Adrian was confused as to when and how Erika became this confident.
'Was it because of what happened last night?' He wondered.
But it couldn't be. She should have at least considered Grandma before leaving right? Or was she seeing someone else?
Just the thought of that made him feel emotions he had never felt towards her before.
While Adrian was in his own thoughts, Mary and Juliet started mocking Erika, drawing him out from his thoughts.
"I am so happy today that we were finally able to get rid of that pest, Erika," Mary mocked, feeling happier than ever.
She went back to the dining table and sat down to continue her meal since the whole dinner was interrupted earlier.
Juliet went to her mother's side and reminded her, "But mom, she didn't take any alimony, remember? She might come back here again and then what do we do?"
Mary looked at her lovely daughter and replied, "It's also good that way. Atleast she will know where she belongs, under my feet. Also I will increase her workload here when she comes back." She said, hee tone filled with excitement before she resumed munching on her meal.
Adrian heard all what they said, but then nothing piqued his interest so he just left.
It was already known that Mary was the one who gave Erika workloads as a way she could repay them for letting her stay rent-free.
But they forgot that she was the daughter-in-law and not some servant or stranger. But before Adrian could totally disappear from their sight, Mary stopped him,
"Hey wait! Make sure to go to the bureau office at the specific time and register the divorce, while I will go and visit the Evans family. Then after that, you can start planning your wedding with Felicia, okay?"
Adrian had been thinking about Erika and her changed attitude, totally forgetting that he was supposed to be happy. He would finally marry the woman of his dreams, but now he was confused.
He didn't reply immediately. After a few more thoughts, he responded,
"I think we need to lay cool for a while. If the media find out I divorced my wife and married another woman a day or two after that, they will know something is up."
Mary thought about it. "You are right, let's give it a week or two." She couldn't wait for Felicia to finally be her daughter-in-law.
Adrian looked at his mom. "Two weeks is too short, at least a month."
Mary opened her mouth in shock, "A whole month? But that is too long, I don't want to wait for a whole month." She declared but it didn't affect Adrian a bit.
Adrian looked at his stepmother and replied coldly,
"Then maybe you should go marry her yourself." He left without giving her a chance to respond.
The atmosphere in the living room became tense. Adrian never really liked his stepmother, especially with the way she squeezed herself into the family and replaced his mother as the lady of the house. So he never really cared about the way she treated Erika. But it seemed like she forgot she wasn't his real mother since she tried to force him into marrying Felicia quickly.
The mother and daughter duo glanced at each other, the same thought running in their mind.
"Was he delaying this because he had started liking Erika?"
They dispersed it immediately because they were getting divorced tomorrow.
Erika waited at the mansion's main gates for 30 minutes before a brand-new sports car pulled up.
The windows rolled down and an extraordinarily beautiful face was seen. It was Monica, Erika's childhood best friend. When she was packing, she had called Monica to come pick her up, but didn't explain why.
They smiled at each other as Erika got into the passenger seat. They stared at each other for a while without a word being said, until Erika's eyes flooded with tears as she bursts out crying.
Erika had been holding herself for too long because she didn't want to cry in front of those people who thought of her to be worthless.
Monica quickly scouted over and tried to calm her down, but the latter was crying uncontrollably. Her body and soul were shaking vehemently, her eyes already red.
Monica whispered to her, "It's okay, am here. Let it all out." Erika's face was now buried in Monica's chest as she continued to sob. Monica's heart broke seeing her best friend like this, she also let out a few tears as she continued to hug Erika.
They stayed in that position for about 10 minutes without a word being said. Erika's cry gradually reduced as they released themselves and sat back properly.
Monica looked at her and said, "Let's go home." She ignited the engines of the car and zoomed off.
No one said a word until they drove into a residential private estate that had mansions built in it.
They entered a mansion. Erika knew her way around the house so she went to her room. Erika came here often in the past and even slept over but it changed when she got married to Adrian.
Erika got ready to go to bed, she didn't eat much dinner because of the drama that was caused in the Hart family, but she wasn't hungry either.
Suddenly, she heard a knock on her door and went to open it. Seeing monica at the door, she let her in. Monica knew that Erika didn't want to talk about it on her cell phone when she called or in the car when they were arriving here. She understood her friend and they were like telepathic twins but she was worried.
Monica first said, "It's been a while since you visited here, this room misses you a lot you know."
Erika replied with a smile, "Yeah I know, which is why I will be staying for a while before going to meet my family."
Monica smiled, surprised, "You are going back to the Walters family?"
Erika nodded. "I have to, I miss my family so much and besides....." she drawled before continuing, "Adrian and I are getting a divorce."
Monica wasn't surprised at all as she had already suspected it to be the reason she left that house.
She couldn't help but be glad that Erika could now see things clearly, and not blindly follow their orders. They decided to change the topic and catch up on the times they missed.
Monica was mostly the one who was talking while Erika just listened and watched her cheerful friend till it was late at night.
The next morning, Erika woke up as early as 7am. Got read, had breakfast and prepared for the bureau office. Since she doesn't have a car yet, Monica offered to drive her there but won't reveal herself.
Erika was aware that just the way her friend was very cheerful and friendly, she canalso be temperamental at the same time and could create a scene there, so she was only allowed to stay in the car after dropping her off.
When they arrived, Adrian was already there and it was just 8:50 a.m.
'He came early, good,' she thought to herself. She went out before he could see her coming out of the expensive sports car. She doesn't want to reveal her real identity yet.
Adrian saw Erika and was perplexed. He just wanted to do this quickly to clear his mind. The both of them stood face to face and stared at each other. Erika mostly had ponytails on but today she let her blonde hair free which made her face look smaller and cuter.
For the first time, Adrian thought she was beautiful.
"Let's go in," said Erika.
They went in and the woman at the table welcomed them. They said what they had come there to do, they brought their IDs and the divorce papers then it was registered.
Each of them got a copy. Adrian scanned the papers in his hands and looked at Erika who looked calm during the whole procedure. He thought she would stop mid-way and beg him to take her back but that didn't happen. He was single and free?
"Thank you for the torture and pain you caused me, I will make sure to pay you back handsomely," she promised and left when she was done. He stared at her until she disappeared into the corner where Monica had parked her car. He missed the evil glint that passed her through her eyes and just waved away what she said.