Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 434 Night had fallen.

Adrian, exhausted from crying, had finally drifted into a restless sleep. His tiny hand still clung tightly to the hem of her black dress-the one she hadn't had the chance to change out of since the funeral. Tears streaked his pale cheeks, even in slumber.

She summoned the last of her strength to lift him into bed. Just as she was about to turn away and deal with the mountain of tasks left waiting after the funeral, she felt her dress caught fast. The child's grip was unyielding. He seemed trapped in a nightmare-eyes squeezed shut, fresh tears slipping down, whispering softly through trembling lips.

"Mommy, Daddy... don't go." For a moment, Mila just stood there in silence. Then, she reached for her laptop, letting Adrian keep hold of her dress as she settled on the edge of the bed. She opened the files Leonard had sent her, scanning through each one.

They were all about the will.

It was only now that she realized-Lysander had arranged everything long ago. According to his wishes, every share and asset he owned would pass to her. Adrian's portion would also be managed by her until he cof age.

She now held decision-making power at the very top of Montgomery Holdings.

That explained why Leonard had been at her side the moment she awoke. With Lysander gone, Leonard-his most trusted friend, and a force within the company himself-would shift his support to Mila, ensuring her place at the helm. From this point forward, she had the authority to command Leonard directly.

It was as if Lysander had planned for everything.

He'd paved the way for her so thoroughly. All she had to do was accept, and power would be hers-her entire life transformed in a single step.

She would becthe true matriarch.

But if she accepted, she'd be bound to the Montgomery family for life. No matter where she went or what she did, she would never escape the title "Mrs. Montgomery." Lysander's nwould be etched into her identity, forever.

Even gone, he remained unyielding, impossible to ignore.

She didn't know what to feel. Gently, she stroked Adrian's small hand, which was still gripping her skirt as he slept fitfully. Then she turned her attention back to the files, scrolling through until something familiar caught her eye.

[Daphne] She remembered that name.

Back when she and Lysander had argued, she'd unexpectedly ended up on a road trip with his cousin, Archie. That boy had becobsessed with her because of the Red Hat robot, insisting she not "kill off" the little robot in her drawings.

But the truth was- She wasn't Daphne.

At the time, Mila had been anxious and lost, realizing she couldn't reach Solaris City on her own. When she learned what Archie wanted, she simply let him believe she was Daphne and never bothered to explain. So, he'd accompanied her, convinced.

Later, at the foot of the snowy mountains, she'd tried to cclean. But Archie had just shrugged and said it didn't matter, and the subject was dropped. After everything that happened, she'd nearly forgotten about it.

Now, seeing that nagain brought it all back.

Archie had once told her that "Daphne" was a comic artist-creator of an adventure series starring a little robot named Red Hat, just like the one Lysander had given her.

She'd suspected, and now it was confirmed: the [Daphne] account belonged to Lysander.

It made sense, she supposed.

Lysander had always had an artist's touch. His mother, Felicity, was a painter; the Fontaine family was renowned for their artistic talent. It was only natural he'd picked up those skills.

Still, she was surprised. The fact that he'd built the Red Hat robot himself had already startled her-who knew he also drew comics? The more she thought about it, the less she realized she truly knew about that man.

Her emotions tangled and raw, she logged into Twitter and searched for Daphne's account. The profile picture was unmistakable: the sRed Hat robot.

She clicked on the pinned comic thread.

"The Adventures of Red Hat." Unlike most readers who cfor the whimsical adventures, Mila saw something else—hidden details, quiet secrets, things only she and Lysander would recognize.

The chubby little robot, wearing its signature red hat, once made a bold promise in a wager: it would pluck the moon from the sky. With chest puffed out and eyes full of hope, it set off to see the world.

Along the way, it met many people, learning their sorrows and suffering. As a self-declared hero, it rescued everyone it met from their pain-pain that Mija knew all too well. Betrayal, separation, heartbreak: the robot's journey mirrored hers.

In one story, the robot saved a little girl locked away and beaten by her family. It chased off the abusers, stayed by her side until she found a new, loving home, and only then left with a jaunty wave.

The girl wished it well: "I know you'll reach the moon."

In another tale, the robot cacross a young woman forced into a marriage she didn't want. Passing by the church it heard her sobs and pleas for help. The robot crashed the wedding, and in a wild gamble, bought her freedom for a million dollars. The woman, too, wished it well: "I know you'll reach the moon."

Later, the robot stumbled upon a castle. While asking for directions, it heard the desperate cries of a woman from the dungeons below.

Without hesitation, it burst in, fought off her captor, and carried her to freedom.

As she left, the woman pressed a kiss to the robot's cold metalcheek and whispered her wish: "I know you'll reach the moon." Eventually, the robot met a handsman who confessed, "I fell in love with a woman. We married, but her heart belongs ton et someone else. I hate her, but I can't let her go. And I could never bear for || her to know how much I care."