Chapter 283 Intense Objection
“Thank you!” Despite having so much to say, Amelia could only thank Oscar politely and sincerely.
Oscar stroked her hair dotingly and said, “I don’t want you to thank me. I just want you to be happy every day. If you want a divorce, I’ll do it. But I’ll never let go of you. I believe that you’ll return to the Clintons and be my wife again soon. When that happens, I’ll be sure to pamper you.”
Amelia was moved when she heard that, and her emotions were all over the place.
Oscar was not speaking honeyed words, but they were enough to melt Amelia’s heart.
He was an expert in capturing women’s hearts. Being an outstanding man, almost all women would fall for him, including Amelia.
Back then, she had been infatuated with Carter. However, after spending some time with Oscar, she could not help but fall for him.
Right at that moment, she wanted to throw herself into Oscar’s arms and tell him about all her worries. It was not that she wanted to gain his sympathy, but she was just tired. She was scared, knowing that she would be completely blind one day. Besides that, she was afraid that she would truly be a useless person after that happened.
However, when Amelia saw the unconditional love in Oscar’s eyes, she swallowed all the words. She did not dare to take the risk.
Amelia took a couple of steps back to keep a distance from Oscar before she said, “I’ll go see Tony.”
Noticing her cowardly behavior, a grim look flashed past Oscar’s eyes. However, he knew that he had to take things step-by-step. He had never once thought of giving up on Amelia, so the divorce would only mean temporarily being apart from her. When the right time came, they would naturally get back together again.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No. I want to be alone with Tony.”
Upon hearing that, Oscar did not force the issue.
Due to their upcoming divorce, the atmosphere in the Clinton residence had become tense in the past three days. Olivia, who was usually sweet and gentle, had not even smiled once. After the family had breakfast that morning, Oscar wiped his mouth before he announced the terrible news.
“Dad, Mom, Amelia and I will sign the divorce agreement today. Amelia will take custody of Tony. I’ve already had a lawyer prepare the division of our assets.”
Olivia, who was originally having her breakfast leisurely, slammed the silverware on the table as she glared at Oscar. “No!” she yelled.
Oscar then said, “Mom, I hope you’ll respect my decision on the divorce. Tony is still young, so he has to go with his mother.”
“You b*stard!” Olivia was enraged. “Tony is the eldest grandson of the Clintons, so I won’t let him live outside! I’ve talked to you about this, but you’re still so stubborn! If you insist on getting a divorce, I can’t do anything about it since I’m old now. However, Tony has to stay here. No one is allowed to take him away unless it’s over my dead body!”
A hint of pain flashed across Amelia’s eyes.
“Mom…”
“Don’t call me Mom! You’re not my daughter-in-law. I’ve told you to think about it and not get a divorce. You pretended to listen to me, but you’re still getting a divorce now. Since you hate being one of the Clintons so much, we won’t force you to stay any longer!”
Olivia was truly infuriated.
As she said before, she liked Amelia sincerely. However, their persistence in getting the divorce had truly hurt Olivia deeply. She did not think that Oscar cheating on Amelia was unforgivable. In fact, many couples among rich and prominent families were not genuinely in love with each other. Many even had lovers and mistresses on the side. What was most important was that they continued maintaining their marriage before the eyes of others.
Hence, when Olivia found out that Cassie had returned to the country and Oscar was seeing her again, she did not do anything to stop them. While she was unhappy about it, she still chose to ignore it as long as Cassie did not step into the Clinton residence. Olivia thought that it was normal for men to be a little less than faithful to their wives. Moreover, since Amelia was the daughter-in-law of such a prominent family and was enjoying all the wealth and splendor that came with it, she had to learn to be magnanimous and tolerant with Oscar.
Olivia had always thought of Amelia as a woman who knew her boundaries. She did not expect the latter to be so stubborn and even insist on getting the divorce. Feeling disappointed, Olivia started treating Amelia coldly.
In a guilty tone, Amelia said, “Mom, I’m sorry I’ve let you down.”
“If you’re sorry, then forget about the divorce! There’s no absolute reason for you to do that. Moreover, Oscar and Cassie aren’t seeing each other anymore. Oscar is now pampering and giving you more attention as well. Why can’t you just forget about the past and stay with him? You knew about Cassie from the beginning, but why are you making a fuss about it now? The Clintons have never mistreated you before, so is it really necessary for you to do this?” Olivia asked as she stared at Amelia.
Amelia could not hide the pain in her eyes.
All the Clintons were conveniently placing the blame on her for the divorce.
They unanimously agreed that Oscar cheating was not a big deal. Yet, to them, Amelia’s decision to get a divorce was unreasonable. In their opinion, Amelia was lucky that one of the Clintons would marry a woman with no prominent background like her. Not only was she being ungrateful now, but she was even asking for a divorce, demanding the division of assets and Tony’s custody. These were all monstrous sins that could not be forgiven.
“Mom, I’m sorry.” That was all Amelia could say. Due to the divorce, Olivia had turned hostile toward her.
Amelia had thought that Olivia would be on her side because she was also a woman. Clearly, she had overestimated Olivia’s love for her and also underestimated the Clintons’ ruthlessness.
“There’s no need to apologize to me! I’ll ask you one last time. Are you going to sign the divorce agreement with Oscar?” Olivia questioned sternly.
Amelia fell silent, which implied her acquiescence.
The divorce also weighed heavily on her. If she had a choice, she did not want to do this. Yet, she was running out of time. Her eyesight had been steadily getting worse. It had taken all of her effort to pretend that nothing was wrong in front of the Clintons for the past few days.
“Amelia, let me remind you of something. Once you step out of the door of this house, it will be the end of our relationship. It won’t be so easy for you to step through this door again anymore. Back then, I used to like Cassie, but she made me hate her. I still hate her up until now. I’ve always thought that you were an obedient girl, but you’ve let me down. After you exit this door, we’ll be strangers in the future. If you see me again someday, you won’t have the right to call me Mom.”
As Olivia finished saying all those harsh words, Amelia’s eyes widened before instantly becoming red.
“Mom…”
Olivia turned her face away, and her voice sounded a little choked when she continued, “Amelia, I’m giving you one last chance. If you don’t get a divorce, I promise that I’ll treat you better in the future.”
Amelia’s lips twitched, but she could not get the words out of her mouth.
“Mom, I was the one who brought up the divorce. I’m in love with someone else, so I don’t want Amelia to waste her time.” Oscar put the blame on himself as he added, “Back then, we got married because of the contract. I don’t want to play this game anymore.”
All eyes finally fell on Oscar.
He set down the things that he had prepared on the table and said calmly, “Everything is written clearly on the contract. If the woman asks for divorce first, she has to pay a hundred million. If the man asks for a divorce, he has to give the woman a substantial amount of assets. Also, the custody of the children will belong to the woman. All these are written in black and white.”
Olivia grabbed the papers. After reading it, she felt a faint pain in her chest.
“Oscar, you’re a fool!” she reprimanded as she tossed the papers onto the table angrily.
Yet, Amelia was staring at Oscar in a daze. At the time, all the clauses of the contract were oppressive to her. It was like a servitude contract. Moreover, she was certain that the clause which stated that the custody of children belonged to her did not exist back then. Why is there such a clause now?
Just as she was about to ask Oscar, a piercing scream filled the room.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Stephanie shouted.
Amelia looked at them and saw Olivia gasping for breath with her hand pressed against her chest. Owen picked her up while commanding, “Get the doctor here!”
Amid the chaos, Olivia grabbed Owen’s sleeve and begged, “Don’t let her take Tony away.”
His face grim, Owen replied gently, “Don’t worry. Tony is the eldest grandson of the Clintons. No one can take him away.”
He then carried Olivia upstairs. After a while, a group of doctors arrived and gave her a checkup. They told Owen that Olivia needed some rest for being too angry. The doctors left after they prescribed some medicine. Later, Owen went to Oscar and slapped him in the face, leaving a red palm print on his cheek.
“You b*stard! If anything happens to your mother, I won’t let you become the heir of our family!” Owen roared.
Amelia was looking at Oscar in distress. She had not expected the divorce to cause such an uproar in the family. If anything happened to Olivia, she would never forgive herself.
Stephanie was also glaring at Amelia. “Amelia Winters, are you happy now? You’re a jinx! Look what you’ve done to the Clintons. You should just go to hell! Even now, you’re still shamelessly asking for Tony’s custody? What a sl*t!”
Amelia lowered her head as she clenched her skirt tightly, feeling guilty.
“You jinx—”
“Stephanie, that’s enough!” Oscar snapped.
“Oscar, how could you still be so biased? Look at what she did to Mom!”
“I said, that’s enough!”
“Oscar…”
“All of you shut up!” Owen rebuked.
Everyone fell silent.
