Chapter 694

“Cel, you mustn’t do anything foolish, understand? You have to end this marriage,” Betty said seriously.

“You can only truly start over after you’re officially divorced. You still have a long life ahead of you, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to do whatever you want in the future.

“But right now, the most important thing is to take the right step.”

Celeste knew what Betty was worried about. She calmed herself before replying, “Okay, I understand.”

Only then did Betty relax a little, patting Celeste’s hand gently.

That night, Celeste lay awake for a long time. The next morning, she inevitably woke up later than usual.

When she went downstairs, only the housemaid was there. So, she asked, “Where’s Granny and Aunt Adeline?”

The maid smiled and replied, “They went out for a walk.”

Celeste nodded and didn’t say anything more.

After breakfast, she planned to go out and find Betty, wanting to spend more time

with her. But after walking around for a while, she couldn’t find them.

Instead, a neighbour saw her and greeted her. “Out for a walk too, Cel?”

“Yes, I wanted to accompany my grandmother. By the way, did you see which direction they went?”

“Huh? Your grandmother and Adeline went out early this morning. They didn’t come out for a walk.”

Celeste paused but then quickly understood. They had gone to the hospital to visit her mother.

Although Betty was still relatively healthy, she was getting old. Perhaps feeling that each meeting might be the last, she had been visiting Isabelle at the hospital more frequently over the past six months.

Normally, this wouldn’t be anything unusual. But after last night, Betty must have worried that Celeste would feel worse knowing she had gone to see Isabelle at such a time.

Yet, she would feel distressed if she didn’t go. So, she chose not to tell Celeste.

Celeste turned her face away and took a deep breath before exchanging a few polite words with the neighbor. After that, she returned home.

Just as she got back, her phone rang.

It was Jordyn.

Celeste paused but still answered the call.

On the other end, Jordyn asked if she had gone out and then happily shared where they had gone tha day and the fun things they had encountered.

Celeste simply listened quietly, rarely responding.

“Mom?”

Although Celeste had never been very talkative, this kind of silence was unusual. So Jordyn asked, “What’s wrong?”

Celeste snapped back to herself. “Nothing.”

Jordyn was about to say something else when Wynn’s voice suddenly came through the phone. “Jo, did you find the thing I asked for?”

“Found it! I’m coming right away.”

Then Jordyn said to Celeste, “Mom. I’ll hang up now.”

“Alright, go ahead,” Celeste replied calmly.

After the call ended, Celeste felt tightness in her chest as she put her phone down. She had intended to go

upstairs, but she stopped in hem

tracks.

Then she turned around, picked up her car keys, and walked out.

After getting into the car, she called Matthias. “Do you have time to grab a drink?”

Matthias froze on the other end,

almost wondering if he had misheard. After all, Celeste wasn’t someone who drank often on the. contrary, she usually avoided alcohol entirely unless necessary.

Hearing her say this, he immediately knew something must have happened.

He didn’t ask further and answered, “Sure.”