Over the next few days, Violet was heading to the lawyer's office to settle the affidavit. Despite multiple times Violet persuaded Sam to not fight for the alimony, Sam still insisted which had dragged the procedure. She also made the effort to visit her father every single day to make amends but to no avail.
Both siblings knew that the day their father did not try to understand Violet and her situation, there would never be peace between the daughter and father. After every argument, Violet would quickly leave or be chased out of the house, leaving only Sam to stay behind, accompanying their father, struggling to get him to make peace with Violet in his own way.
The night before the siblings flew off, Sam served dinner when his dad had just returned from a mahjong session.
"Spending money away again on mahjong? At least you know how to return for dinner…"
"No one asked you to cook or come here. Don't you have a troublemaker to look after now? So great to throw away the dignity of our family name. I don't even know how to face the in-laws from now on." Mr. Chu whined.
"All you care about is your face. You don't even care about your kids. If mum is still around, you will surely be sleeping outside with the strays…" Sam purposely provoked him as Mr. Chu held in his anger and began eating the soup he served.
"I just remember now. You also have news saying you're dating your artist? Didn't you always act high and mighty? What's all this gossip?" His dad reprimanded him.
"None of your business. It's settled. After tomorrow, I will be travelling for work. You will be alone again. Don't waste so much money gambling… We aren't that rich…" Sam reminded as he munched on the stir-fried vegetables while Mr. Lu scoffed.
"Blame it on your useless troublemaker! If she didn't divorce, we wouldn't have to worry about all this…" He vented.
"What troublemaker? She is your daughter, alright? She also needs to live her own life. She is very happy now…" Sam updated.
"She is happy, I am not…" He groaned in agitation as Sam scooped him more soup.
"Why don't you just marry that artist? All artists are rich anyway…" Sam put down his chopsticks and glared at his father.
"You really want to talk about this topic is it? I will ensure you stay home till I return." Sam threatened as Mr. Lu quickly continue to eat his dinner. Sam knew that was the only way he would listen and gamble in moderation though he was also cracking his mind to help his father stop gambling with his friends.
On the day Sam and Violet left for Qi Tai, she decided to meet with the lawyers alone for once, since it was Sam who had been dealing on her behalf all this while. She was not surprised to find it was Dexter's cousin's firm. The memory of that night's mistake in bed with Dexter after this cousin's wedding rushed through her mind like knives.
"Ms. Chu, is this your final decision to not proceed with the alimony?" Edward Liong asked her formally as she nodded firmly.
"Yes. Can I sign the papers today, as I won't be around after tomorrow?" She requested. He smirked and lay out the papers.
"After signing, we will file, but it will take up to one to two months to finalise if it's left uncontested." Edward updated while she read the details carefully and somewhat with her reddening eyes, recalling the opposite wordings written on their marriage certificate back then.
Right, till death do us part? Who am I to wish for this? She mocked herself as she signed off. She wanted to leave when Edward's door burst open.
It was the first time she saw Dexter after the eve of the Chinese New Year.
"Mr. Liong, you're here. Great, once you have signed off, then we can proceed with the papers legally." Edward's formality just added more disgust to Violet at his pretentious self.
Dexter locked gazes with Violet with so much unspoken feelings. Violet could tell he was furious, anxious and yet in a rush that he did not even read the document and signed off before walking out of the room as though never again wanting to speak with her.
Violet felt hurt as she endured her tears and was angry with herself for being overly sensitive. She knew she was over with him but she could not help but to feel hurt and angered by Dexter's behavior of not wanting to even talk to her. She finally regain her composure when she saw Sam at the door.
She quickly made her way out of Edward's room, only to be stopped by his sarcastic remarks.
"Very unfortunate that your marriage didn't last after my marriage. That night, I thought both of you would have ample chances to reconcile, especially after seeing you both share a room… Looks like it didn't work after all…" Edward mocked as Sam wanted to retaliate, only for Violet to hold him down and drag him out of Edward's room.
While being all worked up, she felt a little piercing pain in her abdomen. As she wobbled to the side, Sam supported her.
"You're alright? Is it your period pain?" Sam asked, which reminded her that she had not been having her regular period since last month. This month, she was late again. She quickly shoved the impossible thoughts of pregnancy behind her mind and blamed it on stress.
"Sis, come sit…" Sam supported her to the bench, but she refused.
"No, let's go… We have a flight to catch." She decided to ignore the signs and conveniently convinced herself that it was stress.
All her mind was focusing on was gearing up for Maliwei's job in Qi Tai and a part of her somewhat wished she could bump into Sebastian perhaps. She wondered how he was doing after a week or so they bitterly ended things in Phut Bi.
"Why did you sign off just like that?" Sam nagged along the way, dragging her thoughts back to her situation as they got into the car.
"Don't question. It's not your marriage. At least I got the house… But I really don't want to live there. You should live there instead while you sort out your marriage with Jade..." She sternly talked him down.
"There's nothing to sort out with her anymore…" He looked away to outside the window. Violet knew that distant look in his eyes signified many of his worries as she smirked.
"At least give her some ease… You could stay at that house temporary." Violet suggested as Sam sighed looking down at his feet. Violet hugged him, knowing he must be enduring the urge to not care about Jade but deep down only he knew how much he cared.
"We will settle that later. Perhaps put it out for rent?" Sam had ideas of his own after discussing with Sebastian over the past few days on the phone about Sebastian's plan since he had offered Sam an irresistible business venture.
Violet frowned at his plans, but he knew she would not be in the mood to talk about anything else just yet.
"Whatever it is. From now on. There's always me around to look after you." Sam comforted her when he began to drive. She forced herself to blink away her tears and not let them spill while he drove them home to pack their bags, not noticing Dexter watching them from afar in the car.
Dexter was frustrated with himself for not letting his ego off and talk to her. He purposely wanted her to find him about not paying the alimony, but the one who confronted him and taught him a lesson with a few punches a few days ago was Sam instead of her. He was even more disappointed when he was notified that she was signing off today.
It felt like after years of marriage, he had failed to understand Violet anymore. The more he tried to draw her closer to him, the more he was pushing her away. It felt as though he had never fully known her before. He was dumbfounded to find himself stumbling upon another side of Violet this late, which he wished he had discovered much earlier.
All this while he thought she always wanted peace and was obedient to keep the elders happy. Even her career choice, which was accommodating and complementing his, was easily given up by her without much hesitation. After that surprising stunt she made on an auspicious day, he had been struggling with his efforts to reconcile and talk with Violet.
It was not till he saw her earlier did he realised how he had fallen for her back then. He first saw her when she was six years old. Cheerful and bubbly while holding her mother's hand, greeting everyone with her sweet words. His mother easily fell in love with her and had secured her as her future daughter-in-law right away. Though Violet was sweet but her mouth can be as sharp as a laser if she wants to. He experienced it firsthand when his cunning cousin, Edward, accused him of breaking his mother's favorite porcelain vase during one of the family gatherings.
Violet harshly defended Dexter by first putting up an argument with Edward. She did not have to say much to convince Dexter's mother it was Edward, but her threats made to Edward before revealing to the adults were something Dexter will never forget.
If you dare to keep pushing the blame on Dexter now and the next time, I will make sure you get the blame for hurting and bullying me, even if you didn't do it. See who they will believe… Violet always knew Edward was up to no good and was pinning the blame on Dexter. That was also the reason Violet wanted to protect Dexter more.
If it was not because of Violet, who lied that she saw it was Edward who knocked the porcelain down while playing with Dexter, Dexter would have been shunned that night by not just his other relatives but his mother, too. Instead, it was Edward who had been shunned all this while for being a naughty boy, and now a notorious playboy, who had to be tied down by a business marriage.
Dexter sent a text message to Edward.
Don't file the papers just yet.
A vibration was felt next.
What? Are you serious, bro? Edward asked.
Dead serious. Don't file till I say so.
Dexter laughed at his foolish self with mockery as he drove back to work with frustration, trying to escape the harsh reality that had just slapped him awake that he was losing his wife whom he had loved all this while.