I Slept with My Boss and Ran Away

Terrence showed no emotion, his face devoid of any expression as if he hadn't heard Stella's words. He turned to Little Lucky and said, "Rowan, go play in the children's room for a while. Daddy will join you soon.' "Okay, Daddy," Little Lucky replied obediently and ran off to the children's room.

With her granddaughter gone, Stella spoke again, "Son, did you hear what I said? Meredith has another man. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Mom, you must be mistaken. Meredith would never do anything to betray me," Terrence replied calmly. "Mom, if there's nothing else, you should go home. Meredith will be back soon."

"

"I can't be wrong," Stella said angrily. "Son, stop being so naive. Meredith is not the same as before. I even asked the housekeeper; you two have been giving each other the cold shoulder. You never used to fight. Meredith has changed because you've spoiled her."

Stella could not tolerate betrayal. She had divorced Julian in a fit of rage when she mistakenly thought he had cheated on her.

Terrence was already feeling irritable these days. Hearing Stella's incessant accusations about Meredith's infidelity made him look pained. "Mom, do you want my family to fall apart?"

His tone and eyes were filled with sorrow, his eyes bloodshot and gaze dim.

Seeing her son like this broke Stella's heart. "Son," she said, her voice choking with emotion.

Terrence forced a bitter smile. "As long as she's okay, that's all that matters. Compared to the pain of losing Meredith, this is nothing."

Stella was dumbfounded. "Son, how can you think like that?"

She knew her son loved Meredith deeply, but this was too much.

No man could tolerate being humiliated like this.

Terrence fell silent again. Stella tried to persuade him, "Son, you can't hang yourself on one tree. You can't tolerate a betrayal like this. Even the best couples don't always stay together forever; you need to cut your losses." Terrence lit a cigarette and smoked silently. Stella was about to say something when she noticed more white hairs sprouting at his roots and felt a pang of sorrow.

The black hair dye from before had faded again.

Stella swallowed her words and sighed as she looked outside. "How did it come to this? What's wrong with my son? Why is Meredith treating him so badly?" Stella wanted them to divorce; only then would her son stop getting hurt.

Stella stayed until evening but didn't see Audrey return. Terrence finally persuaded her to go back to Ravenwood.

He was worried his mother might cause trouble for Audrey.

Shortly after Stella left, Audrey returned with shopping bags of various sizes and wearing a different outfit.

Terrence was sitting on the living room sofa, smoking continuously; the ashtray was full of cigarette butts.

As Audrey stepped through the door, Terrence called out to her, "Meredith."

Audrey paused, catching a strong whiff of smoke but still didn't respond.

As she prepared to go upstairs, Terrence spoke more forcefully, "Meredith."

This time Audrey replied, "What is it?"

Terrence held a cigarette between his fingers and looked up at her with deep eyes. "Be more discreet and don't go overboard."

Audrey feigned ignorance. "What are you talking about?"

Looking at the woman in front of him, Terrence felt both familiarity and strangeness-the familiar face and feeling-but Audrey's eyes were too cold.

"What do you really want?" Terrence stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and walked over to her. "Give me a reason. You know what I'm talking about. Meredith, we promised each other we wouldn't lie and would always be honest." Audrey knew the time was almost ripe for the next step in her plan.

She had pushed things so far that she had touched a man's bottom line; even she hadn't expected Terrence to endure it.

But things had come to this point. Summoning her courage, Audrey said, "Terrence, I don't love you anymore. Let's get divorced."