The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep - Chapter 120: Chapter 120
You are reading The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep, Chapter 120: Chapter 120. Read more chapters of The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep.
Her phone suddenly buzzed, and Serena was a bit surprised as she answered the call. Keith's voice came through right away. "I hope I'm not bothering you at this hour?"
Hearing that Keith's voice had returned to its usual calm tone, Serena replied, "I wasn't doing anything important. You're calling to apologize for losing your temper with me today, aren't you?"
Serena had always been perceptive about these things, and Keith knew he couldn't hide his intentions from Serena.
He gave an apologetic laugh. "I'm really sorry about how I acted in the office today. I was pretty harsh with you, but it wasn't because of anything you did. Some bad memories came up, and I took it out on you."
Serena had just finished washing her hair and water was still dripping down, so she put the phone on speaker and grabbed a towel with her free hand.
Keith's voice came through, sounding strained. "I was abandoned by my parents too, so when I remembered all that stuff at lunch today, it really got to me."
'Keith was an orphan too?' Serena thought. She had never known anything about his family background. Something stirred inside her chest when she heard this.
Serena had always assumed someone like Keith must have grown up in a happy home to turn out so decent and capable. He could run an entire company and everyone liked him.
But now, Serena realized everything he had was something he'd fought for and earned himself. 'I should feel bad for judging him so quickly before,' she thought.
"What do you think goes through their minds when they abandon their kids?" Keith asked, his voice unusually lost and confused.
Serena felt much more at peace with this question than he seemed to be. She'd thought about it plenty of times herself.
"Maybe they don't want the responsibility, or maybe they just can't handle it," Serena said gently. "There are so many abandoned people in this world. We were probably just a little unlucky when we were born."
Serena didn't want to blame fate or dig too deep into her background. She'd already made it this far on her own and built her own life. The person who abandoned her was just a stranger she'd never met anyway.
Keith couldn't help but smile when he heard her say that. 'Of course. How could I forget that Serena has always been this strong? She's like a weed with the toughest roots, something that no storm could break,' he thought.
"Thank you. What you said really means a lot to me," Keith said seriously.
His voice was so close to her ear that Serena paused while drying her hair, then gave him a helpless smile. "Don't mention it. We're friends, right? Everyone has their low moments.
"The fact that you're telling me this stuff means you trust me, so I'm grateful you're willing to share it with me."
They chatted casually for a bit, mostly about the office gossip.
Even if they came out and set the record straight, people would only believe what they wanted to believe anyway. Explanations were pointless. It was better to just shut down the discussion with a firm hand and let time make people forget about it.
"Actually, there's a better way to handle this. We could just tell everyone the truth, but with Alyssa's situation..." Keith hesitated.
Alyssa had just started getting better recently, and if someone told her about all this drama, her condition might get even worse.
"You don't need to explain anymore. I get it, don't worry," Serena said.
Keith was relieved she was being so understanding and let out a small sigh. "I'll do my best to keep Tara in line too. She won't be showing up at the company anymore. I'd really appreciate it if you could keep this between us."
"Of course, no problem." Speaking of Alyssa, Serena realized she hadn't seen Alyssa in quite a while. "I'll pick up Alyssa tomorrow and take her out to dinner," she smiled.
After hanging up, Serena glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was already past midnight. She felt like she understood Keith better now—not the perfect image everyone else saw, but who he really was as a person.
Serena's mood had improved quite a bit, so she packed up her things and headed to bed.
The next day after work, Serena went to the kindergarten as planned. But when she got there, she saw a woman standing with Alyssa. From this angle, she could only see the woman's back, but she was clearly pulling at Alyssa and trying to drag her somewhere.
Alyssa's little face was filled with terror. The more scared she got, the more panicked she became, and she couldn't even make a sound.
"What are you doing?" Serena immediately rushed forward and pulled the woman away, wrapping Alyssa protectively in her arms.
Seeing someone familiar, Alyssa finally relaxed, and tears started streaming down her face.
"It's okay. Don't worry. I'm here and no one's going to hurt you," Serena said softly. She looked up angrily at the woman and realized it was Tara.
Tara recognized Serena right away and started yelling, "That's my daughter! Put her down right now."
Before Serena could even react, Tara began shouting at the top of her lungs, "Help! This woman is trying to abduct my daughter. Someone stop this child trafficker. Is there no justice in this world?"
The kindergarten entrance was packed with parents, and when they heard this, everyone immediately turned to look. 'Someone is trying to steal a child in broad daylight?' they thought.
Serena already knew who Tara really was and how she'd abandoned Alyssa before. 'What gives a woman like that the right to call herself Alyssa's mother?' she thought.
"If you're so confident, then let Alyssa choose for herself. You claim you're her mother. Does Alyssa even acknowledge you?" Serena's voice was strong and clear, completely different from her usual gentle tone.
A few parents in the crowd started to recognize Serena. She was beautiful and stood out among the other parents, so they'd noticed her before.
"Wait, that woman does come here to pick up this kid pretty often. She's probably not an abductor, right?" someone murmured.
Suddenly, all the suspicious looks turned toward Tara instead. Some of them had seen Serena around before, but they had no memory of Tara at all.
These days, plenty of abductors tried to throw people off their trail by accusing others first. They thought maybe Tara was doing the same thing.
Alyssa clung tightly to Serena while Tara, seeing things weren't going her way, immediately burst into tears. "How could I not be her mother? Just look at us. Can't you see how much we look alike?"
Once Tara said that, everyone started comparing their faces. Even though Alyssa's features hadn't fully developed yet, she really did look a lot like Tara, just like she'd said.
Now, everyone was completely confused.
Hearing that Keith's voice had returned to its usual calm tone, Serena replied, "I wasn't doing anything important. You're calling to apologize for losing your temper with me today, aren't you?"
Serena had always been perceptive about these things, and Keith knew he couldn't hide his intentions from Serena.
He gave an apologetic laugh. "I'm really sorry about how I acted in the office today. I was pretty harsh with you, but it wasn't because of anything you did. Some bad memories came up, and I took it out on you."
Serena had just finished washing her hair and water was still dripping down, so she put the phone on speaker and grabbed a towel with her free hand.
Keith's voice came through, sounding strained. "I was abandoned by my parents too, so when I remembered all that stuff at lunch today, it really got to me."
'Keith was an orphan too?' Serena thought. She had never known anything about his family background. Something stirred inside her chest when she heard this.
Serena had always assumed someone like Keith must have grown up in a happy home to turn out so decent and capable. He could run an entire company and everyone liked him.
But now, Serena realized everything he had was something he'd fought for and earned himself. 'I should feel bad for judging him so quickly before,' she thought.
"What do you think goes through their minds when they abandon their kids?" Keith asked, his voice unusually lost and confused.
Serena felt much more at peace with this question than he seemed to be. She'd thought about it plenty of times herself.
"Maybe they don't want the responsibility, or maybe they just can't handle it," Serena said gently. "There are so many abandoned people in this world. We were probably just a little unlucky when we were born."
Serena didn't want to blame fate or dig too deep into her background. She'd already made it this far on her own and built her own life. The person who abandoned her was just a stranger she'd never met anyway.
Keith couldn't help but smile when he heard her say that. 'Of course. How could I forget that Serena has always been this strong? She's like a weed with the toughest roots, something that no storm could break,' he thought.
"Thank you. What you said really means a lot to me," Keith said seriously.
His voice was so close to her ear that Serena paused while drying her hair, then gave him a helpless smile. "Don't mention it. We're friends, right? Everyone has their low moments.
"The fact that you're telling me this stuff means you trust me, so I'm grateful you're willing to share it with me."
They chatted casually for a bit, mostly about the office gossip.
Even if they came out and set the record straight, people would only believe what they wanted to believe anyway. Explanations were pointless. It was better to just shut down the discussion with a firm hand and let time make people forget about it.
"Actually, there's a better way to handle this. We could just tell everyone the truth, but with Alyssa's situation..." Keith hesitated.
Alyssa had just started getting better recently, and if someone told her about all this drama, her condition might get even worse.
"You don't need to explain anymore. I get it, don't worry," Serena said.
Keith was relieved she was being so understanding and let out a small sigh. "I'll do my best to keep Tara in line too. She won't be showing up at the company anymore. I'd really appreciate it if you could keep this between us."
"Of course, no problem." Speaking of Alyssa, Serena realized she hadn't seen Alyssa in quite a while. "I'll pick up Alyssa tomorrow and take her out to dinner," she smiled.
After hanging up, Serena glanced at the clock and was surprised to see it was already past midnight. She felt like she understood Keith better now—not the perfect image everyone else saw, but who he really was as a person.
Serena's mood had improved quite a bit, so she packed up her things and headed to bed.
The next day after work, Serena went to the kindergarten as planned. But when she got there, she saw a woman standing with Alyssa. From this angle, she could only see the woman's back, but she was clearly pulling at Alyssa and trying to drag her somewhere.
Alyssa's little face was filled with terror. The more scared she got, the more panicked she became, and she couldn't even make a sound.
"What are you doing?" Serena immediately rushed forward and pulled the woman away, wrapping Alyssa protectively in her arms.
Seeing someone familiar, Alyssa finally relaxed, and tears started streaming down her face.
"It's okay. Don't worry. I'm here and no one's going to hurt you," Serena said softly. She looked up angrily at the woman and realized it was Tara.
Tara recognized Serena right away and started yelling, "That's my daughter! Put her down right now."
Before Serena could even react, Tara began shouting at the top of her lungs, "Help! This woman is trying to abduct my daughter. Someone stop this child trafficker. Is there no justice in this world?"
The kindergarten entrance was packed with parents, and when they heard this, everyone immediately turned to look. 'Someone is trying to steal a child in broad daylight?' they thought.
Serena already knew who Tara really was and how she'd abandoned Alyssa before. 'What gives a woman like that the right to call herself Alyssa's mother?' she thought.
"If you're so confident, then let Alyssa choose for herself. You claim you're her mother. Does Alyssa even acknowledge you?" Serena's voice was strong and clear, completely different from her usual gentle tone.
A few parents in the crowd started to recognize Serena. She was beautiful and stood out among the other parents, so they'd noticed her before.
"Wait, that woman does come here to pick up this kid pretty often. She's probably not an abductor, right?" someone murmured.
Suddenly, all the suspicious looks turned toward Tara instead. Some of them had seen Serena around before, but they had no memory of Tara at all.
These days, plenty of abductors tried to throw people off their trail by accusing others first. They thought maybe Tara was doing the same thing.
Alyssa clung tightly to Serena while Tara, seeing things weren't going her way, immediately burst into tears. "How could I not be her mother? Just look at us. Can't you see how much we look alike?"
Once Tara said that, everyone started comparing their faces. Even though Alyssa's features hadn't fully developed yet, she really did look a lot like Tara, just like she'd said.
Now, everyone was completely confused.
End of The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep Chapter 120. Continue reading Chapter 121 or return to The Ex-Wife They Begged To Keep book page.