Chapter 1212

“Just give her the cold shoulder for a bit. Ignore her, and she’ll come running right back to you.”

Evan spoke with absolute certainty, chuckling. “I bet she doesn’t even dare mention the word ‘divorce’ to you right now, does she?”

Felix slowly opened his eyes. Those normally sharp, profound eyes were now heavily bloodshot, his expression terrifyingly dark.

When he spoke, his voice was as raspy as sandpaper. “She was just here. She came specifically to talk about the divorce. If I didn’t have an IV drip today, we probably would have finalized the paperwork by now and gone our separate ways.”

Evan’s eyes widened in disbelief. “She’s actually serious?”

“Yeah.”

Felix swallowed hard, looking as though he were choking down something incredibly bitter.

The hospital room fell deathly silent.

Even the usually talkative Evan was speechless, freezing with a slice of orange halfway to his mouth, unsure if he should eat it or put it back on the plate.

Felix closed his eyes, masking the profound sense of loss swirling in them. When he spoke again, his tone carried an almost desperate calmness.

“She’s always been serious. She really wants to divorce me.”

“She hasn’t been taking care of me these past few days, either. If it weren’t to discuss the divorce, she wouldn’t have even bothered coming to the hospital.”

“She’s dead set on it.”

Shawn glanced at Felix’s pale face, then shot a look at Evan, stepping in to defuse the tension. “Alright, that’s enough out of you.”

Evan awkwardly set the orange down, finally realizing the situation was far more complicated than he had assumed.

“Why don’t you… play the sympathy card and beg her? Women are soft-hearted,” Evan suggested, offering a terrible idea.

Felix let out a self-deprecating laugh. “She’s soft-hearted to everyone in the world except me.”

Besides, she was divorcing him. Why would she care about his suffering now?

Shawn was much more perceptive than Evan. “It’s obvious you really care about her.”

Felix didn’t answer, taking it as a tacit admission.

It was the first time Evan had realized this, and he was genuinely stunned.

He had always thought the only woman Felix cared about was Madeline.

After all, they had all seen how fiercely he protected her over the years.

Naturally, everyone assumed Madeline meant more to Felix than Claire ever did.

“When exactly did you fall for her?” Evan asked, utterly bewildered.

Felix couldn’t give an exact answer.

But he knew without a doubt that he had fallen for Claire.

Maybe it started with that comforting bowl of Noodle Soup with Bone Broth.

Or maybe it was even earlier.

The moment it hit him the hardest was when he saw her laughing and talking so freely with Wilbur.

It had been blindingly painful.

His heart had nearly stopped; the jealousy was agonizing.

He had never felt anything remotely close to that for Madeline.

UC

Shawn looked at Felix. “So what are you going to do? If she’s dead set on divorcing your draget is your

only going to backfire.”

Felix knew that all too well.

He couldn’t hold onto her.

Just minutes ago, he had practically begged her.

And she hadn’t even looked back.

So he admitted, “I don’t know.”

Shawn was the voice of reason. “Your immediate priority is dealing with Madeline. If you don’t pull that thorn out, you’ll never have a chance with Claire.”

“I’ve already arranged for her to be sent abroad,” Felix replied.

Shawn nodded approvingly. “You should have done that a long time ago. Madeline

isn’t nearly as innocent as she plays off to be.”

He didn’t elaborate, but they all knew the truth.

Over the years, Madeline had milked Felix’s guilt over Melanie for all it was worth.

At every social gathering, she would fish for insider information from their circle.

She was always asking which

investment funds yielded the highest

returns which stocks were ris

and what new projects were

lucrative.

Behind Felix’s back, she had been secretly networking with Northcrest’s wealthiest

elite.