Ex-Lover as My Divorce Lawyer? This Train Wreck Just Got Scorching! - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Mia shared her dream as if it were a joke.
Seeing both the smile and disappointment on Mia's face, Sophia felt her heart being stabbed.
She couldn't even deny it.
She could only maintain her inadequate smile and ask: "Why did Mia dream about Jamie's daddy?"
"Kindergarten friends and teachers say Mia and Jamie are twins."
Sophia couldn't help but think of Jamie's appearance.
She and Mia did share many similarities—the same curly hair, the same dark eyes.
Though all young children look somewhat similar, these two were exceptionally alike.
Probably because they shared the same father.
Sophia looked at Mia with heartache.
It was she who had given Mia an incomplete family.
It was her selfishness that made Mia see her own father as someone else's dad.
And Mia might never be able to call him "Daddy."
Lost in thought, Sophia suddenly felt a hand grab hers.
Mia's little hand held one of her fingers. When Sophia looked over, Mia smiled at her.
"Mia loves Mommy the most. Not jealous of others."
Sophia could no longer hold back and collapsed onto the bed, sobbing: "I'm sorry. It's all Mommy's fault."
When adults lose emotional control, children take on the role of comforting them.
After consoling Sophia for a while, Mia succumbed to drowsiness and fell asleep.
Afraid of disturbing her rest, Sophia stepped outside, crying in the hallway.
She had never regretted her decisions before, but now she felt incredibly selfish.
The dark hallway had only sparse lighting. Lost in thought, Sophia suddenly heard steady footsteps.
The steps drew closer, and Sophia looked up to see a tall man carrying something.
He sat down beside her without speaking.
The corridor clock glowed red, ticking away second by second.
Sophia spoke first: "Why are you here?"
"I was worried, so I came to check."
"Mia woke up and said she fell on her own. You can rest easy now."
It wasn't Jamie's fault, so he didn't need to defend her.
Most importantly, she feared Ethan appearing before Mia would make her daughter even more upset.
"That's not why I came."
Ethan denied her assumption. He turned to Sophia, handing her the bag he carried.
It contained a blanket, but Sophia didn't take it.
Ethan had no choice but to place it by her feet, sighing softly: "Sophia, Mia is my daughter too. You can't always leave me without choices."
"Without choices?" Sophia countered. "Before I left Manhattan, I told you the baby was yours. What did you say then?"
The painful memory assaulted them both, and Ethan's mind was equally chaotic.
"I truly didn't know…"
Sophia knew that phone call had been too impulsive, but what right did Ethan have to say she'd never given him a choice?
"I don't want to hear your 'I didn't know.' I don't care. I just want you out of my and Mia's lives."
She had failed Mia, but would make up for it with double the love.
But if Ethan approached Mia as a 'father,' it would only humiliate both them.
What would she be? What would Mia be?
Mia could live without a father, but Sophia would never let anyone make her daughter an illegitimate child.
"Mia is already this old. Do you really want her to grow up without a father?"
"Ethan James, what gives you the right to be her father?"
Ethan had never anticipated her birth, and now he had another child.
At this point, when Mia could talk, walk, and recognize people, he wanted to claim fatherhood.
How absurd.
"I know there's a lot we haven't clarified between us, but the child is innocent."
After Ethan finished speaking, he received no response from Sophia.
Eventually, he lowered his head.
"Can't you give me a chance?"
"No."
Sophia coldly stated: "I'll transfer Mia to a new school. Don't appear in front of her again."
Ethan grew anxious and blurted out: "You have no right to do this."
"I have no right?" Sophia gave him an icy look. "Mr. James, what do you plan to do? Sue me? Then snatch Mia away from me?"
"I won't give you that opportunity. Even if it kills me, I will never hand Mia over to you."
Ethan protested: "I never intended to fight you for Mia. She could have a complete family."
"Enough!" Sophia couldn't bear to hear such ridiculous statements and immediately stood up.
"I don't want to see you. Please leave."
Ethan seemed to have more to say but slowly stood up instead: "I don't understand why you're so resistant to my approach, but I promise I have no ill intentions toward you or Mia."
Sophia turned away, and Ethan knew he shouldn't continue.
"I'll leave for now, but I'll come see you both later."
He turned and walked away. Sophia kicked the bag he'd brought, and hearing the noise, Ethan paused. The next second, the bag slid to his feet.
He looked down at the blanket Sophia hadn't given a second glance and decided not to take it back.
"If you don't want it, just throw it away."
Only after Ethan disappeared around the corridor corner did Sophia collapse back onto the bench.
The bench back was cold, seeming to penetrate her bones.
She didn't believe Ethan wouldn't fight her for their daughter.
Just as Ethan hadn't believed her back then.
She needed to make other plans.