The Diary Of An Unloved Wife Chapter 04
I found a lawyer and organized all my inspiration notes and the drawing processes from when I painted those pieces.
He shook his head after looking through them.
“It will be very difficult.”
My heart sank. “Why? Isn’t all this enough to prove they are my paintings?”
“Not exactly.”
“The copyright is yours the moment you draw the first stroke. But the registered name is hers, and she holds the transfer agreement signed by the gallery—and the gallery survives on funds from the foundation. You can sue, but this lawsuit will drag on for years, and the legal fees will drain you first.”
All the strength was drained from my body, and my voice went hoarse.
“I understand.”
There was a raging storm outside. I walked into the rain alone and went to my parents’ graves.
The rain soaked my face.
I couldn’t even tell if there were tears anymore.
I touched my mother’s yellowed and faded photo. “Mom, I can’t get them back. What do I do…”
Answering me was only the sound of the raindrops in the cemetery.
I stood there for a long time, until my legs went numb and the rain stopped, before taking a deep breath to leave.
But right as I turned around.
Three figures appeared.
I blocked Beckett’s path, my tone laced with disgust. “What are you doing here!”
He didn’t speak.
Instead, it was Harlow who spoke up. “Can’t we come see my father?”
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
Father?
But this was the highest point of the cemetery, and the only two tombstones here belonged to my parents…
Could it be…
No, that was completely impossible!
I knew exactly how much my parents loved each other!
However, Harlow walked past me, bowed straight toward my dad’s tombstone, and called out, “Dad.”
My entire body froze.
I walked over and shoved her away, my breathing trembling.
“Harlow!”
“Stealing my paintings wasn’t enough, now you want to steal my father too? Have you no shame!”
Beckett instantly pulled the stumbling Harlow into his arms.
“Are you okay?”
Harlow shook her head and bit her lip. “I’m fine.”
He let out a sigh of relief.
When he looked at me again, all the gentleness was gone, leaving only reprimand. “Are you done making a scene! Harlow is pregnant!”
“I’m making a scene?”
I was stunned for a moment, my chest feeling numb. It hurt even more than the unhealed burns on my arm.
“Who’s the one making a scene here!”
As the atmosphere froze, Maggie stepped forward, keeping her head down and not daring to look at me.
“I’m sorry, Iris. Harlow really is Richard’s daughter.”
“I made a mistake. When I was young, Richard and I had a fling, and that’s how we had her. Please forgive me just this once.”
A buzzing sound went off in my head.
My body swayed so much I could barely stand.
My rain-soaked body trembled even more violently.
“What did you say…”
“Maggie! I always treated you as my family!”
She stopped talking.
Instead, Harlow leaned in and whispered something into Beckett’s ear.
He didn’t look at me, only saying, “We had this scheduled a long time ago.”
That was when I finally realized that their trip up the hill today was for this headstone all along—down the slope, a small cemetery truck carrying a stone monument had been parked there the whole time, its tarp half pulled back.
The installation workers undid the straps and pushed the stone monument up the slope.
I saw the words carved on it: His two daughters, Iris and Harlow.
My breathing stopped.
My gaze wavered as I stared at Beckett. “What do you mean? What is the meaning of this!”
“You want to carve Harlow’s name onto my dad’s tombstone?”
“Beckett, my parents treated you so well!”
He stood in front of Harlow.
Shielding her from all my sharp, hatred-filled glares.
“Harlow is also his daughter. The DNA test is right there, and the document he signed is right there too. I am the authorized person for this family plot, so when it comes to this headstone, I have the final say.”
He paused.
His tone grew even more sarcastic.
“Or is it because this is the headstone you and Felix erected together, and you can’t bear to part with it?”
I took two steps back.
I just found the person in front of me completely disgusting.
“You are completely insane!”
He took a deep breath and signaled the security guards to hold me back. Then, right before my eyes, the installation workers removed the original headstone and installed the one with Harlow’s name on it.
“No!”
I couldn’t keep my balance and collapsed onto the soaked grass.
When he looked down at me, there was something in his eyes I couldn’t understand.
“Get yourself together and be home before eight.”
“Don’t be late again. If you’re not back by then, you can stay outside.”
“There’s no need.”
I spoke.
His figure paused as he was leaving with Harlow. “What?”
The moment our eyes met, he suddenly realized something.
Panic flashed across his face.
And I had never been as calm and clear-headed as I was in this exact moment.
I took out the divorce settlement agreement the lawyer had prepared that morning.
And threw it in his face.
“I said, we are getting a divorce!”Â