anything related to her father either.
But now, Mia said she had dreamed about her daddy.
After a few seconds, Sophia forced an unnatural smile: "Really? Did you see what Daddy looks like? If you met Daddy, would you recognize him?"
Mia was too weak to even laugh, lying limply in the hospital bed, her smile strained.
"I saw him, but he's not my daddy."
"He's Jamie's daddy."