Chapter 1
Cloudsearcher
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Chapter 1
When Celeste Rodriguez arrived at the airport in Andostan , It was already past 9:00 pm .
It was her birthday that day . Therefore , she received a bunch of birthday wishes from her colleagues and friends when she turned on her phone ..
However , there was no message from her husband , Trevor Fleming , at all .
Celeste’s smile faded .
By the time she reached the villa , it was already past 10:00 pm .
Hannah Lynd , the housekeeper , was startled when she saw her . “ Oh , Mrs. Fleming … Why have you come here ? ”
“ Where are Trevor and Jo ? ” Celeste asked .
“ Mr. Fleming hasn’t returned yet , and Ms. Fleming is in her room , playing , ” Hannah replied .
Celeste handed her luggage to Hannah . When she went upstairs , she found Jordyn wearing a pair of pajamas and sitting at her table , fiddling with something . She was so focused that she didn’t even notice anyone entering the
FOOD .
“ Jo ? ” Celeste called out .
Jordyn turned her head when she heard her . In a happy tone , she greeted , “ Mom ! ”
Then , she turned back to her task .
Celeste walked over and pulled Jordyn into her arms . She had just given Jordyn a kiss on the cheek before the little one pushed her away .
“ Mom , I’m busy right now . ”
It had been two months since Celeste last saw Jordyn . She missed her so much that no amount of kisses felt enough . She wanted to talk to Jordyn .
But upon seeing how focused Jordyn was , Celeste felt like she shouldn’t disrupt her enthusiasm . “ Jo , are you making a seashell necklace ? ”
“ Mm – hm ! ” When Celeste asked about that , Jordyn perked up visibly . “ Wynn’s birthday is in a week . This is the birthday gift Dad and I are preparing for her . We carefully polished these shells with tools . Aren’t they pretty ? ”
Celeste’s throat tightened . Before she could say anything , she heard Jordyn , with her back still turned , happily say , “ Dad even had a customized gift prepared for Wynn . Tomorrow- ”
Celeste felt a pang in her chest and couldn’t hold back anymore . “ Jo … Do you remember it’s my birthday today ? ”
“ Huh? What ? ” Jordyn glanced up at her , then quickly looked back down at the string of beads in her hands . She complained , “ Mom , don’t talk to me . You’re messing up the bead order- ”
Celeste released her hold on Jordyn and said nothing more she stood there for a long time , but Jordyn didn’t look
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Chapter 1
up at her even once . Finally , Celeste pursed her lips and left the room without a word .
When Hannah saw her , she said , “ I just called Mr. Fleming . He said he has something to do tonight and told you to
best first . ”
“ I see . ” Celeste acknowledged her words softly
As she thought about what Jordyn had just said , she paused for a bit and called Trevor ,
It took a long while before he answered , his tone was indifferent as usual . “ I’m busy . Let’s talk tomorrow
“ Trevor , who’s calling you so late ? ” It was Wynn’s voice .
Celeste tightened her grip on her phone .
“ It’s nothing important , ” Trevor responded to Wynn’s question .
Before Celeste could say anything , Trevor had already hung up .
The two of them hadn’t seen each other in two or three months , and she had finally made it to Andostan . Not only did he not rush home to see her , but he also didn’t even have the patience to finish one phone call with her .
After so many years of marriage , he had always been like this – cold , distant , and impatient .
Celeste had gotten used to it .
In the past , she would have called him again . Then , she would patiently ask where he was and whether he could come home . Perhaps she was too tired tonight . So , she suddenly didn’t feel like doing so ,
The next morning , Celeste thought it over and decided to call Trevor again .
There was a time difference of about 17 or 18 hours between Andostan and their home country . In Andostan , today was her actual birthday .
She didn’t come to Andostan just to see Jordyn and Trevor . She hoped their family of three could spend this special day together by having a meal .
This was her birthday wish for the year .
Yet , Trevor didn’t answer her call .
A long time later , he sent a message : “ What’s up ? ”
Celeste wrote : “ Do you have time at noon ? Let’s bring Jo along and have lunch together as a family . ”
Trevor replied : “ Okay . Let me know the address when it’s decided . ”
Celeste texted back : “ Alright . ”
After that , there was no further message from him . He hadn’t remembered it was her birthday at all . Although Celeste was mentally prepared , she couldn’t help feeling a pang of disappointment .
She was about to head downstairs after washing up when she overheard Jordyn and Hannah talking .
“ Aren’t you happy that Mrs. Fleming is here , Ms. Fleming Hannah asked .
Jordyn said , “ Dad and I already promised to take Wynn to the beach tomorrow . If Mom comes along , it’ll be so awkward . And Mom is so mean . She’s always unkind to Wyn- ”
“ Ms. Fleming , Mrs. Fleming is your mother . You shouldn’t gay such things . You’ll hurt her feelings , you know ? ” “ I know , but Dad and I like Wynn more . Can’t Wynn be my mom instead ? ”
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Hannah didn’t know what to say to that .
Whatever she said afterward , Celeste couldn’t hear it anymore .
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She had raised Jordyn herself . But over the past two years , the more time Jordyn spent with Trevor , the more attached she became to him . When Trevor came to Andostan to expand his business last year , Jordyn had insisted on coming along .
Celeste was reluctant and had hoped lordyn would stay by her side . But she couldn’t bear to see Jordyn upset , she agreed .
She hadn’t expected this
Celeste stood frozen in place , her face pale . She was unable to move for a long time . To think that she had pushed aside her work to come to Andostan with the intention of spending more time with Jordyn
Now , it seemed unnecessary .
She returned to her room . Then , she repacked the gifts she had brought from home and put them back into her
suitcase
Later , Hannah called to say she had taken fordyn out to play and to contact her if anything came up .
Celeste sat on the bed , feeling hollow and lost inside . She had abandoned her work and made this trip , only to find . no one wanted her here . 1
Her arrival was nothing but a joke .
After a long while , she left the villa . Aimlessly , she wandered through this foreign yet familiar country .
By noon , she remembered she had planned to have lunch with Trevor and Jordyn . As she recalled what she had overheard in the morning , she hesitated about whether to go home and pick up Jordyn
Then , she suddenly received a message from Trevor that read : “ Something came up at noon . Lunch is canceled . ”
Celeste stared at the message , unsurprised .
She was used to this . In Trevor’s world , work , friends , and everything else were more important than her , his wife . Plans made with her were always canceled at his whim without consideration for her feelings .
Was she disappointed ? Perhaps she would have been in the past . Now , she just felt numb and couldn’t feel anything anymore .
Celeste was at an utter loss . She had come all this way excitedly only to be met with indifference from both Trevor and Jordyn .
Before she realized it , she had driven to a restaurant she and Trevor used to frequent , Just as she was about to go in , she saw Trevor , Wynn , and Jordyn sitting together inside .
Wynn sat close to Jordyn on the same side . She chatted with Trevor while interacting with Jordyn playfully . Jordyn , with her legs swinging around happily , played with Wynn and even leaned in to eat the pastries Wynn had
taken a bite out of
Trevor smiled as he served food to both of them . His gaze never left Wynn as if she were the only one he could see
in his eyes .
So , this was what Trevor meant when he said that something had come up . This was the daughter she had carried in her womb for ten months and nearly lost her life to bring into this world .
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Celeste laughed humorlessly . She stood there watching for long time . Finally , she turned away and left .
Back at the villa , Celeste prepared a divorce agreement .
Trevor had been her teenage dream , but he had never truly seen or paid attention to her .
If not for that accidental night and the pressure from his grandfather , Arnold Fleming , Trevor wouldn’t have married her .
In the past , she had naively believed that if she worked hard enough , he would eventually acknowledge and see
her .
Unfortunately , the reality was harsh and dealt a cruel blow to her .
Almost seven years had passed , so it was time to wake up .
After placing the divorce agreement in an envelope and instructing Hannah to hand it to Trevor , Celeste dragged her suitcase to the car and said to the driver , “ To the airport ”