Chapter 2The Past Has Melted

Elara glanced at the figure she hadn't seen for nearly half a month before answering flatly, “I’m cleaning. The house is a mess.”

Orion did not notice the change in her demeanor.

He cast a look across the empty living room before asking curtly, “Where are Cliff and Emilia?”

As soon as he asked the question, the front door was thrown open with a bang. Then, two tiny figures rushed in like a gust of wind, Cyrene close behind.

Emilia’s eyes were puffy and red. Her voice was shaking as she went up to Elara with her tiny fist clenched. “Mommy, you’re the worst! You just let us die!”

Cliff wore the same frown and cried out exasperatedly, “We would’ve died if it wasn’t for Aunt Cyrene coming to save us! You don't deserve to be our Mommy if you don’t even care about us!”

Orion's face darkened instantly. Even the air around him seemed to drop several degrees.

He cast an accusatory look at Elara before pressing her with questions. “What happened? What is this about?”

“Orion, please don’t blame her.” Cyrene stepped in and feigned concern in a rather convincing way. “When I ran into Elara at the cafe just now, I overheard her on the phone talking about some kind of kidnapping. She dismissed it as a prank and didn’t think much of it after.

“But I couldn’t shake off the thought that there must be something more to it so I had a friend track the kids down. When I got there, I saw them being strapped to a wooden beam and getting beaten by the kidnappers. They were crying…”

As she said so, she cast a regretful look at Elara as if to suggest that she had taken on the motherly duties for Elara.

Orion's face darkened another shade upon hearing this. He held the children in his arms and cast a penetrating look at Elara.

“I told you to stay home and take care of the kids! Is this what taking care of them looks like to you?”

Elara frowned sharply and could not suppress the anger in her voice. “The whole thing was staged! They did it themselves!”

“We didn’t!” Emilia burst into tears. “Mommy, not only were you not going to save us, but you're even blaming us!”

“Daddy, Mommy's lying! She just doesn’t want to take responsibility!”

The look in Elara's eyes sharpened. “Cliff, Emilia! What did I tell you two about not lying? Tell me what really happened!”

Upon realizing that the children were adamant about hiding the truth, she seized their phones so she could pull up evidence of them trying to buy a present for Cyrene.

Orion cut her off sharply. “Enough! In what world does it make sense to accuse two six-year-old children of staging their own kidnapping? Look at yourself, you call yourself a mother?”

“Are you seriously asking me that question?” Elara's eyes flared up with anger while her voice quivered. “What about yourself? How many times have you been a father to them in the last six years?”

The tension was rising when Cyrene tried to smooth things over. “Alright Orion, at least the children were only slightly injured. Please don't blame Elara.”

It was only after she interjected that Orion managed to calm down, at least just a little.

After shooting another glare at Elara, he took the children and turned to leave.

Meanwhile, Cyrene walked up to Elara with a glint of a smile in her eyes. “Don’t blame me for this, Elara, you were the one who said you wanted to divorce him. The more Orion hates you, the sooner this whole thing ends.”

...

As evening came around, the kids insisted on Cyrene staying over for dinner.

A large variety of seafood was laid out on the dining table.

There was grilled fish, garlic butter shrimps, and steamed crabs.

Orion picked up a piece of crab and skillfully cracked open the shell before placing the meat on Cyrene’s plate.

“I know you’re a fan of crab. Give this a try.”

Cyrene smiled and ate the crab with relish.

Elara grinned sardonically upon witnessing the heartwarming exchange between the two.

None of them remembered that she was allergic to seafood. She had reminded them many times that she could not eat seafood, especially crabs.

However, everything she said seemed to carry no weight. Orion and the children could not even be bothered to care.

She put aside her cutlery.

Just as she was about to get up, Cyrene suddenly produced the divorce papers from her bag and turned to the signature column.

“Orion, I almost forgot about this. I was going to buy some children's toys when they told me they needed your signature. Take a look…”