Chapter 33: Chapter 33

“Scarlett…”

Scarlett blinked, smiled, and approached her while she was still swallowing, holding Ashley's hand.

“I-I don’t know what to do because he’s been like that for days, and his daddy is also angry with him because he’s neglecting his business,” Ashley sobbed as she gripped Scarlett's hand. “I can’t stop him because he’s only getting angrier, and I sent Sophia here, but he sent Sophia away.”

“That’s why I thought of calling you because my son might have stopped, and I apologize if I bothered you.” she said.

Scarlett looked around the house and noticed a lot of clutter and broken pieces. She sighed and returned her gaze to Ashley.

“I’ll look after him.”

Dominic’s mother nodded and followed Scarlett inside.

“S-son…”

Dominic shook his mother, causing Scarlett’s fists to clench.

“I told you I didn’t need you!”

Scarlett took a deep breath as Ashley looked at her.

“Scarlett is here,” said Ashley. Dominic came to a halt and clenched his fists.

“You can’t fool me! She won’t come here because she’s still mad at me! Just get out of here, mom!” Dominic yelled as he threw the wines on the table.

Ashley covered her mouth while crying because she saw how unhappy her son’s life was, so she turned to Scarlett with emotionless eyes.

“Please, Scarlett… Stop him…” Ashley begged. Scarlett bit her lower lip and nodded to Dominic's mother.

“I’ll take care of him; rest now,” said Scarlett, looking at Dominic.

Ashley nodded and reached out to grab Scarlett’s shoulder. “I will entrust my son to you, Scarlett; you will look after him while I am away,” said Ashley as she hugged Scarlett.

Scarlett nodded and patted Ashley on the shoulder before leaving. She smirked bitterly before turning back to face Dominic, who was still drinking alcohol, as she sighed and approached the young man.

“Dominic,” she said, but Dominic only hit her hand.

“You’re not real. This is an illusion. You won’t come here because I know you’re still mad at me,” Dominic laughed as he reached for and sipped another bottle of alcohol.

Scarlett clenched her fists and grabbed the alcohol from Dominic before slapping him, so Dominic would wake up and realize she was there in front of him.

It took a back, to Dominic and clutched his cheek. Then he looked at the person who had slapped him, and his eyes widened as he recognized the person in front of him.

“Scarlett.”

Scarlett smirked and placed the bottle of wine on the table. “Do I have to hurt you to get you to wake up?”

Dominic looked away. “You should be happy because my karma for what I did to you has come,” he said as he grabbed the table. “I’m sure you’re glad to see me unhappy.”

Scarlett was stunned and shook her head, knowing it would never satisfy her with what was going on. She averted her gaze and turned her back on Dominic to avoid hurting him.

“You make your family worry about you, and here you are just drinking while they are fixing your mess at the company,” said Scarlett, as she continued to clean up the mess.

Dominic laughed and stared at Scarlett. “What are you doing here? Please leave me alone. This is my punishment for what I did to you.”

Scarlett just sighed and shook her head, and let Dominic speak because she still had a lot to do.

“I was like this when I had a problem, when I had a big secret from you, and you said you wouldn’t leave me, no matter what happened, but you still left, without even waiting for my explanations.”

Scarlett stopped, but she didn’t look back because she didn’t have time for Dominic's drama.

“I’m sorry I kept a secret from you, and I apologize for everything I did to you, but it’s still not enough; I have to suffer first before you forgive me, hahaha!”

“I’m doing everything I can to make you forgive me and return to the way things were, but no matter what I do, you’ll never forgive me!”

Scarlett’s fists clenched, but she kept cleaning.

“Why are you here? You don’t need to look after an asshole like me; I was so stupid that I hurt you! Ha! hahaha! It’s fine for me!”

Scarlett jumped in surprise when she heard something break the glass, and her eyes widened as she turned to Dominic.

“What the f-ck! Dominic!” she yelled in shock as she approached Dominic, who was hitting his head.

“I’m an asshole!” Dominic screamed as he smacked his head.

Scarlett clenched her fists and bit her lip.

“I’m a worthless father and husband! I let you suffer! I'm a useless!”

Something took aback for Scarlett as tears streamed down her cheeks. When she saw Dominic like this, her fists were shaking because her chest was tight.

“This is fucking my karma!”

Scarlett bit her lower lip and approached Dominic to stop him.

“Enough,” said Scarlett, but Dominic continued to hurt himself.

Scarlett took a deep breath and looked at her fist before punching Dominic to stop him. In surprise, Dominic touched his lips and turned to Scarlett.

Scarlett glared at him.

“I told you to stop! Everything happened, Dominic!” Scarlett yelled, and her tears flowed once again. “What happened, it can’t change, even if you repent for a few more years! We can’t even go back in time to fix everything!”

She rubbed her face to calm herself down.

“Don’t be like this! We have bigger problems!” yelled Scarlett. “I’m tired, too! You know that, huh?!? You know, I just want to disappear just in case everything goes well.” She clenched her fists and averted her gaze.

Dominic was surprised because he sensed resentment from his ex-wife. “S-Scarlett…”

Scarlett wiped her tears.

“I can forgive you, but not yet because everything I went through wasn’t easy either,” said Scarlett, sobbing over her current problems. “I still have a lot to do, so please bear with me.”

Dominic approached Scarlett and took her hand in his.

“Scarlett, we can go back to how we were; we’ll fight together.”

Scarlett pushed Dominic with a chuckle. “Do you think it’ll be that easy? I don’t want you to get hurt because you’re the father of my children; this is my fight, so I’ll fight it alone,” she exhaled. “Fix yourself. I’ll entrust the children to you and stay out of my mess.”

Dominic’s head shook. “No! We can fight together! I will not leave you alone!”

Scarlett sighed as she wiped away her tears. “Dominic, it’s difficult for me either, but it’s necessary because I’m a Knight and I can’t just leave them alone.”

Scarlett approached Dominic and was about to touch his cheek when he turned away.

“Dominic, you’ll take care of our children, and I’ll be home safe,” she's biting her lower lip.

Dominic had turned his back on her and was pulling his hair in frustration, but… He turned around and hugged Scarlett again because he couldn’t bear seeing the person he loved hurt.

Scarlett was stunned when Dominic hugged her, but she closed her eyes and let Dominic hug her even now.

“Scarlett, we can fight together; I will not let you suffer alone; you can have me as your companion in all your battles, please…”

Scarlett shook her head as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I love you so much, Scarlett; even though you've been gone for a few years, I haven’t forgotten about you; maybe I was too stupid to let Sophia blackmail me; I’m sorry!”

Scarlett smiled at Dominic and kissed him.

Dominic’s eyes widened as he realized what Scarlett had done.

“S-Scarlett…”

Scarlett stroked Dominic's cheek and kissed him on the lips.

Dominic was even more surprised and confused by Scarlett’s actions, so he kissed her as well, but Scarlett only smiled bitterly.

“I'm sorry,” Scarlett whispered before hitting Dominic on the back of the head, knocking him out.

She dragged him to the bed and kissed him on the lips.

Then someone was monitoring them.

“It couldn’t be! It couldn’t be.”

***

“Grandpa!”

Sophia doesn’t mind how many people are in the mansion right now.

“Look at Scarlett! Look at what she’s doing!”

Her female cousins raised their eyebrows as she threw her phone in front of them.

“What is it, Sophia?” asked Sharlene, not liking her attitude but forcing herself to like Sophia for Scarlett’s sake.

“Your sweet daughter, niece, and granddaughter are stealing my husband!” said Sophia.

The chairman frowned as he looked down at the phone, which had a picture of Scarlett and Dominic kissing on it.

“W-what exactly is this?”

Sophia smirked as she observed the chairman’s reaction.

“See? She stole my husband! I told you to let Scarlett go!” Sophia laughed as she noticed the chairman scowling.

“She’s the only one who can destroy the clan! She's so flirty! Is she this family’s angel? Ha…! I didn’t think you’d believe her!”

The chairman’s fists clenched, but Sharlene angrily slapped Sophia, and everyone was stunned by what she did.

“Who do you think you are?!? Who are you in this family?!?” Sharlene yelled, pushing Sophia away.

Vernon approached Sharlene and stopped her. “Sharlene, you hurt my daughter!” he yelled as he hugged Sophia, who smiled but cried to make her appear a victim.

Sharlene laughed as she wiped away her tears.

“Yes! Your illegitimate child!”

Scarlett’s cousins were stunned by what they heard because they had only found out today as well.

“S-Sharlene…”

Sharlene raised her brows and pointed at Vernon, who was about to grab her, but she hit his hand as she is turning to face Scarlett’s cousins.

“Yes, he made a mistake while we were married because he thought we would never have a child, and Sophia resulted from his sin,” she said, staring at Vernon and Sophia. “I accepted your daughter, Vernon; Lady Josephine, and I accepted her!”

She directed her finger at him. “I did not allow you to be punished for your sin!”

Vernon came over to console Sharlene, but she refused.

“Then this is what you’re going to get back at me, huh?!? That you believe your illegitimate daughter more than our daughter?!? What kind of father are you?!? Huh?”

Sharlene sobbed as she covered her face, unable to forget her husband’s cheating on her.

“You didn’t even look for Scarlett when she went missing! You believed lies!”

Scarlett’s cousin was still stunned by the revelation, and everyone remained silent because they knew the truth.

While Scarlett was weak as she held the door due to what she had heard from her mother.

“W-what, are you talking about? Is Sophia an illegitimate child?”

When they turned around and saw Scarlett standing in the doorway, their eyes widened.

“Is my sister an illegitimate child?”

Sophia raised her eyebrow while smirking. “You heard it. Yes, it's true,”

Scarlett looked at Sophia, came running to her sister, and punched her in the stomach.

Sophia’s eyes widened and she spat blood. “Damn you, you b-bit—!”

It’s not satisfying her, and slaps Sophia again for no longer being able to fight her.

Scarlett slapped Sophia one more time before stopping, and she held her chest while panting and her palms were shaking and numb from what she had done.

“Scarlett.”

Her expression surprised everyone as she looked around.

“Do you want to know why I disappeared and why I hid for five years?” she asked as she smirked. “After all, you’re all here, so why haven’t I told you the whole truth yet?” she chuckled, brushing her hair.

“I used to keep quiet, no matter what words I heard from you, but now I won’t,” she smirked. “Yes, I broke the family law; I broke the law that I couldn’t have a boyfriend until it transferred the throne to me.”

“I disobeyed that because I fell in love and learned how to love; while we were in a secret relationship, we planned getting married early and starting our family.” Scarlett swallowed hard and bit her lip as tears streamed down her cheeks. “For a few years, we had a happy marriage, but someone I trusted ruined it…”

Scarlett turned to Sophia, drawing everyone’s attention to her, and her eyes widened.

“She’s the only one I trust; aside from Claire, there’s only one other person who knows what’s going on in my life,”

Sophia clenched her fists and glared at Scarlett, who was staring at her blankly.

“She knew we were married, but out of jealousy, she devised a scheme to blackmail my husband, and the betrayal happened.”

Scarlett took a deep breath and held her forehead, feeling dizzy, so Rios approached her to help her.

“I thought my husband just had a problem and couldn’t talk, but it turns out that my husband and the person I trust have a secret,” said Scarlett bitterly. “I would have been proud to announce my pregnancy, but I discovered something else.”

“Scarlett…”

Scarlett laughed as she wiped away her tears.

“With the pain I was feeling, I kept quiet and hide for a few years because I was ashamed that I disobeyed rather than do my responsibility to the family.”

Scarlett looked up to wipe away her tears, but it was a traitor because regardless of what she did, tears remained in her eyes.

She turned to face the chairman, who had been silent.

“Do you know who my husband is? You seem to know him,” she smirked. “Yes, Dominic Stone is my husband.”

Except for her cousins, her mother, and Sophia, who knew the truth, her uncles, and aunts, especially her father, gasped.

She looked at the chairperson, who didn’t move, but looked away from her.

“Do you know who my husband’s mistress is? As you say, I’ll follow her for finding the right man, and you know who she is.” she shook her head with a laugh. “Yes, Sophia is my husband's mistress,” she said, staring at the chairperson.

Sophia’s eyes widened with fear.

“Will you believe her? What she says isn’t true! She’s the one stealing Dominic from me!” Sophia shook her head. “No, she’s lying! I was Dominic’s first girlfriend! No! No! No!” screamed Sophia, running straight to Scarlett, who just avoid her.

“I am not lying. Everything I told you is true. To end this mess, my children and I will leave the mansion,” said Scarlett as she walked upstairs, covering her mouth on the way to her room because she was in fear she wouldn’t be able to handle it and giving up.

She walked into her room and took all of their clothes and placed them in the suitcase. She made the right decision to leave because she wanted to protect her family because she could never move if she stayed.

“M-Mom?”

She wiped her tears away and smiled at her children.

“Pack your belongings, okay? We’re leaving here,” she said, kissing her children's cheeks. “Perhaps we should go to your aunt Claire’s first because mommy has something to do, okay?”

Her children nodded and exited the room, so she continued packing and waited for her children.

“We’re done, Mom."

Scarlett smiled at her children, took her belongings, and led them down the stairs.

After she had made Dominic unconscious. She considered returning to the mansion to retrieve her belongings because she needed to go to San Martín.

To carry out her plan, but this is when she discovered the truth about Sophia and what really happened to her.

This is also not what she wants because she prefers it remain a secret until the conflict between his clan and their enemy it resolved. Maybe it may become an impediment to what she plans to do.

Scarlett sighed as she looked at her children, who were sitting quietly in the car.

“What are your plans now?”

Scarlett shrugged at Carter because she didn’t have a plan right now and just wanted to rest.

“For now, I’d like to rest.”

Scarlett closed her eyes and hoped that her plan to protect her family would be successful.

‘I will protect my family, as I promised, Lady Josephine. I will not let you down.’